Janice Kun for USC Dornsife Magazine

Our genetic blueprint is still a very mysterious concept. For the article "Molecular You" in the most recent issue of USC Dornsife magazine, Janice Kun captures that mystery and intrigue in a series of beautifully atmospheric illustrations. Using a combination of line drawing, watercolor and photography Janice's imagery provides layers of subtle, yet powerful, detail. With incredible art direction by Daniel Knapp we are given the chance to ponder the impact of our DNA through Janice's work.  

See more of Janice Kun's illustration. Represented by i2i Art Inc. 

Janice Kun for Reader's Digest

Janice Kun's latest illustrations for Reader's Digest were a big hit and so we asked Janice to tell us, in her own words, why this assignment was so successful.

"It was a pleasure working again with Annelise Dekker, Art Director for Reader's Digest. As always, she provided clear and detailed direction, and her keen sense for pulling out the perfect combination of my mixed media skills really helped me stretch in this particular project.

For these illustrations, I was asked to take a simple approach, but with a boost in color, and a lighter tone. It was a bit challenging at first to work this way– blending simple line drawings with more fleshed-out painted elements, thrown into colorful planes– as it was counter-intuitive to my usual complex digital layering and subtle palette. In the end, this project really opened my eyes to a new way of adding clean lines, bold colors and a refreshing sense of minimalism to my work."

The article "An Uncomplicated Love", written by Elizabeth Abbott tells the story of our bond with dogs.

An Uncomplicated Love, Joey the Bulldog

Therapy Dog

Man's Best Friend

Janice Kun has been busy creating. Check out Janice's updated portfolio.

Janice Kun for apple Magazine

Amy Sawchenko, art director at apple Magazine recently commissioned Janice Kun to illustrate a six-page feature on summer activities for all ages. Amy definitely wanted to capture the fun and excitement the season brings.  

Janice combined photography with her bright and beautiful watercolor backgrounds to create these playful and exciting digital collages.

Janice always strives to create the perfect composition; balancing hand-drawn elements and watercolors with photography and other mixed media. Her photo-illustrations range from somber to evocative to fun.

View Janice Kun's portfolio, represented by i2i Art Inc.

Janice Kun for the Government of Ontario

  Janice Kun collaborated with Deirdre Hughes, creative director with Agency59, to create the illustration used for Kathleen Wynne's Government of Ontario Sexual Violence and Harassment Action Plan.  Both an honour and a challenge, the art needed to show the optimism the new Action Plan promises, while at the same time representing the struggle and the work to be done on this important societal problem.

To accomplish all of this, Janice's illustration needed to take a conceptual approach in showing the urgency and the action to be taken on the issue of sexual violence and harassment.  Through her unique blend of photography, hand rendering and digital collage, Janice's mixed media illustration set out to do all this.

Below in the main double page spread of the report, three figures work together to reshape a landscape that moves rhythmically from the darkness of an abstracted, geometric background, into one of brighter, bolder colours, and organic shapes. Their dialogue sparks the process of change by writing a new script, painting a new horizon, and cultivating new growth.

Visit Janice Kun's entire portfolio.

Ozzie Award for Diabetic Living Story Illustrated by Janice Kun

Congratulations to Diabetic Living, on the Folio Ozzie Award for Consumer Publications: Best Use of Digital Imagery for the “Let’s Go to Camp” story illustrated by Janice Kun.  Many thanks to art director, Michelle Bilyeu who shared the news with Janice, "Our team loved how this story turned out and you did a fantastic job making it come alive!".  Working closely with Michelle Bilyeu, Janice Kun artfully incorporated the many photographic moments with illustrated elements highlighting this true-to-life portrayal of camp life.

Incorporating kids' letters and handwriting really helps make this their personal story.

Love the subtle use of a black and white photo with spots of color (top center).

To see more of Janice Kun's playful illustrations integrating photographic elements, check out her updated portfolio.

Janice Kun for Hewlett Packard

  These images are a sample of the art created by Janice Kun that comprised the 'Card of Good Intentions' for HP.  With audio design by Randy Knott, Janice's award winning art was animated to count the days of Good Intentions for HP throughout the month of December.  An ode to the holiday season!  To see more of Janice's ethereal art take a peek at her updated portfolio here.

©Janice Kun_JK171_i2iArt

©Janice Kun_JK173_i2iArt

©Janice Kun_JK175-a_i2iArt

©Janice Kun_JK269_i2iArt

©Janice Kun_JK270_i2iArt

Janice Kun - Black History Stamps

Canada Post celebrates Black History Month by commemorating two distinctive and historic African-Canadian communities: Vancouver's Hogan's Alley and Halifax's Africville.  

Working closely with designer, Karen Smith, Janice Kun created the background watercolors depicting historical churches, central to these communities.  Typical of Janice Kun's style, the pairing of the paintings with supplied historical photographs is a delicate dream-like balance between these real people and remembered communities.

Janice_Kun_black_history_stamps_CPC_2014

Janice_Kun_Africville NS_BlackHistory_FDC_CPC

Janice_Kun_Hogan's Alley_BC_FDC_CPC

Janice Kun for Royal Ontario Museum

Art director Tara Winterhalt chose Janice Kun to create a double page spread illustration for the article Threads That Bind which first appeared in ROM, the magazine of the Royal Ontario Museum, Summer 2012 issue.  The story is a true account of an archaeologist's search for human origins which became deeply personal.  Janice's pictographic method of weaving the elements of the story together is reminiscent of it's ancient references.

[pinterest]

Janice Kun for Orca Books

The illustration Janice created for the Hummingbird Heart bookcover shows her elegant, delicate lettering and atmospheric illustration style.  The concept was designed to look like tattoo art on skin.  To see more of Janice's lyrical illustrations, please check out her portfolio on the i2i website.

Janice Kun for Harlequin

Janice  used her atmospheric hand drawn/photo illustration style to set the mood for the cover of the mystery Cry Baby, available through Harlequin.  Cry Baby is about "a forensic sketch artist with an uncanny ability to reanimate the deceased through her drawings...".

Janice Kun illustrates "Boomerangst"

"Boomerangst" is a new term to describe the worry over the financial strain the aging "Boomer" population has and will have on the Canadian health care system. Janice Kun used her photo-illustrative talents to create this hospital corridor/ graph image to accompany the article The Boomer Effect, Is Canada's Health Care Headed for Trouble?  in the Nov/Dec issue of Legion Magazine, art directed by Jason Duprau.

Illustration Married with Photography

We are seeing a growing trend whereby illustration is combined with photography. Below are a few examples of different approaches. Sometimes the client supplies the photos, although frequently the illustrator shoots their own photos or stock photos are used.

Greg Stevenson created the hand-lettering and icons layered over the photo of Jeff Bridges, supplied by the client, Ink Publishing.

©Anne Horst_AH539

Anne Horst created a montage of stock photos and illustration to create this image on social media for the cover of Marymount Manhattan College Magazine.

Alanna Cavanagh's minimal and whimsical line illustrations create a great contrast with the rich fabrics in the photo supplied by Fabricut for this Trend Drapery ad.

©John Webster_JW339

John Webster created this piece with stock imagery and client supplied photos of Sorbara Hall on the St.Michael's campus at the University of Toronto. The article was on the history of the use of the campus in film.

AB243- VW Love

Aaron Bihari used a photo with a duo-tone treatment for the background in this piece, to contrast with his illustrated VW bus.

©Janice Kun_JK203

This is an example of how Janice Kun creates a dream-like image with the use of her own original photography as well as stock imagery.

©Margaret Lee_ML252

Margaret Lee often sets up her own photo shoots on location and uses a unique colorization to create whimsy and drama.

©Bruce Emmett_BB257

Bruce Emmett often stages elaborate sets, with himself as a model, in his photo-illustrative work.

Janice Kun illustrates For Canada Post

Janice Kun collaborated with Karen Smith to showcase the history of mail delivery in Canada.  In her usual collage style, Janice combined hand drawn and painted elements with her usual sensitivity to demonstrate the use of the dog sled and Ponchon -- two key historical methods of mail delivery in Canada.  Visit  Canada Post for more information.

Janice Kun - Shedding Layers for Spring

Janice Kun has created these two new pieces which include elements of drawing, collage, watercolor, and photography. The elements are digitally manipulated in Photoshop and combined with multiple effects layers. Janice wanted to allude to the search for a truer sense of self  and the shedding of the layers of constraint. Spring often seems to be a natural time for transformation and transition- a stripping away of the old to make way for the new.

JK216-hires-FERAL2.2