the bvk blog

New Job and a Pig

{ 23h53, 5.13.2009 } { 1 comments } { Link }

I have a new job at the University of Saskatchewan - I'm developing marketing campaigns for student recruitment. It's a fantastic opportunity, and apparently I get to illustrate on occasion... today I made this pig for a little project.

Yes I will be freelancing on the side still, so don't worry - but I will be very selective with new clients. I may go back to full time freelancing eventually, but for now I'll enjoy the ride!

Illustration Friday - 'Subtract'

{ 18h44, 3.21.2009 } { 2 comments } { Link }

Illustration Friday is a great site for artists and illustrators - every Friday they post a subject to illustrate, and everyone who contributes posts a link to their blog featuring their take. I've always wanted to give it a shot, and this week I've been reeeeeally itching to do something for fun on my own, as I've been working way too much lately.

So for my first Illustration Friday post, here's "Subtract"... an ode to the old grade school game Number Munchers.

Mexico Vacation Sketches

{ 12h51, 3.3.2009 } { 0 comments } { Link }

We just got back from an unbelievable vacation in Mexico. Here are the sketches I quickly doodled while beaching and pooling in the hot, hot sun.

Here I broke out my Prismacolor Markers:

And the rest are just pencil:

Unreal City

{ 11h30, 1.20.2009 } { 1 comments } { Link }

I've been working on the identity of a new comic book store opening in Saskatoon called Unreal City. The owner, Theo Kivol (of CFCR fame if you're from S'toon), has some great ideas for the store and we've been right on the same page from day 1.

The store will sell comics of course, but also books, designer toys, and feature some really cool artwork. It's gotten me into the painting mood again so hopefully I can get a few pieces in there as well, but if you're interested in showing/selling some originals we'll be posting some info on the website soon.

unrealcity.ca

The logo is very versatile - we can go with just the text for smaller versions, or have the buildings as is, or design them into posters and graphics. Here's the logo, and the first poster:

Pauseworks Poster Proof

{ 09h58, 1.12.2009 } { 0 comments } { Link }

I normally don't do this, but here is a poster/postcard I had done for my client and good friend Pat Katz. The catch: this wasn't the version that was approved - we had to get closer to the colouring style of another illustrator who she had used in the past for her old line of postcards, so this version was trashed. I still like it though, as I'm more drawn to unsaturated and natural looking colours.

The characters were a lot of fun to draw. The concept came from Pat's mind, so I just did the dirty work. You can learn more about Pat, and learn a few tips on leading a less stressful life, at her website pauseworks.com.

Quick Sketch

{ 16h05, 12.7.2008 } { 0 comments } { Link }

Just a quick sketch today. This guy was walking down the street outside my house, grooving to his iPod.

Post Something!

{ 15h38, 11.27.2008 } { 1 comments } { Link }

Do it! Post something I dare you!

Man things have been busy around here. I have a few months of stuff to post now, so I'll try and post again next week. For today, it's a third into their season and I'm finally posting these - this year's Blades program covers. We went with a different style this year to mix things up. This program flowed a lot better through the inside pages with the style continuing from cover to cover. So these covers may not show as well by themselves as last years, but as a package I believe they're superior, and it's a totally different style so they're hard to compare... different strokes...

The sketch of the first one:

And the final covers:

New Book

{ 11h41, 7.23.2008 } { 2 comments } { Link }

Summers are busy. Especially when the summer is only a couple of months long... We've been doing a ton of traveling to lakes and family visits, and when we're not doing that we're landscaping our new yard. Today is a rainy one though, so hopefully I'll get to catch up on my artwork.

To kick things off, here's the cover of a new book we're just about to go to press with. The concept was provided by the author so I didn't have much choice with that, but I was able to have some fun with the title, and I'm pretty happy with the look considering I had to stick to "flames at the bottom, engulfing the title, and a woman's face with somewhat sad green eyes and red hair at the top."

Bears Are Picky Eaters

{ 09h52, 6.4.2008 } { 0 comments } { Link }

I picked up my old copy of The Essential Calvin and Hobbes recently, and have been having a blast reading through it again. The date on that book is 1988. I had no idea what half of the words were in those comics back then, but I just loved looking at the pictures... My favourites were the Spaceman Spiff episodes.

Apparently I was extremely influenced by these comics as they reminded me of pretty much everything I drew as a kid. This reminiscing reminded me of how much I freaking loved bears. I'd have books and books on bears. Up to now I've been having trouble about what to draw... so there's my tip of the week for you: If you're ever struggling about what to draw, grab something from your childhood. This was the most fun I've had drawing in a long time.

Ram day!

{ 23h01, 5.21.2008 } { 1 comments } { Link }

Last week I installed some more RAM into the ol' laptop. It went better than this:

Ever get annoyed that I don't post on a regular schedule? So do I. Subscribe to the RSS Feed and you'll be notified whenever I make a new post... For PC users, download an RSS reader like Google's or just do a search for 'free rss reader'. For Mac users, you already have an RSS reader in Safari and Mail. Once you have the reader set up, click the link on the right that looks like this:

Now your reader can subscribe to the blog, and automatically download and organize every new post. Read the instructions that go with whatever RSS reader you've installed, or for Mac users simply bookmark the RSS page or drag the url into Mail.

Presto. Now you can stop checking back here every hour in desperate hopes that I've posted, as I'm sure millions of others do as well.

My next post I'm either going to talk about my new crazy spinning monitor, or the book cover I'm designing & illustrating. Later!

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New Job and a Pig
Illustration Friday - 'Subtract'
Mexico Vacation Sketches
Unreal City
Pauseworks Poster Proof

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