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Boston Globe
This assignment was for the Boston Globe. The accompanying
text explained that it was acceptable to talk about the price
that someone paid for their home. After reading the article,
the art director and I spoke on the phone and basically brainstormed
some ideas… from there I took it to paper and began sketching
out what we talked about… When it came to the details
of the piece such as the stylization of the figures and background,
I looked to things around me… hairstyles that were in
fashion, clothing that seemed to reappear many times over
in the media, my favourite colours that month, and any other
details [even from my own life] that I could inject into my
final piece… one thing came to mind as I was drawing,
which was that I wanted to put a mobile in the illustration
[for no other reason than because I thought it would look
cool]. I had recently gone back-packing throughout Europe
and got a chance to check out the Alexander Calder exhibit
at the Bilbao Guggenheim…it was incredible!… I guess
that experience stayed inside of me and it showed itself in
this illustration. |
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Closer
This was an assignment that I did for "Fashion Magazine".
It was part of a seven page advertorial spread which had a
party theme. The image was the last or closing image of the
series of illustrations… basically the art director wanted
me to draw people at a party… pretty simple… so
I bascially hit the skechbook and tried to come up with any
way of making it interesting… I found that playing around
with the proportions of certain characters helped make the
picture less like it was just documenting a moment in time.
In this piece I arranged and played around with the proportions
of some of the elements on the page so that they would, in
a way, fit together like a puzzle. I often like to do that,
just pack the drawing space with people, and leave very little
evidence of the room that they're in. Mostly because I'm not
huge fan of drawing interiors. |
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Lava Life
This illustration was part of Lava Life's first ad campaign.
The concept was already established by the art director who
I was working with… all I did afterwards was create an
image which needed to show a guy and a girl walking their
dogs, but flirting at the same time. I often use myself as
reference when I draw people… in this case, I chose to
pose in the mirror in order to create flirtatious gestures.
I added the butterflies because I felt as though the image
needed something more; however, it ended up as looking like
a kind of connecting element between the couple which enhanced
the concept.
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4. Would you say that your work consciously reflects characters
and situations found within your daily life?
I'd say so… yes. But more in the sense that I enjoy going out
and people watching. I absorb everything from the lighting and the
sounds, and the attitudes and personalities of the people around
me, to the way that they dress and the feeling that I get when I'm
immersed in all of this.
Of course, some of the people who appear in my images seem "over
the top", surrounded by stardust and teeth veneers… I'm
not like that. But I do enjoy watching people "perform",
so to speak, when they're at clubs and lounges or even on the street…
could be by what they're wearing, or the way that they're talking,
or how they're moving… it's actually pretty funny sometimes,
and I like to try to include that element of humour within my pieces.
5. Has Canadian culture influenced your work?
I think Toronto's culture has influenced my work more so than
Canada in general. Much of my inspiration comes from hanging out
in my own city, being with my friends. The places where I go, the
people who I meet oftentimes appear within my work. Of course, the
cultures of other cities [outside of Toronto] has affected me as
well, through what I've absorbed through my own travels and also
from picking up publications and watching television and attending
shows of the artists and designers who live and work abroad. Anything
that I like, anything that catches my eye influences my work in
one way or another. But keeping on point, once again, it's my moving
throughout Toronto… the flyers that I pick up… the graffiti
on the walls… the magazines that I flip through… the fabric
stores that I walk past… and the lounges and clubs in the city
all inspire my work.
6. When you start a new project do you begin with a final
image in mind or do you create and develop characters and atmosphere
as you progress through a project?
It's all a progression. I spend a lot of time working out my
ideas during the rough pencil stage. I do so much scribbling and
gesture drawings to figure out my concept and composition before
I move into beginning the final piece. Even at the final stage things
change… I move things around, redraw sections… delete
parts… I don't necessarily know how the final image is going
to turn out… I may have a vague idea but most often, I'm surprised
at the outcome… but I like that.
7. Have you been given creative freedom within your client work?
Generally speaking, it really depends on who I'm working with.
I find that clients with whom I've built a rapport are more apt
to letting me "do my thing" more so than if it was someone
who I've never worked with before. I think it's about trust and
communication, in that the client who I've worked with many times
over in the past has a better sense of what to expect from me and
knows my work ethic.
I also think that differences occur between editorial/magazine work
versus design and advertising jobs… The stuff I do for editorial
provides a lot more freedom than working on an ad for a company,
for instance… it has mostly to do with the fact that there
are a lot more people making decisions when they're trying to sell
a product… and my illustration has to pass through many hands
and be scrutinized more so than if it was an image accompanying
a story in a magazine.
8. What would you like to change about the illustration industry?
Though I've only been doing this for a short while, I feel that
I've had many experiences and have learned a lot. Touching on the
previous question about how much freedom I'm given from client work,
I think I'd like to be given more… more freedom and more time
to create quality images that I'm happy with… of course I understand
that this is commercial work and with it comes a need to compromise,
but I can't help but wonder about how things used to be years back…
even 30 years ago… during a time when it seemed as though the
images between the covers [or on the covers] of magazines were more
provocative. I've bought books which have show some illustrators'
works from years past and a lot of it, I think, is phenomenal!…
the work is smart and "gutsy"… and the images seemed
to give the reader more credit than they do now… I'd like to
be able to do more of that… to work with the art director and
be able to come up with an image that stands on it's own and isn't
just a mirror of the text it stands beside, or blatantly yelling
out the idea to the viewer.
9. What was the last great movie you have seen and what was the
last great book you have read?
Takashi Mike's "Audition".
"The
Complete Prints of Yoshitaka Amano" … [it's a picture
book with hardly any words… I thought I'd include it because
it rocks!…] …but, if we're talking novels then I'd say
"Memoirs of a Geisha" by Arthur Golden.
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