Home Brew

I've been known to relax with a pint or two after I get the work done. So I am raising a glass to Zymurgy magazine, who hired me for their January edition, an annual best directory of home brewing inventions and innovation. If you are wondering, Zymurgy is defined as the the study or practice of fermentation in brewing, winemaking, or distilling.

Last winter my family bought me a home-brew kit, which required a lot of sterilizing and boiling wort. It was an intense experience and I now can appreciate the guys who do it right. My beer ended up flat and watered down, with the exception of the one bottle I let sit for an extra couple of months. That last pour was tasty and lively, and was encouraging. I have to try it again and do it better next time.

Reading over the content of the article, I was inspired by all the creative thinking, observation, and home-spun solutions to complicated problems, like refrigeration coils, carbonation and dispensers. The brewers involved were concerned with getting the perfect pour, the right chill and obsessing over flavour, hops, alcohol content and colour. Getting the right balance is always important and nice to see others so dedicated to their craft.

Beer and illustration is a natural fit for me. I have done labels in the past, and have another project in the works. I always like doing covers, and the art director Jason Smith was great to work with. I worked with a beautifully photographed glass of beer, something that was a change, but also fit into the final artwork seemlessly.

The colour was adjusted and the title placed over the glass on the final edit of the cover.

Happy Haunting

When I was a kid there was this Saturday afternoon tv show hosted by 'Sir Graves Ghastly', and I was raised on b-grade horror movies. Here's a little seasonal tribute to the haunted mansion. Enter at your own peril.

Happy Halloween!

Here's the base collage:

Crazy Mixed-Up World

Trying to make sense of things day-to-day is disorienting enough. Trying to take in the bigger picture on a global scale is an entirely different story.

I was thrilled and challenged when this assignment came through from designer Louis Fishauf, for Global Briefings magazine. The cover image was based on the title feature: To Do or not To Do - Doing Something, Doing Nothing, and Avoiding Breaking. We live in an age of peril and uncertainty, and I wanted to reflect that in a strong, central image. On one side - financial markets (in turmoil) and on the other, contagion and environmental risks. Getting a sense of balance/imbalance and the headache-inducing choices we face was the focus of this piece, and Louis was great to work with. Here's the final:

Designing on a black background was a new challenge - I worked up some sketches (below) directly on the background, and tried to strike the right balance with colours & objects. Here's a bigger version of the cover image:

 

I also liked the idea of our institutions in crisis, so I drafted up concepts involving a legislative/financial building as a base:

Next we tackled the inside feature: "Man and His Economic-Financial Crises." This was about the mechanisms and massive scale of the economic machinery behind the meltdowns. The lowly repairman about to ascend into this massive machine again punctuates the enormity of the issue outlined.

It's a pleasure to dive into an assignment like this, with it's weight and complexity. I constructed a mechanical globe and populated it with gadgets, gauges, engines and monitors. I also created an alternate, darker version here:

I am happy to be working with i2i Art, and reps Angela Dunning & Shelly Brown. You can see my portfolio and read about this assignment on their website:

i2i Art Website

Global Brief Article

Pirate Radio

I illustrated this feature article for Phoenix Magazine. Brian Goddard, the art director told me I was a perfect fit for the job and my work came to mind as soon as he saw the article. Nice to get this piece, I enjoyed working on it, and the creative freedom an assignment like this brings.

Here's the opening spread:

The founder and operator of the station has an outlaw mentality, provoking authorities by naming the station KWFUCC, with a reference to the FCC. He's known to be a chain smoker and a self-proclaimed champion of freedom. Here's a view of full page illustration.

Shaking the foundations

“They always say time changes things, but you actually have to change them yourself.”
― Andy Warhol

It's been a season of change. I should have posted more work recently, I worked through a huge pile of assignments and worked with a lot of different clients. On top of that all, I relocated my house and studio (more on that in an upcoming post). I think that change is critical - to keep fresh, to see things in a new light and to generate new ideas. I was in my previous studio for 16 years and I needed to sweep out the clutter and open myself to new possibilities.

Work poured in as soon as I set up. So here's a rundown of some recent work, in no particular order.

 

 Cover art for New Trail magazine (appropriately named since I worked on this cover while on the road), for the University of Alberta. I worked with graphic designer Marcey Andrews to incorporate the text and illustration into the cover and inside spread.

Below is the inside feature.

I spent July and August on the road, travelling across the US and negotiating the move. Here's a tip from a seasoned driver: Don't text and drive! Don't drive distracted. For Road and Track magazine - Adam McGinn, AD.

 

A couple of spot illustrations, for AdWeek (AD Ron Goodman) and Wall Street Journal (AD Daniel Smith)

I also had a bit of time for the usual machinations in the illustration lab. More to come!

In case you are interested:

My new address is 355 Victoria Avenue, Belleville, Ontario, K8N 2E4

My new phone no. is 613-779-1232. Email remains the same, wiens@kos.net