Happy Halloween!

Here's one of my few "scary" pictures. It's Frankenstein's monster hanging out in a storm. This is an older piece done in pen and ink and ink wash.

Pink Clouds

This is a personal work I did about two years ago. I wanted to try and use pink in a picture. I think this looks like it's part of a story, as though she's standing at the edge of the clouds waiting for something.

Scrap Paper Victorian Fairie

This is another scrap paper picture. I based her on a Rackham picture. It's mostly watercolour and ink, with some touches of gouache. I like the restrained colouring, my work lately has been very intensely coloured and I prefer this subtler type of colouring. I think I'll try and return to some subtler colouring. I find that when I put less emphasis on the colours, the drawing comes out more.

Fish Ghost

This is done in gouache and pen and ink. It is a personal work I did after reading Eva Ibbotson's Book Dial A Ghost, which is a great book about a group of gentle ghosts that have some problems.

Stinky Pirate

Here's the cover for my next book. I went for a bright look in these illustrations. Lots of primary colours and open spaces. I've been looking a lot at American illustration from the golden age lately, mostly Howard Pyle and N.C. Wyeth and I think they're impacting my work more. I wanted to say " Thank You! " to Paige Keiser for including me as one of the blogs she's diggin'. Thanks Paige!

New Scotland In The Fall

Just a few distinctly Nova Scotian images of Fall. These were taken outside the city on trips or dog walks. The amazing shot of the moose was taken by my friend Keram Pfeiffer, I've never been lucky (or unlucky) enough to get this close to a moose. Things are going well, I'm working on the pirate book, the dinosaur book and my own troll book. Fall's always a busy time of year for me. I live in the stone house at the top. ( OK, not really.)

Scrap Paper Lunar Egret

I've started making piles of my scrap paper and doing little pictures on them. I've been so busy working on contract work that I never seem to have time to to play and try new things. I'd like to keep this up. I used every medium in reach; water colour, gouache, acrylic, colour pencil, oil pastel. I also tried something new to me called Aquapasto which is like a retarder, it's a gum arabic and silica mix. Many of my favorite pieces started on loose bits of scrap paper that were floating around my studio, the Castle picture for example. What does everyone else do with their scrap paper?

Dragon And Girl

This piece is mostly gouache and ink. I also collaged on some bits.

Captain Hook

Castle

Here's an older piece done with sepia and gouache.

Another Note On Style

I'm totally amazed at the responses I got on the style question. What a fascinating read. I've actually had to rethink my position because of all the great arguments. I think I have a style but it isn't forced. It's interesting how people define style as well. Some people think of stylization and others think of a natural voice. I think what's important is how you define style.
Here are some quotes on the subject. Tell me what you think.
" Style is an easy way of saying complicated things" Jean Cocteau
" Your style is the way you talk in paint" Robert Henri
" Personal style, be it that of Michelangelo or that of Tintoretto has always been...a peculiar rapport which has developed between the artist and his medium" Ben Shan
These are all really different ways of perceiving style. Any thoughts in light of this?

Illustration And Style

Here's a question. Do you have a style? I've been given lots of conflicting advice on the subject. On one hand there is the common wisdom that one should draw direct from life and your natural voice will emerge. This makes a lot of sense. From this perspective style could be seen as just a bag of tricks you've picked up that obscure what you're really doing. On the other hand I've heard from established illustrators that style is an essential aspect of being a professional illustrator. In a sense you are selling your style. Your personal style is what gets you noticed. After all visual art is a tradition that's passed on isn't it? I find this idea most compelling. There is also the question of what is style? I tend to think of style as abstractions that reoccur in my work that I've learned and modified from other sources. So, do you have a style?

There's A Dwarf Mine Under My House!

Mining is a big deal in Nova Scotia. There are mines dug underneath many communities. Sometimes peoples houses cave in when they are on top of old mine shafts. I take it as a matter of faith that dwarfs now populate the abandoned mine tunnels and look for other stuff that we missed. I did this pen and ink drawing for the same assignment that I did the huldre for and I think it was about this time that the idea of a troll story began to percolate. Apparently I spilled coffee on this guy at some point.

A Troll Comic Book

I did this comic several years ago. It was my first attempt at the troll story. It took a long time to sort out the best way to tell a story and I'm still not certain. Can anyone spot the comic book influences?

Night Pig

This is also from an upcoming book. I hope everyone has a happy Thanksgiving.

More Sketches

Here are some more recent sketches. The middle one is inspired by a Rackham picture, I think from A Mid-summers Night Dream. The little crown is inspired by Mike Mignola. He always has these cool floating crowns in his comic. And on the bottom is something I sketched while reading Dahl's The BFG. After seeing so much new art work by so many amazing artists whose blogs I visit I feel that I have to work even harder and raise my standards even higher. I'm working on a book right now and giving each painting a ton of attention and care.

Huldre

I did this ink wash drawing for an assignment at art school about five years ago. I did a series of pictures in different media illustrating Scandinavian folk tales. The Huldre is a wood spirit in female form. You can recognize her by her back, which is hollow. The description I liked was "Her back was like a lightning blasted tree " I thought this was such a great, dark, poetic image. My work before picture books was much darker and slightly more realistic.

On a different note, James Gurney said he liked my work! James Gurney! The guy who did Dinotopia! If you don't know his work please check out his blog at gurneyjourney.blogspot.com He really is one of the greats of contemporary illustration.

Pig and Wizard

Here's another piece from an upcoming book. I think that it was while I was doing this piece I really began to be influenced by medieval manuscripts. My work got smaller and more detailed and a little bit flatter. I felt like I had a style after this and have been developing it and playing with it since.

Some Sketches

Here are some abandoned ideas. I have lots and lots of these drawings, I hold on to them because I never know when I could use an idea in a new way.

Night Sheep

I find this one really funny. I didn't like it all when I did it this summer but now I find it really charming. My Wife doodled a sheep and I traced it and painted it. So this one is by Eric and Julie. I went a bit nuts today. I bought about 100 miles of fake spider webs and an arm full of gourds. I then set about transforming the living room into a creepy Halloween room. I can't wait for Halloween.