Illustration Friday - Detective

This is my illustration for the "Illustration-Friday" website. This weeks topic is detective. When I visualize a detective he is Sherlock Holmes. Not the cool Robert Downey Jr. version but the Basil Rathbone version. You can smell the dusty tweed jacket when you see him on the silver screen.



Quill Byte brought to you by Andrew Kirkham
©2010

If-Friday -> Linked

Hi all...This IF-Friday Illustration is now my Illustration-Sunday. When I thought of 'linked" the concept of links (Scottish slang for a golf course) came to mind. So I illustrated a fantasy golf hole. Since I don't golf (unless you count a rigorous 18 holes on the mini-putt) I like to see golfers in difficult situations. I can imagine a 14 year old boy at the bottom of the hole making a fortune collecting lost golf balls.


Quill Byte brought to you by Andrew Kirkham
©2010

Illustration Friday - Dip

This is my Illustration-Friday submission for April 9th, 2010. The topic is "dip".
I remember as a small child going to the circus and seeing a man climb up a tall ladder to reach a platform from which he planned on jumping into a small tub of water. It was frightening for me. My father told me not to worry, the man was just going to take a little "dip". So that is the memory I have with the word "dip". (I closed my eyes tight, and so never did see the spectacle - I opened my eyes at the sound of a roaring crowd.



Quill Byte brought to you by Andrew Kirkham
©2010

Illustration Friday - Rescued

This is my Illustration Friday entry. When I engage in a rescue, it is usually of a stray ladybug or spider caught inside the house, trying to get out. I gently pick him up, take him to the door, and gently send him on his way. I got to wondering about whether some bugs would rescue us if the bugs were the dominant species and we were pests.



It is a pen and ink drawing with pencil crayon. Hope you enjoy it.

Quill Byte brought to you by Andrew Kirkham
©2010

Cancer Bike Ride with Lance Armstrong

For the Postcard Image I ended up creating 2 images. I created a vector graphic in Illustrator of a bike rider. (thank goodness we have the pen tool). I then created a graphic of the four riders attached to one another. I then placed it on a glass button with the same image mapped on it like a shadow. It looks like a variation of Chinese Cloisonné to me.

The other image I used the same bike used above, but I wrapped it repeatedly around a cylinder. I created the LiveStrong wrist band in Illustrator using 3D, and mapped the text onto the bracelet.


Quill Byte brought to you by Andrew Kirkham
©2010

Illustration Friday - Expired

The Illustration Friday topic for March 26th, 2010 is "Expired". When I think of something that has expired, I think of bananas. I think that this is because they are one of the few items we buy that is past the expiration date on purpose. The best banana bread is made with bananas past their prime. Both bananas and people are best when they are wrinkly and past their prime :)


I sketched out this image using the brush tools in Adobe Photoshop CS4.


Quill Byte brought to you by Andrew Kirkham
©2010

Postcard for Self Promo

The portfolio card image. This uses the CorelDraw Self Promotion image that uses powerclips. It has then been taken into Photoshop for treatment, and a series of additional clockfaces created in Illustrator have been imported and treated in photoshop.



Quill Byte brought to you by Andrew Kirkham
©2010

Illustration Friday - Subterranean

My image for Illustration Friday - Subterranean. I thought of monsters underground. When I personalized "underground monsters", I thought of carrots. For me the carrot is a slightly menacing root vegetable. This is because my youngest son is allergic to raw carrots. When the carrots are cooked an enzyme is destroyed making them safe for consumption.



The image was created on brown stock using pencil crayons. Hope you enjoy.

...Andrew

Quill Byte brought to you by Andrew Kirkham
©2010

IF - Brave

This is my IF-Friday submission for "Brave".
No matter your politics about the wars currently being fought by forces from around the world, Bravery can be seen every day as Canadian and American soldiers risk their lives because their Countries have called on them.



I used Painter for the soldier, and the background was created using various text and masking techniques in Photoshop.

Quill Byte brought to you by Andrew Kirkham
©2010

IF - Perspective

Tried an experiment that failed miserably. I thought that to reverse the perspective vanishing points and place them in the foreground would be interesting. I was wrong. Thought that after all the work I put into it (really) it was worth a post. Sometimes you have to break an egg to make an omelet. I went into the hen house and destroyed the roost.



Quill Byte brought to you by Andrew Kirkham
©2010

Mr. Courts Blog Pic

Mr. Courts blog is to have three images. I went for a literal set of images. The primary image is a Mustang Bicycle (with a banana seat)


Here is the spot of the steel mills from across the Hamilton Bay.


The final is a chestnut with the string threaded through it. When we would do battle we would actually roast them in an oven at about 160 degrees Fahrenheit. This would make them act like steel.



Quill Byte brought to you by Andrew Kirkham
©2010

Rendered Comps for Storyborad

The next evolution in the stroyboard are the black and white comps.
These three were all created using Corel Painter 11.







Quill Byte brought to you by Andrew Kirkham
©2010

Illustration Friday - Adrift

The Illustration Friday image for Feb. 19th, 2010 is Adrift. I again decided to tackle the project using Corel Painter 11. I was pleased with the image of the sinking yacht in the background. I have a feeling that anyone else looking at it will think it is a color blob in the background....but I like it anyway. The life buoy is a donut I created using 3D in Illustration, that I then color mapped. By the time I was done shading and recoloring, it would have been quicker to just paint it.



Quill Byte brought to you by Andrew Kirkham
©2010

Cereal Storyboard Thumbnails

Wakazoos are a kids cereal. Here is a set of 12 thumbnails that will eventually become an illustrated storyboard.








Quill Byte brought to you by Andrew Kirkham
©2010

Illustration Friday - Muddy

My Illustration Friday image for Feb.12, 2010.
I own a Jeep Liberty and occasionally go off-roading. I love the mud, but only from the safe confines of the vehicle. I wonder what the vehicle would feel if it was somehow alive. I imagine that from time to time it would "pull-up" like a frightened jump horse. I named the jeep muddy.
I created the image using a black and white pencil on muddy brown paper.


Quill Byte brought to you by Andrew Kirkham
©2010

This is the final version of the Wakazoos Cereal Ad. The image was created using Corel Painter 11. It was then brought into Adobe Illustrator for the layout and text.



To get to the final above....the first stage was to create 3 different concept thumbnails. These were a form of brainstorming on paper. Each one of these was given a rough treatment.



The concept I liked best was given a larger rough drawing.



I really didn't like the character so I redrew him.


A final digital comp was created. It was as much a playground for Corel Painter 11 as it was a color comp.


Quill Byte brought to you by Andrew Kirkham
©2010

Old hands Threading the Eye

This is my first submission for the Illustration Friday Website. It is part of an assignment for my Mohawk College instructor, Leif Peng.
When I think of "focused", I remember watching my Grandmother mending some piece of old clothing I had worn another hole in. She would lick the tip of the thread and with unbelievable focus thread it through the eye of the needle. When I asked to try I found that I was unable, no matter how hard I tried, to complete the task. This frail old woman with arthritic gnarled hands could accomplish this seemingly simple task, that I was unable to complete. I have always thought of her as a loving and focused role model in my life.


Quill Byte brought to you by Andrew Kirkham
©2010

My 1st "Illustration Friday" Assignment - Wilderness (Scorpion)

This is my first attempt at creating an illustration for the "Illustration Friday" website. The date for submissions was January 22nd, 2010 and the topic was "Wilderness". I used Corel Painter for the image. As I have only started to use the application this week, I still find it very daunting.

The most amazing wilderness I have ever seen was the desert of Sedona, Arizona. This rugged area was the primary shooting locale for a large number of John Wayne westerns. The colors and the scenery are breath-taking.
As I walked along the many trails I found that I was constantly on the watch for scorpions. I was fascinated in my own psyche, and the sense of concern I had for a creature I had never encountered in the wild. I think my concern was due to the strength of the creature, able to survive in such a rugged environment that I was already wilting in.

Hello. Welcome to my new blog. I hope it grows to something you find of value.


This photoshop illustration was fun to do. I am planning on adding many more posts soon.