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Illustrator

Birds on the feeder

I have a birdfeeder outside the window where I work and it attracts all manner of little songbirds, mostly finches. I have a handy copy of Birds of North America on my desk so I’ve managed to identify most of them.

Here are 3 birds I see regularly on the feeder: slate juncos, white-breasted nuthatches, pine grosbeak (red finch). I used to see them more often, but my neighbour cut down a bunch of foliage on his side of the fence and so the birds have less cover now and don’t frequent my feeder as much 🙁

Coronation Street Portraits

Full disclosure: these portraits were too much fun to draw. I’ve always loved how Coronation Street characters are interesting-looking. They’re not perfect and made-up like American soap opera stars. The more interesting the look, the more fun it is to draw.

I’ve drawn what essentially amounts to Corrie fan-art. I’ve been watching the show since 2002, when I started watching because I didn’t have cable and the CBC was the only available channel through my tiny TV’s antenna (other shows acquired during that period: Emmerdale, the Red Green Show, This Hour has 22 Minutes, etc). I’ve been hooked on Corrie ever since then.

I’ve chosen to draw not my favourite characters, but the characters that have been listed as the ones who have been in the most episodes. William Roache (as Ken Barlow) has been on the show since the very first episode…back in 1960. Yes! Coronation Street is the longest running TV show still airing. We also have Anne Kirkbride (as Ken’s wife Deirdre Barlow, RIP), Helen Worth as Gail Platt and Barbara Knox as Rita Tanner.

I can see myself adding more to this collection, but for now here are the four:

 

 

Couches for Avenue Magazine

I illustrated a few different types of couches for Avenue Magazine’s February issue. I now know exactly what a chesterfield is! My Grandma used it to describe every couch, when she in fact had a mid-century modern sofa, not a chesterfield. You learn something new every day.

avenue_dec_spread_web

 

Guide to Dressing Warmly in Winter

It’s February and getting to that point in the Canadian winter when people start to really complain about the weather. Mother Nature likes to play tricks on poor amnesiac Canadians at this time of year; she springs (pun intended) warm, above zero, spring-like temperatures on us and we get all excited, like: “maybe this year Spring will actually come in February!”. Then she hammers us with another deep freeze, 30cm of snow…or 75cm, if you live in the Maritimes (you poor souls).

Snow, melt, freeze, repeat. And every year Canadians whine about it and forget where they live.

So I thought it would be fun to make a little six-part guide on how to dress yourself warmly for the Canadian winter. This gave me a chance to draw most of my winter gear and plug some of my favourite made-in-Canada companies. I hope some of you will find it helpful.

While it’s not ideal having to own multiple wardrobes just because you live in this country, getting outside in the winter and embracing the season is the best way to survive it. So get dressed warmly and get outside!

Click on the thumbnails below to see them larger, and click again on the link to see them full-size.