I'm just finishing up a trip to France. Here I am at the monument of Vimy Ridge.

Looking forward to getting home... maybe then I can finish off the illustration of Sophia Loren.

I wouldn't call it a demo.... more like practise. Illustrating Sophia Loren

I came across this photo on the web and instantly fell in love with the pose and inspired to draw it.

So I thought I'd share how the illustration progresses.

For the Pencil... I to work out the structure before moving on to colour. To me the drawing is drawn from the shadows and I like to know where my darkest areas are. 

(I'm not completely happy with the eyes. I hope to rectify it as I keep working on the tonal.)

To be honest this is just practise... so I might not care to have  the tightest of likenesses. Excuses... excuses.

My Studio

Since I just missed out on a contract for this week. I took the time to re-organize my office.

Now I just need a longer DVI cable to hook up the second monitor.

Brawny Man Animated! How Surreal Is That?

I was floored watching TV a little while ago.  They animated Brawny Man from The Brawny Man Paper Towels. Digitally Animated that is. I was very impressed they kept true to my original illustration.

I might never get my 15 minutes of fame... but something I created did.
Cool.

Lean On Me 

Back in the Saddle Again

I've haven't had a chance to post anything in awhile and I'm sorry for the two of you (if I'm lucky) that actually visit my Blog.
I've just finished illustrating my final picture book for the Hockey Hero series. It is written by Mike Leonetti and is published by Scholastic Canada. This time it's about Tim Horton. It should be out in the fall.

The iPad bruises the once shiny Apple

 Ok, I think I’m over the let down of today. Like tens of thousands (of other Apple Geeks) I followed a Blog of Steve Jobs' keynote speech introducing the iPad.

I was hoping for so much from this device. I think I was bound to be let down. However, not to the extent it became.

 From a standpoint of a Digital Artist, I was really thinking this would finally break me free from the confines of my desk. A Wacom for the road with all of Apple’s finesse. I know of the ModBook.

I’m just not sure of having a perfectly good MacBook dissected.

 Another thing was Mr. Job’s omitted “One more thing”. I was really hoping it was going to be a upgraded Mac Pro considering my old Power Mac is slowing me down from upgrading to some new Painter software. ( I still need a Desktop too)

So after thinking about this for a while I have a pretty good idea what makes the iPad an average product.

Hubris… maybe. Greed… warmer. Marketing… hot. Price point… Yes!

 If Apple threw everything in, including the kitchen sink…. This thing would cost as much or more as a MacBook. It’s marketed as being in between the iPod and MacBook. This was even illustrated during the keynote. It’s major competitor at the moment (I think) is the Kindle. The price has to reflect this.

 Apple trumped itself by making the expectations too high (or did we) for the iPad. Maybe they rushed it to market to control digital content that the Kindle and upcoming tablets will use. Maybe Apple wants to be the “Poster Boy of DRM” and control the means of production. Where did we hear this before Comrade?

Maybe like Icarus, Apple has flown too close to the sun.

Kellogg's Illustration

I just finished this spot for Leo Burnett Canada. I'm pretty happy with the Retro-Look.