Gilles Rainville illustration

In Utero - In the uterus. Before Birth. A stage of life filled with magic and wonder. This is where life begins.  I wanted to represent how nature supports the cycle of life with this piece. From the environment's essential aspects evolving to support the needs of the creatures living inside it, to the internal supports that our own bodies offer to help in the creation of new life, In Utero shows the care of life within and without. I started with a quick sketch of my idea. Then I researched some photos online. Since I couldn't find a photo of a spirit bear in the uterus, I found some photos of newborn spirit bears and a 3D photo of an unborn infant. I redrew the idea in graphite referring to the research photos. I wanted to recreate the same colours and textures found in the 3D photo of the uterus. I played around with layering the colour and erasing the highlights. It took some time, but, in the end, I was satisfied with the resu...

Last summer, a local artist was collecting artwork to send to her daughter in the USA. She wanted pieces that would remind her of home in Aylmer. After seeing some of my illustrations, she hired me to create a piece that includes a local breed of rabbit and some of the wild flowers on her property. The contract did have a restriction though. I was not allowed to spend more than 9 hours an the piece. (I actually spent 10... shhhhh.) I started by researching photos of the bunny breed as well as burdock and queen anne's lace.   I sketched out the look of the drawing. This also helped me figure out how to structure the flowers. I found this dark grey piece of board left behind from years ago. I thought this was a great opportunity to challenge myself to draw on a dark surface instead of the usual white. I sketched the composition using a white chalk pencil. I payed extra attention to the growth patterns of the wild flowers. Adding colour was de...

Nature creates an indomitable cycle of life inevitably leading to death, and in turn helping to produce new life. The Earth sustains itself indefinitely because of this cycle. The Cycle series represents the beauty, power and infinite possibility of life, while simultaneously showing its fragility. It is a reminder that all life is a part of Earth's cycle. Cycle - Snow Leopard is the first piece.  For this piece , I chose to forgo the process of sketchin g studies and drawing rough copies. I researched some photos off the internet and started directly on the good copy. Death was the beginning . I wanted to represent its calmness , tranquility , and comfort. The sl eeping le opard photo seemed ideal .  To demonstrate the cycle, the plants, mountains, snow and rocks contribute to the drawing of the new leopard family. I decided on blue undertones for the dead leopard. I also took to colour outlines for a stylistic effect. I used soft paste...

A fun night with a creative theme that inspired some amazing costumes from three talented models. As always, special thanks to the models Scott McClelland, Edith Chartier, and Cat Hennessey, the host, Peter Purdy, and the organizer, Rebecca Gilman. Check out the event at https://www.facebook.com/groups/854616347887771/ Enjoy the drawings. The Magic Show - 2 min The Magic Show - 5 min The Magic Show - 5 min The Magic Show - 20 min The Magic Show - 20 min The Magic Show - 20 min The Magic Show - 3 min The Magic Show - 5 min