Hang Your Stockings

 Say Your Prayers | Holiday Card (unfolded, front and back showing)

Like one, that on a lonesome road

Doth walk in fear and dread,

And having once turned round walks on,

And turns no more his head;

Because he knows, a frightful fiend

Doth close behind him tread.

-"Rime of the Ancient Mariner" A stanza from Part VI. 

With this festive image I've tried to capture some of the magic and wonder of the holidays and a little bit of the scary. I'm thinking of calling it, "Hang Your Stockings, Say Your Prayers" or "Said the Night Wind to the Little Lamb". The illustration was designed to be a card where the full image is revealed when it's unfolded. Santa and the kids on the front, big ugly Krampus on the back.

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

To purchase this card, please email me at, ap@alexanderperkins.com or alexandervictor@gmail.com 

Subject: Say Your Prayers

5 cards for $20+shipping. Mauve envelopes are included!

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

Hang Your Stockings and Say Your Prayers | Holiday Card | Detail (front and back, stacked) 

Say Your Prayers |  Personal Work 

Say Your Prayers | Cards

Once more into the breech...

Kill Shakespeare Board Game | IDW

I was pleased to find out a couple of weeks ago that the cover art I created for Kill Shakespeare #11 will soon be given a new life as the cover art to the upcoming board game!

To see a little more of the thought and process behind the image check out my earlier post linked here, Kill Shakespeare Cover Art.

Nelvana of the Northern Lights

Nelvana | Personal Work

Created by artist Adrian Dingle in 1941, Canada's own Nelvana of the Northern Lights was among the very first female superheroes, even predating Wonder Woman. I made this piece to celebrate the launch of a local campaign to reprint the original comics which have been out of circulation for more than 60 years. Prints of this peice as well as contributions from many other artists will be available as incentives to backers. To learn more about Nelvana and to support the campaign please visit the Kickstarter page linked here. 

What appeals to me the most about the mysterious goddess of the North is her mystical quality and fashion sense, that she rides atop her shapeshifting brother Tanero is pretty cool too.  Flying through the sky as a great dane or later, a polar bear.

Originally intended as an 11"x17" ink drawing, part way through I started experimenting with washes and cut paper.  When things started to get a little messy I moved on to the computer to pull it all together digitally. 

Nelvana | Prints

Monster Attack!

Alien Brainbot 1 & 2 (stacked)

A year ago I was commissioned by my friend Derek Muscat at Theocy Design to illustrate a pair of "Big Monster Attacks" for decks he was preparing for Drake Snowboards. One image would showcase the "creature" and the other a montage of comic style panels depicting the devastation. I drew up a multitude of sketches for each concept and would have been happy to finalize any one of them. The final artwork was done in ink on heavy paper and coloured digitally. After the job was submitted I took some time to revisit both images, altering the layout, expanding the palette and textures, and adding all the lettering.

Below are my three favourite sketches from the concepts submitted as well as a couple of photos I took along the way.

Sketches | Process | Product

The Thing

The Thing | Commission

The Thing is an 11"x17" ink drawing, coloured digitally.  The piece was done for Joe Kilmartin, a knowledgeable comics and pulp culture enthusiast of The Comic Book Lounge and once upon a time, Dragonlady Comics in Toronto.  I have enjoyed frequenting Joe's College Street shops for many years.

The Thing | Sketch | Inks  | Digital Colour

One of my favourite Marvel characters, The Thing, has always been a popular choice when sketching at conventions or warming up at home.

I'd done a rough of Mr. Grimm twisting up a lamp post, an element that may still end up in this image as an overlay.  The copy(text) in the top image was all lifted from different sources (a couple of Kirby Pin-ups mostly) and modified.

Yo Joe!

DJ Cobra Commander | Commission | Pencil on heavy paper

With another G.I. Joe movie set to debut next week I thought it might be appropriate to share this old drawing.  I was lucky to get a snap of the sketch I'd done for a friend back in 2007.

My Grandfather

Donald Douglas McKay | Personal Piece | graphite on heavy paper

I did this drawing of my grandfather from a tiny 3.25"x1.5" photograph that was taken in 1942 while he served in the Royal Canadian Navy. I had to ring him up a few times while working on this to ask about details I couldn't make out, and he was a big help.  Because the picture was so small and not without blemishes, this photo-reproduction proved to be more challenging than the last.  If we come across any more good photographs I'd love to take another crack at it.

Donald Douglas McKay |  Reference used

He's the handsome fella in the middle;) 

Grandma

Thelma Mary McKay | Personal Piece | graphite on heavy paper

My grandmother was one of my best friends. Visits were more than frequent and we could always make each other laugh. She passed away just a couple weeks ago, one month shy of her 90th birthday. I created this piece for my grandfather in pencil on paper from a small 2.5"x3.5" photograph.
I don't often go in for straight-up photo reproduction, but drawing this last night was so much fun.

Scorched: 2013 Subaru BRZ

Scorched | Storyboard Art (abbreviated)

Here are some fragments of frames to a storyboard I created for a very stylish video directed by Common Good (for DDB) to introduce the new Subaru BRZ.

Scorched | Common Good | Subaru Canada

My thanks to Jamie, Eric and Dwight for inviting me to the table on this one. The guys were a pleasure to work with and the spot looks great!

To see more work by the awesome gang at Common Good check out CommonGood.tv.

Cineplex: Escape From This World

Escape From This World (Round 1, colour storyboard art) | Spy Films | Cineplex

About a year ago I was engaged to produce a series of colour frames to support a concept being developed by Director Arev Manoukian and Producer Markus Trulli at Spy Films. Their idea was to create a parallel between the evolution of flight and the technological advances in film and cinema over the last century. A spot which would ultimately serve as the new Cineplex opening and play before every movie nation-wide.

Escape From This World | Storyboard Art Round 2 (Fragments, abbreviated)

We expanded on the initial boards with dozens of black and white drawings, exploring camera moves and designing a multitude of sequences. Keeping in mind that the choreography of the evolving aircrafts would happen alongside advancements in the audio and visual presentation we also looked for opportunities that would best showcase the use of 3D technology.

Escape From This World (2D video) | Spy Films | Dashing | Cineplex

Arev's vision was crystal clear from the beginning, and how faithfully the amazingly talented visual effects team at Dashing Collective brought the storyboard to life is a testament to that. I can't forget to mention that the final 40 second film is entirely CGI.  Congratulations to all involved! And special thanks to Arev and Marcus for bringing me on board for preproduction.

For a more in-depth look behind the scenes at the making of this short film visit Cineplex.com.  If you keep your eyes peeled you may even catch a glimpse of yours truly wearing a toque and dark glasses;)

To see more work by Director Arev Manoukian check out his reel at Spy Films.

The good folks at Dashing have also put together a write up about this project discussing some of it's more technical aspects. You can find that at Dashing.tv.