Illustration for Kayak 42: War With America!

Here is the Illustration I did for the latest issue of Kayak. The Issue deals with the war of 1812 and will be produced in English and in French.

I did this illustration by sketching it out on paper scanning it in to the computer and inking and colouring it in Illustrator. I then added some texture using Photoshop. The Issue will be out in December and will include the work of some very talented Illustrators. Alex Diochon, Fred Curatolo, Jessica Lindsay, and Keith Milne

Kayak Issue 42: War With America!

Here is a glimpse of the latest Issue of Kayak. Double the action, double the fun. Double sized Kayak! This issue is about the War of 1812, a forgotten war between Britain and America. In your mailbox and on the newsstand December 2012.

Kayak Issue 41 Otters

Here is the opening spread for Issue 41 of Kayak. Teeka and Beau performing a play Shakespearian style. Illustrated using Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop for the finishing touches.

Kayak Issue #41: Canada On Stage

Kayak will be coming out on newsstands shortly. This issue focuses on the evolution of theatre in Canada. It is full of interesting facts, talented acting troops and famous actors from throughout the years. Inside you will find all this, coupled with illustrations from some of Canada's best Illustrators.

Our comic focuses on Cirque Du Soleil, one of my favourite performance groups in existence. Brought into existence by the talented Alex Diochon, who is up for a Manitoba Magazine Award (Maggie) for his work on this and many other Canadian history comics.

This cover is Done by Stéphane Boutin. You will find more of his work inside the magazine. You will also find the work of Tania Mignacca who is new to doing wok for Kayak. She has done some great work for our fiction feature on the start of the Stratford Shakespeare Festival.

For those who already subscribe, the magazine should be dropping in the mail shortly, for those who don't, keep an eye out at your local newsstand, and library.

I will be posting my artwork for the introduction of this issue shortly.

Please check out issue 41 of Kayak and learn more about theatre in Canada.

Kayak Issue #40: Titanic Spread

As I mentioned before I produced a two page spread for the most recent Issue of Kayak.

It is of the two otters (Teeka and Beau) exploring a shipwreck. I had a blast doing this though it does ad a bit of stress to designing the magazine as well as producing illustrations. But the truth of it is, it wasn't going to happen without the pressure. The illustration really didn't come together until I added the bubbles. Once those were added it really said "Hey, we're under water!" Which is great because prior to that the image looked like a bunch of fish with two otters floating in zero gravity.

I did the main illustration in illustrator with some colour correction and texture work in photoshop.

Kayak Otters

These are two characters I developed for Kayak .

They are the new ambassadors of Kayak magazine to Canada's young and impressionable. I chose them because many of our national emblems have been used so many times. We had a Beaver mascot who did not grab the hearts and minds of our readers. We've tried Moose which I am totally against. Not because I dislike moose but because anthropomorphic rendering does not lend itself to such a majestic animal. They always look goofy and ridiculous. They are not. Moose are huge, and I mean huge majestic animals. To round their antlers make them seem sweet and cuddly does a diservice to them, it also makes people more ignorant to the danger they can pose as wild animals. I simply did not want to do to the moose what Disney has done to the Hippo.

I considered the Lynx, raccoons have been done. Then I thought, maybe otters. Playful, river creatures that can stand on their hind legs and lend themselves to looking a bit more like humans and the ability to wear historic costume if need be. I absolutely love the response so far. It ranges from complete acceptance to confusion followed by acceptance. I have yet to meet a person of despises otters. I myself am a big fan of them. Their names are Beau and Teeka and I hope you like them, because you will be seeing a lot more of them in upcoming Kayak issues. My first two page spread in the magazine was done introducing Beau and Teeka. You will find it in the current issue of Kayak due to drop in the mail shortly. It will be on the newsstand in April.

Kayak Issue #40: TITANIC

So here is latest issue of Kayak. This one is a very exciting issue jam packe with information about the Titanic, and many other watery disasters that have taken place around Canada. I'm not sure what it is about shipwrecks that capture our hearts and minds but I'm hard pressed to find a person who isn't fascinated when they come across the weathered hull of a ship on a beach.
I don't come across near enough of those in the prairies.

The artists in this Issue are Charlene Chua for the brilliant cover, David Namisato for the fiction story, Alex Diochon came through with an amazing visual telling of the song The Wreck of The Edmund Fitzgerald by Gordon Lightfoot. And myself. Yes that is right, I finally organized myself well enough to get a proper illustration done. It involves some new characters being added to the Kayak roster. Beau ad Teeka. I'll talk about them in some future posts. The magazine should drop just prior to April, and you will find the magazine on newsstand from April-May, or at your local library. If you don't have Kayak at your local library please request it.

Friar Tuck Finished Painting

So here is the final product, I'm pretty happy with it. Still a lot of work to do but I can feel my sense of being able to create depth in an image using colour value. This makes me want to do some more Robin Hood characters. I can add it to the list of things I would like to do I guess. The chicken sure does look delicious though.

Friar Tuck Drawing

The Winnipeg Art Group started another art project Similar to the monster poster that I did the Ramnoceros for. This time I am drawing Friar Tuck. Although this is the original medieval Friar Tuck I have modeled the feast he is having after the "Rocket Robin Hood" Friar tuck. I am in the midst of painting him and I will post the finished product as soon as I am done. I will try to post some more sketches soon and some samples of leatherwork and carving I have been working on.

That is all for now.

Stay golden.

Kayak Issue #39: Canada And A Better World

Here is the latest Issue of Kayak. It is a Special Double Issue about Canada's role in international development. It is jam packed with information about organizations and people who have made difference around the world.

It is also jam packed with art from very talented Canadian artists: Stéphane Boutine, Anthony Brennan, David Namisato, Keith Milne, Dena Seiferling, Alex Diochon, and Brendan Hong.

The magazine will be on Newsstand in February and has been produced in English and French.

I will be posting some more sketches and personal work in the near future.

Stay golden Pony Boys and Girls.

Chloe Cooley Final

So here is the final illustration. As I said, it was inked and coloured in Flash. I'm not sure if I'm going to continue in this style, or if next time I will physically ink the piece, and then colour it digitally. There is still too much disconnect from drawing into the computer with the tablet, and too much time designing and not enough time practicing with the tablet to get proficient.

So please remember september 12 is when this image inside of the magazine hits the newsstand. Please go out and pick up a copy and help support the promotion of Canadian history to Canada's youth.

Kayak Issue #37: Loudmouths

This issue is one of the reasons I have not posted so much lately. I have been wrapped up in the production of Issue 37 of Kayak: Canada's HIstory Magazine for Kids. I'm quite proud of this one it has many great articles/stories and illustrations concerning passionate Canadian activists who helped shape our country. The Issue has dropped in the mail today but will not hit newsstands until the 12th of September. So if you don't already have a subscription for your kids or yourself get one HERE!

This Issue Deals with a variety of outspoken Canadians (Tommy Douglas, Adelaide Hoodless, René Lévesque) we also have articles on Stompin' Tom" Connors, Stories about the Regin Riot and a comic about the beginnings of Greenpeace.

The artists in this issue are Scott Chantler, Mathieu Beaulieu, Thadeus Maximus, Keith Milne and the cover and comic art was done by Alex Diochon. I even got to contribute a bit to this issue, but I'll post about that at a later time. In the meantime feel free to check out the work of all these great artists.

The Western Map: Lower Tit-Mouth

This is a map of the Lower Tit-Mouth region. This area is occupied by such characters as Goodie BadApple, Izza Cockburn, "Stinky" Pete Cunnington, Longfellow Talliwacker, Chester Fields, The Doc and Studz EsSex. Come and see them tonight at 8:00 PM at the Park Theatre on South Osbourne. If you can't make it tonight the show runs every monday night it cost $8 to get in for roughly two hors of quality Soap Opera style improv.

Kayak the 2nd

This is the latest issue of Kayak. It deals with Parks Canada and the various places around Canada you can go to experience History, be it National Historic Sites or National Parks. It was a very heavy deadline with a brand new editor. It was stressful and a lot of hard work but it was also a lot of fun. Nancy Payne the new editor was a pleasure to work with. and the quality of the work from the illustrators is great. I've made the effort in this issue to pump up the colour as I have been criticized for being a bit drab and earth tone based in my work. I will endeavor to be even brighter next issue.

The Cover of this Issue was Done by Mathieu Beaulieu a new comer to Kayak he hails from Quebec and I really like his style. He has very expressive work and fabulous use of colour. He is the first of my attempts to synthesize the cover art with interior art. Previous Kayaks including my first issue have had great covers that do not give any payoff in the interior of the magazine. Meaning if you buy the magazine for the cover image. When you open it up you will not find the story or the characters that were advertised there. I don't know about you but I find that very frustrating as a reader. So we have started implementing that as of this Issue.

Some of the other artists you will find in this issue are: Alex Diochon who is taking over comic book duties from former Gabe and Allie artist David Namisato. Alex's Style lends itself very well to Kayak and I look forward to collaborating with him on future projects. Remie Geoffroi is a Kayak powerhouse who has don many covers and interior Illustrations for Kayak over the years. He has done a great illustrated layout for the Martello Tower article in this issue. Winnipeger Justin Currie is back for our feature story about the Northwest Mounted Police. Dena Seiferling Did the Illustrated map in her beautiful traditional style. I will point out that I forgot to give her credit on the image and I will make sure that this is noted in the following issue sorry Dena. Finally Anthony Brennan does his thing with our History Mystery on the Fur Trade.

This is a super fun issue and I am proud that we turned it around in the time that we did. If you are interested in subscribing to Kayak CLICK HERE. If you are curious please go to McNally Robinson or any magazine vendor it should be on the rack. Also your local library should carry it, if they don't you can ask them to order it. This issue has been mailed to subscribers and will be available on the newsstand in April.

Until next time, keep fit and have fun.

Kayak Art Director

I have recently taken on the responsibility of being the Art Director for Kayak: Canada's History Magazine for Kids. While completing our awards season campaign my boss came into my office and explained to me that Kayaks Art Director had resigned. Before I could think about it, I confessed to wanting to take over the role. I believe that as an artist and a designer the nature of the work I do outside of my professional position works very well with Kayak which is a fabulous magazine. It was a great experience. I had to work throughout the holidays to get it completed but as I gaze at the latest issue, with that fresh off the press smell, I can't help but think it was worth it.

I got to work with some great illustrators on this issue. Namely Scott Chantler who you have heard me gush about on more than one occasion, I had the chance to interview Scott some months back about some of his other projects you can listen to those here Interview 1, Interview2.

Some of the other illustrators were Thadeus Maximus, Anthony Brennan and Kendyl Lauzon. These illustrators were incredible professional and fast, making working on tight deadline much easier.

Finally I got to hire some local talent a, Mr. Justin Currie, who is an up and coming illustrator from Winnipeg. He did a great job working on the pirate spread in this issue.

If you are interested in engaging your youngsters on canadian history please feel free to get a subscription, you can click here.

This latest issue is full of games and interesting articles concerning Canadian Treasure Hunters, Dinosaur Discoveries, Pirates, Gold Rush Fever and so much more.