About
My professional illustrator career, starting in 1982 and through to around 1996, utilized the traditional tools and mediums of airbrushing, gouache, acrylic, coloured pencils, watercolour, graphite, pen and ink line. With my earliest computer purchase in 1996, I started using the ‘paint’ program which gave me limited digital applications to incorporate into my work. Photoshop 6 – 7 became a fantastic and much desired option around 2004. As I became comfortable with the creative digital tools, my usual approaches to my work were reduced to just line, pencil and coloured pencils and minimal watercolour ‘If I can do this more effectively and effeciently digitally, then thats where I am going’
Dinosaurs and Natural History
Most of my work is found in childrens books with most of them focused on Dinosaurs and Prehistory. Through an acute association with other artists and scientists, my realism style and attention to detail has offered me opportunities for my work to be included on numerous projects beyond the publishing and licensing markets. These include televison, film, museum exhibits and interactive theme parks. In some cases, the book work ended up as backdrops in museum exhibits.
Gnyś ‘First Kills’
The art for this book presented me with a wonderful opportunity to delve into black and white art. I have always loved aspects of film noire and when I was offered it as a ‘limited’ approach with this project I jumped into it whole heartedly. As well aesthetically pleasing, working in grey tones and dramatic lighting in some cases was a nice departure from the usually saturated colouring i have had to utilized through most of my book work.
Stefan Gnyś [ the author] and I collaborated on each image. In having an incredible amount of authenticated sources of information for me to work from, I enjoyed tremendous freedoms to portray the subject matter in angles where specific details like insignias and plane markings could be visible. The historical and eductional importance of the work was quite taxing at times but ultimately a most satifying experience to say the least.
work history
John Bindon – Illustrator OCAD’82
*** In association with HALL TRAIN Studios
FILM & TELEVISION
Disney Feature Animation:
‘DINOSAUR’ Character design contribution
*** Discovery Television:
’BEYOND T-REX’ Animation cells [Mesozoic landscape].
‘BABY DINOSAURS’ Storyboard (co-designed) conceptuals.
‘WHEN DINOSAURS ROAMED AMERICA’ Dinosaur sculpted models for computer art.
Black Walk Productions:
20′ x 30’ clouds mural for a rock music video by ‘By Divine Right’
Coneflower Productions
‘MAKING OF TOROSAURUS ‘ image used in video of
the new Torosaurus exhibit at The Peabody Museum
Infinity Films
Images for films on Chinese Dinosaur traveling exhibit
National Geographic Television
Image still for ‘Super Croc’
MUSEUM & EXHIBITS
Fuji Robotic Dinosaurs
Colour designs of dinosaurs for a robotic dinosaur display
*** Philadelphia Field Museum:
Animation puppet sculpture and storyboards for dinosaur interactive display.
*** The Fernbank Museum:
Co-illustrated exhibit renderings of the Giganotosaurus / Argentinosaurus exhibit
*** Maryland Science Center:
Exhibit mural for nesting Oviraptor diorama
Rocky Mountain Dinosaur Resource Center:
Images for exhibit information panels
Peabody Museum at Yale
Torosaurus image for information panel of new Torosaurus exhibit
Royal Tyrrell Museum
Albertonectes [a gigantic elasmosaur sea reptile] exhibit
INTERACTIVE THEME PARKS
***CN Tower:
Simulated cave wall design and co – installation for dinosaur gaming area.
*** Dinosaur Productions:
‘The Lost World’ (Touring Exhibit);
Murals (3)12′ x 22′ Triassic, Jurassic, Cretaceous Era environments.
PROMOTIONS
The Collectibles / Canada Cup;
Artwork printed on plastic cups and sports bottles for:
Return of the Jedi, Gremlins, The Black Stallion, Jurassic Park (Belgium),
The Flintstones, Super Girl, NFL, NHL, MLB, CFL, Miscellaneous Sports, Endangered Wildlife, Tall Ships, T.V. Soap Stars, Classic Sports Cars, Dinosaurs
PUBLISHING & LICENSING
Mass & Textbook Markets
Dinosaurs & Prehistoric life, Ecology, Children’s Books, History, Wildlife,
Calendars & Stationery
Cows ‘Cow Mooods’ [1996 – 1999, 2004, 2005]
Teddy Bear Corner [2001–2004, 2007]
Country Days [2009 -2010]
Dinosaurs [2011]
Magazines
Wildlife, Sports, Dinosaurs, Children’s, Fantasy, Humorous, Editorial, Ecology
Games [Box art] Max Haines’ “An Evening of Murder” [Box and evidence pages art] ‘The Final Act’, ‘Fatal Reunion, ‘A Feast to Die For’, ‘Last Call’
Jig Saw Puzzles
Cows, Teddy Bears, Dinosaurs, Killer Whale [shaped], Domestic Cat [shaped], Dragon [shaped], Reef life [6 levels 3D Lenticular]
Paper Models / Mobiles
Pirate ship, Mummy, Woolly Mammoth, Tyrannosaurus rex, Baby T-rex, Allosaurus, Tropeognathus, Smilodon, Iguanodon, Archaeopteryx, Kentrosaurus, Chasmosaurus, Kronosaurus, Argentinosaurs
T-Shirts
Dinosaurs, Prehistoric Mammals, Bats of North America, Wildlife
Illustrated Book List
1 Where Are All the Dinosaurs? [Mary O’Neill] 1989 Mokum Publishing
2 Dinosaur Mysteries [Mary O’Neill] 1989 Mokum Publishing
3 A Family of Dinosaurs [Mary O’Neill] 1989 Mokum Publishing
4 Life After the Dinosaurs [Mary O’Neill] 1989 Mokum Publishing
SERIES SOS Planet Earth
5 SOS Planet Earth: Air Scare [Mary O’Neill] 1991 Troll Associates
6 SOS Planet Earth: Nature In Danger [Mary O’Neill] 1991 Troll Associates
7 SOS Planet Earth: Water Squeeze [Mary O’Neill] 1991 Troll Associates
8 SOS Planet Earth: Power Failure [Mary O’Neill] 1991 Troll Associates
9 Willy The Champion Ant [Patricia Quinlan] 1992 Black Moss Press
10a Elisabetta Sirani: Artist [Laurel Dover] 1998 McGraw-Hill
10b La Obra De Elisabetta Sirani [Laurel Dover] 1998 McGraw-Hill
11 Flight Plan [Susan Blackaby] 1998 McGraw-Hill
SERIES: When Dinosaurs Lived
12 Baby Dinosaurs [Don Lessem] 2001 Grossett & Dunlap
13 Biggest Dinosaurs [Don Lessem] 2001 Grossett & Dunlap
14 Monsters of the Sea [Don Lessem] 2001 Grossett & Dunlap
15 Giants of the Sky [Don Lessem] 2001 Grossett & Dunlap
16 The Dinosaur Atlas [Don Lessem] 2003 Key Porter Books
SERIES: Meet the Dinosaurs
17 Giant Meat-Eating Dinosaurs [Don Lessem] 2005 Lerner Books
18 Horned Dinosaurs [Don Lessem] 2005 Lerner Books
19 Duckbilled Dinosaurs [Don Lessem] 2005 Lerner Books
20 The Smartest Dinosaurs [Don Lessem] 2005 Lerner Books
21 The Deadliest Dinosaurs [Don Lessem] 2005 Lerner Books
22 The Fastest Dinosaurs [Don Lessem] 2005 Lerner Books
23 Feathered Dinosaurs [Don Lessem] 2005 Lerner Books
24 Giant Plant-Eating Dinosaurs [Don Lessem] 2005 Lerner Books
25 Armored Dinosaurs [Don Lessem] 2005 Lerner Books
26 The Smallest Dinosaurs [Don Lessem] 2005 Lerner Books
27 Sea Giants of Dinosaur Time [Don Lessem] 2005 Lerner Books
28 Flying Giants of Dinosaur Time [Don Lessem] 2005 Lerner Books
29 The Search for Antarctic Dinosaurs [Sally M. Walker] 2006 Lerner
30 Monster Fliers [Elizabeth Macleod] 2009 Kids Can Press
[2009 – top 100 AWARD WINNER]
31 Canadian Dinosaurs [Chelsea Donaldson] 2009 Scholastic Canada
32 Pterosaurs [Peter Dodson] 2010 Enslow Publishing*
33 Diplodocus [Peter Dodson] 2010 Enslow Publishing*
34 Gnyś ‘First Kills’ [Stefan Gnyś] 2017 Casemate
35 Trygg the Dinosaur [Paula Louise Salvador] 2019 TellWell
36 MegaBugs [Helaine Becker] 2019 KidsCan Press
[2019 – OLA Best Bets, Ontario Library Association. Honour Book]
[2021 Red Cedar Award. BC Young Reader’s Choice Awards. Short-listed 3rd place]