Gnawer of Rocks: The Mangittatuarjuk

Here's a "splash page" from the comics/picture book I illustrated, The Gnawer of Rocks. On this page, the ogress (called "Mangittatuarjuk" in the Inuit language) reveals herself for the first time.

The scene takes place in a dimly lit cave so this picture may look a bit dark against the white background of this blog page. Please click on it to see it larger and against a darker background.

Gnawer of Rocks

Here's another spread from the upcoming book, Gnawer of Rocks, written by Louise Flaherty and published by Inhabit Media. As I've mentioned previously, the book is a hybrid of comics and picture books. The story is told sequentially, in panels, like a comic book but the format is that of a picture book. I hope it's an interesting combination for readers. The story, which is based on an eerie Inuit folk tale, is definitely interesting and I enjoyed illustrating it.

Gnawer of Rocks Spread

Here's another spread from Gnawer of Rocks. The book releases next week and at that point, I'll be able to share quite a bit more artwork from it. I've included my preliminary drawing for the spread in this post as well.

I hope you'll check out the book and please "stay tuned" here because I'll share more from it soon.

Gnawer of Rocks: The Cave

This is an early spread from the book Gnawer of Rocks, which will be released next week. The book is a hybrid: part comics, part picture book. It's based on an Inuit myth about an ogress that haunts the north and eats unsuspecting children. In this scene, two girls have come across the cave of the ogress, known as the Mangittatuarjuk.

I'll be posting more panels, spreads and sketches from the book over the next few weeks so please "stay tuned".

Gnawer of Rocks

I've been waiting to show this for a while. It's the cover to a book I spent most of last year illustrating, titled Gnawer of Rocks. The book will be released in October and is published by Inhabit Media (you can pre-order it on Amazon now, just follow the link above). I see it as sort of a hybrid between a picture book and a graphic novel. The story is told sequentially, in panels and splash pages, but is painted and presented in a format similar to the picture book I illustrated for Inhabit Media a couple of years ago, On the Shoulder of a Giant. Like that book, this one is based on an Inuit myth, although this story is considerably darker. It concerns some children who wander into the lair of an ogress.

This was a challenging project for me but a rewarding experience and I'm hopeful that it will go over well. The story Louise Flaherty, who co-founded Inhabit Media, wrote the book. I found the story fascinating!

I'll be posting more from this project soon but for now, I hope you enjoy the cover art.