Blog | Alexander Perkins Illustration

New Work

noreply@blogger.com (Alex) — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 12:43:00 +0000

Tyrannosaurus Rex | Personal Work

Creating a series of Big Lizard paintings has been on my list of personal projects for a long time. Due in no small part to my years hanging around the museum as a kid or the posters that wrapped my bedroom walls growing up. To kick things off I started with the tyrannosaurus because he's the king, and easily the most famous. Check out Portfolio 2 for a larger image of the Tyrannosaurus and expect more dinos in the coming months.

Tyrannosaurus Rex | Process & Detail | acrylic paint on illustration board ~12 x 18"

Wedding Invitations

noreply@blogger.com (Alex) — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 19:15:00 +0000

To Have and to Hold | Private Commission

The approach I took to this wedding invitation was inspired by the venue Jamie and Talia had chosen for their big day. The Eglinton Grand is an old theater in Toronto that's been converted into an event hall and restored to its original 1937 grandeur. We thought it would be fun to imitate the sensibilities of a romantic movie poster from the same period.

To Have and to Hold | Process & Detail | ink on watercolour paper 10 x 15"

At the outset I had intended the physical art to be rendered exclusively in ink wash, but after over-working Talia's hair I introduced white acrylic. Once I'd completed the black and white painting I brought it into Photoshop where I colourized the image. This is a technique I've found quite successful at capturing a Technicolor look while retaining the brushstrokes and textures of my painting. With the rendering already done in paint this method of colouring is pretty quick.
The typography on the posters of the 1930's is sometimes the most complex part, often using as many as six different typefaces in a short stack of text. For this I created some original hand lettering and modified existing fonts in other places. Some informational text has been omitted for web.

New Commission

noreply@blogger.com (Alex) — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 06:56:00 +0000

Miller & Mullet | Private Commission

Cats & Dogs

noreply@blogger.com (Alex) — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 21:21:00 +0000

You know it's time for a Pledge Fabric Sweeper when... | Launch!

Obamamania!

noreply@blogger.com (Alex) — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 00:35:00 +0000

Down to Earth | 44 Oz's @ The Barbershop Gallery

Conceived by the good folk's at Parishil Co-laborations, 44 Oz's is an exhibition that features the work of 44 artists, illustrators, cartoonist and designers interpreting the drunken hope of the newest world leader, U.S. President Barack Obama.

Down to Earth (alternate) | 44 Oz's @ The Barbershop Gallery

The exhibit opened on February 19th at The Barbershop Gallery (1718 Queen Street West) in Toronto, and will run until the end of the month. Please contact Parishil for gallery hours.

Something Different

noreply@blogger.com (Alex) — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 23:05:00 +0000

The Robot Spy / The Lost World | Personal

The look I had in mind for these images required a significant departure from my usual methods. Both are carved block prints registered on heavy paper I had coloured with spray paint. They represent a couple of my favourite subjects (classic science fiction and prehistoric stuff) and hang on the walls in my studio. I had a lot of fun with these and I hope to expand on the series in the future.

Bear and Pig

noreply@blogger.com (Alex) — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 00:58:00 +0000

Bear and Pig | Private Collection

Commissioned as a gift from a bride to her groom. Companionship is the theme here. An unlikely partnership of two very different creatures, in love, and planning a future together. Acrylic on illustration board. A limited quantity of prints will be made available soon!

New Commission

noreply@blogger.com (Alex) — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 00:32:00 +0000

Magneto | Private Commission

I'm a sucker for comics. Magneto was commissioned by a Toronto collector and friend, who I thought I'd surprise by presenting full colour art upon delivery of the original inks.

Rocket Science!

noreply@blogger.com (Alex) — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 23:58:00 +0000

Rocket Science! | Scholastic Canada Ltd.

In the summer of 2008 I was contracted to produce a series of illustrations to accompany a short story entitled "Rocket Science!". What I have provided here is the opening image. The material is targeted for a grade 5-6 audience and should be available from Scholastic Canada Ltd. in early 2009.

Visions of an Icon

noreply@blogger.com (Alex) — Thu, 22 May 2008 19:29:00 +0000

Superman (colour art) | Joe Shuster Awards

Visions of an Icon is an exhibition celebrating the 70th Anniversary of the first publication of Superman in Action Comics in June of 1938. The exhibit will feature art by dozens of Canadian comic artists and cartoonists, and will be part of this years annual Joe Shuster Canadian Comic Book Creator Awards. The artwork in the show will be up for auction with the proceeds going to the JSA's as well as the Hero Initiative (www.heroinitiative.org) to help comic book industry veterans.

Superman | Joe Shuster Awards | ink on cardstock 11 x 17"

The exhibit will be held on June 14th in Toronto at the Lillian H. Smith Library Auditorium (239 College Street) and will include a day of programming called the Sequential Art Symposium running from 10AM to 5PM. As well as the exhibit there will be guest comic creators, signings, sketches, workshops, and panels followed by the presentation of the Joe Shuster Awards at 8PM. For more information visit www.joeshusterawards.com.

New Work

noreply@blogger.com (Alex) — Wed, 21 May 2008 07:41:00 +0000

Pampero Poster | Parishil

I created this western themed poster promoting Pampero Rum for the good folks at Paishil design. I had a blast banging out the concept sketches for this one, the possibilities seemed endless...

The Flying Turtle

noreply@blogger.com (Alex) — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 06:28:00 +0000

The Flying Turtle / Sculpture | Personal

The man riding the flying turtle was originally a discarded process sketch when I was putting together the Flying Machines drawing. Before the painting existed, the character had been animated in several forms and also impressively sculpted. Once again the sculpture is by Alex Avelino. The least I could do was offer to paint the beast...

More apes, and more Heston!

noreply@blogger.com (Alex) — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 05:11:00 +0000

A few things from the Planet of the Apes | Personal

The third image in this posting is a photograph of a sculpture. The 15" figure dubbed "Heston" was created by the amazingly talented Alex Avelino and based on my designs in the painting above it. Alex A. does awesome work and there are many more collaborations like this one to come...

Inspiring stuff Avelino!

A Personal Favourite

noreply@blogger.com (Alex) — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 02:17:00 +0000

Castro | Personal

In a few weeks I will be adding a fourth portfolio to showcase some of my looser more experimental stuff, like this portrait of Fidel Castro. It's also some of my favourite work.

New Work!

noreply@blogger.com (Alex) — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 21:07:00 +0000

Untitled | Private Collection

This piece was privately commissioned and created under the sole direction that it was to be science fiction influenced. I had a lot of fun digging through old pulp mags for inspiration and ultimately I'm quite happy with the result...

A limited edition run of 50 prints will be made available soon!

SUPES!

noreply@blogger.com (Alex) — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 20:31:00 +0000

Supes! | Personal

Here's a warm up sketch for a project I'm proud to be a part of celebrating Superman's 70th anniversary next month. Not sure how I'll approach the final work yet. More on this later...