Society Of Illustrators 54

For the first time my work has been accepted by the legendary Society Of Illustrators. Ever since art school I've wanted to be a member of the society and be included in the annual. A few hours ago I got the call that my tribute to George Romero and J.C. Leyendecker made the cut. I'm very excited. With any luck I'll be able to make it to the show's opening.

Back in Tennessee

It's been a few years since I've worked in the State of Tennessee but today marks my return. I was very happy to get a call from Nashville's The City Paper last week to do this cover illustration about job opportunities for skilled workers in the city. Drawn on Tuesday and painted on Wednesday, it was a rush job for an oil painting but I couldn't be happier with the results. Wish I was in town to grab a copy for myself.

Care Bears' Ink

The little know secret story behind the Care Bears' stomach artwork. This illustration has been hanging around the studio unfinished for months. I can't remember where the idea came from but I began the painting a few months ago before abandoning it. I decided last week to give it a second try and proceeded with a pen and ink drawing that was then colored digitally. This process felt like it gave the Care Bears a much more authentic feel not that this was an attempt to copy their look exactly. I guess it's just a tribute.

Drag Strip Courage And Compacts

Monday I asked the Toronto Roller Girls if they needed any poster art for October. Turned out they needed a poster for Wednesday so I got my act together and "whipped" this poster together on Tuesday. I though I would show the contrast of the tough side of the derby girls with the dainty which I think really works here. It cracks me up when you go see the derby and they're dancing while waiting for the whistle to blow. Maybe Roller Disco will be the next big thing for those of you on eight wheels. If anyone needs a roller disco poster done please call me.

Roller Derby - Double Header

I've teamed up with Kitchener's Tri-City Roller Girls for this loving tribute to the Sweet Valley High book series. This poster is for the Sept 24 match featuring the Tri City teams the Vicious Dishes and the Total Knock-Outs verses Toronto's D-Vas and Montreal Les Contrabanditas. I'm not sure where the Sweet
Valley High idea originated but once I had it in my head it was obvious that it needed to be done.

Mid-Century Modern Cartooning

Here's another brand new illustration sample. I'm still exploring the world of Modern cartooning, pen and ink drawings with digital color. I'm not giving up the painting but this is a fun break so I hope some of you art directors can find a use for it. I'd love to do some more!

New Media = New Illustrations

I grew up on Chuck Jones cartoons and spent a lot of time drawing my own comics when I was a kid. It feels like it's time to dust off the old crow quills, brushes and ink bottles to see what I can do with them. The end result has been these ink drawings that have been digitally colored, 20th Century cartooning meets 21st Century Vector graphics.

Breaking Up Isn't Hard To Do

I've let my illustration rep go this week so Three In A Box inc. will no longer be forwarding job requests on to me. If you have a project I'm sure I'm up for it so contact me directly and I'll take care of everything for you.

Feels really good to be back in charge and I can't wait to get to deal with all you art directors directly once again.

Circus Circus

In 2010 I was asked to paint two circus style advertisements for BC Gold, points cards for the British Columbia casinos. The first painting was of the trapeze artist and the second was of the strongman. The strongman art disappeared along the way and I never saw the final advertisements. So I took the original sketch and brought him back. The original strongman was found on the casino floor surrounded by slot machines and his weights were BC Gold cards. I decided to strip him of all that and go more herculean with him securely footed in the clouds heaving his old-timey weights into the air.

Trix - Fruit-Flavored Corn Cereal

Just in time for Easter, here's the Trix Rabbit. As part of series of mock Breakfast Cereal illustrations I'm working on I decided to try something entirely new for Trix. Rather than the traditional sugar craved maniacal bunny I went with a smooth ukulele strumming rabbit in bow tie, wingtips and mask.

Sugar Teeth

I just finished my second mock cereal box sample. The first was a tribute to Leyendecker and George Romero, this one is a tribute to Sugar Crisp's Sugar Bear. The goal here was to make the cuddly little guy a bit more realistic than we've seen him in the past while keeping him stylishly dressed in his red turtleneck.

Funny note, while researching the images for this piece I found out that Canada is one of the few places that Sugar Crisp is still Sugar Crisp. The cereal got a PC makeover and is Golden Crisp most places. Does that mean the Sugar Bear is the Golden Bear now? Just wondering.

Cere-Brum, Part Of An Unbalanced Breakfast

This is my first complete casein illustration. This self promotional piece is a tribute to Zombie filmmaker George A. Romero and one of my illustration heroes, J. C. Leyendecker. The casein paint threw a few surprises at me but I think it'll only get easier. So far I'm very happy with the results.

Out With The Oils

I'm not done with oil paint, that heading is a lie. But, I have been experimenting with Casein paint lately and I've been very happy with the results so far. This is a study I'm particularly pleased with. I know it's a classic movie still but the whole idea is to experiment with the paint. More to come from this I'm sure.

Mr. May, 2011

The 2011 Applied Arts calendar is out and I've got the month of May. This was a painting done for Maisonneuve earlier last year. It's one of my favorite pieces from the last couple years. If one of these calendars ends up on your wall I hope you enjoy it.

More soon!

Too Long

My Last blog entry was in August. It seems like Twitter has taken over my social media time but I'm going to try get this page up and running again this year. Here's a start with just a bit of what I'm up to this week.

First, I'm taking down all my 10th Anniversary images. 2011 marks my 11th year in business. So a slightly new look to this blog, my twitter page (https://twitter.com/#!/johnperlock) and my website http://www.johnperlock.com.

As for artwork, I'm working on a sketch for Barron's this week so watch out in mid February 2011 for me.

More news first thing next week and this time I'll put up some new images.