BookLust

Pants on Fire!

Here's a little illo job I did recently – just an updated illustration for the cover of Gordon Korman's 1997 book Liar, Liar, Pants On Fire. The story (which I admit I have yet to read) apparently involves a girl who is compelled to make up big fat lies to impress her friends. There is a goldfish and a supposed nuclear toilet bowl in the story, too, just in case you were wondering...

Getting an opportunity to do any kind of illustration work for the much revered Canadian children's author Gordon Korman is pretty exciting – kinda like setting one's pants on fire, I suppose.

Draw Like an Egyptian (and Bitch Like One, Too)

Ok, enough with my misery. Time to show some new work! Here's a cover I did recently for the Mar/April issue of KNOW: The Science Magazine For Kids. Lots of fun to draw. Looking at it now, though, I'm reminded of the very recent unveiling of our newly designed Museum Station here in Toronto.

What do other Torontonians think of the Museum Station? Yes, it's interesting, but (and I can't believe that I, an artist, is saying this) something is really bugging me about this whole thing. I know that a certain amount of private funds went towards this project, but it's my understanding that $1 million came from the TTC and $2 million came from the province. So um...what with all the problems and complaints we have with the quality of service the TTC provides, it's never-ending money woes, the still very real possibility of a strike, and Miller's constant crying to the province to help them out, what the hell are we doing spending this precious money on window dressing? How the hell is this going to improve the TTC in the long run? Am I the only one a bit confused (and pissed) about this? Am I missing something here? Please tell me.

I Got Posted 20

Yup, it's certainly been a while since I've drawn anything for the National Post. Fortunately I've been busy with other stuff, so I haven't been fretting about it too much. I have noticed in the past year or so that unfortunately they just don't seem to be using freelance illustrators as much; they tend to be sticking with the inhouse artists. Can't blame them if they need to save a buck or two. So it was nice to get the call. Actually, ha – I wasn't contacted by phone; the whole conversation with the editor took place via email. How fitting for this article!

In today's article, the columnist Danielle Crittenden explains why she is an 'ePerson' as opposed to the old-fashioned and so-very-inconvenienced 'Phone Person'. She'd be quite happy to deal with all her communications via email:

I'm done with phones because, compared to e-mail, BlackBerries and instant messaging, they are an archaic and time-wasting form of communication. They are the electronic equivalent of a toddler, pulling at your skirt while you are in the middle of something, saying, "mommymommymommymommy-NOWmommywant-mommyNOW." Whereas eCommunication is like a highly trained personal assistant, neatly arranging and prioritizing messages, giving you the choice to respond immediately ("toilet clggd!! r u comin home???!!") or at your leisure ("hey we were in Grade 9 together, just thought I'd say hi!").

What do you think? I guess I'm not that important – I don't get enough annoying phone calls during the day. But that may be due in part to the fact that most people I communicate with have chosen to connect to me via email. Yes, email is very convenient. And if you are working with a client, and they piss you off, the client won't be able to detect the tone of anger or annoyance in your email, whereas they will if you are talking to them on the phone (For the  most part, I don't like my clients knowing I'm annoyed about something, unless it's something really big. Problem  is, if I talk on the phone, I'm lousy at hiding my emotions). And yes, sometimes you get into a groove while you're working, and the ring of the phone can be really jarring. And sometimes you just don't feel like talking to anyone, because you are in hermit-I-hate-the-world mode. But then there are the times when the quiet of the day (for those who work alone) is just so stifling that the only thing that can save you is the sound of a real live human voice.

Cover Me With Bites

Ok, get yer mind outta the gutter. It's just a silly play on words. Here's an illo job I did recently for the Toronto food mag City Bites. This time I got to do their cover! What to say other than –  it was lots of fun! I guess I might also add that I am thoroughly sick of food, now that the holidays are over...

Fall Fare

A fun Fall illustration I created not too long ago.

I'm feeling better today, thank goodness. The allergy problems have subsided for now, but just to be on the safe side, I'll be seeing the doctor this week to inquire about making an appointment with an allergy specialist. I haven't had any allergy tests for a long time, and I'm not looking forward to it, but I've got to figure out why I'm suddenly getting so sick during my favourite time of year.

Today was one of those perfect Fall days – cool but not too cold, a little breezy and overcast, with just a touch of melancholy in the air. I love sad Sunday Fall afternoons – I remember Charles Schulz used to draw some wonderfully melancholic Sunday strips with Charlie Brown which captured those bittersweet Autumn moods perfectly.

Fiddle Me This

Here's an illo I did recently for the September/October issue of City Bites magazine. The article was written by chef and food writer Signe Langford. In the piece, Signe recounts her childhood in a small Quebec town, where her father harvested strange food items like fiddleheads and Puffball mushrooms, and then sautéd them in lots of butter and salt. As a child she didn't quite appreciate these unique flavours (she understood mushrooms, but they came in a can, or on a pizza), but she certainly appreciates her early culinary training now.

Me, I could do without the strange mushrooms, but I've always been curious about fiddleheads. Anyone out there ever eat 'em? Are they any good?

Bertie Escapes!

This was a fun illo to do, I must say! And I love doing illustration work for folks in the U.K., which is where Cage and Aviary Birds magazine is published.

The story which accompanied my illustration was very sweet – a father recounting the traumatic day the family budgie Bertie escaped from his cage and flew off into the wild blue yonder. The story ends happily, thank goodness – Bertie is caught and placed back in his cage where he will be safe and secure.

The funny thing is, about a week after this magazine came out, I saw one of my neighbours wandering around the schoolyard across the street from our house, with a big towel flapping in her hands, like she was ready to do some serious business with a renegade bull. I quickly found out that she was trying to capture, guess what – a budgie! Apparently it had escaped from it's cage in the school. It was a pretty little thing, fluttering about, enjoying the great big beautiful sky. Problem was, the poor dumb bird didn't realize that freedom has a price, and it usually comes in nasty packages like hungry cats and bigger birds and cold weather. My neighbour was not able to catch the budgie that day, and about a week later I saw the little creature hanging around the convenience store down the street, where the owners like to feed the birds bread in the morning. For now, the little guy is safe. But I'm afraid the ending of this story won't be as happy as that of lucky Bertie.

If I Could Talk to the Animals...

...do you think they'd tell me some good jokes?

Here's fun a spread (split up for the post) I recently did for the May issue of the fun and fabulous Canadian kids' magazine ChickaDEE!

The first half:

And the second half:

And in the same issue my pal Johnny Martz has a really fun illustration spread, too! I firmly believe that Johnny has drawn the cutest damn hamster ever:

My Talents Are Only Skin Deep

A little backstory.

A few weeks ago, I had dinner downtown with three of my fave cartoonist pals: John Martz, Rina Piccolo and Paul Gilligan. Conversation was cartoon-related, of course. During the evening Paul brought up a really interesting subject – he mentioned that a fan of his fabulous comic strip Pooch Cafe had actually gotten a tattoo of the character Poncho somewhere on his person (I can't remember where exactly – maybe his arm?) I had said that I couldn't imagine someone liking my art so much that they would have it tattooed permanently on their skin.

Well, truth, as they say, is indeed stranger than fiction.

I occasionally do some freelance illustration work for Draumr Publishing, an e-book and print publishing company. I've illustrated three covers for the author Misty Simon, whose Romantic Mystery series focuses on the adventures of the main character, Ivy Morris. Here are the covers I've done in the series to date:
So...Misty was so pleased with the last cover I created (Something Old, Something Dead), she decided to get a tattoo based on said cover on her back!! She kindly asked my permission first, and of course, I gave her my blessing. Gawd I hope it didn't hurt too much:

You know, this has been a really strange week – I'm exhausted from all the digging and painting, and I received some bummer news yesterday (which I'll eventually talk about). I was feeling not miserable, but not exactly happy-go-lucky, either. So thank you, Misty. You made me smile!

Enjoy The Easter Weekend!