Creating Rainforest Art for Patagonia
Illustrating and Animating a Pacific Northwest Paradise
Patagonia // Hoh Rainforest Canopy
Doing work for Patagonia was a rare, career-defining moment. I'm excited to tell the story...
I was actually hired by San Francisco-based production company, Pop-Up Magazine, on a video project for a "major outdoor brand". As fate would have it, the AD contacted me after seeing my nature-based art on Instagram and I didn't find out it was for Patagonia until I'd been working on it for 2 weeks already.
Patagonia // A house on Bainbridge Island
The story follows the life of a Seattle-born ASL interpreter.
This ASL interpreter's story also intertwines with a famous Oscar-winning actor and "one square inch of silence" that can apparently still be found deep in the heart of the Hoh Rainforest (pictured in the sketch at the bottom). I love depicting natural environments in my art, so the story's heavy tie-in with the Olympic Peninsula of Washington state made this a project a pure joy for me.
Patagonia // Elk in the Hoh Rainforest
It’s so easy to fall in love with the patterns that reveal themselves in the forest.
This happens both visually and metaphorically, of course. The Patagonia team specifically asked for the forest scenes to be juicy and teeming with detail, but luckily they backed up this request with hundreds of amazing reference photos, so the nature you see in the artwork is as accurate as I could make it.
Patagonia // Hoh Rainforest Adventure Comic Panels
This lengthy series of animated illustrations was ultimately incorporated into a live storytelling event and recorded at an intimate outdoor amphitheater in Southern California (shoutout to my AD, Erica Bonkowski, and CD, Leo Jung who made the logistics of all of this run incredibly smooth).
Patagonia // Sketch of "one square inch of silence" with motion notes
My First Print Release of 2023:
A Sneak Peek
The year is off to a strong, but SUPER busy start. I've been working on this illustration based on an experience I had in Idaho's backcountry, and it will be featured exclusively as a limited first edition print in coming months. Two sizes will drop this Spring: 16 x 20 and 11 x 14. I won't give away too much yet, but here's a closeup of one part:
Detail of my first 2023 print release
Another reason 2023 already slaps: My art was featured in Communication Arts!
Ben Konkol in FRESH by Communication Arts
If you didn't get a chance, go read the article in Communication Arts' FRESH section. I had a chance to do some interview questions with editor, Michael Coyne, and it's been a longtime dream of mine to get a feature with the magazine. Huge huge honor.
Monthly Vibe
Illustration by Simon Prades
This month's inspiration is the work of one of my favorite German illustrators, Simon Prades. He does these densely detailed leafy compositions that pull you in to evaluate the crooks and crevices and naturalistic webs of shadow and light.
FURRY ASSISTANT
My cat & furry assistant, Roast Beef
Please let me introduce you again to Roast Beef (my cat), as an infant. Don't let the baby face fool you, she was wreaking havoc in my studio from an early age.
Thanks for reading! See you next time.