posted: February 1, 2010

I thought I would post this one for the benefit of all those Toronto lovers, like Doug out there. I did this piece for the Toronto tourist guide. Normally you don't picture the Stanley Cup and the Maple Leafs together, but the city does host the cup at the Hockey Hall of Fame and many in Leafs Nation claim the city to be the center of the hockey universe.

Everybody around here was buzzing with excitement about the big trade yesterday, with Toronto shipping out six roster players in exchange for the hulking defenseman Dion Phanuef and J. S. Giguere. Nothing like cleaning house on a mediocre and disappointing team. Go Leafs, there's always next year!


Closer to home, I took advantage of the deep freeze this weekend to flood the backyard rink. My son Lucas is off school today and is banging the puck in the net and working on his moves. He's got this between his skates dangle spin backhand to the top shelf thing almost down. Hockey dreams live. Not much else survives in the dead of winter.

posted: January 27, 2010

We've hit triple digits down at the Roboshow gallery. Take a minute or two to check out the fantastic submissions.


Add your own, let the robots play. It's only a matter of time before they take over the world.


I really want to thank all of the contributors, and Mark and Harry for suggesting this. Here are a few of my favorites.

posted: December 22, 2009

I was thrilled to get a call from Irene Gallo for an assignment at Tor.com. Even more so because of the subject.

Tor.com is hosting a Chtulhu Christmas this month, crammed full of mind-blowing Lovecraft inspired artwork, comics and stories. It's a real treat to be a part of this.

I've been getting a large number of requests for the mechanical collages I've developed recently. This gave me a chance to work with a great new subject - tentacles! I worked on a number of sketches and played around with the idea behind the article: a foreboding tale of a lonely Christmas visited by a dark entity. If you want to know more you will have to read the article.

I wanted to make sure the elements worked together, so I poured a fair bit of effort into these sketches. Plus I was having a lot of fun with these!

Check out the final, full color illustration here.




Happy Holidays!

posted: December 14, 2009

An illustrator's hope: to be,
like some valley cheese, local, but prized elsewhere.

I thought it appropriate to paraphrase W. H. Auden, for this post. My last post dealt with local inspiration and artists. I wanted to follow up with some more Prince Edward County action.

Tomorrow the Olympic torch passes through our community on its way to the Vancouver 2010 games. I know a few of the runners and applied to carry the flame myself, but I didn't make the cut.  I was asked to contribute the illustrations for the celebrations guide, to be held at the Crystal Palace on the town's fairgrounds. I worked with talented local designer Rene Dick. His company, Scout Design has put its stamp on a large number of events and businesses. He's also a great guy to work with!

It's important to get involved. We all pitch in according to our abilities. My son Lucas is lending his ample voice to the children's choir. Here's a shot of him at yesterday's dress rehearsal by local photographer Phil Norton. Thanks Phil!

I have also worked with Rene for a number of local businesses. I had a chance to collaborate on an ad for an artisan cheese campaign. Fifth Town makes incredible award-winning goat and sheep cheese. We designed a series of ads aimed at urban audiences. They are active leaders in the 'slow food' movement. It's nice to know where your food comes from. Even better if you know the people providing it!

My son Jacob recently made a presentation to his grade seven class. He argued for responsible consumer spending, about knowing the folks you do business with and supporting them with your spending decisions. He argued against spending money in large box stores and saving a few bucks. Before his presentation, nobody in his class supported the concept, saying it was more important to save money so you can get more stuff. Afterwards, they took another vote and the kids all maintained their positions. He is working towards changing attitudes, and it can be a hard thing. I'm proud of his courage to stand up and make his opinion known.


In times like these we all have to work together. Support your local illustrator!

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