Animal Rights

This is my second illustration I have done for The Progressive. The article was on animal protection rights, and cited several current animal rights events, for example the shooting of Cecil the lion. Another example was circus elephants, and the use of bull hooks to control them. This is what I chose to highlight in this illustration. The art director wanted the fragility of the animals to come through, so I chose to frame the elephant in flowers. The plant climbs up the bull hook, reclaiming it in a nonviolent manner.

This will be my last post of the year, taking a little break for the rest of the month. See you in January!

A few process images.

The plant was done in ink, so I could get more detail into it. I added texture digitally so it would fit in with the rest of the piece.

Me & Monty logo

This is a logo I worked on for a Dog Spa Products company called Me & Monty. It was a lot of fun to work on, I got to draw the client's cute little dog. I enjoyed doing the hand lettering as well, I think it works really well with the brand.

A few process pics.

Winter reading

Excited to share that this self promo image I did a while ago is getting picked up by Spirituality & Health magazine for their Jan/Feb issue! I have other work I will share later on (top secret for now). I did another illustration for The Progressive magazine, and I have been working on a logo as well. November has been busy for me.

blind drawing

Been busy working on client work this week, so don't have too many sketches. Here is a quick blind drawing I did while at a coffee shop this week.

Christmas card ideas

Starting to work on Christmas card ideas. Playing around with hand-drawn type. I'm planning to update the blog more regularly instead of sporadically. I'll update once a week on Fridays. Topics may include personal projects, sketches, client work, or other artists I find inspirational.

the Progressive illustration

Very excited to share my first publication in a wide-spread magazine! This illustration was for the Progressive, on an article about cut-backs for special needs funding in schools. You can read the article here.

Inktober

First entry for Inktober.  Also submitted this to Illustration Friday, as this week's topic is Ink.

thanks

Working on this today. Making thank you cards.

Society6 Shop

I've launched a new online shop through Society6! You can now shop for prints, mugs, pillows, and many other products with my illustrations on them.

https://society6.com/erintaniguchi

Sofar Sounds

Illustrations for October's issue of Discorder. My assignment this month was Sofar Sounds, a Vancouver company that puts on secret music shows. You sign up for a date, and then show details are sent to you a few days prior to the event.

The first illustration is done in ink, and the colour one is my usual linocut with digital colour style.

Thanks to Allison for posing for reference for me!

don't look back

Thinking of starting a sketchbook series of hand drawn inspirational quotes. Here's the first entry.

Process work for my monster project; depicting mental health issues as beasts or monsters. This one is for schizophrenia. This monster is based on crows, spiders and snakes. The heads are based on crow skulls. Crows are very intelligent, and talk to each other and gossip. The crow skulls are symbolizing the voices one hears when suffering from psychosis. The spider eyes all over the skulls represent paranoia, or the fear of being watched or under surveillance. Still mulling over this visualization of schizophrenia, thinking it might look a little too "nice" for this mental disorder.

the Lovers

Working on some more Tarot cards for self-promotion. This one is "The Lovers", obviously.

Original prints.

Rough sketch for the layout.

Hello button

Excited to show off a button I designed for a local non-profit group. It is for The Hello Project, a Vancouver and Surrey based project.

"Introducing the "say hello" button, a new way to be friendly and show it! Wear the button to invite other people to greet you - and chat if the time is right. If it's easier for you to respond to others wearing the button, that's fine too. Surveys show the biggest concern of Metro Vancouver residents is social isolation. This is true of many cities in the multicultural and digital age."

July Discorder

Newest illustrations for the July issue of Discorder! My assignment this time was the experimental pop artist Mourning Coup. Was a little challenging going off only the music, but I think I am happy with the  results.

A process shot. Using tracing paper to get the desired positioning for the bars in the background.

some printmaking

Playing around with print making today. Ended up with a four layer not very good print. Each photo is a layer of colour that is printed separately.

Music Waste

Illustrations for the June issue of Discorder magazine. The theme for this month was music festivals.

Print for the full page illustration.

Ink pattern for the guitar. The pattern I inked with a brush on paper and did it separately from the guitar print. Then I collaged the two images together in Photoshop to create the final piece.

Discorder magazine

Very excited to have my work published in the April issue of Discorder magazine! Here are the illustrations I did for them. The article is on Ken Lum's new artwork "Vancouver Especially", which is a critique of Vancouver's real estate market. In my pieces I am trying to convey the unreachable-ness of buying a house in Vancouver. I enjoyed doing the type piece, I should do more type-only pieces.

Some in-process lino carving.

Rough for full page illustration.

 Process pics for the type "Vancouver Especially". For the "especially" type I inked overtop an existing typeface, and collaged together the best letters.