 Illustration Soooo...January 21st
posted: March 23, 2010
...Was the last time I posted here..WOW (sorry, couldn't think of a title). I've been posting steadily on my blog and been checking out the lovely work here, but haven't been posting. So, having said that here is a couple of illustrations for the Financial Post I've done since January.
Swimming in Risk: Nowadays buying into bonds is very risky, and if investors want safety in this dangerous market.
One has to be careful of the many risks swimming around.
Picking The Pearl of Stocks: Picking the top stocks in the market. 
Scouting The Patch: The Alberta Energy Patch, after earnings over the past few weeks they were all over the map.
However, investors will earn and get rewarded by buying oil over gas. 
Eating Up: With Profits Likely to Increase in Japan. Investors should buy into Japan while it is cheap.
Eventually the Japanese will rise and eat up the competition. 
The Regrowth of Tech: During the recession the tech market was hit hard and virtually buried.
However lately the tech sector finds itself growing strong and blooming.
Im really enjoying getting into flat coloring mixed with more black shape work. Also Zina Saunders recent digital woodcut direction has really opened my eyes on how further you can take digital scratchboard. Although I admit I have problems with my cut's being "too digital brush like" sometimes. Not sure how to get away from that, I suppose trial and error or make some new brushes?
I've also tried to make my own scratchboard but that failed with hilarious results. I heard there was pre-made scratch board paper, but the Art stores around me don't seem to carry them, am I crazy do they exist??? Anyways, glad I posted keep up the top shelf work everyone!!...or is it top drawer..ok you can all be shelves and drawers.              2 comments |
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Three Faces
posted: January 21, 2010
Hello Ohger! Happy 2010, since I haven't posted in awhile I thought i'd post three pieces. Three for one?? What a deal! I'll start off with my first piece for the Financial Post of 2010!
"Cut Off'
Investing Feature this week: One big problem for markets in 2010 is the removal of the central bank life support. Which in this case are the low interest rates implemented to help the economy recover. Eventually the interest rates will rise and the life support will be cut off. This piece was tones of fun for me to do, I felt like trying something different since it was the New Year. I’m really pleased I took the risk during a tight deadline to try something new. 
"The Rzarectah"
This portrait is of rap artist RZA. The illustration is based on his days in the group Gravediggaz. The Gravediggaz was a group created by RZA and Prince Paul after the "Enter the Wu-Tang" Album, when some Wu-Tang members wanted to go start their own solo projects. Grave Diggaz represented my favorite era of hip-hop which was the early-mid 90's. Their style was a mix of dark, menacing and almost madman type lyrics. Rza's alter-ego in the group was The Rzarector. I wanted to create a portrait which showed his personality and style of his verses.
Here is two songs from the Gravediggaz (There is ALOT of swearing so if your not into that sort of thing, I suggest not clicking) "Detective Trip" and "Bang your Head" 
"Peace"
Lastly, this image was for Kessels Kramer's New Tapestry project. The project was based of the Bayeux Tapestry which depicted major news events of 1066. The New Tapestry's aim was to focus on the events of today. The image I created was for the week 41 of last year. During that time it was announced that Obama had been awarded the Nobel Peace prize. Instead of illustrating various news around the page I made a decision to concentrate on one image. I wanted to emphasize the powerful yet solemn face of Obama.
aaaaaaaand lastly I've updated my website for the new year!! www.juansolon.com
Now lets all hope the Jets make the superbowl!!!!! 2010 Sneak Peek
posted: December 17, 2009
This was last Saturdays Illustration for the National Post. The story was about a sneak peek into markets in 2010. The outlook of most markets are not so great.
Stuck In Neutral
posted: November 26, 2009
Long time no post! I've been away to Costa Rica and I finally am home sweet home. Costa Rica was amazing and I'll be sure to post sketches and pictures this week! This was the Investing Feature for Financial Post from November 7th: Big Canadian companies such as Shoppers Drug Mart, Tim Horton’s and Canadian tire are favored names in the Canadian Market. However the performance compared to some peers in the United states has been underwhelming. Many of the Canadian companies seem to plateau very quickly, while the U.S competitors are still in for the ride.
Picky, Picky, Picky
posted: October 27, 2009
This weeks investing feature: The third quarter earnings in the market are doing great and delivering better than what was expected for investors. Even showing some of the growth that investors were craving but they are not satisfied anymore. They want more, and to top it off they're picky on what they want.
I haven't really done fun characters in awhile, I used to include them all the time in School pieces but strayed away from them to try something new. It's always refreshing to come back to something you loved doing before and mixing it up with images you do now. The deadline for this was shorter than the last one... sometimes handling things under pressure is a great thing. For me, I seem to second guess myself less and commit to ideas and decisions better under pressure. Of course though I'd still prefer having a lot of time to do an illustration. Bonds, James Bonds
posted: October 18, 2009
Hi-lo Ohger! Here is this week’s Financial Post Investing Feature. The illustration is about the current high risk of buying Bonds. Prices for Bonds are really high and interest rates are low. There is a mountain to climb for investors if they really want to invest in them. Lesson of the week!: What is a Bond? Bonds are kind of like an IOU. So an investor agrees to loan money to a company. But that money is agreed at a certain interest rate to payback. So with interest rates being low and Bond Prices being high, it's a big risk and challenge banking on interest rates to rise. I'm still exploring a sort of fusion style in my work, which I find actually looks better in print. The turnaround time for this piece was pretty fast; I had to crank the process and final out in less than 4hrs. Although I'd rather spend time on pieces, it's a big learning experience figuring out what you can and can't do in a small amount of time. The investing pieces have been an interesting challenge. With the fast paced nature of newspapers, it was important to learn to be quick with ideas and execution. Many times I would get 2 or 3 sentences on what the story will be about because the article is not yet written. This can be tough; especially when the synopsis can differ slightly to what the actual article is saying. I'm wondering how other people deal with really tight deadlines? I know there are a slew of things running through someone’s mind during those really hectic moments. 
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