Bad Puppy!

Middle grade book illustration

As with all dogs and many children, this pup has NO idea he did anything wrong.

I kept things simple with this illustration- stingy with colors except for a few accents, and a simple composition.

Sometimes it's fun to hold back a little...

Tintin Car Chase Book Cover

Another Tintin book cover commission (this is the 4th for my client) and this time it's a car chase in Spain. 

Their son is getting older, they have a new dog, and their grandmother has joined in the fun. In fact, that's her home in the background!

Some work in progress images:

Constructing the house:

Kelev's Journey- My Latest Chapter Book Illustrations

I recently illustrated a book called Kelev's Journey about a dog digging up his Jewish roots, and his exploits among the neighborhood dogs, cats and other animals. A fun, gently satirical read. "...Ed Shems' art adds the perfect touch, amplifying humor and adding extra heart to Kelev." Amazon review Written by David Hammerstein and published by Wyndebirk Books.

And some sketches:

You can check out the book on Amazon.

Tintin goes to Japan- Private Commission Poster

I just finished a new commission for a client that continues a series that we started in 2011. This is the third Tintin book cover inspired poster I've created starring my client, his wife, their dog and their new baby.

Not many Tintin books (by Hergé- real name Georges Prosper Remi) took place in Japan so it took a bit of imagining to work out how Hergé would have drawn and colored Mt. Fuji, a samurai and the clothes necessary for this scene based on my client's recent trip to Japan.

The poster/book cover has been framed and is hanging in their home.

Here are some work in progress images:

Using reference to keep the style as close as possible to Hergé's. 

Samurai outlined. Calm gardener in the background.

Almost finished. We did a bit of back and forth deciding on the colors of her yukata. Finally ended up in the blues. Also, my Mt. Fuji needed flattening.

Check out the other posters in this series.

Tintin Boat Chase Book Cover/Poster

A client asked me to do a new commission for him to give to his wife for her birthday. Last year I created a Tintin cover for him to give her for Christmas (she was his fiancée then) which took place on Safari in Africa.

This year it was a boat chase off the coast of Italy. They provided me with a few photos from their recent trip and I took it from there. Here's the final art:

It was interesting to me to try to emulate someone as talented as Hergé (Tintin's creator). His draftsmanship is incredible and the amount of detail in every panel is astonishing. What I found surprising was the lack of color shadows. Buildings, for example, seem to be the same color from all sides and yet, through skillful drawing, Hergé was able to make them seem dimensional. Certainly a challenge for an illustrator who adores shades and shadows!

The final art was printed poster-sized and framed for the wall of their home. I also gave him a small image saved for the web so he could share the art with his friends on Facebook.

I tracked my progression from sketch to final and uploaded the work in progress to Behance. Have a look and leave a comment please.

A few images from along the way to pique your interest:

And here's the poster I created for this client last year.

Domesticated Dog

Following Instructions

This is an illustration of a group of people I created for Flash Kids/Barnes & Noble books. The instructions were much more complex than what I usually get (draw a tree with a squirrel running on a branch, for example) and it took a lot of rechecking to make sure I got everyone right. Here's the description from my client:

Assignment: illustration of a group photo of 3 older men, 1 with short hair, 1 with no hair and 1 with long hair, 1 with glasses, 1 with a hat; 2 older women with short hair; 1 middle-aged man with no hair and glasses; 2 middle-aged women: 1 with a hat and short hair and the other with long hair and glasses; 3 girls, 2 with long hair and 1 with short hair, 1 wearing glasses; 2 boys with short hair 1 with glasses and 1 with a hat; 4 large dogs, 1 spotted black and white, another just black, and 2 golden; 1 small white dog; and 1 small brown dog.

Are you dizzy yet?