More food in my latest Macleans!

I had too much fun drawing this plate of breakfast -- Including the mini ice cream scoop of butter on top of the toast! I don't think I'd ever draw a hamburger without a sesame seed bun. Something about those sesame seeds shouts hamburger to me :P.

This fellow was born on a freighter bound for Canada. He loved skiing in Quebec and sailing in Florida.  He loved chatting over breakfast with a good cup of coffee.

Also: I didn't know what a labradoodle was until now!

My second Macleans illustration where I made the sketch on my Surface Pro 2 (using Photoshop). I still like to ink by hand, so I sketch, ink, scan, and do the grey tones back on the Surface Pro 2. Doing the sketch digitally makes it so much easier for me to resize and move the different elements around to create a flowing composition. Here's the first one I did using my SP2.

Sketch:

-- Julia

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2014 Zodiac Illustrations for the National Post

Click image to enlarge.

 I've always wanted to do a series of Zodiac illustrations so when I was asked to do them for the National Post I was all over it!

Series are challenging and fun for a bunch of reasons. They have to look like they belong together but not look too similar. I like sticking with one colour palette when I do a series, so those colours have to be able to work together well and perform different functions.

Because I wanted to stuff a bunch of astrological info into each illustration, I created a template that all of the illos would follow:

1. The astrological symbol in red and yellow in a nested frame.
2. The animals/figures depicting each sign in the middle.
3. Background of the central frame is the element (earth, air, fire, water) associated with the sign.
4. Bottom left is the planetary symbol that governs the sign.
5. Upper left and bottom right areas for plants and flowers associated with the sign.

And of course when it comes to workload, all my usual time estimates had to be multiplied by twelve! That certainly made it kinda daunting :P.

Sketches:

Some of the illustrations got printed in greyscale inside the newspaper, so I redid the illustrations so they'd work well in shades of grey:

Which is your favourite? :)

-- Julia
Portfolio site

Happy Birthday, Mom!

Here's Dido-cat perched on my mom's favourite birdwatching chair. It's always a huge struggle between those two for possession of the coveted seat! The yellow scarf is silk and was my mom's birthday gift from me :). In the background on the left is an immortal Xmas cactus and on the left is a dormant fig tree. Mom gets figs, too!

 

-- Julia

Portfolio site



Macleans on newsstands. First one using my new toy!

Here's my first Macleans illo where I used my shiny new Microsoft Surface Pro 2! I'll try and get around to writing up a review for it (I love it!) because I do have a bunch of thoughts. I will say this, though: I'm awfully tired of reviewers comparing it to an iPad and whining about how heavy it is. Cut it out! For a full-fledged pc it is light as a feather, and P.S. do some push-ups :P.

 

I usually sketch on paper and then move to my pc to revise things and then print out the result and ink that. But this time I was able to work out the sketch completely on the SP2 and then output my "revised" sketch for inking, skipping a step! I still like how a hand-done ink line looks and feels over a completely digital piece. Maybe one day I'll feel more comfortable using only my pc but for now I still like to use a paintbrush :).

 

I love these back page pieces when there are a ton of details to work with. This one went from doll clothes to baby clothes (she had two daughter, both with music-themed names, which is why there's a joined musical note on the onesie) and everything in between: frog-catching, nail-painting, xmas plays, Sudoku, soccer, Harry Potter, camping, and Ottawa's Tulip Festival.

 

Preliminary sketch:

 

-- Julia

Portfolio site

Come into my parlour

Click image to see as intended!

The parlour was considered the best room of the house, where the finest furniture, art, etc. would be presented. This is because it was the room one would take visitors. It was considered a luxury to have a room solely for entertaining, as a few hundred years ago most folks lived in houses that were only one or two rooms. Wikipedia has a great entry that delves into this in more detail!

So naturally, my parlour is decorated with a plush settee, an elegant carpet, gilt wallpaper, a Tiffany floor lamp, a bronze Art Nouveau figurine, and one of my favourite Lawren Harris oil paintings. On the table we've got an exquisite crystal vase with a matching candy dish (containing Jordan Almonds. I saw Jordan almonds being sold in the craft section of Wal-mart alongside glitter and fabric paint, not the grocery section, which is everything you need to know about Jordan Almonds. They have a fascinating history, I might do an illustration about them!).

I like how fussy this room turned out. I'm thinking Harry Potter's Dolores Umbrage would've loved it! Maybe I should add some decorative plates with kittens on :P.

Here's the oil painting I've converted into pixelly glory:

The bronze figurine I used as a reference:

-- Julia
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Macleans Latest

 When I'm making these illustrations for Macleans I like to include places the subject of the obituary lived and worked. This hard-working lady got one of her first Canadian jobs selling fruit in Kensington Market. I was happy to include a little slice of Toronto in this piece! The bottom centre of the illustration is a bit of La Grange, Guyana, the port near where the subject grew up.

 

I also enjoy small town "Welcome to -" signs (upper right). They're usually these lovely distinctive painted wooden landmarks. One of my past Macleans illustrations was composed mostly of signs and local landmarks!

 

Sketch:

-- Julia

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Hardtack

Here we go... Another illustration based on food, although hardtack barely qualifies! (Here are some other food-related illustrations I've done).

Hardtack is flour and water baked into a nigh-invulnerable biscuit. If you want to get fancy you can add salt or even shortening, but real hardtack is almost more of a building material than a foodstuff. It's calorie-dense, fairly light, and will keep for ages if stored properly (historically, improperly stored hardtack was plagued by weevil larvae yet still eaten; best not to think about this). 

Here is a recipe for you to make your own hardtack. After you've finished baking it, the author of the recipe advises you keep it out in the open air for a few days. "He writes "When it has the consistency of a brick, it is fully cured." Bon appétit :P.  

Because of its convenience hardtack remains a mainstay of sailors, soldiers, and explorers. Ancient Egyptians baked an early form of hardtack using millet. Romans soldiers had buccellum. King Richard the Lionheart took it with him on Crusade. Royal Navy seamen gnawed on ship's biscuits and Civil War soldiers on both sides ground their teeth against hardtack's unyielding surface. Japanese soliders ate wee biscuits called kanpan, while Russian Navy have galeta in their rations. Civilians in Alaska and Hawaii (both remote areas that benefited from hardtack's shelf-stability) enjoy hardtack as a snack food, and explorers still bring it with them on expedition. 

Inked version. I made a few adjustments, such as the size of the Egyptian's millet loaf on the far left (looks more like a cracker than a loaf here) and the kanpan in the Japanese soldier's hands are way too big.

Pencil sketch:

Preliminary sketch. I was originally going to have weevil larvae poking out of the main bit of hardtack in the middle of the background, but good taste prevailed! 

 Hardtack. Source: Wikipedia

Kanpan. Source: Wikipedia

-- Julia

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