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John Aardema

USA

E-Mail: john.inkyboy@gmail.com

Artist's Website

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Style / Techniques
2D •  3D •  CGI •  Comps •  Hand-Drawn •  Illustration •  Storyboard

Application
Advertising •  Branding •  Broadcast •  Character Development •  Concept Art •  Game Development  •  Package Design •  Packaging Illustration •  Print •  Product Design •  Product Development

Subject
Animals •  Architecture •  Cartoon •  Comics •  Conceptual •  Horror •  Humorous •  Licensed Characters •  Logos •  Sci-Fi / Fantasy •  Creature Design •  Graphic Novel

Products
Interactive •  Robots •  Video Games

Gender / Age Group
Boys •  Girls •  Early Childhood •  School Age •  Tweens •  Teens •  Mature 17+ •  Adults

illustration of In May, I'll be attending a seminar featuring Martha Rago who is an art director from HarperCollins. She sent an assignment to draw a test-spread from their soon-to-be-published “B.Bear & Lolly”. This is how I would have done it. illustration of Such nice boys. illustration of After watching internet bullies invade people’s Facebook pages while writing ignorant comments about the events of the day, I wondered why they have a need to marginalize themselves from the wider community. They see themselves as great thinkers—they are not. They see themselves as leaders—they are not. They see themselves as the future—I certainly hope they are not. illustration of Every year for the Society of Childrens Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI), Tomie dePaola holds a contest and gives an award for an illustration based on his criteria. This was my entry for 2011.
illustration of This is part one of the Russell Stover commercial I wrote myself for my online portfolio. As this is my own, and not a job I did for Russell Stover, I’m not revealing any ad campaign secrets by displaying this storyboard. illustration of This is part two of my Russell Stover commercial. illustration of Part three of my Russell Stover commercial illustration of After I learned about the band of superheroes that performed as a music band on the side, I needed to draw them. Clockwise from top left are Jimmy the Robot, Crash McLarson, Ricky Fitness, the M.C. Bat Commander, and Eagle “Bones” Falconhawk. Together they make up the Aquabats, and their exploits can be seen Saturdays on the Hub.
illustration of I consider this more of a color sketch than a completed illustration. One afternoon I decided to create a group of characters based in the Arctic, so I scribbled this out. Iqniq is the boy in front with the fire. The shaman Kinapak is next to him, and the wolf is Aglakti. Big Mac Pigat is holding the book he got from the librarian he ate. Wee Miki the ice sprite is riding Icicle, the Airwhal.
illustration of Just for fun, I decided to redesign a product from my childhood—Otter Pops. When I searched for them online, I discovered Otter Pops are still being made. Once I had redrawn the original characters, I began making up new flavors.

illustration of These little characters were made for use in the online community of Second Life. If you join Second Life, you could purchase one of these little things, and use it as your inworld avatar. Heck, you could get all of them if you wanted to. illustration of Like the Ollipogs, these little characters were made for use in the online community of Second Life. If you join Second Life, you could purchase one of these little things, and use it as your inworld avatar. Heck, you could get all of them if you wanted to.
illustration of Here's a set of characters I created based on anthropomorphic sushi. I'll bet there aren't any automatic keywords for that! illustration of I noticed that General Mills’ Monster Cereals are back on the shelves to coincide with Halloween. When I saw the box of Franken Berry, I realized his fingernails look like strawberries. I thought to myself, “Who does his nails?”

illustration of I started drawing the General Mills’ “Monster Cereals” for fun. While I was sketching, I found myself wondering the same thing I wondered when I was a kid—“Is that his hair or is that a hat? BTW, the background is a chocolate layer cake. illustration of Franken Berry was voiced in the commercials to sound like Boris Karloff, Count Chocula sounded like Bela Lugosi, and Boo Berry was Peter Lorre. So I gave Boo Lorre’s features—and his smoking habit.
illustration of An art director told me she really liked my work, but asked if I could draw a character consistently over the amount of illustrations needed for a picture book. She suggested that I draw some animal characters in different positions and add it to my portfolio.

I wanted animals that were very different from each other, and I decided the group would consist of a mammal, a bird, and an amphibian. South Africa’s indigenous species gave me a variety to choose from.
illustration of Here is the next character study in the series. Verve is the first character I drew. I picked a vervet monkey because I liked the challenge of drawing a character with a face that is all black. It’s a unique look and it gave me a character that’s very visually striking. illustration of After I drew the bird and the monkey, I decided the next character would be an amphibian. I chose a crocodile because that would give me a tall, upright character. The color pink was an afterthought. Since the other two characters were of a warm palette, and the environment she would be drawn in would either be blue (water) or green (jungle), I picked a color that would visually tie her to the other characters and make her stand out from the background. illustration of Behold: A spread from “The Blizzard Wizard” by Lynn Plourde, and illustrated by me, of course!

The story follows two children who want it to snow—and visit their friend the Blizzard Wizard. Unfortunately, he’s lost the spell. The fun happens when he tries to fake his way through it!
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