2021 Updates
Hello everyone! hope your new year is off to a good start! I have an exciting studio update for you! I have been busy working on my first book illustration that is soon to be published! (More info on that to come soon). To prepare, I have spent most of January working on several illustrations for an upcoming novella. With that in the works, I have several other things I would like share with you.
First one is actually going back to the end of December. I made a book cover to challenge myself and to use for my portfolio for book illustrations. I settled on a classic book, Peter Pan. I read this book in early 2020 and felt like I could really make a great cover for it. I wanted to give it some elegance along with keeping my newfound illustration style. I had a basic idea of merging London and Neverland together, along with some classic design elements and motifs. I started with a very rough sketch then took it into procreate on my iPad and just started working. The cover took several variations, especially trying to find the exact colors that would bring the cover to life. In the end, I’m very pleased with how it turned out!
Continuing with some more digital illustration, I made several new pieces. I am really enjoying illustrating digitally at the moment. I found a nice groove and ideas keep flowing! I have made three pieces so far this year. The first one is of a snowy owl. I’m actually making a block print of a snowy owl, and this was a composition I tried for the piece that didn’t work out. However, because I liked it still, I decided to turn it into a digital illustration.
The second piece is of a cardinal bird! I have been really enjoying seeing some cardinals through the winter here. Their bright red color stands out against all the white of winter. Therefore, I decided to make an illustration in honor of them.
The last one, which I just finished, is a landscape inspired by a photo I took late fall on a walk with my dog. We were walking in the woods right by our house. It was late afternoon and when we came out to the edge of the woods we were greeted by one of the most beautiful sunsets I have ever seen!
All of these prints are available to purchase on my shop! Right now the first 5 orders of the cardinal is on a special deal for $15 dollars!
Back in May, I did a print of a great horned owl. I was thinking about how to make a more connected series and collection. I was also really enjoying the owls and wanted to continue to develop that more. I decided to do two more owl prints, one of a snowy owl and the other of a barn owl. All three will have a similar composition and border. I started with the snowy owl. As I mentioned above, I tried to make a composition of the owl flying, but with the size and border I had set up it just didn’t work. For the border, I took the same one I made for the great horned owl and tweaked it a bit. I wanted the borders to represent each owl in some way. For the snowy owl, I decided to have elements of pine needles throughout the border. I am in mid carving on this and will show it off once I finished!
We started this year with no snow on the ground. It was a mild December and most of January. However, I still tried to make the best of it and appreciate the landscape around me even though I was bummed about the lack of snow for snow shoeing and skiing. With some patience, I have been rewarded. We have had several big snow storms and temperatures staying cold to keep the snow on the ground. Here are some highlights of several of my favorite photos through winter so far.
Thanks and I hope you have enjoyed the post and my work here! I will be back once I finish my snowy owl print to give a in depth look into the making of the print with more on the series of owls! Take care and be safe.
Bryan.
