REBELS

Here is a cover illustration I did for Rebels, the follow up book to Randoms, David Liss's young reader, sci-fi, action-adventure epic. As with the first book, the illustration is a full cover wrap, including the inner flaps, and features the protagonist Zeke Reynolds and portraits of the other main characters from the story. The graphic line elements were retained from the first cover, although in a more aggressive way, and again I created the logo for the book.

Randoms was well received, and this sequel shares the same level of humour, action, and drama as the first book. Those who liked Randoms won't be disappointed. 

Rebels is due for release late summer 2016 by Simon & Schuster......and hopefully a third instalment will follow!

 Thanks to Lizzy Bromley at Simon & Schuster.
 

ELI & TORK

Here is an oldie......but in my opinion, a goodie.

I usually spend some of my down time over the holidays cleaning out old files, unused .psd's, etc. from my computer. While doing this I came across these character designs for an old pitch done years ago with Next Level Games. 

The pitch was for a fun, colourful, but somewhat violent co-operative rail shooter called Eli & Tork: Escape From Paranoid City. The story took place in a dystopic future, and was centred around these two toughs, Eli and Tork,  and their cat Mr. Whitepants. When Mr. Whitepants disappears into a crack in the walls of Paranoid City, a massive walled prison complex (think Escape From New York), Eli and Tork have to break into the prison, find Mr. Whitepants, and then battle their way out again. The game's tagline pretty much sums it up: Breaking in to Paranoid City was easy. Getting out is another story. 

The design was fairly well received, and the mechanics of the design were used as a basis for two different projects developed at Next Level Games. Unfortunately the publishers of these projects eventually decided to graft their own IP's onto the design...being more comfortable going with something established instead of taking the risk of developing something new (these projects didn't turn out very well....but that is another story), and Eli and Tork were left to gather dust in the dark recesses of my hard drive.

There were a few more concepts created for this pitch....screen shots and a couple promo pieces, but these haven't faired as well against the test of time. While this material is old it still has for me a  charm, a sense of nostalgia, and the thoughts of what could have been. Anyways, since these guys got the shaft twice, I figured they at least deserved a blog post!
 

Happy New Year....Enjoy! 

EK COSMONAUT 01 - MASTER PRINT

Here is a shot of the master print for the upcoming EK Cosmonaut resin model kit. This is the third and final figure in the 1/8th scale EK Cosmonaut Series (although he is #1....we released them in reverse order....I don't know why!). Amazingly sculpted by Gene Campbell, this figure has the same great level of, and attention to detail, as the previous EK kits sculpted by Gene and released by Industria Mechanika.
This guy should be ready for pre-order in early February, 2016 and will ship out soon after that. I'll post again with the firm dates once I get them from Industria Mechanika.
 

DYSTOPIC RESTOCK PRE-ORDER

A small batch (24 units) of 1/6th scale Dystopic Kits have been added to the Industria Mechanika Shop for pre-order. If you missed this kit before now is the time to pick one up. Head over to Industria Mechanika to order. 

The kits will be shipped in early February 2016.

The 1/8 EK Cosmonaut kits are also in production. Figure #1 in the series should be available for pre-order soon. The 2nd and 3rd Figures in the series will also be restocked for a third run in the new year as well.

THE SCALES

Here is another "EK" personal commission done for a client in Sweden. The piece itself is full of personal meaning for the client, and the composition was worked out so that the client's tattoo artist can interpret the design as a half sleeve tattoo in the future.

As with the other personal EK commissions, this one was delivered with a poster sized one off original signed giclee print and supporting documents.
Thanks to Rickard!

EK COSMONAUT 03 BACK IN STOCK

Industria Mechanika has restocked my 1/8th scale EK Cosmonaut 03 figure and is shipping orders immediately. If you missed out before you can get one here at the IMech shop.

Plus, the stock of the female EK Cosmonaut 02 figure is down to a few remaining kits, so if you want  one, now is the time to pick it up. Get it from the IMech shop here.

The third kit in this series, EK Cosmonaut 01, is currently in the master print stage, and will then be broken up and cast for production. I will keep you posted on release dates!

EK COSMONAUT 02 PRE-ORDER

The second figure in the 3 kit EK Cosmonaut Series is now available for  pre-orders at Industria Mechanika's online shop. As with the last figure in the series, this one is a 1/8th scale, highly detailed resin model (with a few metal and acrylic pieces as well) that faithfully recreates my original painting.

Expertly modelled by Gene Campbell, this kit has had a lot of interest since it was announced, so if you are interested in getting one it would be best to pre-order now.

Last month I posted the master print/sculpt that was printed by Desmoda at Ownage, but here I've included some of Gene's renders to show off his great work and attention to detail.

Kits are shipping at the end of July 2015. Go here to check it out at the IMech Shop!
 

FRANCE

 

 

This summer I'm packing up and moving my family to France, to live and travel around Europe for a year. I'm still going to be working while I'm over there, so those interested in freelance commissions can still contact me through my website, email, etc. Unfortunately I will be closing the shop on my website while I'm away, as lugging around books and prints won't be possible.

Response to the shop has been great and thanks to everyone that ordered a signed book, prints, t-shirts, etc. I haven't restocked a lot of the items as I knew I was leaving the country, but there is some stock left, so if you want something out of there now is the time to order!

Au revoir! 
 

EK HERALD GRAPHIC

Here is an EK piece created for use as a single colour graphic on EK "Herald" t-shirts. This graphic was created some time ago, but now that these shirts have finally been released, I figure I should also finally post about the artwork!

This piece is unique in the series, with its single colour graphic treatment, as almost all the other images in the EK Series are fully rendered, fully coloured pieces (except a couple silkscreen pieces done many years ago). I prefer my t-shirt graphics to be simple, 1/2 colour designs….as I like the bold, clean feel, so I felt that this was the right approach for this piece.

These t's were originally created to accompany prints of my work that were being exhibited and sold through the ARTISHOX gallery in Belgium, and through their online store, ARTISHOPIX. Unfortunately, in late 2013 right before the t's went into production, the ARTISHOX gallery had to be closed due to the owner's personal/health issues. At this point I figured I would sell the t's off my own website, but due to a busy schedule, I ended up sitting on the design for a year. By early 2015 I had found some time to open a shop on my own website and now the t-shirts are up on there for sale.

Most of the first batch of t's have sold, but there are a few of most sizes still available. I won't be re-stocking them for some time, as I am moving to France for a year (I'll post about that in the near future), but well see if I can get some going before I get back. So if you want to grab one before they are gone, they are available at the Shop here.

 

On a positive note, the owner of the ARTISHOX gallery has made a complete recovery, and is doing well, running a media company and is even in the early stages of opening a new gallery.

EK COSMONAUT 02 MASTER PRINT

Here is a sneak peak at the master sculpt/print for the next figure in the EK Cosmonaut Series. Expertly modelled by Gene Campbell and printed by Des at Ownage, this figure captures all the detail of the original painting.

In the final kit the visor will be clear, so the interior head will be visible.

These should be available from Industria Mechanika in late June/July, 2015.

I will post again when they are in the IMech shop!

THE JOURNEY

This one is a personal commission done recently for a client out in Toronto, Ontario. As a personal piece I won't go too much into the symbolism of the image, but it speaks to the clients respect for the pioneering spirit and the journey shared with one's partner. 

This is one of several "EK" commissions  I've done for clients over the past year (I will post the others in the future I hope). These pieces are interesting to create as the original EK work was so personal to me, involving my own feelings, struggles etc., so weaving the ideas and feelings of others into the EK Series is a different experience. These pieces are also a lot of fun to do because it gives me the chance to dive back into the EK "world".

All these commissions include a full size signed archival giclee print, along with supporting documents and a Certificate of Authenticity.

If anyone is interested in have their own personal EK piece, feel free to contact me for availability and rates!

SPECTRUM 21

I have a couple pieces in the latest edition of the fantastic art annual Spectrum. I would have posted this sooner but my complementary copy of the book was lost in the mail, and even though the guys at Flesk Publications sent me another copy right away (thanks John and Keith!), I have been too busy to post about it until now.

With a new editor and publisher, this edition of Spectrum has some minor layout differences, and what seems to me, a slightly different composition of content….although I guess this might just reflect the opinion of the judging panel of this edition. Anyways, and as usual, it is full of amazing work and it is worth picking up a copy.

Unfortunately since I was so busy with freelance work over the past year I didn't have the chance to put together a submission for the next edition of Spectrum…not to mention that even if I did, I would still have to be selected by the judges…..no guarantees there! But no submission definitely guarantees that I won't be included. So lets hope I can get off my ass and get some personal work done sometime this year! Time will tell.

Thanks again to John and Keith at Flesk Publications. Spectrum 21 cover art by Rebecca Guay.

RANDOMS

Here is a cover illustration I did for an upcoming young reader novel called Randoms.  Published by Simon & Schuster and written by author David Liss (The Day of Atonement, A Conspiracy Of Paper, Black Panther, The Spider, etc.), Randoms is a fast paced sci-fi adventure story centred around an awkward, nerdy, good-hearted kid, Zeke Reynolds. 

Having not read a lot of young fiction I didn't know what to expect when I read the manuscript to prep myself for creating the cover illustration. But I was pleasantly surprised how well written and how enjoyable the book was. I was also surprised how mature some of the themes were, but these were handled well by Liss, and they never felt inappropriate for the intended age range for the book (10+).

The cover itself was a lot of fun to create. Things flowed well with Simon & Schuster art director Lizzy Bromley and after several option comps we settled quite quickly on this cover idea. The illustration is a full dust jacket wrap around, including interior flaps and features the 6 major characters of the book. I also had the opportunity to create the Randoms title logo.

As you can see in my original versions of the cover the logo and the line elements were white, but Lizzy had a great idea to change them to a hot, neon orange on the final for additional "pop".  

Randoms is set to be published in August, 2015. Pre-order, addition info. and editorial reviews at Amazon here.

Thanks to Lizzy Bromley at Simon & Schuster.