Numbers 684 and 685

I received an email the other day notifying me that the slideshow for the American Illustration Show winners is online. You can see the slideshow here. The list is in alphabetical order, so to see my two pieces (numbers 684 and 685) you can scroll through for a good ten minutes, or you can take a shortcut here. According to the email, the slideshow will be up "until November with the launch of the AI32 book and The Archive." There's plenty of great stuff to look at, so enjoy!

Posting soon: Work for the Harvard Law Bulletin and Institutional Investor.

Know your enemy

I should have posted this earlier in the week, but I've been really busy. I believe it ran last weekend in The Chronicle of Higher Education. The author of the article suggests that having enemies, and even creating new ones where none exist, is part of our human biology. Early humans evolved by fending off hostile animals, as well as hostile bands of fellow humans. We battled "others" to protect our tribesmen and resources, and we battled them to steal and secure new (their) resources. Today, we have a pronounced ability to make enemies. An almost genetic need to have one, even if only to swell our patriotic pride. (We'll get all those evildoers someday. U-S-A, U-S-A, U-S-A!) You need a subscription to read the article, but it's online here.

This was a really fun piece to work on. Thanks so much, Ellen!

Short story personal work

I've recently been working on some personal projects revolving around short stories by one of my favorite authors, Kurt Vonnegut. This is self-initiated, not commissioned, or being published anywhere, I was really just working on it for fun. At the same time, I must admit, I've been trying to break into the publishing industry, with regards to my illustration. One of my wildest fantasies would be to illustrate a Vonnegut book. Sadly, since he's passed, it would have to be a reprint of one of his old titles, not that I would mind that. But, that would mean it would most likely be something that the amazingly talented Carin Goldberg has already had a hand in. Not only that, but the also amazingly talented Gene Greif, who has also sadly passed, contributed spot illustrations to those same titles that Goldberg designed. How do you follow these two giants? I doubt I could... so I decided to play around with his short stories. I own a collection that includes a few of his novels, as well as some shorts, such as "Fortitude."

 I'll try not to spoil anything for anyone interested in reading the story, but here's an explanation to give the image some context:

"Fortitude" is about a woman that is nothing more than a head, connected to all kinds of machinery to perform her bodily functions for her. Everything, down to her emotions, is controlled by the machine. I wanted to flip it around and show the controls on the machine being affected by her emotions. Her hair is the only thing connecting her to her original humanity, as it is not influenced by the machinery, but by her friend and hair stylist, Gloria.
Some background on "Fortitude," it was originally commissioned by CBS as a comedy special in 1968, but was never made (it even includes stage direction, and instructions on camera shots). It was eventually published in Playboy, however.  

Note: I'm certainly no typographer (go easy on me), and I wasn't originally planning on including the title (I'm still not sure I like it), but it just sort of happened as a result of playing around. I know that "hand-drawn type" is sort of played out, but it seemed reminiscent of the way many editions of Vonnegut's books feature his own hand writing, as well as his illustrations on the cover (his novel Breakfast of Champions is full of his drawings). I've been playing with the type, and may replace the image as I change the title, until I'm satisfied with it- which may never happen!

The Chosen One

I was notified last week that two pieces I had submitted were chosen for the American Illustration 32 show. I submitted my three Loteria illustrations, and two (El Tigre and El Puerco) were chosen. Some of you may remember from an earlier post that they were published last year in Migrate Magazine, the publication of the Loerie Awards in South Africa. Here are the pieces:

For those that are unfamiliar with the way the American Illustration shows work, there are two ways to be accepted: chosen and selected. Chosen pieces are displayed in the permanent collection online, and selected pieces are published in the annual book. It's a great honor to be a part of this competition. According to the email, there were 8,742 submissions and only 401 professional images were accepted. Looking forward to seeing all the work that made it in!

TIMBERRRRR!!!

This illustration for The Chronicle Review ran this past Sunday. It accompanied a very thought-provoking essay by Mark S. Weiner about the relationship between individualism and government. The old adage that in order for individual liberty to thrive, government must be small, or even nonexistent, is a very familiar line among conservative, and even leftist-anarchist thinking. However, the author contends that efforts to shrink, cut, weaken or dismantle government actually has the opposite effect: it hurts individual freedom.

The author explains that governments need to exist to ensure that individuals' liberties are protected. Rights, as well as goods and services in a democracy are based on the concept of "the public good." In the absence of government, humans tend to organize themselves in clans, where rights, goods and services are instead based on membership in the clan.

I wanted to show how the effort on the part of the individual to dismantle government ends up hurting that same individual. It's a great article, and if you have a subscription to The Chronicle of Higher Education, you can read it here. On a related note, I was pleasantly surprised to receive an email from the author, complimenting me on this piece. It's always a huge honor to hear that the person whose work I'm illustrating enjoys it. Thank you to Ellen and Scott, and thank you, Mark, for your kind words.

Can you dig it?

Here's a piece for The Chronicle of Higher Education. It was the lead piece in the Views section, and the story focuses on the need for colleges to get on board with the sustainable food movement, i.e. growing their own food, or at least getting as much as possible from local sources, etc.

The article is titled "Fire Your Food Service and Grow Your Own," and much of it details the way most colleges, despite their commitment to many other hot issues, are very much dependent on Big Agribusiness for their food needs. With my first set of sketches, I was focused on "getting big business out of the food," and also on the idea that so much of the food comes from very, very far away. My favorite was the "registered trademark" symbol being plucked out of the bunch of grapes:

Well, missed the boat on that one... The editor replied that they wanted to focus more on agriculture, and the connection between colleges and the growing aspect. So, back to the drawing board, and ended up with the solution you see above, combining the "university column" with the idea of gardening, by way of a spading fork. You can also see Brian Taylor's "Zombie Marathon" at the top of the page. Sweet! Thank you again, Ellen!

It takes two to tango

This "L.A. Affairs" illustration for the L.A. Times ran this past Sunday. The essay described a recent experience of the author's during a ballroom dance lesson. The fact that her dance partner and fiancee is also a woman seemed to complicate things. In dancing, as well as everyday life, neither woman was used to letting the other lead. As they both struggled to make the other follow, they realized that instead of competing, partners need to work together. In dancing, as well as everyday life.

 While researching ballroom dancing, I came across images of dance steps. I've never been a dancer, never taken a lesson, and the numbers and footprints and arrows looked intimidating to me. So I exaggerated them to make the steps look as complicated as possible, to compare dancing to the complexities of any relationship. Here's the full page (minus the advertisement at the bottom):

Thank you to Wes! This was a really fun piece to work on! Read the article here.

For 5280 Magazine

This piece is out now, in the current issue of 5280 Magazine. The essay explains the author's decision to make her kids attend school the Friday before Winter break (one week after the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary). Although she grants her daughter's request that she visit the school and eat lunch with her, she tells them that even during tragedies like Newtown, it's important to have the courage to press on and live our lives.

With my sketches I was really focusing more on the idea of the author getting past the tragedy, represented by a flag at half mast. None were really relating to school enough though, or even referencing it at all, aside from #6.

Dave, the A.D., liked the inclusion of the school crosswalk sign in #6, and wondered if that could be more central to the composition, given that it was so graphic, with maybe the flag at half mast in the background. After playing with the sketch a little more, I suggested combining the sign with the flag, and including a mother with the two kids normally on the sign (referencing the fact that the author has two kids, and went to school with them for lunch). It worked well tying into the story, as well as suggesting the idea of getting on with every day life, in spite of constant tragedy.

Thanks so much, Dave!

Thank you, SID!

As I noted in my previous post, I went up to Colorado State University yesterday to speak to the AIGA Student Chapter, Students In Design, about my work, my influences and my experience as an illustrator. I wasn't sure how many graphic design students to expect, me being an illustrator, but the students at CSU get a good foundation during their time there, including learning principles of illustration, and there was a good turnout. Even those that aren't planning on being illustrators seemed to have a genuine interest in what I had to say, and I thank them for bearing with me as I nervously gave my spiel. A special thank you to Kacey, who got in touch with me a few weeks ago, and invited me up for the talk. And thank you to all the students, for your warm welcome and hospitality.

Where the sun don't shine

Actually, this is about a place where the sun is shining, compared to it's surrounding area. For Milwaukee Magazine, this illustration accompanies a story on Wauwatosa, or simply 'Tosa, a suburb of Milwaukee that the recession/depression most of the country is feeling has apparently skimmed over. The economy of 'Tosa is actually doing better now than it was before the crisis, while the surrounding areas trudge on through high unemployment, and low growth.

Here's the full page:

Thank you, Kathryn! Coming soon: 5280 and L.A. Times...

Valley of the Paper Dolls

I worked with St. Louis Magazine on an illustration for an article about parents choosing between private and public school for their children. They had the idea of showing a young child surrounded by various articles of clothing (normal "street" clothes, and the stereotypical private school attire) made to look like paper doll outfits.

The concept of a paper doll relates to the fact that the examples given in the article were all kids that had been in either private or public school, and switched to the other (paper doll clothing being very easy to change between, obviously). Here's the full page:

 This was a fun little piece to work on. Thanks again, Rachel! Expect a few more posts in the coming week on other jobs about to publish...

On another note, I'll be giving a guest lecture to the AIGA Student Chapter at Colorado State University on Thursday evening. 7 PM, Room F101 in the Visual Arts Building. Obviously any CSU students interested in design/illustration are encouraged to attend. Be there or be square.

I suck

At least at blogging. And probably lots of other things too, but blogging for sure. Well, for the two or three of you who read this blog (hi, Mom!), I'm still alive and well. I apologize that I haven't posted in a while. I have some work to share, but it will have to wait until it's published, unfortunately. With magazines it's always tough to pin that down exactly- I'm guessing end of February? So in the meantime, feel free to peruse some of my classic posts, such as "SND Award of Excellence," "NY Times Op-Ed," ( I wasn't very creative with the titles back then, huh?) "As promised," or the unforgettable "Inflight Club!" (Yes, this is my blog post version of a "clip show" episode.) Happy New Year!!

Burning Man/ Happy Holidays

This illustration appears in the interior of the current Seattle Weekly. It's about an old case from the 90s, in which Martin Pang plead guilty to, and was convicted of starting a fire in his parents' warehouse in Seattle, in order to collect on the insurance money. His little arson/fraud scheme ended up killing five firefighters in the SFD who showed up to fight the blaze. Although he was already convicted of the crime, his attorney has come forward with new evidence in the case. According to the story, the evidence doesn't do much to help his case.

I wanted to show how this man's fire-starting directly lead to the death of firefighters. I played with a lot of ideas combining images of death and the warehouse building (and other fire-starting paraphernalia, like matches, and lighters), but the trail of gasoline/accelerant forming the chalk outline of the firefighter was easily the right idea. Thanks again, Tom! Here it is by itself:

On another note, I want to wish a happy holiday to anyone and everyone that may come across this post. In the words of the great Krusty the Clown: "... have a Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Kwaaazy Kwanzaa, a Tip-Top Tet, and a Solemn, Dignified Ramadan."

Off the chain

I finished this cover for the Dallas Observer last week. The story, "Rise of the Nones," is about atheists in Texas, and references the box that people check on the census listing their religious affiliation (atheists and agnostics checking "none"). It follows several individuals attempting to organize like-minded skeptics into a non-theist movement to rival the groups out there of a more religious persuasion, focusing not only on civics, but charity and other areas more traditionally associated with churches.

Organizing these fellow "nones" can be challenging due to the attitude toward atheists in this country. There are a few examples given in the story of atheists attempting to purchase ad space on billboards and in movie theaters simply announcing their existence, only to be rejected due to hostility from the public. I wanted the image to relate to the title, and also explain how many of these people feel tied down and unable to express themselves in public, due to intolerant views from some of their more religious peers. Breaking free of chains was the perfect metaphor, and wouldn't you know it, some of these religious symbols look a lot like chain links! Thank you, Tracie!

Lost in translation

This piece ran in last Sunday's L.A. Times. It was for the L.A. Affairs section, for a story that recounts the author's recent experience in that dark, dangerous, jungle we call the dating scene. She explains that after buying a beer for a guy she spotted across the bar, and after trying in vain to converse over the noise, asked if he wanted to step outside to chat (where the conversation might actually be audible). He (wrongly) interpreted that to mean: "Let's go back to your place, stud."

I wanted to show how her words went in one ear, and after going through all that machinery we humans have in our heads, is rearranged into something completely different. Read the essay here.

And in a first ever Draw Your Weapon Outtake, here's a thumbnail sketch that, while well received, was a little PG-13 for the section, and didn't make the cut.

She's only thinking about opening up another beer, he's thinking about opening her pants. I think it would have been hilarious. Oh well, the AD and I both really liked how the final turned out.
Thank you to the wonderful Wes Bausmith for this very fun piece!