Many Shades of Grey for the Weekly Alibi

One of the reasons I love editorial illustration so much is that I get to learn about all sorts of things I wouldn't think to look into otherwise. Last week I got to learn about the cultural roots of the banjo. I had no idea that black slaves brought the instrument and its music to America. Here's a link to the article. 

I wanted to show the luxurious plantation houses of the sweltering south and the crystal-clear lakes and humbly built cottages of the Appalachian mountains. Banjos have been in many different hands. Minstrel shows are a rather awkward bit of American history but an important bit nonetheless. I knew I wanted to include it but I definitely didn't want it to look offensive. 

The art director got back to me later to say that the article's title was "Many Shades of Grey", just at the time I was trying to decide how to colour the illustration. So I went with it!

Sketch:

--Julia
Portfolio site

New Macleans illo out!

A tribute to a fun, irreverent lady. The subject wrote a number of books in her life and was poised to make her mainstream publishing debut with a novel being put out by Penguin Books. I managed to dig up the book covers of the stuff she'd gotten published before and include them in the piece. The internet is so perfect for this kind of research -- I never would've been able to find this type of stuff back in the old days!

She was a Dadaist who liked to dress in tuxedos (upper left), dabbled in striptease (upper right), attended OCAD (top middle, though I know that bit of OCAD wasn't around in her day, I liked using it to frame the piece), enjoyed yoga and animals, the occult and psychology. The round things with the tassels are pasties -- which the art director said he couldn't really identify as such but would trust me on it :).   

Spot illustration for the iPad version:

Sketch!

-- Julia
Portfolio site

Pectin Priestess -- Colour process

I've started dropping colours in this one, part of my Hydrocolloid Pantheon series. The first two were gelatin and agar and all are my way of paying tribute to fun, edible jiggly-wigglies. Pectin is derived from fruits so naturally this one is all fruity and green. Still a work in progress. Might still add texture to the bark.

I feel like with the orange hair she's looking just a bit more like Margaery Tyrell of Highgarden (from Game of Thrones :P) who would naturally be the personification of such a bounty!

Gelatin! (Derived from hooves, horns, hide)

Agar! (Derived from red algae)

Sketch!

-- Julia
Portfolio site

Newest Macleans illo on newsstands

 My latest for Macleans magazine. This fellow big and strong, an amazing martial artist. He loved DJing and worked in construction putting up drywall while he followed his dreams. Days before he died, he described a day spent at a playground with his daughter Ava and his father as the happiest day of his life. The other name on the swing, Alicia, is his wife. I like how the frame of the swing set forms "A"s on either side.

The spot illo for the iPad version:

-- Julia
Portfolio site

Cover of the Georgia Straight Out Now!

New client! Super happy to get to do the cover of The Georgia Straight, a Vancouver newspaper established in 1967. My first love is editorial illustration so whenever I get the chance to work for a great paper like this it's a real feather in my cap. Some proud moments I've had recently have been doing a series of illos for the Village Voice and doing a cover for the National Post's Weekend Post section.

The story is about the hidden dangers of farmed shrimp. Unbeknownst to most folks, farmed shrimp is absolutely chock-full of antibiotics, hormones, and pesticides. There are regulations but those are often lax in the countries that farm shrimp and there isn't a lot of inspection going on when it makes it over to us.

The art director wanted something bold and bright and I was more than happy to oblige! A major bonus for me was getting to illustrate food -- one of my favourite subjects :).

Julia
-- Portfolio site

Grunge for the Weekly Alibi

A fun grungy music piece for the Weekly Alibi for an article titled "Seattle Wall of Sound". Apparently Converse sneakers are super 90s, but for me the 90s shoe/boot has got to be Dr. Marten's. I actually have these somewhere back home!

I draw the same speakers in everything ~.~'  :

 Sketch:

-- Julia
Portfolio site

Two new rooms for my adventure game

 Slow and steady wins the race! Here's a fun boudoir. I'm trying to labour over these less because I really start obsessing over every little pixel. Is there enough pink in this one? I've always loved dressing screens. So very chic.

And here's a sun-filled conservatory. I managed to squeeze in one of my favourite posters: "Le Chat Noir". Most of the cottage will look rustic and older and kinda dark, but the conservatory is a newer addition where a few herbs and plants are grown and where there's some nice light and warmth.

This is the first really decent room I did. The kitchen is definitely from an older part of the cottage, particularly the ice box and the antique stove.

This was my first attempt at a room. I like the lighting and shadows, but I'm not crazy about the colours or the drawing. Continual improvement!

I think the next room I do will be a large living room that scrolls across two screens (if that's possible). Either that or a bedroom because I haven't tried that yet. Maybe a study!

-- Julia
Portfolio site