This is a great example of artists helping to bring environmental issues into the public eye. Cool Globes - Hot Ideas For a Cooler Planet is a public art show running from June to September 2007 in Chicago, where over 100 globes created by artists will be on display along the lakefront. You can see the globes up online, too… I loved this one by Kari Kaplan focuses on Sustainable Farming. Very cool.
This week I finished the illustrations for the second story in the Little Land Adventures by The James Family… about a Little Iguana named Iggy. We used to have an iguana named Rex, so it was fun reminiscing while drawing this cute little iguana who is facing a big scary hurricane with his family’s support.
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I had the pleasure of meeting Robin Eley at the local Adelaide IMBIDE meeting (a monthly get together at a local pub for illustrators to talk shop and have a pint!)…and was totally blown away by his work! His stuff reminded me right away of Roberto Parada, one of my favourite illustrators. Eley’s work is entirely in acrylic, and these fantastic portraits take a couple days to turn around. I was stoked to get to see this Steve Carell portrait in person as he brought the original to the pub, and it was just wonderful to see up close. Keep an eye on this guy, he’s already done some amazing stuff in the year since he’s picked up his paintbrush!
I went to my first get together of IMBIBE (Illustrators Must Be In Bed Early), a meeting of Adelaide Illustrators at The British hotel & pub last night… and boy was it FUN! There were about 21 people there, from illustrators to authors, and it was great talking shop, swapping tips, comparing illustration rates, finding out how things are going in all corners of the business.
I stumbled onto this group through Greg Holfeld (see illustration above), another Canadian illustrator here in Adelaide, who I met through a colleague of my husbands…talk about six degrees of seperation!
I had a good chat with established artist Graham McArthur, who does lovely textured illustrations. (see illustration above)
I met Murray Van, who has sold 4 million children’s books! He does the drawings for these busy illustrations, then has his wife or daughtor colour them in photoshop while he’s working on the next! (see illustration above)
Roger Roberts was another friendly illustrator, all too glad to give advice. (see illustration above)
I met Harry Slaghekke, who teaches a course here in Adelaide, and was very willing to give advice on the industry here in Australia and who to talk to about getting into publishing. (see illustration above)
And I met Robin Eley, who brought in his portfolio and a few of his original paintings… and he’s only been painting for a year, but OH MY, his quality of work is something to aspire to. (see illustration above)
So… needless to say, I came home very inspired and charged up being around so many tallented illustrators! Am really looking forward to next months meeting!
With it being winter here in Adelaide, it makes it a lot easier to start thinking about Christmas graphics for greeting cards! This Koala with a present is one of a few I created over the last week, now available royalty-free at ImageZoo. I start with a graphite pencil sketch, then apply a couple layers of colour in Photoshop. To see how I colour my pencil drawings digitally, check out this post.
A portfolio is an illustrator’s visual resume, intended to communicate to a potential client / employer what you are capable of and the caliber of your creative work. A portfolio, much like a resume, should constantly be kept up-to-date with your best pieces.
Here are some tips to help you build & maintain your portfolio… (Read on …)
Today is World Ocean Day! I just sent a letter to the Prime Minister asking that Canada live up to its commitments regarding the protection and sustainable management of our oceans. You can too, at: http://www.davidsuzuki.org/Oceans/Take_Action/Protect_our_oceans
The David Suzuki Foundation send me a newsletter about it… “World Ocean Day was created at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro in 1992. Fifteen years later, Canada is struggling to meet its commitment to conserve our oceans’ vast biodiversity. With only 0.12 per cent of Canada’s oceans protected, there is a lot of work to do. And we need everyone’s help if Canada is going to conserve the health and majesty of our coastal and ocean environments for generations to come. (Read on …)
Yesterday I worked for eight hours straight on these illustrations for Elizabeth Austin’s children’s book, The Brotherhood of the Stinky Underpants. I was really surprised with how quickly they came together since the last sitting… I think the reason for the huge increase in speed is I’ve warmed up and got used to the acrylics again, as well as I focused entirely on the backgrounds. My ‘plan’ is to get the backgrounds & bodies just right, and save the portraits & skin tones to the end and take my time on those.
The illustrations for The James Family’s “Little Land Adventures : Book 1” are coming along quickly. I’ve just completed the illustrations for the first story in the book about Little Bird. Working with pencil (in black & white) again has been pretty relaxing, as I can mainly focus on shading & tones without thinking of colour. (To see how I apply colour digitally to pencil illustrations, check out this previous post.) I’m working on the next story in the book, Little Lizard, will post soon!
Things are ticking along with the illustrations for Elizabeth Austin’s children’s book, The Brotherhood of the Stinky Underpants. I’m still in the acrylic underpainting stage… the illustration above is on its second sitting, so things are moving along well in acrylic. In this second stage of the acrylic underpainting, I’m focusing more on tightening up the details and getting everything looking “right.” The illustration in places is a little flat, but that’s because I’m going to add the ‘light’ in oils at the very end once everything is looking right in the acrylic first.
