George Toufexis. Artist.

I am a full time freelance illustrator working out of my own studio in Montreal, Canada since 1986. I have worked in the capacity of illustrator/designer and as consulting art/creative director for active wear apparel, children's books and educational materials, and various related products. I have been involved in designing and illustrating t-shirts, stickers, temporary tattoos and education-related products both licensed (Warner Bros., Disney, Fox, LucasFilm and lots more) and generic, and have worked for some of the top licensed product distributors in Canada.

Because of my work in licensing, I also have a good feel for pop culture and its history. All of these things add depth to my work as an artist. I have done illustration work for publishers in NYC and California and have had almost 500 editorial cartoons published.

Most recently, I have written and illustrated over thirty activity and coloring books for Dover Publishing in New York. In addition to this, I can often be found teaching watercolor classes in Montreal.

Although I work almost exclusively in Illustrator and Photoshop, I began as a traditional illustrator and am very skilled in many classic media, from pencil sketching to fine watercolor. I am especially skilled in all forms of traditional ink work (linework, crosshatch, brush, wash, etc.) I studied colour and composition with the late Harold Boyes, and watercolour with Susan Heller.

I am also a musician and songwriter, specializing in blues, roots and gospel music. In addition to expertise in the realms of music and art, I have a solid general knowledge of history, science, cultural trends and many aspects of the entertainment industry. You can see my music site here: http://www.deacongeorge.com