If Projects

Illustration Friday - Perennial

2011-07-24T19:29:00.004-04:00

This illustration has a larger format than most... I just finished up this mural this afternoon. Funny that the word of the week would be perennial. I work on a golf course as a gardener and deal with perennials all the time. Wish the course had a few more perennials and a few less annuals. It would male the up keep a whole lot easier.

The mural is located in the back yard of a residence that backs onto a natural park setting. The home owner had the yard scape designed with multi level decks and lots of pea gravel. There are a few asian statuary pieces. It's not exactly a zen garden but you can see the influences. The mural does a great job of tying the cultured space and natural space in together.

It looks like there's a lot of detail in this painting but in this case I'm more of an impressionistic painter. Sometimes you have to let go of the control and just let the brushes do what they do. Every mark is perfect just the way it was created. There's no need to keep working it.

Hi jensdesign772. It's interior latex / acrylic paint. Benjamin Moore, Berr... whatever miss-tints appeal to me. I buy the odd primary so that I can mix my own colours. It's the shady side of the fence so there is less environmental wear. The surrounding trees will provide some protection from weather beatings too.

Illustration Friday - Swept

2011-06-12T10:06:00.004-04:00

"Having Just Swept"

medium: watercolour

This painting was done on location at my girlfriends farm. She has all manor of critters hanging about. The goats enjoyed sunning themselves on the porch. For anyone who has ever sent any time in the proximity of a goat you can appreciate the humour in the title of this one. Goats defecate with the efficiency of a granular fertilizer spreader. It's like having some one throwing around handfuls of Glosset Raisenettes all day everyday. Sweeping the poach clear of goat pooh 5 times a day is just part of the daily routine down on the Smith farm.

Original Art © RhinoInk Illustrations Ltd

Illustration Friday - Shadow

2011-06-12T09:23:00.003-04:00

"Hi-ho, hi-ho, it's off to work I go..."

medium: graphite / digital colour (self portrait of a gardener)

Last year is in the past and now it's time to get back into shape. A year of sitting on the couch has left me all soft and gooey. Every morning when I would wake I would say to myself, "today is the day that I start getting back into shape." And then the day would go on with emails to check and websites to create. And I'd use excuses like, "I just went grocery shopping. I'm tired. That must count as a workout."

I went back to the golf course where I had gardened part time the summer before last thinking maybe I could just ease into the work. NOPE! The very next day I was put to work. The head of the greens department was literally gleeful as he booked around the course telling everyone that the gardener was back!

As of yesterday I got all the gardens planted. Whew.

My fingers ache. My back aches. My knees ache... oh heck, my mitochondria ache. It's been 10 days so far and I'm feeling stronger (under all that ache). I can work longer and harder than I could only a week earlier.

Original Art © RhinoInk Illustrations Ltd

Illustration Friday - Duet

2011-04-01T23:13:00.004-04:00

Medium: graphite with digital colour

Original Art © RhinoInk Illustrations Ltd

Illustration Friday - Warning

2011-03-05T13:05:00.003-05:00

"WARNING: I'm armed and I'm not afraid to use them!"

I wasn't using any visual references for this illustration, just the memory from childhood of having seen a mantis displaying bold coloured wings in a children's book about animal behavior. It wasn't intended to be anatomically correct. I did want this little critter to be goofy looking though. They tend to twist their heads at odd angles to get their sights lined up and have dark spots on their compound eyes that look like cross-eyed pupils.

Medium: graphite & digital colour.

Original Art © RhinoInk Illustrations Ltd

Illustration Friday - Layers

2011-02-19T16:42:00.007-05:00

The Princess and the Pea
Hidden beneath many layers of matrices, pillows and quilts, there lies a single pea placed there by the queen. If this strange girl truly was a princess she would toss and turn all night, kept awake by this hard, irritating object.

Medium: graphite & digital colour.
Click to view larger image.

Original Art
© RhinoInk Illustrations Ltd

Illustration Friday - Sweater

2011-02-14T09:08:00.001-05:00

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!

Illustration Friday - Dusty

2011-01-22T10:28:00.003-05:00

medium: ink / digital colour

Was supposed to have a client over last week so Monday was Whip-It-Into-Shape day. 4 solid hours of mopping, vacuuming, polishing and chasing dust bunnies. Whew! that was a lot of work. I was justified in skipping my workout.

Illustration Friday - Chicken

2011-01-16T00:06:00.001-05:00

Illustration Friday - Deja-vu

2011-01-11T11:33:00.006-05:00

Medium: brush tip felt pen
Not a lot of time to spare this week, but I'm trying to keep up with my commitment to make time to play. A quick cartoon will do.
What makes a gnu (or wildebeest) a gnu? A disproportionately tiny bum with a horse's tail. A flattened face like a goat stuck on a skinny, but muscular cow's body. I should take some time to do a rendering this week.

Illustration Friday - Resolution

2011-01-03T12:14:00.003-05:00

A rhinoceros should not be taken lightly. Art should.

Be prolific.

Illustration Friday - Sneaky

2010-11-21T14:55:00.004-05:00

Medium: Graphite with Digital Colour
The Sneaky Mr Tumnus, up to no good in the magical land of Narnia.

Original Art © RhinoInk Illustrations Ltd

Illustration Friday - Afterwards

2010-11-11T18:37:00.006-05:00

Medium: Graphite and Digital Colour
Here's a sneak preview of this year's Christmas Card! I spent the morning drawing chipmunks with graphite pencils. Afterwards, I scanned them in and digitally coloured them.

Got Nuts?

Original Art © RhinoInk Illustrations Ltd

Illustration Friday - Bicycle

2010-10-02T22:32:00.011-04:00

Tumbler on a Penny Farthing
Medium: Graphite with Digital Colour
An acrobat on an old fashioned bicycle beneath a sky filled with balloons is worth two in the bush! - a lesser known proverb.

Original Art © RhinoInk Illustrations Ltd

Illustration Friday - Dessert

2010-09-04T15:00:00.006-04:00

Catching up on IF projects again...

DESSERT

My favorite dessert is a mug of hot cocoa with whipped cream and maybe embellished with candy cane, or cherries, or nutmeg (or Bailey's!). It's best served after you've just stomped in from the cold, brushed off the snow and hung your coat and mitts to dry. And just after you've put on your warm flannel (and preferably childish) jammies.

- preview of this year's holiday card -

CAGED

Sing, Lucky Cricket, sing.

ARTIFICIAL

I know - sick, eh?

STAR GAZING

medium: fountain pen / digital colour

Illustration Friday - Double

2010-07-29T17:09:00.008-04:00

In fiction, folklore, and popular culture, a doppelgänger is a tangible double of a living person that typically represents evil. In the vernacular, the word doppelgänger has come to refer to any double or look-alike of a person. The word is also used to describe the sensation of having glimpsed oneself in peripheral vision, in a position where there is no chance that it could have been a reflection.

Satellite... and a rather annoying one at that.

Giant... one giant germ at the head of a pin.

Illustration Friday - Early

2010-05-23T10:46:00.003-04:00

Early Woman

Medium: ball point gel pen, digital colour

Early woman contemplates the big issues: What's for breakfast? Is there coffee? Did the PVR catch my show? Must check to-do list... laundry, grocery, taxes, bills... Am I getting fat? Maybe it's time to visit a gym. Should feed the cats and water the plants. Email Mom. Email clients. Check Facebook. Post to blogs...
Early woman contemplates a nap.

illustration Friday - Dip

2010-04-02T19:59:00.001-04:00

Medium: Graphite with Digital Colour.
Time to take a refreshing dip in the pool!

Original Art © RhinoInk Illustrations Ltd

Illustration Friday - Rescue

2010-04-01T08:50:00.008-04:00

Medium: graphite and digital collage
Click to enlarge.

My psyche is in need of RESCUE.
As I EXPIRED for the night, I dreamt of a MUDDY monkey, ADRIFT on a SUBTERRANEAN lake. From my groggy PERSPECTIVE I found him to be very BRAVE, lost in this cavernous WILDERNESS. A forest began to PROPAGATE from the scraps of avocados that the monkey ate. No matter how hard I tried to FOCUS, I was to CLUMSY in this dream state to throw the monkey a life line.

Whew! I just got caught up on the last 11 weeks of Illustration Friday in one funky illustation!

Original Art © RhinoInk Illustrations Ltd

Illustration Friday - Brave

2010-03-29T09:57:00.007-04:00

I'M NOT AFRAID OF YOU!
Medium: graphite with digital colour

Funny thing about this sort of challenge was working up the bravery to put pencil to paper and make art about the subject of breast cancer. Prior to the experience I would have been reluctant to touch the subject because "it's not going to happen to me". And then in the early phases of the experience I was more like "I can't believe this is happening to me". Don't say the c-word out loud - you just might get it! (knock on wood) But now it's more like "I can't believe what all the fuss is about." So shoot me if you think that's cavalier. I'm the one who's putting up the brave front. I really do appreciate how blessed I am in that I found it early.

Original Art © RhinoInk Illustrations Ltd

Illustration Friday - Propagate

2010-02-21T18:31:00.006-05:00

Medium: Pen & Ink with Digital Colour
Thou shall not propogate the myth that one size fits all - 'cause it don't! Particularly when it comes to bras.
8/10 women wear the wrong size bra. Larger-breasted women tend to wear bras that are too small, and conversely, smaller-breasted women bras that are too large. Larger women are more likely to have an incorrect bra fit. Plus, most women's breasts are asymmetrical (10% severely), with the left breast being larger in 62%, especially when the breasts are large.
Wearing the wrong bra size can lead to a number of problems, including back pain, restricted breathing, abrasions, breast pain and poor posture.

Original Art © RhinoInk Illustrations Ltd

Illustration Friday - Confined

2010-01-10T00:13:00.008-05:00

Medium: White Gauche and Graphite on Wallpaper
My intention was to illustrate a woman uncomfortably confined in her clothing. The white rabbit was added as an after thought, inspired by the Showcase movie "Alice" (in Wonderland). Makes for a rather ambiguous image.

Rendering on dark wallpaper is tricky. It's hard to see the difference between black and dark red. I could see the contrast when I held it at arms length but as my nose got closer to the work area I would have to tilt the page so that light reflected off the graphite sheen. It was almost like working the negative.

Original Art © RhinoInk Illustrations Ltd

Merry Christmas Everyone!

2009-12-08T21:37:00.004-05:00

Original Art © RhinoInk Illustrations Ltd

Illustration Friday - Crunchy!

2009-12-05T22:50:00.013-05:00

Sweet and Crunchy - Chocolate Dipped Treats
Took me a while to come up with this one. Every time I thought "crunchy" I came up with a close-up mouth chowin' down on a cookie with crumbs coming out. That's not crunchy... that's just gross!
What crunches? hard cookies, chips, pretzels... gravel under foot, hair with too much product, bones!
CRUNCH is kinda gross don'tch think?

Medium: Graphite with Digital Colour
Boy, it takes a long time to render. It took at least 4 hours for the pair.

Oh! But He's so cute!!! (and crunchy)
Original Art © RhinoInk Illustrations Ltd

Illustration Friday - Music

2009-11-23T09:14:00.011-05:00

The Pied Piper
Always one of my favorite story characters. He was supposed to be this creepy evil guy, but I always felt sorry for him. It was the greedy, self-serving villagers that were in the wrong.

Lesson: Don't rip of artists that have performed for you a great service.
If it were so easy you'd have done it yourself.

Original Art © RhinoInk Illustrations Ltd

Illustration Friday - Frozen

2009-10-17T16:47:00.006-04:00

Medium: Coloured Pencil
Click to enlarge.
When I'm hot I like a frozen drink.
When I'm frozen I like a hot drink.
(Too bad about the drink umbrella. Went too dark. Oh well. Pretty happy with the rest.)

Original Art © RhinoInk Illustrations Ltd
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Illustration Friday - Germs

2009-10-03T10:35:00.004-04:00

Medium: Ball Point Pen
What doesn't kill you makes you stronger. Germs were made for sharing. Show them how much you care and lick someone you love today!

Illustration Friday - Pattern

2009-09-27T20:09:00.006-04:00

Medium: Coloured Pencil
It's been a while since I did a good IF project. Man! It takes a lot of time to "render"! Any way, here's my take on pattern: animal skins.
Me thinks this would make a very cool tattoo.

Original Art © RhinoInk Illustrations Ltd

Illustration Friday - Strong

2009-09-05T14:08:00.006-04:00

Medium: Digital
"Secret - Strong Enough for a Man, But Made for a Woman!"
I just could get this slogan out of my head when it came to this weeks word prompt.
(Arbitrary name - illustration does not depict anyone real!)
Stumbled upon the look of this illustration when I was adding colour in Photoshop. Switched off the line drawing layer to fix a bit of the coloured layer below... and I liked it better!

Original Art © RhinoInk Illustrations Ltd

Illustration Friday - Magnify

2009-08-30T21:30:00.013-04:00

Medium: Pen and Digital Colour
Thought I'd try something completely random, a "self-portrait" doodle.
One of the things I doodled into my hair was an eagle. While I was doing it I was thinking, "Why? It's not my totem or a passion of mine...". As I was scanning it I had to laugh - Beak!
I like my nose. It shows my Dutch heritage - very Rembrantesque. With great noses comes great responsibility!
It's probably no coincidence that Rhinos became my mascots.
Original Art © RhinoInk Illustrations Ltd

"Roxanne - 20 Somthing Betters"
Steve Martin delivers 20 better nasal slurs in response to a bar brawler calling him "big nose".

Illustration Friday - Caution

2009-08-23T12:29:00.003-04:00

Caution: Contents of Cup may be Hot.
Thank you clumsy lady for suing McDonalds and forcing all hot beverage places to redesign their packaging to include that warning. I don't know how I used to cope before I had that message in front of me to re-enforce awareness to that potential hazard! How many countless lives have you affected by sparing them from sharing in your misfortune?

Illustration Friday - Wrapped

2009-08-14T14:39:00.004-04:00

Medium: Acrylic Paint
Figure painting class, 2003. The stage where the model sat was wrapped in sheets. Yep. Painting drapery. Fun.
This was a 2 day (3 hours per class) project. While on my way from the parking lot to the college I happened to glance up and there was a bright red cardinal flitting about in the tree branches over head. Perfect! That's exactly the inspiration I needed to make my painting interesting. Now, instead of a boring man on a boxy stage there was an energy that drew the eye up and around. It's like they are having a conversation.

Illustration Friday - Idle

2009-07-26T09:25:00.007-04:00

Medium: scraps of fabric, paper, embellishments, digital...
Idle hands are the Devil's playground! - a proverb. Meaning... if you don't keep yourself busy doing good, it's easy to find yourself getting into mischief. That's why they invented crafting!

Original Art © RhinoInk Illustrations Ltd

Illustration Friday - Tango

2009-07-19T00:41:00.009-04:00

Medium: Graphite with Digital Colour
Considered doing a couple caricatures for the movie "Tango and Cash" but didn't love any of the photos I found. Couldn't think of anything else clever so illustrated dancers was it. And it seemed like another good excuse to draw rhinos. Why not?

Original Art © RhinoInk Illustrations Ltd

Illustration Friday - Hollow

2009-07-12T20:25:00.006-04:00

Medium: Pen and Digital Colour
My thought process was: hollow > empty words > grandiose promises of opportunity in a business world. I've heard a lot of plans, schemes and bragging when it comes to making it big in the graphics industry. I've learned to take most of this with a grain of salt. Absolutely, it would be great it those plans panned out, but I'm not holding my breath. We make our own opportunities.
This illustration didn't start out as a couple-relationship. I drew the female character with her finger poking through the "O" in promises to demonstrate that she knew his words were hollow. As soon as I did that it obviously became a ring. Run with it!

Original Art © RhinoInk Illustrations Ltd

Illustration Friday - Worn

2009-07-02T05:53:00.007-04:00

Medium: Pen with Digital Colour
Worn out nerves as a result of years of customer service.

Original Art © RhinoInk Illustrations Ltd

Illustration Friday - Drifting

2009-06-20T12:21:00.008-04:00

Medium: Graphite with Digital Colour
Wouldn't it be nice to be drifting on a slow moving river.
The sun warming my skin and the water kissing my fingers and toes.
To just close my eyes and let the current carry me away.
Not to have to worry about what to do and what is due.
A feeling of weightlessness.

Original Art © RhinoInk Illustrations Ltd

Illustration Friday - Adapt

2009-05-31T05:36:00.006-04:00

It's been a month already and I have yet to adapt to these 5:00 a.m. wake up calls.
Everything hurts!
Thought it would be a great idea to pick up a pt job as a gardener at a golf course. It's like a gym membership only I work out three times per week for 8 hours as opposed to just one and I get paid instead of paying membership dues. And I get to be outside and enjoy the sunshine and natural setting.
What I hadn't taken into consideration was all the ground breaking, flower bed preparation was involved on a 36 hole premier golf course! I've done more hoeing in the last 30 days...!

Illustration Friday - Talisman

2009-04-08T17:47:00.008-04:00

Chuck Norris is so tough...
Grizzly bears wear Chuck Norris' nail clippings as talismans around their necks.

• Superman wears Chuck Norris pajamas when he goes to sleep.
• When Chuck Norris crosses the street the cars have to look both ways.
• Chuck Norris sleeps with a night light. Not because Chuck Norris is afraid of the dark, but the dark is afraid of Chuck Norris.
• When Chuck Norris does a pushup, he isn't lifting himself up, he's pushing the Earth down.
• Chuck Norris doesn't wear a watch, he decides what time it is.
• Crop circles are just Chuck Norris' way of telling the world that sometimes corn just needs to lay the #@&! down.
• It only takes Chuck Norris 1 lick to get to the center of a tootsie pop.
• If you have $10, and Chuck Norris has $10... Chuck Norris has more money than you.

Click here for More Chuck Norris Jokes!

Illustration Friday - Subtract

2009-03-19T22:39:00.016-04:00

Another project for the t-shirt company. I was provided with an image of a woman applying lipstick. I was asked to "subtract" the hand and lipstick so it was just a set of floating lips and plump them up a bit.
The art director also asked for the lips to start to break up as thy were reproduced and reduced in size (scattering of lip images at random sizes).
An interesting challenge when you're working with ink. You can't subtract the black.
Solution: I documented the illustration as I built up the drawing.
I suppose I could have painted it with white on black ground but it wouldn't have the same character.

This one with colour was just for fun. The floating mouth is just a little creepy on it's own. Including the word "hey" adds just enough comic relief to make it comfortable again.

Original Art © RhinoInk Illustrations Ltd

Illustration Friday - Instinct

2009-02-22T00:57:00.006-05:00

Medium: Pen & Ink with Digital Colour
Jane worried.
"He's already seen me waiting for the elevator. I don't want to insult him. If I take the stairs it'll look like I'm avoiding him. He'll think I'm judging."
Just why this strangers opinion mattered so much, she wasn't sure. But something niggled at her and knotted in her gut.
Follow your instinct, Jane.

Illustration Friday - Celebrate

2009-02-14T19:12:00.006-05:00

Celebrate your achievements with gusto!

Illustration Friday - Time

2009-02-08T19:41:00.004-05:00

Medium: Pen & Ink with Digital Colour
Time is of the essence!
I've been working with ink lately doing illustration for a series of wildlife t-shirts. I just finished up one of my last assignments an still felt like playing with the materials. (It's nice when work is play.)
Yep, I'm one of those. I don't mean to be... it just sort of happens. I know, it's pure selfishness - if I would just think more of the needs of others I wouldn't so routinely wait until the very last second before heading out. I'm not always late, mostly I'm right on time. But I spend the whole drive going, "I'm late! I'm late! Good heavens, I'm going to be late again!" I know, if I just left 5 minutes earlier I could avoid that commuting stress.
But that would be 5 minutes less time in a day that I don't spend relaxing and essentially being me.

Original Art © RhinoInk Illustrations Ltd

Illustration Friday - Climb

2009-01-24T11:23:00.006-05:00

Medium: ink painted with a tooth brush (some modifications with a quill pen) then digitally manipulated.
This climbing duck (gaining altitude) was one of many small gestural sketches I did trying to nail down the impression of ducks taking off. They are for a t-shirt design that features an eagle diving in for the kill. I know - nice. This little image, maybe 2.5 inches actual size, just turned out so perfect I had to claim it for myself.

Duck on Fire
Duck on Ice
Duck on Stone

Original Art © RhinoInk Illustrations Ltd

Illustration Friday - Voices

2008-12-24T11:10:00.005-05:00

Sometimes it's not what you say but how you say it.

Illustration Friday - Similar

2008-12-07T16:52:00.010-05:00

The first thing that ran through my mind when I saw the word of the week was 'Similar' was that song by Melissa Etheridge:
"Go on and close your eyes go on imagine me there. She's got similar features with longer hair. And if that's what it takes to get you through, Go on and close your eyes, it shouldn't bother you"
I need practice drawing people anyway so I thought 'Why not go with it?' Also, Melissa and I share similar features. We both have that "Rembrant-esque" nose - bulbous towards the end with a dippity bit to one side.
YouTube link - click here to see
Melissa Etheridge in concert performing Similar Features

Original Art © RhinoInk Illustrations Ltd

Illustration Friday - Balloon

2008-11-30T12:38:00.011-05:00

Original Art © RhinoInk Illustrations Ltd
I confess, I'm globaphobic. Or more accurately I have ligyrophobia, fear of balloons popping. And I'm not alone (Google is a wonderful thing).
We had this assignment where we had to illustrate a fear. When asked "what's with the little green freak?" I answered that it was the personification of the fear in me. He looks like how I feel.
I've had some more time to think about why I illustrated what I did. Being afraid of balloons is silly. I know they can't possibly cause me harm. And yet as the potential of a balloon exploding increases, so does my panic.

Kids with balloons give me the willies.

The sound of a helium canister gives me the heavy-jeevies.

A balloon bouncing off a stucco ceiling drives me snaky.

A bouquet of balloons, with that hollow sickly sound and occasional squeak as they bounce and rub together, coming my way leaves me literally paralyzed with fear.
Oh, the horror of it all!
I know it's irrational and just plain silly to be that afraid of something so harmless. Guess that just makes me a freak.
Bing! Light goes on... that wasn't the personification of my fear - that was a self portrait. I turn into that little green freak when confronted by what scares me most.
What's with the colour green and powerful negative emotion?
Why does the Hulk turn into a big green monster when he's angry?
Why do people become green with envy?

Illustration Friday - Opinion

2008-11-26T11:16:00.002-05:00

I recently saw a special about commercial farm practices. I was mortified when I saw the living conditions of your typical egg laying chicken. Crammed in 5 to a cage that was just over 2 feet cubed. They were so crowded that the chickens could barely turn around. The cages were stacked 5 or 6 high so that the lower birds were covered with droppings and the cages filled a warehouse. The chickens typically survived in these conditions for 2 years. It really is a nightmarish practice.
In my opinion, that's just wrong. I've switched to free range chicken eggs. Happy chickens just produce better tasting eggs.

Illustration Friday - Pretend

2008-11-15T21:31:00.012-05:00

Meduim: Coloured Pencil
"Grandma, sometimes I feel like I'm pretending to be something I'm not. Do you ever feel like that?"

Original Art © RhinoInk Illustrations Ltd

Illustration Friday - Wise

2008-11-12T10:45:00.008-05:00

Meduim: Coloured Pencil
Meet the Royal Wise Guy
Jesters were more than just acrobatic comedians. Theirs was a complicated job. Yes, they were there to amuse the king and the crowds but they were also liaisons.
The jester's roll in the royal court was to act out on the foolish actions of royalty without coming across as defiant. Their humor was laced with sarcasm and satire. No one else dared speak out against the kings decisions. But if it was just the fool being a goof, that wasn't really ridicule. It was a way of communicating the concerns of the general population to the king without coming right out and saying "the taxes are to high" or "this war is stupid".
The jester also had to instill fear in the general public - "you can't touch me, I have the kings ear." It couldn't all be the mocking of the king or that would get tired in a hurry. Everyone was a potential target for the jesters wit.

Original Art © RhinoInk Illustrations Ltd

Illustration Friday - Strings

2008-10-10T20:22:00.008-04:00

Like a Puppet on a String
Inspired by the film "Being John Malkovich" in which a marionette maker / puppeteer (John Cussac) finds a secret passage way into the mind of John Malkovic. Literally. He even sold tickets for the "ride". After being John Malkovich for a while the participants would get dumped out of the sky on the side of a free way.
Don't usually re-watch movies but this one was an exception. The first couple times I saw the movie I thought it was quirky funny. Just a fun visual joy ride.
But the third time I realized, Woaw, that show's actually kinda deep.
Medium: acrylic paint & collage
Original Art © RhinoInk Illustrations Ltd

Illustration Friday - Stitch

2008-10-06T13:45:00.005-04:00

"Stitch Kit... Do It Yourself Taxidermy"
Medium: Coloured Pencil
Part Frankenstein, part Norman Bates.
What to do with a few stitches and a collection of road kill...
Ever see that lab mouse with the ear growing out of it's back? I don't know that the ear was actually sewn on, but it got me thinking.
I started out considering illustrating the "Jack-a-lope" but then let this critter evolve.
Medium: coloured pencil
Original Art © RhinoInk Illustrations Ltd

Illustration Friday - Sugary

2008-10-03T23:51:00.004-04:00

"Sugar Plum Fairy Wishes"
I thought, "What if the Sugar Plum Fairy looked more like a plum due to her sugary diet?"
Medium: coloured pencil & digital
Original Art © RhinoInk Illustrations Ltd

Illustration Friday - Packed

2008-09-28T09:23:00.001-04:00

"Got my cat packed and, Baby, I'm ready to roll!"
Didn't the B52's do a song like that?
Medium: graphite & coloured pencil
Fairly old but totally appropriate for the theme, this was an assignment for "over-the-top"solutions to everyday problems.
Edgerrr hated car rides. Every time I had to take my cat anywhere it would literally explode - HAIR EveryWhere. Itty bitty hard to lift ultra-fine white cat hair all over the interior of my little black car. Solution: The Cat Tote - The plastic wrapped cat. I even made a prototype and dressed her in it as a model. Yep, she loved that.
Original Art © RhinoInk Illustrations Ltd

Illustration Friday - Clique

2008-09-19T21:29:00.002-04:00

Medium: Graphite
Girl Behind Glass
My school had a few obvious cliques when I attended in the 80's.
The jocks (atheletes)
The geeks (matheletes)
The preppies (fashionestas)
The goth (emos)
The bangers (grunge)...
I never really fit in. Just seemed like too much work to pretend to be one or the other. I had a few friends from each group. But really, I always felt like I was in a glass bubble - separated from the in crowd by an invisible barrier.

Original Art © RhinoInk Illustrations Ltd

Illustration Friday - Memories

2008-08-31T19:25:00.001-04:00

Medium: brush tip felt marker
Star Gazing in Grande Prairie
My best girlfriend and I curled up under sleeping bags, tucked in against the biting frost in the October air. We toasted good times with a couple bottles of domestic beer which we sipped from wine glasses to class up the occasion a bit. And we sat in awe of how fast 20-some-odd years have flown by, as we watched the sky for shooting stars and satilites.
That's one of my favorite memories.

Original Art © RhinoInk Illustrations Ltd

Illustration Friday - Routine

2008-08-25T12:42:00.001-04:00

Medium: ball point pen sketch, digital colour.
"It became all too routine, for me n' Jean
To go down by the ravine and eat poutine."

In the event that you're not familiar with this French Canadian culinary delight, poutine is a serving of french fries and cheese curds topped with steaming hot gravy to make the whole concoction melt together.
To be honest, I haven't had poutine in years and years. But strangely it seems to come up in conversation a lot. I think it's just one of those words that's just too fun to say: "Pooh-Teen". It came up again while we were at the cottage this past weekend.
Original Art © RhinoInk Illustrations Ltd

Illustration Friday - Enough

2008-07-21T11:41:00.001-04:00

"Enough is Enough" and this cow's had enough!
Don't make me angry, you wont like me when I'm angry!
"Got enough cats to make a stack?"
How about enough room to swing a cat?
Original Art © RhinoInk Illustrations Ltd

Illustration Friday - Sour

2008-07-09T11:11:00.002-04:00

Medium: ball point pen sketch, digital colour.
Baby's first pickle - Can you say Sour Puss?
I seem to recall feeding pickles to my youngest brother when he was very small. Ha! What a wicked sister I was!
The puckered expression and radiating lines of sour sensation came first. The baby sketch evolved around that. The pickle came last. The off balance composition was an accident - that's how it was captured when I hurriedly jammed the sketch into the scanner at work. (Even work-a-holics need a few minutes of down / play time throughout the day.) I think it really works.
Isn't it funny how a 30 second scribble can be just as expressive (or more so) than a meticulous, 5 hour rendering?

Original Art © RhinoInk Illustrations Ltd

Illustration Friday - Fierce

2008-06-27T10:32:00.004-04:00

Meet the Minotaur
A fierce monster in Greek mythology, half bull, half man.
Minos of Crete got a snow-white bull from Poseidon for a sacrificial ceremony. He liked it so much kept it instead and tried to pull a fast one on the God (what not to do) and swapped it for a bull painted white.
Duh, the god punished him! Poseidon made Minos' wife, Pasiphaë, fall in love with the bull... And the Minotaur was born.
To cover up these of indiscretions Minos locked up the Minotaur in a Labyrinth built by the legendary Greek craftsman, Daedalus. After defeating Athens in war, Minos figured it would be a good idea to stick it to them once more by forcing the Athens to send fourteen of their young people as tribute, 7 men & 7 women to be devoured by the Minotaur.
Ariadne, the king's daughter, thought this was just too much and, with a plan to have the Minotaur killed, conspired with Theseus on a way to beat the maze with a ball of thread.
Medium: ink
Original Art © RhinoInk Illustrations Ltd

Illustration Friday - Forgotten

2008-06-25T15:04:00.003-04:00

Medium: ink and digital colour.
I let the Illustration Friday slide for a few weeks so here's a quick catch up series inspired by Garryth the cat.

Forgotten: No wet food this morning. Sigh. The big one must have forgottten about me this morning.

Punchline: A line of thirst quenching, punch beverages designed for the sofisticated feline taste pallet: Chicken Broth, Seafood Slurpie, Tuna Juice and Beefy Beer.

Baby: My fury, four-legged baby meets me at the door after a long, hard day at the office. And I feel happy. "Did you bring Meat?"

Worry: "Don't worry, be happy!" The sunbeam that creeps across the livingroom carpet in the middle of the afternoon is the happiest place in the house.

Blanket: "Here are some of her favorite things.

Original Art © RhinoInk Illustrations Ltd

Illustration Friday - Baby

2008-06-03T08:12:00.004-04:00

Medium: Coloured Pencil
Koala Bear Hugs - Awe! baby animals are so sweet!
This was an experiment where I intended to really emphasize and push the colour. But, as it turns out, there is more truth in exaggeration than you'd think. My orange, purple and blue koalas still look fairly realistic.
Of all the silly things... the simple foliage took as long as the bears themselves.

Original Art © RhinoInk Illustrations Ltd

Illustration Friday - Seeds

2008-06-03T08:11:00.002-04:00

Medium: graphite pencil & digital colour
"Seeds of Inspiration" - A Self-Promotion Piece
I finally got it finished! This was actually the topic of the week from 3 weeks ago.
I drew a package of flower seeds with a black rhino in full bloom and a baby rhino just beginning to bud.
I really wanted to get this one done. I think it's a terrific idea for a self promotion piece. I'm sure it wold be easy enough to get this printed and turned into actual seed envelopes. I wonder what kind of seeds an art director would appreciate getting in the mail. It could be a tactile, visual, olfactory, auditory... sensual experience.

Original Art © RhinoInk Illustrations Ltd

Illustration Friday - Wide

2008-06-03T08:09:00.001-04:00

Medium: graphite and digital colour.
"mmm... You Smell Nice!"
You see that funky texture on the rhino hide and back ground? I spent a few hours one afternoon running around photographing textures. You see them used all over in graphic design. The "tiles" that come with photoshop are frequently too obvious that they are repeating patterns so I wanted to create my own. I now have a little unique library of stone, wood, lichens, rust, chipping paint... that I can go to any time. Digital cameras rock!
The name "white rhino" is actually a miss-nomenclature. Rhinos are gray.
The Afrikaans word "weit", meaning “wide” is a reference to the shape of its mouth. The broad flat upper lip is ideal for pulling up mouthfuls of low-growing grass. This African herbavor is an endangered species.
Black rhinos are also gray but they have pointy lips designed for picking leaves out of bushes.

Original Art © RhinoInk Illustrations Ltd

Illustration Friday - Pet Peeve

2008-06-03T08:08:00.002-04:00

Medium: ball point pen & digital colour
"Rubber Cheques - Bounced Cheques"
I did the work, I worked hard. My work is excellent. As if free-lancing isn't hard enough! Bad cheques suck.
You know it's time to fire your client when... Starting to get a little tired of crossing my fingers and hoping that all will be fine come the end of the month. As you may imagine I'm a little peeved about this.

Original Art © RhinoInk Illustrations Ltd

Illustration Friday - Multiple

2008-06-03T08:07:00.003-04:00

Medium: Graphite with Digital Colour
I had this great idea for a company name / logo illustration project... Ghost Lemur Studios. Awesome name! Rolls right off the tongue.
Turns out there isn't a species called ghost lemur. Lemur is latin for ghost. Appearently these are sneaky little guys and you don't know they're there until you come nose to nose with one.
The word of the week is "Multiple": There are "multiple" pencil strokes in this illustration. No -Not really! I did "multiple" studies of lemurs so that I could get to know their form better. Later I intend to design some derivative shapes based on what I've learned here.

Original Art © RhinoInk Illustrations Ltd

Illustration Friday - Legend

2008-06-03T08:06:00.002-04:00

"Self Portait before 7:00 a.m." - The Legend of Big Foot
Medium: Acrylic Paint
A figure in North American folklore alleged to inhabit remote forests of United States and Canadian province of British Columbia. Described as a large, hairy bipedal hominoid, and many believe that this animal, or its close relatives, may be found around the world under different regional names, such as the Yeti of Tibet and Nepal, the Yeren of mainland China, and the Yowie of Australia.

The Legend of the Loch Ness Monster
Medium: Acrylic Paint
Affectionately referred to by the diminutive "Nessie", this aquatic monster is claimed to inhabit Scotland's Loch Ness, the most voluminous freshwater lake in the United Kingdom. She has a similar North American cousin, the Ogopogo, who lives in Okanogan lake of British Columbia.

Big Foot & Nessie Trading Cards

Medium: Acrylic & Ink
For this set I was thinking along the lines of collector cards, like sport legends and such. They started out as loose gestural paint brush stokes. Then the drawings were sketched over top and white paint was used for punchy highlights.
Original Art © RhinoInk Illustrations Ltd

Illustration Friday - Soar

2008-06-02T22:33:00.001-04:00

Medium: Graphite with Digital Colour

PHOENIX
The bird was rendered with graphite without any refence material. In exploring the brain's interpretation of the real world, without any outside influence other than memories, I get to create something that's never existed before.
"Phoenix" is a linear burn over a satellite image of a city with a river winding through it. I could have never planned colours like this. It has a "Native American" feeling to it. Gotta love PhotoShop!BLUE CHINA
This one has a completely different feeling. Another linear burn over a solid colour back ground, this one would make interesting stationary. I could see it as a greeting card or the cover of a journal.
CITYSCAPE
Going back to my original concept of seeing an aerial view of the landscape below. It's very easy to get carried away with all the possibilities of PhotoShop. This one also showcases the original graphite drawing.
The juxtaposition of fantasy drawing and real photography. Makes it feel like another world.
Original Art © RhinoInk Illustrations Ltd

So glad I found this website. I really needed to be reminded that illustration is all about play time.