Peter Ferguson is a Canadian illustrator and gallery artist whose illustration clients include the Wall Street Journal, Washington Times, Dow Jones Magazine, Chicago Tribune, Business Week, Los Angeles Times, TBWA Chiat Day, ITP Nelson, Prentice Hall and Marvel Comics.

Originally from Montreal, Ferguson studied at the Ontario College of Art and Design.

In his illustration (example images above, top 6) Ferguson paints in oil and uses bold modeling and strong contrasts of value and color to give his work a sharp punch. Though his subject matter is quite different, I see an influence from N.C. Wyeth and Howard Pyle in his approach.

Since I last wrote about Ferguson back in 2007, he has transitioned into gallery painting. Ferguson’s gallery work (images above, bottom 4) is darker, both in palette and emotional tone. His gallery paintings carry both a suggested narrative element and a sense of dark humor. In them, he has carefully reduced his range of value contrasts and lowered the chroma of his colors to create strong moods.

In both his illustration and gallery work, I very much like his black and white pieces, which appear to be done in graphite or charcoal. In them he demonstrates wonderful touch with tone and texture.

Ferguson’s website showcases his gallery work and includes a “Sketchbook” section with a few black and white pieces (though I would love to see many more).

His illustration work can be seen in a portfolio on the website of Threeinabox artists’ representatives.