Illustration Friday, Prepare

Here is an update to my prepare piece for Illustration Friday.



Just the detail work left and red hi-light.

New Scanner

I got a new scanner today, sooooo exciting =D I spent the better part of tonight scanning & uploading a good chunk of my illustrations. There is a variety of subject matter and some different mediums. You will see some pieces that look unfinished but this is the way I tend to work. Having three or four illustrations on the go allows me to move from one illustration to another as I hit creative blocks. I've made two sets for my work sketch book drawings and past illustrations that I have finished. Like I said I'm excited to be able to get more of my illustrations posted for everyone to see.



This image will bring you to my sketch book set.



This image will bring you to my past illus. set.

Have a look. Inside these sets you will see characters from various comics, please don't leave comments citing copy write or trade make restrictions. These are simply fan art.

Good day everyone. I'm taking part in the Illustration Friday word of the week illustrations and I just wanted to share with you my thumbnails for this weeks word, "prepared."
 

In my first thumbnail I'm going for a kind of noir feel with my subject entering a dark motel room and gearing up with supplies off a table. I might use 1 colour as an accent, the source of which will be the motel sign outside the window.

In my second thumbnail I might try to keep a dark feel to it and I would be addressing the fear one has upon graduating and having to head out into the working world. To accomplish this my subject has his/her back to us and he/she is looking out over a sea of zombie like employers.

And for my last thumbnail I was inspired while watching tv with my son and I was thinking of doing a group shot of DC comics Young Justice team. Have a look and please feel free to weigh in, I appreciate criticisms.


Ok, here's an update on my progress. I've decided to go with my concept from thumbnail number one. I'm drawing some inspiration from this illustration from a 1953 Adventure Magazine illustration found in Leif Peng's Flickr archives of mid-20th century illustrations. I For this illustration I'm working digitally in Photoshop's CS4, and I hoping to use a three panel comic set up with some overlapping elements to try and catch a gritty noir feel. At this stage I've got my frames laid out and some rough lines.




I hope everyone had a good thursday. I've got the next stage of my illustration for you all to look at. I started in the first frame and so far it's mostly been blacking out the room trying to get that gritty feel to it.

IWD poster next step

Ok, the next step in my creative design process is to look into some graphic art by Al Parker to try to find something in his work weather it's composition, colour usage or something else that stands out to me. Then I will share my thumbnails and narrow down a direction to keep developing.

The Al Parker image that I've chosen to gather some inspiration from is from his Cosmopolitan,  1952 illustration. Have a look. You can view a more complete collection of Al Parker's fabulous illustrations at http://www.flickr.com/photos/leifpeng/sets/1502340/with/5638524454/

 

 What I like about this illustration is how he used a flattened graphic colour scheme with moderate to little detail in his line art(or pen & ink, wish I could see the original artwork). It's this combination of techniques that I am going to try to draw upon for my poster. Which brings me to my thumbnails. Have a look and then we will talk about which direction I will explore and why.

 

I started my thumbnail sketches roughing out both full body action scene and a portrait style scene. Both of which had aspects that appealed to me. I like when an illustration has some type of motion, or action to it but I all so really like the detail you can get from a portrait. So I decided for my third thumbnail to try capturing both the action & the detail from the first two thumbnails and discovered the possibility for some interesting type elements. Catriona has been called the "Fastest woman alive," which I think will run very nicely along the contour of her knee right up front in the fore ground.

So that's where I'm at now it's time to explore some colour concepts to go with my portrait in motion, hey I rather like that, and I will get my colour comps posted shortly for us to have a look. Until then, Cheers.

Good evening all. I have a good start on my to scale (18" x 24") pencil rendering. This size is too big to fit in my scanner so I have taken a photo of it, hop it is clear enough for you to see. As I continue working through this piece I will be trying some colour possibilities. Red and yellow for her suit with some white accent strips. not sure what I'll do for the background, yet.



Oh ya, once the painting is done I will most likely be using an india ink pen-brush to do some of the line details.  I'm really getting more of a skating event poster than I am for an IWD poster. Hopefully once I figure out the rest of the typography elements it will all come together.

IWD Poster

Now that I have shared a bit about myself I'm going to get started with some of my creative work. The first journey I would like to bring you on is of my work on an International Women's Day poster. I will be focusing my design/illustration work on "The Fastest Woman Alive," Catriiona Le May Doan.


 Catriona gets to speak to a variety of groups all over Canada.  It is so rewarding for her to share her story especially to young aspiring athletes in hopes that she can continue to inspire everyone to reach their goals. Catriona is associated with Right to Play as an Athlete Ambassador, Spokesperson for Spina Bifida and Hydrocephalus Association of Canada, the Saskatoon Foundation, the Lakefield Oval project, and the Children’s Health Foundation of Saskatchewan to name a few. She always strives to inspire all she can reach and I have been inspired by a quote she has on her website, http://www.catrionalemaydoan.ca/, "Life continues to have no finish line."

Inspiration

There has been a lot of talk lately about "Inspiration." Be it an artist, art style, graphic art style, a graphic designer.... the list goes on and on. I believe we all need inspiration in our lives and that we shouldn't be limited or rather feel limited in having to find inspiration from any one source.  As I continue on with my blog I will share more and more what inspires me.

I'll start by sharing some scenes from around Algonquin Provincial Park.



I love the colours and textures that can be found in nature and I really appreciate the reward of paddling or backpacking into an area that not many people get to see and then bring back some amazing photo's to share with those who enjoy mother natures master pieces too.

Check out the rest of the photo's from the set

Hope you like these as much as I did taking them.

Until next time....

Testing Image links

Ok, here are some wildlife photo's I've taken over the years. I hope they link properly.
 

 Ok, the pic is here, let's try a link. Here are some hockey cards that were done by Jason Horne, Esquire Graphic Design.

 Ok, now let's fix the size of the photo so it fits inside the column.

Hello all

Hello all,

My name is Johnathon Ayles and I'm a graphic designer. There is so much covered by this umbrella of a title that I just wanted to take this opportunity to tell you a bit about myself.

Beyond doing graphic designs for print (where most of my experience lies), I am also a passionate wildlife photographer and I really enjoy drawing and illustrating. Some of the artists that I look up to include Marcus To, Al Rio and Michael Turner along with all who carry on Aspen Comics. I gather a lot of my wildlife photos while exploring northern Ontario either on canoe/camping trips or as team captain of the Awesome Squad adventure race team at our events.

I am excited  to share my designs, illustrations and photos with you and hope you enjoy them as much as me.