Parachute Party

Check it out, this is the latest illo I did for The Canadian Sportsman. I really like how this one turned out.

Sketches

In the first sketch, the article wasn't too clear that it was harness racing (plus it was dated back in the 1970's) so I just assumed that the rider was riding horseback. But I was wrong.

So I fixed it up. The editor wanted to show the part in the article where the trainers come in and slowed the horse down with a parachute. This sketch is pretty much what the final illo looks like. The editor dug this image.

Inks

There you have it. Enjoy!

Glamour Shots

More character sketches for Quarter Life Crisis, which I'm feverishly working on.



Our protagonists.



The Rogers.



The 1895s.



The Bay Street Thugs.



The Koreans.

On A Plane

Here's another illo that happens on a plane. The article is about how the writer dislikes making small talk with people on planes. So she decides to tell lies. It's pretty funny.

Sketches

In the article it mentions that the writer gets air sickness and the passenger beside her just keeps on yapping. The image of her looking ill didn't go over well with editor. They wanted me to concentrate more on the lying aspect.

Linear

So there ya go! I made it looks like she was bragging about herself, in a sense she is. In a lying sort of way.

Inks

How to Draw!

Hal Niedzviecki, that is.

Broken Pencil asked me to do a two-page spread on how to draw their founding editor and indie culture guy Hal Niedzviecki. Here 'tis!

this image will be used on the back cover of my next book (coming out very VERY soon).

Cinderella-ella-ella

I just finished this theatre poster for Theatre by the Bay. It's for their Cinderella play that's for kids. I really have fun doing these posters. Here's my process:

Sketches

They wanted the Fairy Godmother to be a bit smaller, she seemed to be dominating the poster. The wicked step sisters were too scary looking so I had to change them. Also they preferred that Cinderella's hair was up in a bun.

Linear

Before moving onto the inks, they wanted the bottom of Cinderella's dress to have a flower pattern.

Inks

AWOL'd cover volume ONE

Here's a cover design for the nearly complete volume one of AWOL'd.

Stripmalling Cover Draft

I made up this quick cover mockup for the book Stripmalling. The final will be in colour and have nicer fonts, but this is the basic concept. And the illustrations of all the characters are going to be used as finals (or that's the plan, at least). If you see anything horrible with any of the sketches, let me know so I can fix them before I continue.

This looks like a job for ...

So, I've been working on my Superman illustration for the Shuster Awards next month. I wanted to go for something that showcased Clark Kent more, since everyone will be drawing the classic Superman in costume. I started out with this rough:



But then I realized I needed to do something vertically oriented (to fit the rest of the Superman illustrations). So I think I recreated the same feeling with this sketch:



And then, the inked, larger final version.



I added just a bit of colour -- his costume underneath the suit is red and yellow and blue and his eyes are blue. But the final is otherwise black and white. But my scanner is really lame and keeps crashing when I try to scan it in colour. What do you think?

Lobster Goodness!

Here's the latest illustration I did for The Canadian Sportsman. When I was working on this piece I wasn't enjoying it, I don't know why. Maybe because I was busy working on my comic. But I really like how this piece turned out in the end and in print it looks great!
Check out my process:

Sketches

Linear

Inks

Robowatermelon

Another robot for the monthly giveaway. This little guy loooves watermelon. Too bad about the rust!

Close Encounters

What's going on ...? This is the recent printed illustration I did for The Canadian Sportsman. I had a lot of fun with this piece and again I didn't have to draw any horses! Brilliant!

Here's the first sketch I did:


And the second one:


As you can see they went with the first sketch, check out the inks:

Quarter Life Crisis (more!)

More sketches, including robot designs, the streetcar the protagonist brothers travel around in, the Bay Street Thugs and more. Suggestions and ideas are heartily welcomed.

Quarter Life Crisis

Some sketches from the new idea I'm working on, Quarter Life Crisis, that post-apocalyptic Toronto sci-fi thing. I think you've seen all these already. The last sketches are of the paramilitary tribe in Toronto.

Failed Catalogue Ideas

We're working on our fall catalogue at work, and were in a rush to get a cover done. They asked me to try some stuff out, but didn't like either of them. They were to be wraparound covers in two-colour.





They're both kind of rushed (I worked on them while I was in Montreal this weekend for a book launch). In the end, we went with a Michael Cho illustration.