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.

On the Shoulder of a Giant part 7

It's been fun to share some of my work from On the Shoulder of a Giant this week. I started the week by showing the book's front cover so I thought I'd finish it by posting the back cover, which depicts the giant, Inukpak, catching a whale. I'm attaching the sketch for the illustration and I'm also posting a few spot illustrations that were done for the book. It's a big finale!

Many thanks to those of you followed these posts posts all week. I appreciate your time and interest. If you're intrigued by the book, please order a copy and help spread the word about it! It's available on Amazon.com and at Barnes and Noble. You can post about it on Goodreads too.

You can find the Inuit-owned publisher, Inhabit Media on the web at http://inhabitmedia.com. They publish some terrific books about Inuit culture and mythology.

On the Shoulder of a Giant part 6

This is the last spread I'll be posting this week from On the Shoulder of a Giant. It's also the last spread in the book and it shows Inukpak and the hunter roaming the arctic landscape in the winter. However, I'll share a few smaller images from the book tomorrow so please, stay tuned!

As I worked on this spread, I found myself continually painting details out of the picture, trying to make it work as a design as much as a rendered illustration. It's something I've been more focused on in recent years and I want to continue focusing on it.

I'm including two preliminary sketches this time. I added simple gray tones to one of them before painting the final. That was actually part of the process on all of these spreads. It was very helpful,

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On the Shoulder of a Giant is available on Amazon.com and at Barnes and Noble. Please pick up a copy and write a review. You can post about it on Goodreads too.

You can find the publisher, Inhabit Media on the web at http://inhabitmedia.com

On the Shoulder of a Giant part 5

I don't want my posts this week to give the impression that every scene in On the Shoulder of a Giant features a panoramic landscape so here's a spread where Inukpak, the giant, picks up the inuit hunter to talk to him.

This was my favorite depiction of the giant in the book, especially as he's drawn in the preliminary sketch.

On the Shoulder of a Giant is available on Amazon.com and at Barnes and Noble. Please pick up a copy and write a review. You can post about it on Goodreads too.

You can find the publisher, Inhabit Media on the web at http://inhabitmedia.com

On the Shoulder of a Giant part 4

Another day, another spread ...  I'll be here all week, folks!

The initial plan for the interior spreads of On the Shoulder of a Giant was to have the illustrations cover one page and "bleed" over onto the next, where the art would fade out and the text would be placed. However, we realized we could develop some interesting, panoramic imagery by having the artwork cover both pages and then placing the text on top of it. I think it ended up being a good approach. I suspect you can guess where the text was placed over this illustration.

The spread above shows the scene where the giant, Inukpak, first encounters the Inuit hunter he will adopt in the story.

As in previous posts, I've attached the preliminary sketch for this spread.

On the Shoulder of a Giant is available on Amazon.com and at Barnes and Noble. Please pick up a copy and write a review. You can post about it on Goodreads too.

You can find the publisher, Inhabit Media on the web at http://inhabitmedia.com

On the Shoulder of a Giant Part 3

Here's another spread from On the Shoulder of a Giant, written by Neil Christopher who, I should add, was a pleasure to work with on this book.

This scene depicts the somewhat alarmed Inuit hunter telling the giant, Inukpak, that a polar bear is approaching. It's probably my favorite scene in the book and it was one of the more difficult to illustrate because I needed to show the scale of the giant, the hunter and the bear.

I've attached the preliminary sketch for the spread as well.

On the Shoulder of a Giant is available on Amazon.com and at Barnes and Noble. Please pick up a copy and write a review. You can post about it on Goodreads too.

You can find the publisher, Inhabit Media on the web at http://inhabitmedia.com

On the Shoulder of a Giant Part 2

This is the first spread from On the Shoulder of a Giant, the picture book I mentioned in my previous post. The book is based on a traditional Inuit story and this scene depicts the titular giant, Inukpak, happily striding across the arctic landscape.

The picture, like the cover I posted yesterday and the rest of the artwork in the book, was painted digitally, in Adobe Photoshop, using a variety of brushes and techniques. I pushed the color palette because the book is aimed at a younger audience and I wanted most of the images to pop off the pages, especially this first illustration.

I've attached the preliminary sketch for the spread as well.

On the Shoulder of a Giant is available on Amazon.com and at Barnes and Noble. I encourage you to pick up a copy and write a review. You can post about it on Goodreads too!

You can find the publisher, Inhabit Media on the web at http://inhabitmedia.com

On the Shoulder of a Giant

Over this past year I had the chance to realize a dream I've literally had for decades: to illustrate a picture book. I collaborated with author Neil Christopher and Inhabit Media on On the Shoulder of a Giant, a picture book based on a traditional Inuit story in which a giant named Inukpak adopts a hunter. The book was released a few weeks ago and I'm very proud of it.

I've posted the cover (and the preliminary sketch) above and I'll be sharing art from the interior of the book all week so please stay tuned!

On the Shoulder of a Giant is available on Amazon.com and at Barnes and Noble. I encourage you to pick up a copy and write a review. You can post about it on Goodreads too!

You can find Inhabit media on the web at http://inhabitmedia.com