Magnificent Frigatebird

Here's a new finished illustration. A Magnificent Frigatebird in flight. The male inflates a bright red pouch to court the female. I thought it looked a bit like a big red heart in some angles, which was a bit like the bird carrying a Valentine around to his belle ;)

It is available as a print on my Etsy store... as many other illustrations of mine. I ought to advertise about it a bit more about it :P

Barn Owl Illustration

Two more illustrations of animals: A barn owl and a giraffe.

My next idea is pretty epic (still fauna) and I'm so excited about it that it's going to take me a little while to plan out the layout and exact elements. I want it to come out perfectly. To be continued...

Blue Whale and Giant Squid posters

Two new finished pieces: A potential duo, appropriately themed- and sized- to be printed as posters (up to 16" tall). They were loosely inspired by Alphonse Mucha's art nouveau posters for plays and various products. At first, I wanted to put more text, like they were advertisements for the animals ("Blue Whale - Gentle giant of the sea!" Or some such) but in the end, I opted to leave most of the space for the fauna itself. I felt that too much text was taking away from the actual subjects.

Here's the majestic blue whale:

and the mysterious giant squid:

I'm working on more nature-inspired posters, but all I'll say for now is that the next one will either be an insect or a bird...

However, when I was looking for ideas and references, I ended up spending so much time admiring the amazing shapes and colours of various tunicates (the plant-looking animals underneath the squid) that I'm thinking I might dedicate an illustration just for them...

Cedar Waxwing- Birthday Gift

It was my mother's birthday a few days back, so we had a nice picnic to celebrate the occasion today.

Since she loves birds/nature (already having a lovely Robert Bateman limited print featuring a barn owl in her living room), I was inspired by my recent comments on the animals book and Cedar Waxwing birds. So I made a piece featuring that pretty bird (the whole thing is about 5.5" x 7.5") for her:


The artwork is in three layers, with the watercolour bird on smoother paper, the branch on slightly coarser paper and a heavily textured paper as background. I was quite happy with the frame I found, with the glass creating a 'floating' effect:



Now I gotta lay down and digest a pile of mini-sandwiches and chocolate cake...

World Animals Part 2 (Decisions!!)

I'm really trying to get this out ASAP. So after a bit of procrastinating, I'm working out some kinks in the final book organization and layout...

My initial idea put the emphasis on the world map and geographical areas, but I'm now wanting to showcase the animals more prominently. It's tricky in terms of space. The bigger the animals, the less space I have for text. So I'm thinking of downsizing a bit and featuring a maximum of 3 animals per region/continent (instead of 4). Problem is, that means leaving some cute beasties aside and, well, it makes me a bit :(

Some changes are easier to justify:



I initially had the Arctic Fox in North America, but found out it was better suited for Iceland (being its only native mammal). I had intended to replace it with the Bison (seen here not coloured yet) but I will drop it altogether for the 3-animals limit. I like the Racoon and Beaver designs best.

The Hummingbird will be changed to a Cedar Waxwing, which is more exclusive to N-America (I have yet to finish it). I will have to find another use for him!



The Caribbeans page doesn't look so crowded (partly because the land-mass isn't taking much space) but I want to try keeping the layout consistent. I love the Green Woodepecker, but I think I prefer making the other guys bigger (besides, there is another woodpecker in the Korea area... that makes it okay. ...right? I'll put you to good use somewhere, Woody; I SWEAR!!):



I justify my downsizing with Europe (BTW the texts here are still bogus filler text, obviously). With all the countries, it leaves the four animals just competing with the text for space. The Salamander is staying for sure because I want to include reptiles/non-furry-feathery animals. The Ibex is truly endemic. So the Pine Marten is probably going to get the pink slip... as if I don't feel like a jerk enough already...





I get a bit too personal with my art, sometimes...

Alright! Five regions left to finish!

World Animals- Part 1 (whew)

The one project I'm really working hard to finish is a children's book on animals around the world (especially endemic animals). I wanted to make a book that would combine a bit of geography and the appeal of animals, as well as putting a lot of focus on the illustrations so it would look good as a coffee table book.

I am about halfway through as far as the animal artwork is concerned. I also have about half the pages laid-out. The animals are organized by continent or region. I'm hoping to have it out in both languages (English and French) by the end of the summer...

Here's a few of the animals so far. They're isolated on white here because the pages' backgrounds are HUGE files and it takes a long time to resize. Besides, I have to keep some of it a surprise, no?