Complex #2 available now!

The second issue of my comic book COMPLEX has arrived!

In this issue, we leave Terry and his search for the Beastlord, and instead follow the adventures of the Ducktectives as they teleport through the levels of Complex to the murky depths of Swamplex.

Will they find the elusive Xenotaur? Will Sully and Greta exorcise the demon occupying Greta's body? Pick up an issue to find out!

Also, this issue contains a new Blobby Boys comic by Alex Schubert!

The book is 30 pages, and it's worth every penny.

$5 CAD plus shipping.

Order your copy at the top right corner of this blog.

ENDGAME

A poster I just finished for Vancouver's Main Street Theatre Company.

I will have to add a lot more text and logos as the actual play approaches, but this is a preliminary teaser to entice the west coast crowds.

This was a hard one to come up with, as Beckett's scripts are so...abstract.

Anyways, I always like these MST posters because I am given free reign to try whatever I want. In this case, I decided to do almost everything on computer, something I've never done before. So yeah, everything but the text was drawn with my tablet. Futuristic.

It's not something I am going to adopt for all of my illustration, but it was fun to experiment with. Like college and drugs.

Many thanks to Daryl, Josh, Ryan, and Stephen. Dudes.

Montecristo Magazine

I recently did this for an article in an upcoming issue of Montecristo magazine, and let me tell you, it was a tough go. I'm quite happy with the final, but I had a very hard time coming up with it.

The article in question is about the Human Security Report Project: A SFU based think tank that analyses the changing statistics in organized violence throughout the world. Very interesting stuff, actually. The study has found that the number of armed conflicts around the world has decreased in recent years and that, despite what most of us think, the world is safer now than it was in the 1950's.

The art director mentioned that he liked the anthropomorphic approach I've taken in some of my images and asked if I could come up with something in a similar vein for this one. Long story short, it was a real challenge coming up with a single image of a human-like character that represents the fact that worldwide peace is more prevalent now than one would think.

I usually go for a short walk when I need to come up with an idea.

I took a lot of walks.

This one stressed me out, but I'm glad for the experience. Hey, if you're not challenging yourself, you're redundant. In the end, I'm happy with the image I made and I really appreciate that the art director (inadvertently) put me in such a pickle.

Thanks a million to Mark!

NUVO Magazine

An illustration I did for an upcoming issue of NUVO Magazine. The article is a humourous look at the tendency to use the 'football field' as a means of measuring large objects. Particularly glaciers.

I think I need to stop using that reddish-orange in so many illustrations. It's worn out its welcome.

Thanks so much to Mark on this one!

Squidface and The Meddler

A few months ago, I did an interview for the excellent blog Squidface and The Meddler.
I was very busy this past summer and I completely forgot to post it here.
So anyways, check it out here: interview
They also posted a bit of my comic work here: comics
Thanks a ton to Mike and Jes! Awesome folk.

Wired Magazine!

I have a few illustrations in the October issue of Wired.

Check the link here. I'm on pages 2,3 and 4 online.

You can also pick up a copy at your local newsagents.

Huge thanks to Leo Jung for calling me up on this one!

The Deep Dark Woods!

I recently completed a few jobs for my good friends, The Deep Dark Woods. They are currently on tour promoting the release of their newest album "The Place I Left Behind" through Six Shooter Records, of which I did all the artwork for. I've done album covers for them in the past, but this is by far my favourite.

They also had me design a Tshirt and a tour poster.

If you haven't heard these guys, I strongly recommend that you pick up an album. They're on their way up.

Thanks to Chris, Luke, Ryan, Burke and Geoff.

Vice Comics

I did another comic for the Vice website.

Cheg it oot here.

The New York Times Op-Ed

Did this for an Op-ed piece in The New York Times. Read it here.

I normally do these drawings in black and white, as that is how they will appear in the newspaper. This time, I decided I might as well work in colour and it worked in my favour: They published the colour piece on the website!

Thanks to Alexandra Zsigmond for this one!

Grain Magazine

I am the featured artist in the spring issue of Grain Magazine!!

I love the design they came up with for the cover (the wrap-around image, the 'honeysuckle' type treatment I posted about earlier here), so enticing!

And there's a bunch of my paintings inside!! This is so crazy!!

A billion thanks to Sylvia Legris and Betsy Rosenwald for taking a chance on my work.

Animation test

My first attempt at animation in a long time. I think the last thing I tried was also a walk-cycle.

True West

A poster I recently finished for Vancouver's Main Street Theatre Company. Their next production is Sam Shepard's True West, an amazing piece of theatre. Truly tense and disturbing.

This is the fourth poster I've done for the company and, I'll admit, it was the first time I've actually read one of the plays. I usually base the image off of a brief synopsis (although I did watch the film version of American Buffalo).

I now realize how much I've missed in each play previous to this one. I read the first line of True West (a description of the character's costumes) and I began scribbling notes in my sketchbook. Every page offered a new interpretation of the work! Slight nuances in speech, descriptions of sounds, interactions between characters...

Anyways, I'm really happy with how it turned out

Thanks again to Ryan, Daryl, Josh and Stephen.

The Feathertale Review

This illustration was done for The Feathertale Review's 8th issue, which will be out this fall. It accompanies a smart little story about the author's resemblance to a particular film actor. I won't mention that actor's name, as I hope the illustration is well-executed enough to make it obvious.
Thanks to Lee Wilson for this entertaining assignment.

Whazamo! Profiles

I've been featured in Open Book Toronto's Whazamo Profiles this month. Open Book Toronto is "celebrating the outstanding graphic novels and comics published here in Ontario and throughout the country" and I'm honoured to be included in that list! Click here to read on...
There's a (very) short interview and a few links to where you can find some great comics.
(Here's to you, Miss Koyama!!)

NUVO Magazine - Cougar Cruise

An illustration I did recently for the Last Writes section in Vancouver's NUVO Magazine.

The image accompanied a surreal article about a "Cougar Cruise" that takes place in Toronto.

Basically, participants pay a fee to take an evening cruise around the Toronto harbour, in the hopes of hooking up with an attractive older woman. Actually, a really funny article full of some very interesting characters.

Thanks to Art Director Mark Reynolds for this one. Always a pleasure.

New York Times Op-Ed

An illustration for the Op-Ed page in today's New York Times. A smoking ban in public New York parks and beaches goes into effect on May 23rd. Sounds good to me.

Thanks again Alexandra Zsigmond. Always awesome to work with.

Creative Type III

I did this piece for the Creative Type III show, which just recently came down. This is the second year I've submitted a piece and I enjoyed it immensely.

I hardly ever use type in my work, and I know next-to-nothing about traditional typographic methods, but something about these projects was so appealing. Just getting out my ruler and being PRECISE was a pleasure. I guess it's because I'm trying something different, something that challenges me. That's important.

Thanks a ton to Carla Poirier, Jaque Lane and Blair Johnsarude. They let me eek through the deadline and submit something at the last minute.

The show would not go on without them!

Grain Magazine

I just finished this type treatment for Grain magazine. They will be featuring a number of my paintings in an upcoming issue entitled Honeysuckle. Apparently, Honeysuckle is Pantone's colour of the year.

I had the hardest time coming up with a treatment I was happy with. I wanted to avoid anything cute and flowery. This was difficult given the word I was working with and the colour I was asked to use. So I decided to go completely opposite and make it metal.

Le Gallery

Myself, Patrick Kyle and Ginette Lapalme currently have a show up at Toronto's Le Gallery. The show gathers seleceted work we've created over the past two years. It's such an honour to be exhibiting in a gallery that shows so many fantastic artists! Thanks so much to gallery owner Wil Kucey for opportunity.

New York Times Letters Illustration

An image I just completed for The New York Times Letters page regarding the radiation threat in post-earthquake Japan. You can read about it here.

I visited Japan nearly three years ago and was immediately enamoured with the country. Seeing the damage from the recent earthquake is truly saddening.

Please visit your national Red Cross webpage and make a donation to help those in need.

Thank you so much to Alexandra Zsigmond from The Times. Always a pleasure to work with!

COMPLEX - new comic book now available!!

This is the cover and 14th page from my new comic book, COMPLEX.

The story follows young Terry Hersham, a citizen of the multi-levelled Complex, and his trials and tribulations as he attempts to gain access into Fuckplex (a particularly naughty level of Complex).

The book is 32 pages long, and chock-full of adventure and gross-outs. The excellent illustrator, Josh Holinaty, also contributed 4 pages.

It'll only cost you $5 CAD + shipping and you can purchase it on the main page of this blog.

ENJOY!

American Illustration!!

I just received my copy of American Illustration 29 the other day. I have a couple pieces in the beautifully designed book and they look great!

I'm a little blown away by the double-page spread!

Game Over Show 4 - Giant Robot San Francisco

Three pieces I just finished for the Game Over 4 show at Giant Robot in San Francisco! I'm super excited to be a part of this!

It's running from March 4 - March 30, and the lineup of artists is amazing. The group show pays homage to the continuous evolution of videogames and their massive influence on popular culture. See more here: www.gr-sf.com

Wish I could make it down there, but alas, I'm stuck up here in Toronto for the winter.

NYTimes Op-ed

A little piece I did for February 10's New York Times Op-ed page. Read about it here.

This was a tricky assignment as it was the night before former Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak was supposed to resign. The Times was looking for an image that could be general enough to work in any given scenario that might play out over those 24 hours. Extra tricky as it had to fit within a 2.15" x 2.5" box.
Extra Extra tricky was the timeline: assigned at 12 pm, 3 roughs by 2:30pm, final by 5:30pm.

I found that working within such a tight deadline had me trusting my instincts a lot more than ususal. Less hemming and hawing, more going with the gut. I need to try to approach all illustration assignments like this, whatever the deadline may be.

A huge thanks to Alexandra Zsigmond at the Times.

Egypt

A personal image made in response to the current situation in Egpyt.

Death Spirits

This image is for a soon-to-be-released book about Death Spirits. There are a lot of other great contributors and I can't wait to see the final print.
I'm trying out some new stuff here. I guess you could call it mixed media.

Walrus Illustrations

I have a few illustrations in the current issue of The Walrus magazine.

The images above are my illustrations for the Miscellany section and the Letters section.

You can see the rest online, but I'd suggest that you purchase a physical copy :)

Huge thanks to designer Jennifer Spinner at The Walrus. She helped make the assignment enjoyable and relaxed.