Alberta Oil

A few months ago I was contacted by Alberta Oil to make some pieces for an upcoming issue. For the last year or so, i've tried as much as possible to take a real "try anything" approach when it comes to execution. Not at the expense of the piece - but finding the right tone and delivering that. This has resulted in work that is very graphic - to much more painterly. Consequently, these four piece each look a little different. So be it.
First article was about the oil industry in Alberta "growing up" - aging - evolving etc. this could have been cool - but just wasnt clear enough - wanted to show a kid growing up, leaving their sandbox - sandbox to represent dig sites. ...in hindsight maybe it made no sense?we ended up going with removing the training wheels from one of those massive dump trucks - seemed like a fun solutionNext article was about the cost of eco drilling - sort of a split article, because it was pro eco - but really wanted to stress the coststhe final was cool - i like painting money - and i like juxtaposing "real" with graphicNext was about this energy project in Newfoundland that involves building a hydroelectric dam. the issue - is that there is a lot of risk involved - maybe people wont buy the electricity - and its a big investment. I'm a really big fan of Tim O'Brien, and more "realistic" painting in general. Not that i can do it at all - but im always really inspired to inject a little bit more of that into my regular work. I try to be really careful with this though, as i dont want to step on anyones toes - people that may already work in this manner. its not super obvious in this rough, but i wanted the crack in the dam to be shaped like a lightening bolt - really liked the idea below, with the puffin trying to fly away (nflands "official" bird) and he is tangled in the wire / being held back a little - seemed perfect. I had a few more generic ideas too - heres onethen for the final my pitch of "painting a worried puffin, with electric outlet feet" was good enoughFinally, the last piece was a spot about "risky oil" ventures - Investors could sink their money into a refinery, but it might make them broke. some fun roughs for this one - but i'd like to hold onto them for a future project - heres that final: - the sky was really fun to screen.