Digital Illustration

I really wanted to start honing in on a personal illustration style. I gravitated towards working digitally for the ease and convenience it allows. It’s much easier to pick up a tablet while I’m on the couch then to go collect all the supplies I need, and make sure I have a clear worktop. I eventually landed on using an iPad with an Apple pencil, and the program Procreate.

I really enjoy illustrations that use a very limited colour palette. I find they help produce a more thoughtful approach to lighting and composition. I developed a colour palette for myself that uses 5 cool colours, and 4 hot colours, with each of those colours having a dark and light version. Each illustration is then built using a combination of 1 hot, 1 cool, plus the addition of white (or as I like to think of it the colour of paper, or the lack of colour).

Prints for sale

A slang term for gay men used to be "Evening Botanists" because of their penchant for hanging out in parks at night... Based on that moniker, I've illustrated 4 queer-coded flowers in a series called: Evening Botany. Each image was illustrated and hand lettered, and rise printed in 3 colours.

Pansy: A term many are familiar with today, but became synonymous with gay men during "The Panzy Craze" when gay-friendly bars were popularized in the 1920s.

Lavender: "Lavender Boys" or men accused of having a streak of lavender in them, were deemed "unmasculine". Lavender also became associated with Lesbians wanting to be included in the Woman's Movement. Coined "The Lavender Menace", Lesbian Activists fought and won for the inclusion of lesbian rights in the feminist platform.

Violet: The Greek poet Sappho, residing on the isle of Lesbos, often referenced violets in her poems, creating their association with female love.

Carnation: Specifically green carnations were turned into a gay symbol by Oscar Wilde, who popularized wearing one on your lapel to indicate your attraction to men.

Inspirational Posts

“Inspirational Posts” is a light-hearted expression of encouragement, taking words of wisdom off your social feed and posting them in the real world. With the necessity of social distantancing, our community needs more reasons and opportunities to safely enjoy time outside of their homes. “Inspirational Posts” was commissioned as part of the public art walk by the City of Mississauga to help provide those opportunities, and a bright spot of colour in otherwise greyer months. Each post is a digital illustration combining type and form, printed on a standard 24”x24” metal street sign.