Gilles Rainville illustration

With my recent surprise book cover contract from Prise de Parole , I decided to register myself with Illustration Quebec .  After a few months of very little activity on my profile, I thought, maybe I need more examples of cover art illustrations. So I decided to challenge myself.  I am going to take my artwork, imagine a storyline relating to the idea behind the artwork, and illustrate a book cover for it. I chose my most recent finished piece, Can I Have It? ,   to be the guinea pig for this "experiment". When I took a step back from this piece, it gave me the idea of a pre-teen novel centered around a brother and sister going on a magical yet perilous  adventure after discovering a small magical planet. I started with some messy gestural sketching to help me decide the layout of the book cover. With the rule of three I drew the rough sketch. Added a 2-point perspective guide to fix any perspective mistakes. For the next steps, I started with the foreground a...

When COVID hit, I found myself spending all of my time at home, and contemplating where my passions lie. Thinking of what gave me inspiration as a child, I remembered choosing books from the library based solely on the illustrations on the cover and on the pages inside. I never read a single word from these books but spent hours staring at the beautiful drawings.  I've always known that being an illustrator is a dream of mine, but being a classically trained animator / artist I didn't have the digital knowledge or skill that the industry expects from its artists. So I took the plunge, bought a Wacom Cintiq drawing monitor, watched hundreds of YouTube videos from inspiring successful digital illustrators on how they use Photoshop, and taught myself how to use my classical training (through the Cintiq) to produce digital illustrations in Photoshop.  Last May I produced my first proffessional digital illustration. A book cover for a Sudbury publishing house, Prise de Parole....

Having two children of my own, I can't help but want to do everything in my power to make them happy. Society has given us so many ways to bring children happiness. From toys, to video games, to electronics, and sugary treats, bringing joy to kids seems easier  then ever for parents. BUT! Is it really what they want? This piece asks that very question. As always, I started by producing quick sketches to find the right composition. These help me explore the different ways I can organize the elements for this compostion. They tend to be very messy. But, they're an important part of my thought process.  I chose this design. It looks more dynamic and does a better job conveying the meaning of the piece.   I've started really enjoying drawing on the 22" x 28" Arches watercolour paper. The large format gives me more liberty to use my entire arm for large sweeping motions to give the piece more energy. I'm drawing the initial line work with a neutral brown to ensure ...

  CHOICES As the dominating race, our species affects every aspect of the natural world we are part of. In consequence, some of the choices we make create chain reactions that have changed the world, sometimes positively, sometimes negatively. This series of pastel artworks explores some of these choices many people make daily in the hopes of inspiring thoughtful consideration and understanding of the domino effect our choices necessitate. HOW DO WE GET THERE? This first piece explores our choice of transportation. Choosing our vehicle influences the choice of where we live, how much we pollute, and how much freedom we have. Cars became a class symbol, and a desired item in the 1940s. Eighty years later, most of the population still regards them the same way. This piece is meant as a reflection of a choice that often seems automatic when we are growing up. This piece was started last summer (2019) in a smaller format without creating any thumbnails to explore the compositional posi...