Client: McGill News
Art Director: Daniel McCabe

Here are some birds I drew last week-end.

Book News:

What else? I just finished teaching my journalism class this year – so I haven’t had time to draw much of anything in the last couple months. I’m wrapping up marking – and it looks like the class is done for good – so I’m excited to hit the drafting table again this week…

Working only in red, black and white ink. Forces me to think about contrast and composition a lot more. Another reason why restrictions are good – they simplify for the creator and the viewer. And now when I walk down the street all I see are the different contrasts, patterns and striations in the houses and the trees.

Suddenly feels like the only thing that matters in illustration now is clarity, code and purpose. And then as if on cue, Jillian gets back to the basics today with an article about tonal studies, saying:

It’s one of those exercises, much like colour theory studies, that seem kind of stupid at the time but, as you get a little older and a little wiser, you eventually see the value in.

Also, I’ve been taken by the beautiful patterns in the handmade Indian book, The Nightlife of Trees.