Hello friend!

My apologies for that ridiculous headline, but I couldn’t resist, for the one person who might laugh at it.

Like any arty Saskatchewanian, I had always enjoyed going out to Shakespeare on the Saskatchewan’s productions, especially once I got married, as my wife is an even bigger booster of Shakespeare on the Saskatchewan than I am. So a few years back when creative director Mark von Eschen was brought in for a promotional comic book idea (pitched by a good buddy and his dad) I was really excited to take part.

Unfortunately that project (a three-page comic book trailer for MacBeth) ran out of time before the season started, but I thought I’d share a few panels I pencilled. Thanks to my pal Josie for modelling!

Despite running out of time on the MacBeth project, the following year the new creative director, Will Brooks, still sought me out for a unique project. His concept was a large scale triptych, merging a comic book illustration with actual text from different key points in that year’s drama production, Othello, a very cool collaboration with the Saskatchewan Native Theatre Company. Will chose the moments to pluck from the play for Illustration, and I interpreted them visually. Will was kind enough to provide some reference for the actors, as well as an early look at some set sketches and designs that I was excited to incorporate into the panels. Here’s what I came up with:

And the final project turned out even cooler, as these scenes greeted theatre-goers as they made their way to the performances.

Will, Mark, Alyssa, Alan and the whole Shakespeare team have been a joy to work with, and I hope to continue to collaborate with one of Saskatoon’s very coolest artistic productions. Without saying too much, this coming season is shaping up very nicely, and I can’t wait for you all to see what’s coming.

Coming up in future posts, some more Blue Jays stuff and some long overdue process drawings. Thanks for reading, I love you.