FINALLY these are done! After completing my character rotations using traditional media in class, I decided to go a bit further by completing the rotation in digital form.
I posted my progress on these character rotations in a previous post (you can find it here). It’s definitely been a good (and long) learning experience and I’m pretty happy with how it turned out. The profile and 3/4 back view were very challenging for me but it will be helpful in the next assignment.
Here’s a fun illustration I did for Anime Audiolog, a neat podcast site dedicated to anime, manga and visual novels from Japan. I’ve returned to anime after a long hiatus and it’s been really helpful to have a site to go to for reviews and opinions on the matter. Watching anime is nostalgic for me because I watched a lot of anime in high school. It’s been fun getting back into it.
The guys at Anime Audiolog were looking to spice up their site with a banner and an avatar to match. Check them out here.
My friend Lauren got a job offer in Japan and although I’m extremely excited for her, I’m also pretty bummed that I’m not going to see her very much anymore. I made her a card with the above frog illustration on it, hoping it would capture my mood on the whole situation. Lauren loves frogs, and I figured drawing a frog was appropriate since the frog in Japanese culture symbolizes good fortune.
I was one of the lucky few to receive a free ticket to Game of Thrones: The Exhibition held at the Toronto’s Design Exchange. I thought it would be a fun exercise to bring my notebook along and do a few quick sketches of the costumes and props straight from the show itself! (and at the same time, feed my excitement for the new season, which I am really pumped about!)
I found the exhibit itself very inspiring as every prop and costume is a piece of art masterfully crafted with much love and dedication. It is amazing how a work of fiction can seem so realistic and how much effort goes in to making each piece. There were even model dragons at the museum along with illustrated storyboards and a replica of the Iron Throne.
The exhibit is opened for two more days in Toronto, so drop by if you can or visit the Design Exchange website for more information.
Back in January, I began twelve week course at George Brown College for Children’s Book Illustration. The course goes in an entirely different direction that I am used to, focusing primarily on traditional media. For the first assignment, we were asked to choose a children’s book or young adult novel and design characters for them. I’m really excited to share my process in coming up with characters for the novel The Schwa was Here by Neil Shusterman. It’s a great read for both young and old and I would highly recommend it to everyone. I intentionally picked a young adult novel without illustrations so that I can let my imagination go wild and interpret it my own way.
The two characters below represent the main characters of the story. Calvin Schwa a.k.a “The Schwa” is a kid who has been “functionally invisible” ever since his mother left him at a young age. No one can see him and often times, those around him don’t know he is even there. He is finally discovered by Anthony “Antsy” Bonano, a wise-ass Brooklyn kid who feels like the invisible person in his family. The two team up to take advantage of what they call “The Schwa Effect”, making a couple of bucks doing schoolyard dares. Before they know it, Antsy and the Schwa face the mother of all dares, which will change their lives forever.
In terms of character design, I perceived the Schwa as a very average and lonely looking kid with not a lot of stand-out features. Antsy on the other hand, is the complete opposite. He is full of spunk and energy, which is reflected in his expressions. Other characters include Antsy’s friends Ira and Howie, Mr. Crawley (a wealthy old man who owns the local restaurant and 14 dogs) Lexie (his blind granddaughter), and Manny (a plastic crash-test dummy given to Antsy by his father, who works at a well-known plastic manufacturing plant).
Working on the final colour character rotations (due next class). After that, I will be working on a scene from the novel, so stay tuned!
Yes, that’s right! I’m back after a fairly lengthy hiatus from the site. These past few months have been very busy and I was fighting a nasty flu not too long ago. I spent Valentines day at home trying to get better (poor Don!) Here is a Valentines Day Card I that I made for him. It’s the first piece I’ve done using traditional pen and ink. After scanning it in, I worked with it in Adobe Illustrator to get the final piece.
Original ink drawing:
Long time no post! I’ve been taking some time off the blog to re-charge my brain. If there is such a thing as creative exhaustion, then I was really feeling it. I’m ready to get back on the proverbial horse so to speak. Don and I are going full force on our picture books, so expect to see some character sketches and concepts soon. For now, I thought I would warm up to Don’s writing style by creating a visual for one of the poems he wrote a while back. Check it out below:
