Christmas Dog party!

I'm not sure about you, but who doesn't want to be served some tasty holiday snacks from charming party hosts?

Bad diet dog part 2

This is part 2 of the magazine series on bad dog nutrition.
This poor fellow is resorting to slim pills to turn things around; an actual weird reality in the dog product world.

New Dogs in Canada

It's no surprise that the naughty habits of dog owners get passed onto the dogs too.

That is the the essence of the story this illustration accompanies.

slacker doggie

Here is a new Dogs inCanada one asking "do dogs fake it?"

The answer is , of course they do!

At least in my mind.

Titanic play

Here is a new theatre poster I did for a play about the wireless operators on the Titanic.

Theatre Rusticle is putting it on with Patrick Conner and Matthew Romantini playing those unlucky chaps and Lucy Rupert playing the Titanic herself!

Should be a real humdinger.

More dog world

Once again, more doggy pictures for the magazine including one on dogs in the judging ring and a doggy CSI investigator.

Japanese honeymoon

Our good friends Steve& Eri have just returned from their honeymoon in Tokyo and asked me to whip up a quick invite for their garden party.

They make a great couple.

Doggy doo

Hello gang, here are some new dogs in Canada pieces for y'all.

Privat egg on duty!

Hello again gang.

Here is the next finished illustration for the dog people.

"Private Tim Hall," an egg reporting for duty in the dog bowl. (PVT TIM HALL is an acronym for the various amino acids needed in a dogs diet)

New dog art

So here is the final art for the article on dogs taking over your furniture at home.

Still similar to the rough sketch but the editor asked that the dog not be spooky and the owner look more resigned to her fate.

New Dogs in Canada update

Hello lovers of life, it's been a little while away from the sketchbook due to the fact all my work lately has been design work that isn't very sketchy. This being the "sketchbook", we have to keep the nasty design stuff out and just have drawings and perhaps the odd photo or two.

Once again I have a pair of assignments for Dogs in Canada and I am passing on the rough sketches here with finals to follow soon. The articles are on dogs that have no boundaries and take over the house and another on an egg representing the amino acid army coming to help a doggies diet.

New Dogs in Canada artwork

I've been absent from the world of blogging for some time due to my recent exciting visit to London England. A great time was had and upon returning I did 2 very different illustrations for the fine folks at Dogs in Canada magazine. One is about leaving dogs with hidden "Kongs" around the house to keep them stimulated and another on the success of organic dog food production.

Num num.

New Dogs in Canada illustration

This is a new piece on dogs being freaked out by human physical characteristics, this one being facial hair. They asked me to make a cartoony version of Bill Whitehead, the ex art director of the magazine. It is a reasonable rendering of Bill , but the better part is the dogs concept of what he is looking at.

Chippy's! Best fish & Chips in Canada

I was asked by my good friend Dave Pilchuk to make a little flyer to give away with his take out orders from Chippy's. If you have not been, run as fast as you can to Chippy's on Bloor or Queen west for the most delicious exotic fish and chip experience of your life!

They do so much for the taste buds that I can't begin to get going here.

Learn more at http://www.chippys.ca/ and enjoy the rocking tunes.

I've made a little icon for them as their angle is "Rock and Roll Chip Shop".

Go visit today.

New Huffington Post art

GORES VISIT TO THE HILL

Al Gores visit to Capitol Hill this week left me with the overwhelming impression of watching my social studies teacher dealing with pimply faced know-it-alls in the back of the study hall. Sadly, the Washington "know-it-alls" were ostrich headed GOP climate deniers like Sen. James Inhofe and Rep. Joe Barton.
It was amazing to hear the "tales of a winter colder than the great winter of '29" get trotted out as scientific confirmation to the chicanery of Gore and Company.
Mr. Gore and his ilk have a long road ahead, but hopefully more ears in Washington have started listening...even a little.

Globe and Mail update

Here is a new Globe and Mail illustration about a storytellers convention and a chap who perfected his gab by telling tall tales when his baby was in an ICU.

Smithsonian film illustration

From the department of "never thought I'd draw this" comes a picture of Enzo Ferrari that I had to whip up for the Smithsonian people. It is a documentary of Ferrari and other exotic car designers and they needed a loose portrait of the man.

I'm sure everyone and their brother grew up drawing cars except for me. I think this may be the first time I've attempted to draw a sports car and lord knows, it should be the last.

Wes Tyrell Drawing straight portraits and cars...my goodness, what is happening to this world?

Nadia Comaneci rough sketch

The fine folks at CRN in Romania added the great Nadia Comaneci to their list of famed Romanians and I could not resist making a sketch of her.

I drew Nadia on the weekend and it was a funny sensation as I remembered being a kid watching her win the Olympics and thinking at the time that she would be fun to draw.

I guess I like the smoky eyes that a lot of the Romanian folks have along with the great beleaguered expressions.

Not sure if I will work this up into a finished piece yet...I'll keep you posted.

ICE STORM!

Well, the crazy snow turned to crazy freezing rain and it was dreadful. We do however, get to enjoy the beauty of trees, which cannot be overstated. One puts up with the horror of shoveling, ice scraping, wiping out, frozen locks, power outage and 5am drives to the airport and receives this gorgeous sparkling wonderland. If only I was on a lake up north to sit back and really freak out on the beauty.
One day.

Holy Moly!

We are in the midst of quite a humdinger of a winter storm here. And here I was wishing for winter to continue...yikes. Amazingly, Lamont is in this photo and is almost completely invisible due to the snow.

Exciting.

Finished Dogs in Canada art

Here is the final art of the wee doggie looking to go wee. I like the word wee and not just because I've haggis in my blood. Being of Scottish stock does help though.
This chap in fact looks like a Glasgow punter if I'm not mistaken.

I met a million slightly effete aging rockers like this at the pub on Duke street when I lived with old Uncle Jimmy. They were always proud of their singing voices and to a man, exploited vibrato like Caruso risen from the grave.

Dogs in Canada rough sketch

I'm gonna throw up a rough sketch here and post the final art when done to see the changes.

It is a thing for Dogs in Canada about dogs taking a tinkle inside the house and how some folks are oblivious on how to stop it. (thankfully Mr. Lamont does not have this problem)

My roughs are generally very primitive, so it should look a lot cleaner upon completion..I hope.

New Globe and Mail illustration

Todays picture shows some chap who comes across that last nasty bit of dirty snow that always seems to cling to life in the spring. I for one do not look forward to this and am indeed really enjoying the snow. I hope we have a good long season so much skating and tubing can take place.

Call me a fool but I love winter.

Dogs in Canada artwork...WOOF!

Being a dog owner and lover of all 4 legged beasties, I am lucky to work regularly for Trista and Michael over at Dogs in Canada Magazine. Every issue I get to draw something silly for them and I'll include some recent stuff here.

They are pen and ink or watercolours.

Note the one starring my dog Lamont wearing what can only be described as a "Toller Cranston" ensemble for his competition....remarkably an article about poo poo and how vets grade the quality!

Darryl Silver's Bar

When the great Darryl Silver calls and needs a swanky bar created in his home, Team Tyrell blasts into action! Initially we made the wet bar from scratch with a well sanded and stained poplar bar surface and the area was finished off with the delightful booze cabinet for the wall.

Darryl was also able to procure a terrific fertility mask from tribal elders in Borneo. A beautiful addition.

Note that Darryl Silver may be the only man left in Toronto serving a true "Tipsy Seaman".
Few homes are more equipped to please.

Globe and Mail update

Here is one on the jealousy that exists between the hot headed males of the Ballroom Dancing world for the Globe and Mail.

Literary Review Art

These are three recent additons to the Literary Review of Canada, accompanying art for articles on Allan Gotleib, Emily Carr and Stephane Dion. Very quick, but fun to do.

Romanian Writers

The illustration on top is of Eugene Ionescu, the famed Romanian writer.

The folks at Cartoonists Rights Network in Romania started an exhibition of Caragiale portraits and have expanded it to include other noted cultural contributers from Romania.They have been asking me for a year or so to offer up some work and I finally ended up making one of Ionescu and his fellow master of dread Emil Cioran (below).

They are swiftly done watercolours that I hope capture the essence of these two...lots of cigarette smoke and notions of nothingness.

Lots of caricature folks from around the globe have offered up stuff worth looking at, visit -http://www.caricatura.ro/