I just love Fairy Tales. There's just something about them that is so wonderfully imaginative and timeless. When I am trying to think of new stories and also when I am looking at the new books that come out I wonder if they will be around in the future and if they will be as timeless as so many of those original tales.

For this weeks IF subject "grow", I immediately thought of Jack and the Beanstalk. So this is my little sketch of it.

*edit: I added a second version of it. I've seen a lot of people adding textures and effects to their work and thought that maybe I would try to experiment with this one a bit. Let me know which one you guys like better.




Take care,

-Mike

Well I was able to produce a little Illustration Friday sketch today. Been a while since I participated and it's nice to get back into it again. Sometimes being creative is difficult and just sketching from uninspired thoughts starts to reflect itself in my work. So being challenged to think differently and really push out something that I would have not normally drawn from is a challenge that I am enjoying immensely. This weeks work is Extremes and being from the great white North, extreme temperatures is very common. We go from very hot long days in the summer (28-30ºC with sun up at 6am and setting at 10-11pm) to very very cold winter days (-40ºC with sunrise around 8-9 am and sunset at 6-7pm!).

These are quite extreme changes in weather, at least in my opinion, and I wanted to show what it looks like quite often after the first snowfall. We seem to forget just how cold it really gets and as soon as the white stuff appears we bundle up for the worst. This is especially true of kids and mothers dressing their kids as I wanted to draw for this weeks IF.



Take care,

-Mike

Just a quicky I did last Friday while I was thinking of something to do for IF (which is still coming - maybe tomorrow?)

Take care,
-Mike

Hello again everyone. I've been busy with life the last few weeks with family weddings and family funerals. Life continues to progress and especially this past week we have been able to reflect upon what we are thankful for. For all you Canucks that read this blog, Happy Thanksgiving, and well, Happy Thanksgiving to everyone else as well! I was asked why we celebrate Thanksgiving early and if was different from American Thanksgiving, and I had to say I honestly didn't know. So if you know, share the info with me please.

I've still been working and doodling new things. I know I've neglected Illustration Friday lately and so tomorrow I will get on it again. One new project I am doing on the side is a comic strip, and I was approached by a writer to get involved with this. I will fill you guys in with more details as I get the ok from Grant, but it's been a lot of fun developing so far. I really enjoy character development and the creation process at the beginning of any project.

I've also figured a way to get my tear sheets (samples of my work) on here for anyone to download. So Download my sample tear sheet pdf here or on my side bar by clicking on it. The pdf has three pages each that are different examples of what I illustrate and many of them are on here and my site already. So save it, print it, file it, or scrap it (preferably recycled if possible) they are yours to do with as you please.

Below are some samples of recent stuff:
-First is a Thanksgiving sketch I did for my agent;
-The second is another of the same character that I am actually developing a kids book for and you should be seeing more of in the future;
-The final is a possible character lineup for the new comic strip I am drawing that you should also be hearing more about in the near future.






So thanks for stopping by again, I will have more updates and another IF drawing coming soon.
Take care,
-Mike