Orangutans!

I did these for the Philadelphia Zoo last year for their Lorax/Orangutan exhibit. I had to combine my style with Dr. Suess' style which was a lot of fun. As you can see by the photos below (no, they're not out of focus), the illustrations were done in multiple layers and converted to 3D to coincide with the Lorax movie. Kids were given 3D glasses to view the exhibit signage in order to learn more about Orangutans and what they can do to protect them. If you ever get a chance go to your local zoo and sit for a good hour to watch the orangutans. I worked at the zoo for many years and would often eat my lunch while watching the primates. They really are fascinating.

All images are copyright © The Philadelphia Zoo 2012

Zoo stuff.

I just finished an animal illustration marathon for the zoo. I've been running non stop for the past 2 weeks (except for a little break over the weekend). There were sixty five illustrations to do, I think. I can't remember exactly, I'm kind of brain dead. Anyway, here's some snippets. The final art are full bodied animals which will be part of some signage at the Philadelphia Zoo's new Children Zoo opening this coming Spring.

Children's Zoo project

I'm currently finishing up a big project for the Philadelphia Zoo's new children zoo which should be open next spring. Among many animal illustrations (60 or so) I also have to make American Sign Language signs as shown above. Can anyone guess what is being signed?

All artwork is Copyright © The Philadelphia Zoo 2012

Philadelphia Zoo's Trail of the Lorax!

I just finished a big project for the Philadelphia Zoo's spring exhibit, the Trail of the Lorax. In short, the exhibit will teach the importance of conservation in protecting Orangutans. A quote form the press kit: 

"In the 'Trail of the Lorax,' a live interactive exhibit at Philadelphia Zoo, Dr. Seuss' cautionary tale of The Lorax becomes a frame through which kids can experience and understand the very real correlation between human enterprise and destruction of animal habitat. The exhibit will focus on a real world similarity to the fictional Bar-ba-loots and Swomee-Swans—the endangered orangutans of Borneo and Sumatra."

The images below are  two of the 14 illustrations I completed over the past month or so. Six of the illustrations (not pictured) will be in old school 3D which will require 3D glasses for viewing. I saw some of the finished 3D images and they look really cool. Be sure to visit! More info on the Trail of the Lorax can be found here. The exhibit runs from March 31 to October 31, 2012.

It's been wonderful to work with the zoo again. I feel like it was where I got my first big break into the professional illustration field. Thanks to everyone at the zoo who worked closely with me on this project. I will never forget how to draw orangutans so long as I live. Ha ha!

IF: Frozen

I did this back in 2006 for the Philadelphia Zoo's Big Cat Falls exhibit. There was some signage there with some corny kid's jokes in which this one asked, "What kind of treat do cats like on a hot day?" The answer, of course, is "Mice Cream Cones." Laugh hysterically.

Garbage.

I did this years ago for the Philadelphia Zoo. It was the second job I completed for them I think. Anyway, enjoy it's grossness. I had fun researching the bugs and worms that lived in a compost heap. It's good that we have them around or we would all be up to our eyeballs in filth. Food for thought!

Illustration Friday: Tango

In 2001 the Philadelphia Zoo held a Bachelor Auction for the benefit of the Zoo's conservation program, One with Nature. I was asked to draw tasteful caricatures of every bachelor (20 or so) holding a rose for the interior of the booklet as well as an illustration for the cover and the back cover (the illustrations above).

I did the entire booklet for free in exchange for some free advertising. Well, wouldn't you know it, when I received the booklet the only ad that they had "problems" printing was mine, so my phone number and contact information was rendered completely illegible. I still to this day don't fully understand what happened since I had submitted the file with plenty of resolution, proper formatting, and I even went so far as to outline the text to prevent any font issues. Good grief. To top it all off, I was also asked to sit and draw caricatures at the event (quite a tempting offer for a young single bachelor like myself- ahem) prior to the bachelor cat walk. I sat for 1 hour and didn't draw a single caricature. The only women to approach me were two seventy year old women to kindly ask me what I was doing. I left feeling quite humiliated. I don't think I'll ever recover.

Anyway, it was a beautifully designed book and I had heard it won an award or two. I can't remember who was responsible for the deign or I would give them credit.

Zoo Hidden Pictures.

I did these for the Philadelphia Zoo several years ago (2002?) for the kid's section of their website. I don't think there is anything I love to draw more than otters. Capybaras can be a lot of fun too being as they are such strange little animals.

The objects are listed below each image. Have fun!

Find the following: slice of pie, fish, penguin, toothbrush, heart, spatula, ladle, wishbone, glove, needle, umbrella, hawk, sailboat, candy corn, and a crown.

Find the following: pineapple, 8 fish, snake, paintbrush, glove, and a crown.

Find the following: candle, octopus, cat, apple, fish, flash light, ostrich, dinosaur, acorn, rat, duck, paintbrush, peach and a cup.

Illustration Friday: Drifting

I illustrated this in 2005 for the Philadelphia Zoo. It is now in the Zoo's Treehouse covering an pretty large old leaky Aquarium. I still have yet to see it up. It measures 6 x 3 feet. Done in pen and ink with Digital coloring.

I miss doing work for the zoo. It was a lot of fun to research and learn about all of God's amazing creations.

The rest of my blog can be read by clicking on the masthead above.

Philadelphia Zoo Annual Report Comic Strip

I honestly can't remember when I did these strips (2000?). I do remember that they were done for the Zoo's annual report. The idea was that one strip would be at the bottom of each page of the report telling the story of a typical family visiting the zoo. For the most part I was directed as to what to place in each panel, but some of the humor was left up to me. Well, as you can see the strip never went to a finish because some bureaucrat down the line decided it was "inappropriate for the zoo." Thankfully, I was still paid but I was saddened to hear that no one would see this since I had spent so much time on it.

So here it is, in all of its rough-unfinished-misspelled-sloppily-lettered-splendor...