http://www.drawger.com/hewgill/ Thu, 09 Jul 2015 13:37:52 EDT FeedCreator 1.7.2 http://drawger.com/_images/drawger_leo_logo.gif http://www.drawger.com/hewgill http://www.drawger.com/hewgill/index.php?section=articles&article_id=15407

I was recently commissioned to illustrate the cover of The Journal of the Norwegian Medical Association. The subject of the cover article is on foreign doctors trying to navigate the landscape of bureaucracy; to many this can be an unwelcoming experience. Art director Emma Dalby requested that the editorial team would like the illustration to have a “fairytale feel”, possibly including the typical Norwegian landscape with mountains and fjords. I have never been to Norway, but I was immediately awestruck by looking at photos of the magnificent fjords. It's intimidating and daunting to illustrate such beauty, but I was given the creative delight of transforming this splendour into something menacing. The Tidsskrift covers have consistently been designed with partial backgrounds and/or silhouette images against a white background; this created an opportunity for me to create a landscape within a floating shape.















]]> Thu, 09 Jul 2015 17:37:49 EDT http://www.drawger.com/hewgill/index.php?section=articles&article_id=15351

Earlier this year I was commissioned to illustrate a feature package on the subject of Courage for Middlebury magazine. We read about acts of bravery everyday in the news; strife, personal and environmental hardship, and oppression are prevalent across the globe. I found it to be a humbling experience to contemplate imagery for such a profound topic. In this feature package the theme of personal courage was illuminated through eight first-person essays. The editor Matt Jennings wanted the cover to reflect a triumphant spirit. I tried to make the figure riding the lion as gender neutral as possible.









The cover and opening images needed to address the general theme. For the opening image I decided to focus on depicting fortitude and perseverance.



In the cover essay, Ellen Hinsey, a veteran reporter, writes about what makes a person courageous; where courage comes from.



Portrait of Zaheena Rasheed "A young woman journalist in the Maldives, Zaheena has had her life threatened repeatedly because of her reporting on her country's authoritarian government. In the days after a colleague was kidnapped, she awoke to find a note pinned to her door with the words "You're Next." Holding it in place was a machete. Yet Zaheena continues to work. " Matt Jennings





Portrait of Frederick C. Kelly "The 93-yr-old WWII vet, a pilot of a B-24 bomber airlifting supplies and intelligence agents behind enemy lines to support the French Underground. On his fifth mission, the plane was shot down. Though our pilot was thrown halfway threw the windshield—held in place by the parachute attached to his waist—he was among a handful of the crew to survive. They were hustled into hiding by the French Underground and began a clandestine journey to make their way to Allied territory."  Matt Jennings  



It was a privilege and delight to work with art director Pamela Fogg on this profound topic and extensive assignment.

]]> Thu, 14 May 2015 20:10:36 EDT http://www.drawger.com/hewgill/index.php?section=articles&article_id=15063

Fall always represents beginnings to me so I thought I'd start a new post for the season on the theme of beginnings and what could be a better subject than giving birth? This series of three illustrations were created for Middlebury Magazine for an article "Rebirth"  written by Lauren Markham. Once considered an ancient practice, midwifery is experiencing a resurgence across North America.



This image focuses on the practice of home births using the water method, where with the help of a midwife the mother gives birth to the child in an inflatable pool, or bathtub.





This image addresses the misconceptions and myths of midwfery represented with the 19th century costume contrasted with the contemporary practices of modern equipment. This piece was initially suppose to be a full page, which is unfortunate because I liked the sensible shoes as part of the midwife's costume ;-)





This sketch really evoked home delivery for me, but the image was far too visceral for the editor ( more specifically the male editor). The one below is a tamer version : a spot illustration employing a childbirth myth icon: the stork, but here used to represent home delivery.



Unfortunately I am not a parent, I have never experienced the miracle of giving birth. Some inspiration was derived very loosely from my memories of watching my friend Esther Pflug give birth to her daughter in a very poignant and visceral documentary film created by her partner filmmaker Louis Taylor. The award winning film "Esther, Baby and Me" has actually nothing to do with midwifery ( althought there is a bathtub scene) it's a candied account of Louis' own experiences on the reluctant road to fatherhood. I highly recommend the film. http://hotdocslibrary.ca/en/detail.cfm?filmId=25145   It was a joy to work with Pam again at Middlebury. I love how she dropped the dot in the "i" of Rebirth, a subtle touch to the title.



]]> Thu, 25 Sep 2014 16:58:53 EDT http://www.drawger.com/hewgill/index.php?section=articles&article_id=14926

“Know your limitations “ is an important bit of advice that I tell my students. I have seen others produce work within a time period that I find impressive and awe-inspiring; I have always been keenly aware that speed is not one of my fortes. So when Mark Maltais from Rolling Stone asked me to produce 8 illustrations in 2 weeks, from start to finish, the only thought that ran through my mind was “Impossible” in a French Canadian accent. Our drawger mate Thomas Fuchs has impressively done this gig ( on more than one occasion I think ).This year has brought me many challenges that forced me out of my comfort zone. While I didn’t want to rule out the assignment entirely, I still felt very ambivalent whether I could actually accomplish it. So I called a good friend, Ellen Weinstein to be a sounding board. Ellen reassured me by saying  “You can do it, you may just need to approach it differently.” I agreed that a more distilled approach than my typically detailed work would be vital in this case. Working backwards from the deadline, I laid out a time sheet that factored in how long I could spend on research, roughs and painting for each portrait. My goal was to have an even level of finish for each piece, so pacing myself was key to keeping my energy and creativity up for the entire duration. The pace reminded me of a cycling tour I did in Vermont where I cycled 60 miles a day for 6 consecutive days (some days with 5 miles continuously uphill). The pace for this assignment meant I would also have to loosen my perfectionist expectations, when the allotted time was up on a certain piece, I had to leave it and move on to the next, and tweak details if time allowed on the back end. I could not have completed this many illustrations within this time period without the help and support of my husband and creative partner (and lapsed illustrator) Balvis Rubess. He helped me with various components including research and digitally tweaking and completing the illustrations. And Balvis cooked me fabulous meals. Balvis’ work can be found at plasmalife.com







Each portrait of the musical artists incorporated a conceptual element that reflected the content of their Playlist. Oddly, the one I that I was most reticent to work on (Miley Cyrus) ended up being the most fun. I told Mark I cursed him for making me look at reference photos of Miley.

















I think the rapid problem solving skills that I apply during critiques on a weekly basis as an illustration instructor helped me execute these ideas and sketches so quickly. The final piece, the portrait of Ulrich was completed at 3 pm on May 1st, and three hours later (with a rigorous personal clean up in between) I was at OCAD U toasting our illustration thesis students on their amazing Graduation Exhibition, and partied with students and faculty until the wee hours. You can see their work at : ocaduillustration.com   There are many factors at play when you are under the gun working on a quick deadline. One of the key factors for me is the support of the client and art direction team. Mark Maltais and Joe Hutchinson were tremendously supportive with expeditious communicative responses and encouraging feedback throughout the process. It was such a delight and pleasure working with them. Thank you for the fantastic assignment.



]]> Thu, 05 Jun 2014 16:05:08 EDT http://www.drawger.com/hewgill/index.php?section=articles&article_id=14858

Like Vivienne Westwood's hats ( we've seen at leat 4 colour variations that she created for Pharrell), I created a couple of colour variations for Pharrell's portrait. Creating art is all about making choices. For me, working traditionally is about committing to certain decisions when you put pen to paper , brush to canvas, or in my case, brush to masonite. Working digitally the options and choices are endless.  This portrait was to accompany the review of Pharrell's album Girl. The only material I had to base this illustration on was the videos for the single Happy.   By listening to the song I picked up the musical references to 70's R&B, and of course the ebullient tone and message. To reference the title of the album, I decided to evoke the smooth ladies-man gestures and styling of 70's R&B singers. Instead of illustrating girls surrounding Pharrell, I choose to suggest the girls within his jacket. Because Pharrell is such a fashion icon, it felt fitting to include some  fashion sensibility. I was thinking of incorporating the "girls" in a late 70's/80's fashion trend of appliqué shapes on fabric and leather. Then I stared to doubt that direction, but when I was browsing through a recent issue of Vogue magazine lo and behold that appliqué trend has made a comeback. Serendipity, go figure!  I also wanting to echo 70’s record cover design, so I included the circular patterns and ray burst. I thought I would add those elements digitally but I didn’t like the results, so to create more cohesiveness I decided to add the circles traditionally, and the burst digitally.











The morning the piece was due, I started to have doubts about the background, I was worried Pharrell’s face blended a bit too much with the pink background.  The RS art direction team had approved the pink background, but I decided to give them two options and left it in their hands to decide. I had to head out the door and teach my thesis class at OCAD U. In the end creative director Joe Hutchinson decided to go with the cyan version.   A huge thank you to Matt Cooley and Joe Hutchison for the thrilling opportunity to paint Pharrell’s portrait.



]]> Thu, 10 Apr 2014 15:46:48 EDT http://www.drawger.com/hewgill/index.php?section=articles&article_id=14702

Rock & Roll Icons: a circular theme. In the January / February 2014 issue Playboy magazine celebrates it’s 60th anniversary by commissioning essays from 9 esteemed authors, and I’m honoured to be among a stellar group of artists (including Chris Buzelli, Brad Holland, Tim O’Brien, Brian Stauffer, Gary Taxali, who are here on Drawger) who were asked to illuminate these essays. I was thrilled to be sent the essay “In Search of the Lost Rock & Roll Icon” by Rick Moody (American Novelist and creator of the music blog therumpus.net). It’s a witty and thought provoking read on the future of music, comparing contemporary musical acts, from the likes of Justin Bieber to musical artists of the past, and by analyzing “What is the measure of an icon?” Moody defines the characteristics as follows: style, influence, talent, creativity and vision. The list of musical icons seems endless for the 60’s , 70’s and 80’s, and when I think of a common denominator I think vinyl. One of the ideas I pitched was to express this element of musical influence as reverberated sound, and played up that comparison with scale and impact through the iconic representation of the classic turntable and speaker audio system vs the tiny mp3 nano and earbuds.











In my initial sketchbook thumbnails I was thinking of depicting John Lennon as the rock and roll icon, but decided on depicting Dylan, because his career has spanned so many eras. He has such a great countenance and presence, and the perfect glare to stare down the Biebs.    





A huge thanks Mac Lewis and Justin Page for this fantastic assignment.     The process of the Playboy assignment coincidentally lead me to finding a solution for my contribution to  The Nook Holiday Show curated by Julia Breckenreid (here on Drawger).  The theme was open but the format had to be a circular piece. I had recently done a portrait of Max Weinberg (drummer for Bruce Springteen and the E street Band) to accompany his essay on Ringo Starr for The Smithsonian’s special 50Th Anniversary issue: the Beatles in America.



While looking through the issue, I fixated on John Lennon’s glasses and thought that would be fitting for the circular show, which opened on Dec 6, very close the anniversary of the day he was prematurely taken from us. This 12" diptych (back to the vinyl theme), acrylic on gessoed pine, is titled "Try to see it my way…". Listening to the lyrics, I feel this Beatle song is a precursor to Lennon's "Give Peace a Chance".







          It's quite an intimate process painting someone's eyes so large. In an unexpected way, this looming deadline for the show forced me to pause during the hectic holiday party/ shopping madness, gave me the opportunity to quietly paint at night and reflect on the year, especially the passing of my friend and brother-in-law, jazz musician and composer Nic Gotham.  I also reflected on icons like John Lennon, Nelson Mandela, and others. I am thankful for their wisdom, vision and inspiration.

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