The Moose

Moose | Personal Work

This national icon is painted in acrylic on a 15"x 21" illustration board.

Moose | Sketch | Process  

At the outset I knew I wanted to keep the edges of the image very loose and spontaneous.  Once I was satisfied with the sketch I used broad colourful strokes to fill in the background and then tightened up the figure with a little more care(and smaller brushes).  Also, you can see a little more detail in the moose's face in the early process photo on the right.
   

Moose | Prints | Products | Apparel  

Signed archival prints are available directly from me, or try out Society6.com. That's where the Moose and many more of my works are now available as affordable art prints, iphone cases, pillows, apparel and more. I think it would look great on the face of a paddle too or the bottom of a snowboard. 

Receive free shipping by clicking the promo link here, Society6.com. This offer is available until midnight on December 9th and excludes Framed Art Prints and Stretched Canvases. 

Do You See What I See?

Do You See What I See | A Holiday Card (unfolded, front and back showing)

Another Christmas card! 

Each folded card measures about 4.5x6.25"(31cm x 11cm unfolded)

5 cards for $20+shipping. Red, pink or blue envelopes are included.

To purchase this card email me at, ap@alexanderperkins.com Subject: Do You See What I See?

The broken white line does not appear on the printed cards.  Just here as a guide to show where the card is folded. 

Do you See What I See | Holiday Card | Detail (front and back) 

Do you See What I See | without copy

Sketches | Process

Some of the sketches and trials that went into this illustration.  At the bottom right corner you can see the sketch of an elf that didn't make the cut along with a few different outfits for St. Nick. 

Season's Beatings

Season's Beatings | A Holiday Card (unfolded, front and back showing)

I had a lot of fun putting this together. From the character design to how the greeting is revealed when the card is unfolded, there were soo many possibilities. Expect many more like this! 

Each folded card measures about 4.5x6.25"(31cm x 11cm unfolded) 

5 cards for $20+shipping. Brown or black envelopes included. 

To purchase this card email me at, ap@alexanderperkins.com. Subject: Season's Beatings 

Also, the broken white line does not appear on the printed cards.  Just used it here as a guide to show where the card is folded.

Season's Beatings | Holiday Card | Detail (front and back)

Season's Beatings | without copy

Makes a pretty haunting illustration without any words too!

Santa | Sketch | Detail

The scribble that started this illustration.  

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween |  Poster Art 2002

I painted this one when I was a student at Sheridan College to promote the Illustration programs' Annual Halloween Pub Night. I didn't have much of a plan before I picked up a brush and it kinda shows but still makes me laugh. When I was about to give up on Frank and try a different approach my good friend Adam Hilborn jumped in and brought the piece back to life when he added the Mummy! Thanks Adam!
It's a little out of date, but it was a fun collaboration that not too many folks have seen.  

  

Happy Halloween 2002 | Acrylic Painting

Above is a photograph of the original, before I mucked it up digitally trying to balance the background.  I can remember having a hard time getting a good scan or photograph of the piece back in '02 and even today there's something about the original acrylic that still doesn't translate to digital.  

Happy Thanksgiving!

King for a Day | Personal Piece

I've used the image of this festive bird for years as a Thanksgiving greeting card with family and friends and now have stationary cards available at Society 6.  Receive free shipping on all orders by clicking the promo link here, www.society6.com. This offer available until midnight on October 14th and excludes Framed Art Print and Stretched Canvases. 

Werewolf

Werewolf | Private Commission

An older piece but a favourite, and seasonally appropriate. This werewolf in a tree was a private commission in ink on watercolour paper(~14x20"), completed in 2005 or 2006.  Originally commissioned by a collector of horror themed art, my personal goal was to create a chilling image without the expected blood and gore typically associated with the genre. To see a dog in a tree is also a little unexpected.  Although I will continue to have this image available as a signed archival print directly and at conventions I have expanded its' use to new merchandise including stationary cards and ipod cases at Society 6. Check out the Werewolf and some of my other items available through Society 6 by clicking the link here,  www.society6.com!   

Happy Birthday Mom!

Happy Birthday Mom | A card for my mom

I've got a great mom. This is a card I put together for her a year ago. I decided to give her a year to enjoy it all to herself before I shared it online.  Maybe you'll see this year's card a year from now ;)

  

A card for my mom | Sketch | Detail

The cartoony likeness is from memory and wasn't hard to do.  My mother has made appearances in a lot of my commercial work and storyboards over the years.  The line work is drawn in pencil and the colour was added digitally with textures I'd painted in acrylic. The background is a paint by number I made of photo from an old family vacation.  I had my sister do the first pass but she was much too careful so I jumped back in to mess it up a little. Thanks for your help Claire!

The Dark Knight

Dark Knight now in colour! | Personal Work

This one's from waaay back! (1999)
At the time I had a few pages planned out and a couple more pencilled an inked. Somewhere along the way I lost interest,(maybe when I realized I hadn't left any room for speech balloons) but always thought this page was kinda neat. A little Frank Miller, a little Mike Mignola and a little bit Kevin O'Neill...  When I came across these drawings I thought it would be fun to revisit this piece with a quick colour job and post it in celebration of the new Batman flick.

Detail | Sketches

Along with the comic pages I found some other small drawings in the old sketchbook.

The Scarlet Witch

Scarlet Witch | Commission

The Scarlet Witch is an 11"x17" ink drawing, coloured digitally along with some additional hand made textures.  This piece was commissioned by Doug Simpson, manager at Paradise Comics in Toronto and an Avengers super-fan.
  

Scarlet Witch | Inks | Digital Colour  | Sketches

For more than a decade Doug has commissioned drawings of his favourite members of the Marvel Comics super team, including Captain America, Iron Man, Thor, Ant-man, The Vision and Hawkeye.  Many of these drawings became promotional material for local comic book conventions.

This is the second Scarlet Witch I've drawn for Doug;)  Thanks for keeping me busy!

Up a Tree

Lion | Personal Work

This proud beast is painted in acrylic on illustration board and measures ~8" x 10".  It is available as a signed giclee print limited to one-hundred units and costs $60+shipping.  It also makes a swell  4.5"x 6" card!

Lion | Sketches | Detail | Wallpaper(1920x1080) 

There are a few more lion sketches leading up to the painting that I'll post as I scan them. 

Also, check out other products featuring this illustration now available at Society6. 

Happy Splashing

Zebra | Personal Work

The zebra is a beast that had been on my hit list for a long time.  This guy's been painted in acrylic on illustration board.  The painted area is only 5.1/8" in diameter (just a tiny bit bigger than it is displayed here).  The initial sketch I went with was even smaller.  I have it available as a 4.5"x6" greeting card and a small print, and will look into making buttons and coasters and other round things with it too.  I like the cheerfulness of the image, to me this zebra looks happy and refreshed.  I thought the water turned out pretty cool too.

Zebra | Painting on Board | Pencil Sketch

Something else I like about this little guy is that he reminds me of my parent's dog Mac. One of the happiest creatures on four legs, and my little brother.

Perfect Storm

Perfect Storm (final cover art) | Dream Pod 9

For this cover I was part of a large group of contributing artists.  Before I was brought onboard the image was arranged and composed using hand drawn elements along with digitally rendered forms and some digitally painted figures.  As the final artist in the assembly line (before graphics were laid on), I was responsible for eliminating any line work, working with the light sources and building textures to give the piece a sense of unity.  To make it look like everything in the image is part of the same world.

Perfect Storm (cover art) | Before and After 

Thanks to my brother Greg for bringing me aboard another cover for Heavy Gear.  To see more steps in the very involved process of creating this cover click here.

CMYK Heroes

CMYK Heroes | Clear Space 

The folks at Clear Space drew inspiration from superheroes to promote the 2nd Annual CMYK Awards, a contest presented by Unisource to recognize Canada's Top 5 Print Reps. I was provided with a detailed brief for each character and had a lot of fun coming up with different concepts and costume designs with direction from the very lovely Ashley Vella.

Heroes Wanted | 2nd Annual CMYK Awards | Promotional Booklet | Clear Space

Thanks to the Clear Space team for the photos!

Kick-Ass Annie

My Kick-Ass Annie | Commission for Anne Koyama of Koyama Press

I was thrilled when Annie asked me to contribute to her growing collection of amazing commissions, and did my best to create an interpretation of her icon/logo that would stand out in good company.  Be sure to check out the other fantastic "Kick-Ass Annie's" she's collected over the years as well as a ton of great books, comics and more at Koyama Press!

Kick-Ass Annie | Sketch and Detail

Like the cover to Kill Shakespeare this piece was originally conceived as a sketch and then worked over in photoshop incorporating hand drawn and painted elements.

Kill Shakespeare

Kill Shakespeare #11 (cover art) | IDW

A moody self-directed piece based on the continuity of the comic book series Kill Shakespeare.  Dozens of elements were created separately in pen and ink and assembled digitally.

Kill Shakespeare #11 (cover art) | IDW | Printed Comic Book

A year ago a contest was brought to my attention by my friends at Paradise Comics.  The challenge was to create a cover for the eleventh issue of the popular comic book series Kill Shakespeare. Entries were submitted by participating comic shops across North America and the finalists were posted online for fan voting to help decide which image would be on the cover.  Congratulations to all contenders and thanks to everyone who showed support for my entry.  I won!

Kill Shakespeare #11 was released on May 25, 2011 with two covers. One by the supremely talented series cover artist, Kagan McLeod, and the other by me! 

Update!

For this cover I've been nominated for a JSA!