childrensillustrators.com - illustrator - John Aardema - jack frost
childrensillustrators.com - illustrator - John Aardema - jack frost
John Aardema
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illustration - jack frost-When I decided that I’d make an illustration of Jack Frost, I didn’t realize until I started on the colors that I’d end up painting someone wearing silver and white in silvery-white snow next to a silvery-white snowman. While it’s snowing.

It worked out because there’s a number of things going on, and since Jack is the same color as the background, it’s good not to have distracting colors directing the viewer’s eye away from the center of action. The limited color palette allows me to keep the illustration extra frosty. - Aardema, John
When I decided that I’d make an illustration of Jack Frost, I didn’t realize until I started on the colors that I’d end up painting someone wearing silver and white in silvery-white snow next to a silvery-white snowman. While it’s snowing. It worked out because there’s a number of things going on, and since Jack is the same color as the background, it’s good not to have distracting colors directing the viewer’s eye away from the center of action. The limited color palette allows me to keep the illustration extra frosty.
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Next four illustrations from John Aardema:
illustrator - portfolio - Aardema, John - peace on earth-This is my Christmas card that I sent to my clients. I was listening to a little Handel the other day, and I got the idea to use the image of the Lamb of God with the banner that said “Halleluia!” But then I got thinking about all these wars, and I decided to go with “Peace on Earth…” instead.

That lead me to the idea of the lion laying down with the lamb. I reversed the roles as I thought the Christ-like lamb should be the dominant figure.
illustrator - portfolio - Aardema, John - lydia jane-Two of my ex-neighbors (they moved, I’m still here) had a baby they named Lydia Jane. Her mother is Chinese and her father is Dutch. So I was wondering about her, and things like, What will she look like when she gets older? What color will her hair be, her eyes, her skin? And what will it be like the first time she visits relatives in China? Will she find it strange, or wonderful?

In this piece, I wanted to make the background as interesting as the subject, without losing the focus of the main character. I’ve also been experimenting with a more delicate line, with less emphasis on heavy inks.
illustrator - portfolio - Aardema, John - breakfast fragment-So, there's this girl in my SCBWI group. I thought she was 
cute, so I drew her. That's the story, morning glory.
illustrator - portfolio - Aardema, John - die zauberflöte-..or in English, The Magic Flute. It’s an opera by Mozart. He was the guy the movie Amadeus was about. Anyway, he wrote this trippy masonic opera—it’s like the Freemasons meet Cirque du Soleil. I saw some opera posters that a friend of mine had, and I thought I’d like to make one myself. The characters shown in the poster are Tamino, the prince; Pamina, daughter of the wicked Queen of the Night; and Papageno, official birdcatcher for the aforementioned queen. They don’t actually ride beasts in the opera (at least not in any production I’ve ever heard of) but they do travel around a lot. I thought it would be cool to have vehicles that are representations of their personalities.
childrensillustrators.com - illustrator - John Aardema - jack frost childrensillustrators.com - illustrator - John Aardema - jack frost
childrensillustrators.com - illustrator - John Aardema - jack frost
childrensillustrators.com - illustrator - John Aardema - jack frost
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