Winter Holiday

I've been having a great Christmas holiday in Nelson, British Columbia with my family.  I snowshoed for the first time since elementary school, and I really enjoyed it!  It's so great to be out in the woods.  And the trees look so beautiful covered in snow.

I hope everyone is having a cozy, and friendly holiday as well.

Animals of Canada Illustrated Map

Animals of Canada Map

I made a blog post before about the illustrated map of Canada I created for Nature Canada.  Now I wanted to show you how I completed it as a personal art piece.

For the client artwork, I scanned in all the elements separately, so they could be moved around and scaled down as necessary to fit with the text and the layout.  After the job was complete, I took my time illustrating more animals and slowly planning out and pasting down all my little critters and foliage pieces.

Below is a photo I took of my messy studio space while in the throws of it.

At the end, I decided it would be nice (and a little educational) to include labels of the names of the animals.  I wish I could have included even more animals to the final artwork ... but I suppose there's always a limit.

I have prints of the Animals of Canada Map up in my Etsy shop! The print is 11"x14" which is a standard size for easy framing.

Framed Original Artwork

Skier Riding Caribou Home - 10 1/2" x 13"

I have a few framed originals up for sale in my Etsy shop!  You can check them out here.

I take great pleasure in seeking out lovely vintage frames.  I love the scalloped details on these.  I feel like they work so well with the soft, snowy illustrations.

Girl Riding Arctic Fox - 11 3/4" x 8 1/2"

I always frame my original art behind high quality, plexiglas.  So there is no fear of breakage during shipping.

Meeting In The Forest - 10 3/4" x 7 3/4"

Skier Riding Caribou Home : Holiday Cards

The holiday season has arrived!  Time for chocolate rum balls, pine sented candles and Christmas lights.

This year I created an illustrated holiday card.  You can pick it up in Toronto at Scout or Freedom, or if you're out of town, you can buy a set of 8 from my Etsy shop.

Today's Parent Magazine: Debate Illustration

The December issue of Today's Parent Magazine is out! I did the illustration on the debate page. This debate was about if you drank a little bit of alcohol during your pregnancy, or not.  You can read the debate here.

I made this with the art director, Nicole Chung, who I always enjoy working with.

Sketches From British Columbia

I went on a 3 week vacation to British Columbia in September.  I'm always blown away by the beauty of the mountains and ocean.  I make sure to spend the most time possible out doors, hiking, kayaking and biking.

I wanted to share a few little sketches I made during my trip.  I like to sketch in pen, as it forces me to slow down, really look carefully, and make marks.

The above cabin, is my dad's tool shed at his Savary Island cottage.  He lived in this tight space while he was building the cottage.

This sketch I made while on an impromptu fishing trip in a boat on Kootenay Lake.  Andrew was very sporting about sitting still while I drew.

This last one is of my dads cute little wood stove in his cabin.  But don't be fooled, it gives some powerful heat on chilly days.

Mindful Magazine: Issue 5

Here's the latest batch of Mindful Magazine illustrations!  It's always fun to work on such a wide variety of subjects on a small scale.

These were art directed by Megumi Yoshida, whom is always so wonderful to work with.

Nature Canada Illustrated Map

Fewf! I'm super happy to show you all this illustrated map of Canada I created with John Lepp of Agents of Good for their client, Nature Canada.  This was a large spread for the Nature Canada 2012-2013 Annual Report.  Take a look at the full report here.  John did such an amazing job on the graphic design, I'm so thrilled with how this all came together.

I particularly enjoyed researching and illustrating the handful of Canadian animals.  After this commission was finished, I filled up the map with yet more animals.  I'll be showing you how the completed original turned out in an up coming blog post!

Today's Parent Magazine: Debate Illustration

The October issue of Today's Parent Magazine is out, and has an illustration I created for their debate page.  This debate was about a "push presents", a gift a father would give the mother after she's given birth to a new baby.  This was art directed by Nicole Chung, who I always enjoy working with.

You can read the debate here.

Garden Harvest

I've been enjoying my little garden harvest this past month.  I have 8 Chadwick's Cherry Tomato plants, a nice little row of Black Tuscan Palm Tree Kale and a pot of Italian Large Leaf Basil.  I buy my seeds from The Cottage Gardener.  They have a most excellent selection of heirloom seeds and I've had great results with them.

I thought this was a good time to show another illustration I made for Interval House.  Like the Typewriter Illustration, it was framed and given as an award to a special donor.

Mindful Magazine: Issue 4

New batch of illustrations for Mindful Magazine!  Art directed, as per usual, by the wonderful Meg Yoshida.

2012 Interval House Impact Report

I updated the Interval House Impact Report illustration from last year to fit the new stats.  I worked on this with John Lepp of Agents of Good.  It's always such a pleasure to create work for a truly an amazing organization.

Orange Coast Magazine

I created a bunch of illustrations for Orange Coast Magazine that appeared in the Best of 2013 issue.  The three 1/4 page illustrations are about the hiking, bakeries, and pet supply shops, respectively.

The spot illustrations accompanied suggested shops, restaurants and bars.  I had really a good time working on these commissions.  Thanks very much to Lisa Lewis, who art directed these and was perfectly wonderful to work with.

Today's Parent Magazine: Debate Illustration

This illustration is in the July issue of Today's Parent Magazine.  It accompanied a debate on whether you would let your young daughter wear a two piece swimsuit this summer.  You can read the debate here.

This was art directed by Nicole Chung, who is always a pleasure to work with.

Typewriter Illustration

This is one of 6 original illustrations I created for Interval House.  The illustrations were framed and given as awards to select people who had donated to the women's shelter over the years.

This particular one was given to a women who has been a major donor and was a journalist in the 70's.  She championed the issue of violence against women.

Today's Parent Magazine: Debate Illustration

Time for another Today's Parent illustration!  This one accompanied a debate about having one child or having more than one child.  I think this penguin and wood duck do a pretty good job of getting the point across.

Mindful Magazine: Issue 3

Here's the latest batch of mindful/mindless spots I illustrated for Mindful Magazine.  These were art directed by the wonderful Meg Yoshida, who is always a pleasure to work with.

Anne Thériault's Forest Commission

I'm really happy to share this new commissioned piece!  I created it for my super talented friend, Anne Thériault.  She's a writer and generally wonderful/interesting lady.  You can read her blog here.

She really liked my forest illustrations and wanted me to create something special for her business cards and website.  But she also wanted to have the framed original in the end.

The way I create my illustrations is I cut, paste and draw with pencil crayons on coloured paper pieces.  I paint the background in acrylic paint, then I figure out the final placement of the paper pieces before I paste them down.  It feels a bit like solving a puzzle or building a stage set.  And it always feels great to see it all come together in the end.

And here's Anne's framed original.  This is one of the most beautiful frame I've ever owned.  My mom found it during one of her thrifting missions.  She's the greatest at finding treasures.  This pieces measures approximately 13 3/4" x 10 1/2".

Thanks Anne, for such a great commission!

Flow Magazine

I was so thrilled to get the nature issue of Flow Magazine in the mail!  Flow Magazine is so over the top beautiful.  I only wish I could read Dutch!

My artwork, as well as a short interview, appears in this issue.  Me and five other illustrators were asked to talk about how we create art in nature and our personal connections to nature.

Below is the cover art by Leonie Bos.  So beautiful!

Mindful Magazine: Issue 2

Issue 2 of Mindful Magazine is now out!  It's chalk full of great holistic articles, as well as 10 spot illustrations I made.  I'm actually in the process of creating the next batch of spots for issue 3.

Today's Parent Magazine: Debate Illustration

Here's the latest debate illustration I made for Today's Parent Magazine.  This was art directed by Nicole Chung.  The debate was on if you should post your children's pictures on Facebook.  You can read it here.

Savary Island Tradesman

My dad has officially moved out of Vancouver and into his beautifully self-crafted cottages!  My dad has been building houses my whole life.  He worked as a draftsmen at Bush, Bohlman & Partners, but whenever he could take some time off, he was building his log cabin in Slocan Park or his ocean cottage on Savary Island.  Two of the most beautiful locations in British Columbia.

Now that he's semi-retired, and his homes are completed, he wants to keep busy and take on small building jobs around Savary Island.  Dad asked me to make him a business card for his new small business venture.  Above is the crest I illustrated for his double sided card.

Below is his gorgeous Savary Island home.  I love how he incorporated drift wood logs into the railings.  You can contact him by e-mail robjan22000@yahoo.ca

And here's a photo of the sign I painted him, I blogged about it here.  You'll know he's on the island if this sign is displayed.

I also illustrated a map of Savary Island that I blogged about here.

Today's Parent Airport Background

This is an illustration I made for Today's Parent Magazine.  It was used as a background to show a variety of cute children's luggage.  This piece was art directed by Jamie Piper.

Today's Parent Magazine: Debate Illustration

Here's the latest published illustration I created for Today's Parent Magazine!  This one was for the debate section of the March issue.  Read the debate here (about nanny cams).

Interval House Gratitude Report 2012

I love the 2012 Interval House gratitude report!  It was created and designed by the wonderful people at Agents of Good.  Throughout the report, my dollhouse illustration can be found in the photos.

I created this dollhouse illustration for the 2009 gratitude report.  The people at Interval House liked the illustration so much that they bought the framed original.  I'm so glad it continues to be a loved and useful piece of artwork for this Toronto battered woman's shelter.

Nature Canada Thank You Card

This was a really fun commission I received through the wonderful people at Agents of Good.  It's an illustration for Nature Canada to be printed as a card and sent out to people who had donated to the organization over the last year.  The client wanted to include water, trees, people and animals.  But it was important that it could look like anywhere in Canada.

I thought the final turned out rather well!  I love doing outdoorsy illustrations.

Mindful Magazine: Issue 1

The premier issue of Mindful Magazine is out, and I'm so chuffed that I'll be a regular illustrator for the Mindful-Mindless section!

Green Parent Magazine

The second "family portrait" illustration for Green Parent Magazine is out!  This one will be accompanying the Earth Mother column, written by Claire Ashbourne.  It was great working again with the Art Director, Jez Harris on this.

Interval House Impact Report

Back in December, I worked with the amazing people at Agents of Good (John Lepp and Jen Love) to illustrate an infograph for Interval House woman's shelter.  John and Jen are so wonderful to work with and I think it's their caring, positive energy that make the work produced really great!  I have to say I'm very happy with how this impact report came out.  I love that it's a nice blend of storytelling and numbered facts.

Be sure to click the image to see it larger.

Today's Parent: Debate Illustration

This is my latest Today's Parent illustration for the January debate.  This debate was on whether or not you let your toddler watch tv.  You can read both sides here.

I'm always thrilled to work with the art directors over at Today's Parent Magazine on these commissions!