http://www.drawger.com/christianslade/ Fri, 05 Mar 2010 13:35:39 EST FeedCreator 1.7.2 http://drawger.com/_images/drawger_leo_logo.gif http://www.drawger.com/christianslade http://www.drawger.com/christianslade/index.php?section=articles&article_id=9951

Once in awhile, a project comes in that is so freaking awesome you can barely stop smiling while you're working on it. This was one of those.   Even though I've been drawing since the womb like many artists on this site, I still feel like I am just barely getting started with what I want to do with my artwork and what I want to say with it in my short time here on this planet. I have projects in which I am the creator and have pretty much full control, but I also love working on other projects in which I am simply the illustrator. Many times I enjoy the excitment of the unknown of what comes next. I know illustrators who dislike doing educational illustrations, and I can certainly understand the economical and restricted aspects of it, however sometimes they are gifts. This was one such project. Last year, I got the call to do a series of illustrations that would allow me to tap into my 3rd grade sense of humor (not too difficult) and do a series of pictures about the disgusting human body. There were five books in total. The titles were "Twitches and Sneezes", "Puke and Poo", "Mites and Bites", "Ooze and Goo", and "Itches and Scratches". Originally published in the UK, these books are now available here in the US by the folks at Raintree. The AD and editor were two of the best people I have ever worked with and they basically gave me free reign on these. In fact after the first round of roughs, I was told to amp up the grossness a bit! How often do you get a note like that? I was happy to oblige. Needless to say, it was one of my favorite projects from last year and it was a blast to have a case of these hardcovers show up on my doorstep this week! As with many of my illustration projects, it flew by quickly but it gave me many chances to crack a smile and get that warm and fuzzy feeling that only creating pictures can give you.... or maybe that was from the nachos I had for lunch. Now where did I put that Pepto Bismol?

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It is appropriate that I am posting pictures of zombies since I am returning to the blog world from the land of the dead. It has been awhile and I have so many cool things going on but I thought I'd pick something fun to post since it's Friday! Like many of the artists here, I create quick drawings in the morning before I work to get the engines running in my head. These pictures have no planning involved and usually end up being given away or put in the scrap box. Over the summer however, I decided to apply a theme to them for a month. So I did.....ZOMBIES!! They are popular right now but I have been a fan since I was a kid checking out those crazy VHS covers when video rental stores first opened in the 80's. So aside from the planned subject, these immature drawings are totally random and contain the sophistication depths of a bottlecap. Happy Drawing fellow Drawgers!! -Christian Slade

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Since this past January, I have illustrated the 4 page story "Ricky & Pals" for the monthly magazine "Your Big Backyard" which is published by the National Wildlife Federation. The NWF also puts out the classic mag "Ranger Rick". "Ricky & Pals" follows the tails of a young raccoon, Ricky and his little forest critter friends, Flora Skunk, Mitzie Mink, and Bizzie Beaver. These stories remind me of days spent outdoors playing with other kids in the neighborhood, riding bikes to the 7-11 for comic books, building forts and digging in mounds of dirt for my Star Wars figures to play in. Nowadays I get to relive those moments through my own twin children, Nate and Kate, who just turned 2 this past April. I also get to experience this youthful bliss every month while illustrating these stories, all the time mining my memories to remember what is was like and how it felt to be a kid and somehow get that into the paintings. I also try to add little details to help flesh out the story in ways words cannot,...sort of like a story within a story. These pictures are a sampling of the production over the last 6 months. We work about 3 to 4 months out so I am now closing in on a year with this gang of furry munchkins!

]]> Sun, 12 Jul 2009 04:05:56 EST http://www.drawger.com/christianslade/index.php?section=articles&article_id=7028 I'll be getting on a plane in a little while bound for NYC. These were from a previous sketchbook and they get me in the mood to work. Airports and different cities offer up such a wide array of subjects. Everywhere I look I see a painting! The worst city in which I experience this surge of inspiration is Venice, Italy where I can't go 3 feet without opening a pad and scribbling something down. I am thrilled to be returning to NYC, one of my favorite places in the world, for this year's first major Comic Con of the season. I'll be there promoting my graphic novel series, "Korgi". For anyone coming out to the show, stop by the Top Shelf Productions booth and say Hi! I'd love to see some Drawgers make it out to this thing! Hulk Smash!!

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