X-Domokun!

This is the anniversary card I painted for my boyfriend. There are these super-cool DC themed Domo-kun blind boxes out now, and we have a vintage Batman, new Batman, new Robin, Two-Face, and an Aquaman. To even things out, I thought it'd be fun to draw some Marvel Domo-kun.

I'd never watched Domo-kun until I started watching Adventure Time. The DVR would catch  some Domo-kun bits and they kind of won me over. Those beady little eyes! That gigantic mouth!

-- Julia
Portfolio site

Analog

This was my submission to Society6's latest collaboration, "Analog". Sadly it didn't get selected but I have a pretty nice piece anyway!

I was inspired by Ozma, the fairy princess in the Wizard of Oz. When I was a kid I was all about princesses and fantasy -- so naturally, Ozma was pretty much the best thing ever! She wore this Princess Leia-style over-the-ear crown with huge poppies. That crown reminds me of all the elaborate and even beautiful headphones I've been seeing around lately. And thanks to all those audiophiles out there, records are back! I love a good victrola/phonograph/gramophone. Such a beautful shape and made of rock-solid wood! 

I don't know how I can be nostalgic about a time I never actually lived in but when I watched that animated Tin-Tin movie that came out in 2011, it made me wish I could live at a time when plastic wasn't really a thing. All the surfaces were real. Real marble, real wood, real glass. Brass, iron, silver. Everything weighed a ton back in those days!

Inked:

Some more process stuff:

 -- Julia
Portfolio site

Happy 2nd Birthday to my Nephew!

Matthew loves his Duplo :). Must run in the family, because I'm a huge Lego fan!

-- Julia
Portfolio site

Macleans -- New illustration on newsstands now!

Third published illustration in a row with a horse in it. First one and second one. This one was for a man who loved riding horses, rock n' roll, skiing, camping, cycling, kayaking, and photography. He had a grandson who died tragically young of cancer and they enjoyed watching the Ottawa Senators together. I used a slightly older version of the Sens logo because that was the one the grandson knew. I'm a weirdo because that's the type of research I do and I like to be accurate. 

Sketch:

Spot illustration for the iPad version:

-- Julia

Portfolio site

Owls for my Dad

This year's birthday card for my dad! Ever since my parents started birdwatching, deciding on the subject matter for these cards has gotten much easier -- I'd already run through all their hobbies! Plenty of birds left to paint :).

-- Julia

Portfolio site

National Post Weekend Post cover: Spring Books Special

Here's the one that made it to the cover of the Weekend Post! And here are the other sketches. It's always a rush for me to see my work published this size (8.9 x 16.7"). It's for the National Post's Spring Books special -- one of the books is "The Ordinary Acrobat" by Duncan Wall.

Circus posters were my main source of inspiration. I love their bright colours and the fantastic feats they display! Right up my alley. 

I've gone my whole life without drawing a single horse. And now this is the second illustration in a row that includes a horse. 

 Sketch!

-- Julia

Portfolio site

Weekend Post cover this weekend!

The final of one of these three sketches will be on the cover of the National Posts's Weekend Post... This weekend. Weekend weekend post. It's for their Spring books special with the focus being on a book called The Ordinary Acrobat, a historical and personal account of the circus from Montreal author Duncan Wall's perspective.

So so -- What's your favourite? Which do you think will be the winnah?

-- Julia

Portfolio site