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Yuko Shimizu
One More Blizzard before April
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All of a sudden, it is SPRING! And I am loving it. I don't mind cold weather, but having less light makes me feel blue. I am so welcoming the arrival of spring.
But I love snow. And I love drawing snow scenes even more. When I graduated, I had tons of images in my portfolio that had something to do with snow, even till this day, I am 'to call person' when it comes to snowy images. (And I welcome that.)

There were illustrations I had created for Outdoor Life that I have been meaning to post here. Before the calendar changes to April, I have to post this last blizzard image of the season.

The story was about elk hunters gotten stuck in blizzard, a page-turner survival story. Illustrations I created are for double page spread opener and two interior spots. Needless to say, I had so much fun. I felt like I was one of the guys who got stuck in the mountains!

Big thanks to Art Director Jim Walsh of Outodoor Life for this fun project.
two separate compositions were submitted. I was excited about guys having antlers in their backpack, but unfortunately that idea got killed because the group with horses won't carry them on their back. Ah, too bad!
some of the reference materials downloaded from internet. Rather than copying positions or compositions, they were for me to learn what elk hungers look, how they carry their stuff, etc.
People often ask me how I transfer my sketches onto drawing papers. I simply blow up the sketches to the size I want to draw (tape them together) and light-box it onto watercolor papers that are cut into the size.
I do have a drawing table on the side of the computer table, but this image needed a lot of references, therefore, I ended up spreading this 22" x 30" sheet of paper in front of my screen and scroll through references as I drew. Drawing is brush and ink on watercolor paper.
screen shot of Photoshop coloring stage. snow was added as separate drawings. Opacity and size of snowflakes are manipulated to add depth to the space.
Final illustration! the right bottom space is for the type. I forgot to buy this issue, so I should ask the ADs for the layout so I can post that too..
sketches for the spots
spot illustrations were rather simple, but fun. I am liking the final result of glowing tent image.
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