IAM Conference Sketchbook

A selection of pages from last weekend. I attended the IAM Conference in New York, where there is much to learn and plenty to draw. Take a gander- I burnt up a full set of microns.

The NBA Map

On top of the fact that, this week, I got to see my Penn Station billboard in person, I was sent this link. In short, they made my drawings move and sometimes blink. Very fun to see.

Also, here is the final map as it will appear in the 10th anniversary issue of ESPN The Magazine on March 24th.

Drawing in Church - Round-Up

My top 10: I've entered this set into a few award shows in the uncommissioned series category. I enjoyed seeing the drawings together as a group, so I thought I'd share them.

Dr. Liar

A full page for Best Life Magazine (Germany Edition) that is about popular medical myths and misconceptions.

Couture

For the high-fashion mag W:
Thanks to style-oriented reality shows and Project Runway the word "Couture," which used to mean custom-fit hand-sewn high fashion, no longer carries the same panache.

Drawing In Church - 2/17

One of Jesus's most pithy and sophisticated rebukes in all of scripture. Give to Caesar what is Caesar's...

NBA/ESPN Project wrap-up

All these ads are finishing up their run over the next few weeks. Below, how they looked with the type. The map will be coming from the agency soon. Hoping the billboard stays up for another fortnight.

A prize for the first person to name all the likenesses in these three ads inside the comments section.

Re-Branding

Welcome back.

Using the name of my recent solo exhibition, I have re-branded this blog Drawing on Deadline. The former name, Illustration is Easy (an obscure reference to a delightful Ross MacDonald artist statement from an exhibition I worked on back in 2004) was the source of much consternation from the viewing public, now it seems, unaware of the intended absurdity of such a claim. Similar assumptions about commercial image-making are made all the time, usually without real consideration. When looking at the work of understated genius Hanoch Piven, for example, one might muse "How long did this really take?" This conjecture is instantly clarified when you try to create a portrait of Ronald Reagan out of three jellybeans and a piece of carpet.

So, for the record: Illustration is very very hard. I'd write a bit more but, I'm on deadline, so I'd better go draw.

Snakes. Why did it have to be snakes?

A spot for PC World about internet communities working together to identify malware.



Anyone notice the binary code in the snakes pattern?
Didn't think so.

Art-Ball at Graphic Tales

How to occupy an hour at the bar with a beer, a pen and a napkin: Design a baseball lineup card by stocking the positions with only illustrators.



Check out my picks over at Graphic Tales. Proprietor, DB Dowd, has posted my illo-roster for the "New York Deadlines." His comments clearly indicate he has the classic American-League-Napoleon-Complex, and if you'd like to see my justification for Barry Blitt as catcher and why the "over-rated" Coby Whitmore is hitting lead off, visit the comments section.

Want to play along?

Golf Eclipse

A spot for Golf Digest Q&A section.
Is it legal to cast a shadow on your ball when its hanging on the lip of the cup?

Drawing In Church - 1/27

Sorry for the mid-week delay on this one (actual paying gigs getting in the way again!)

Stampede!

If you are flying American Airlines in March, look for this in the seat-pocket in front of you. A story for the in-flight magazine American Way about the Canadian Rodeo "The Calgary Stampede" ...

Drawing In Church - 1/20

Of Lilies and Ravens.

Meeting Doodles

The sign of a productive staff meeting? Drawings! Two pages from recent church and school forums.

Spiders: Attack!

For PC Magazine: Researchers are using web 'spiders' to track down terrorists online.

BILLBOARD!

Thanks to my intrepid photographer Yuko, I have proof! If you are in New York at this very moment, you can see this at 7th Avenue and 34th Street, near Penn Station. This is my first billboard, and let me tell you, it is magnificent.

NBA/ESPN Campaign- Part 1

It has been great to be part of an advertising campaign that is everywhere. Its a huge campaign running the entire NBA season. There are commercials using the RV on ESPN, and even the bumper graphics into NBA games on ABC use the road signage. Below is a scan of the first of three ads I did for the NBA (as it appears in WIRED. I have also seen it in Rolling Stone, GQ and Sports Illustrated).



BREAKING NEWS: There is a billboard near Penn Station in New York City that has one of these drawings on it! Picture coming tomorrow courtesy of our staff photographer at the JH New York Bureau, Yuko Shimizu.

This is a giant map of NBA related landmarks and trivia-inducing road-stops. I'll have a scan of it in context with the final hand drawn typographic banner in a week or two.

Typical Day: Lobster Riding Segway on Skis

A illustration package for a funny upcoming article in SKI magazine. The story involves a slopes sales pitch for do-it-yourself lobster-rolls and senior-citizen Segway-tours in Maine.

2007 in Review: Great Ideas that Weren't

In honor of the new year, I went digging through my archives over the last year and found some of my favorite rough ideas and drawings that never made it to print. Sometimes this can be frustrating, but sacrificing your favorite ideas in service of clarity is part of the business. Being a professional means solving the problem, no matter the circumstances. I really enjoy collaborating with art directors and despite my occasional belly-aching, my work is better for it.

John Smith and Pocahontas - The New Yorker
This was in honor of the 400th anniversary of Jamestown. These are a few of the other compositions from my initial sketch phase. The final art as it ran below.






The Fall of America & The Fall of Rome - Esquire
An article comparing current American culture to the pre-fall Roman Empire? Ben Hur reference coming right up. We ended up going with my second idea involving a centurion in a tank (below). But, the article was killed and it never ran.





Excessive Luxury Condos - Wired
On the west side of Manhattan, a new high-rise condo was built with a clearly superfluous car elevator... called in suite parking. This was my first take, with apologies to Bruce McCall.




The Gen-X Obsession with Quirkiness - The Atlantic Monthly
My generation loves all that is quirky, not outright goofy, but quirky. Embodied in the NPR radio show "This American Life." These are two sketches that didn't run. (The final drawing that ran was an Ira Glass portrait.) But I loved that image of the old guy in the lawn chair staring at the tombstone. I was able to reuse most of it for a Christianity Today book review about the new phenomenon of dying slowly in America.

Overheard while drawing in local hipster coffeeshop (Ep. 4)

"I can't wait until my sister gets married. Or knocked up."

Drawing In Church - 12/30

I need Kurt to preach a bit longer. I'd like to add a herd of riderless 5-legged camels coming up the mountain.

Drawing In Church - 12/24

USS Trumpetfish

A drawing I did for my father for Christmas. He spent his time in the Navy on this submarine, The Trumpetfish SS-425. He told me stories about when the water was unusually calm, they could pop the hatch and drink coffee on the deck. Wish I could have shared that with him.

Merry Christmas

Garden & Gun

It has been a busy week in the studio. I'll be posting the NBA campaign next week, as it all wrapped up yesterday. I've already received many calls and emails from friends saying they have seen the ads in print.

For now, here is a drawing I had some fun with, for Garden & Gun Magazine. Much of the graphic tom-foolery was influenced by the amazing Al Parker show, Ephemeral Beauty, up through January 28th at the Washington University Kemper Museum. If you are in the region, its a wonderful retrospective.



This was about a foundation for nature conservation created by Nascar driver Ward Burton. It's a stock car made of leaves. Hah.

Rock'Em Sock'Em

A drawing for an article in Christianity Today about a theological showdown between 'post-conservatives' and 'evangelicals.'

Drawing In Church - 12/9

...from the parable of the 10 virgins.

Midweek Sketchbook

The page sponsored by the Bic Blue Classic Round Stic.
Needless to say, I'm a purist.

COVER: Abe Crosses a Creek

Over the last 6 weeks, I've been busy with the final changes to the Abe Lincoln book drawings. That along with a great advertising project I'm working on for the NBA has kept me out of regular editorial work. (I'm pounding the pavement again, so I'll be posting a few new ones by next week. ) But the elbow grease of the last fortnight has produced... a sneak peek:


Here is the cover for the above-and-oft-mentioned Abe Lincoln book. Hold your horses, you won't be able to buy your 12-18 copies until next fall. Good News: Next on the drawing table, I'm working on the art for the book I wrote about John Brown. Bad News: Prepare yourself for looking at more antebellum-themed images for the next 10 months.