2018 in Review
A drawing I did for Pow Pow’s 2019 Calendar
December is here again, so its time for me to complete one of my now-traditional “Year in Review” posts… This now marks my fourth year of making my way in the world as a freelance creative, and I am still so humbled and pleased that I can somehow manage it. Many many thanks to all of you who follow my work, and a special blessing upon all those who have supported me on Patreon now or in the past… It really adds up and makes a tremendous difference to me.
I just did a quick read-through of my last three Year in Review posts (2015, 2016, and 2017) and wow, the years really are passing by soooo fast now. It’s now been more than 3 years that I have been living in Montréal and also making a living without a 9-5 style “day job” (tho’ believe me when I say that I’m working everyday!). I’m happy to say my daily routine is very simple and I think that’s been great for reducing my overall stress level… I’m doing a lot of work but I have fewer social obligations. I do really miss my friends in the States, tho’. I’m always trying to remember to connect with people more, even at a distance (even tho’ I also took a long sabbatical from Facebook this year and it made a big difference in my overall anxiety as well). I do really appreciate the opportunity Patreon gives me to share my work and hopefully connect with people around the world too. I’ve had a couple of periods of low activity on this platform (almost always connected with periods of extreme busy-ness as I needed to meet hard deadlines, etc), and I do apologize, but as always I’ll be trying my best to continue to post on here regularly in the new year (one post I particularly liked from 2018 was “Draw Digital, Think Analog” which detailed a little of my creative process using digital tools like Photoshop, Hej Stylus, and a Wacom tablet… Hoping to write a bit more in that vein in the coming year).
OK! Onward to a review of some of the various projects that came to fruition in 2018, and a little peek at what we might expect form 2019!
13e Avenue
Doing the final review of 13e Avenue before we sent it off to the printer
Certainly the biggest project from this year was the release of my second graphic novel, 13e Avenue volume 1, written by the novelist Geneviève Pettersen (the author of La déesse des mouches à feu, available in English as well) and published by La Pastèque. I drew the whole book, all 162 pages of it, in just 9 months!
Signing books at the launch party with Geneviève
It was really cool to work with another creator’s characters and concepts to create something unique and fun. You can see my original character designs here, some pages (sans text) from the book here , see some of the art quotations in the book here, and a Process Post on the cover illustration here. The book came out in November and it’s already garnering some nice reviews… Excited to start working on volume two in 2019!
The Bird is Gone
Signing prints at The Press at Colorado College
2018 also saw the release of my print “The Bird is Gone,” a massive letterpress broadsheet created in collaboration with Aaron Cohick of The Press at Colorado College. I was a real honor to be asked to create this piece and also to visit Colorado Springs to present the work and meet with some of the students to discuss art, design, and my graphic novel Titan. You can read about the process of creating this big boy right here, and you can buy your own copy here.
Titan
Haha I got one more nomination after making this… The Joe Schuster Award
My first GN Titan was released last year, but 2018 saw plenty of continued interest in the book, as it kept racking up nominations throughout the Spring (it ended up with SIX (and won none)! To say I was honored is an understatement, I really never expected my book to receive such a warm welcome. I also got the chance to travel to Angouleme with Éditions Pow Pow and that was a lot of fun too.
L-R: Zvianne, moi, Meags Fitzgerald, Luc Bossé, Alexandre Fontaine-Rousseau, Francis Desharnais.
Titan even ended up on a “Best Comics of 2018” list just last month! And finally, I’m happy to say that I’m in the process of signing the agreement that will finally bring a big Titan collection to English-speaking audiences! More news on that in early 2019, for sure.
D’autre Part et de Pars Ailleurs
The poster for the show, featuring my rat buddy Henri (2016-2018)
I was delighted to have my work showcased as part of “D’autre Part et de Pars Ailleurs,” an art show and salon at Librairie Monet that also featured the work of the authors Jean-Sébastien Bérubé and Grégoire Bouchard. I was also asked to create the poster for the event, and I really dug how it turned out.
Abroad
This year I created a movie poster and other designs for the acclaimed short film Abroad from actor/director Zayn Alexander. It was featured as part of multiple film festivals around the world including Zayn’s native Lebanon… Pretty fun! Looking forward to working with him again.
My artwork displayed during one of the director’s appearances on a Lebanese talk show
Tommy Dubs and Kids Songs Rule!
Rarrh! Beats!
I continued to create artwork for Kids Songs Rule! (including the Gummy Bear Song single and Animal Songs) and also created this wild piece for the album Tommy Dubs Fights the Roboitic Zombies by Tommy Dubs… Love working with musicians.
Barista, Kayak, THIS, and More
I was happy to have a good range of freelance editorial illustration work show up in some fun spots in 2018:
Kayak Magazine #64
Kayak Magazine had me do two different sets of spot illustrations for their “Up Front” feature this year on the themes of “Riding the Rails” and “Creative Canada,” lots of fun to research all the bits of Canadian history I drew!
Barista Magazine had me doing a pair of illustrations with a cute “cat café” theme!
The “Best Tweets” illo as it appeared in the print newspaper
Portland Mercury had me illustrating a range of stuff this year, including an article on the NRA’s efforts to shoot down gun control legislation in Oregon, the Portland police department’s failing reporting system, and of course “The Best Tweets to @TedWheeler.”
Coming Soon:
Finally I created a cover for The Monitor that should be arriving in subscribers mailboxes shortly… I’ll be sure to include it on a “2019 in Review” post down the line but here was a Process Post on creating it in case you missed it.
Best Wishes for 2019!