Forgot Time

A colleague at school saw this one in print, which reminded me that I didn't post it last week. A travel article about Orlando for Time Magazine. My first one for the US only version of Time.

Meeting Sketchbook 8/27-8/28

The beginning of school brings many things- new clothes, sharpened pencils and of course, staff meetings. A few pages of notes-

EVENT: Book Signing!

On Friday, September 12th at 6pm, I'll be having a BOOK RELEASE PARTY at Subterranean Books in the beautiful Delmar Loop of St. Louis. Please stop by, say hello, and buy a box of books. (What a thoughtful Christmas gift!) If you won't be able to make it to the signing, but would like to support an amazing local bookstore, buy it from Subterranean...  contact them here.

UPDATE: A great new review of the book from School Library Journal.

“What you can know for sure is that this is a book you should add to your shelves.”


HOPKINSON, Deborah. Abe Lincoln Crosses a Creek: A Tall, Thin Tale (Introducing His Forgotten Frontier Friend). illus. by John Hendrix. Random/Schwartz & Wade Bks. Sept. 2008. Tr $16.99.

K-Gr 3–Hopkinson has created a lively, participatory tale that will surely stand out among the many titles published to honor the 200th anniversary of Lincoln’s birth. With a conspiratorial wink at the audience, an omniscient narrator invites readers to watch seven-year-old Abe and his real-life friend Austin Gollaher succumb to the “dare you” lure of a roaring creek and a perilous crossing on a fallen log (an author’s note details the genesis of the story). Imagine where we as a nation might be if unsung-hero Austin hadn’t been there to rescue impetuous Abraham from his tumble into those tumultuous waters. In dialogic asides and exclamations, the author addresses the illustrator and brings him (or, rather, his pencil-wielding hand) onstage to collaborate and correct, and also speaks to readers, inviting involvement and evoking response. Hendrix’s illustrations have a naive and rustic flavor that’s in perfect harmony with the gravelly, homespun narrator’s voice (keen-eyed readers will find a rendering of the storyteller in the endpaper art). Energetic spreads give a big, broad, horizontal view of the green Kentucky valley setting with its rambling curves, rolling mountains, and rushing waters, and a very effective impression of how long that creek-crossing must have seemed…maybe. “For that’s the thing about history,” Hopkinson says, “if you weren’t there, you can’t know for sure.” What you can know for sure is that this is a book you should add to your shelves.–Kathy Krasniewicz, Perrot Library, Old Greenwich, CT

Summer Books

Thanks to a bedtime routine with my son that gave me an hour of reading time each night, I read a bunch of great books this summer. Now, my wife reads like a teletype machine (that is to say, really fast) but I'm a total book slug. Here is a tiny list of books I've read over the last three months. Did you read anything great on the beach or in the hammock this summer? I'm starting Andrea's favorite book today, A Tree Grows In Brooklyn.

Drawing In Church- 8/17

Drawing In Church- 8/10

My former muse, pastor Michael Gordon, who has left the midwest for the deep south, returned to St. Louis for a wedding and preached for ol' times sake. As usual, he didn't disappoint. Also, starting a new sketchbook. I'm not sold on the horizontal format just yet, and the paper is a bit different. I'll give it another week or two.

More Abe Lincoln News

My first kids book, Abe Lincoln Crosses a Creek, comes out next month, and you can already pre-order it from Amazon.

A few weeks back, I got my first look at the final product, and if I do say so myself, it looks pretty great. I'll be having a book release party and book signing at Subterranean Books in St. Louis this September. More info on that to come soon.

UPDATE: A bigger image of the cover is below. Plus, we just found out we got a great review in the Horn Book Magazine:

Abe Lincoln, a storyteller of great repute, would be hard-pressed to beat Hopkinson’s considerable skills in recounting this incident from childhood, in which Lincoln’s friend Austin Gollaher saved him from drowning in the rushing waters of Kentucky’s Knob Creek. Hopkinson speaks directly to readers, saying of her tale: “I like it so well, I’ve asked my friend John to help out by drawing some pictures.” Even though this slice of historical fiction is set “on the other side of yesterday, before computers or cars, in the year 1816,” metafictive elements (Hopkinson’s personal comments; Hendrix’s illustrations that often appear in situ on the drawing board, with pen or pencil still on the page) provide immediacy. Best of all, Hopkinson addresses the unknowns in history when she recounts how Austin saves young Abe. “He pulls Abe out by his shirttail. Or maybe he uses a sycamore branch—or a fishing pole. We’ll let John decide which sketch to paint. For that’s the thing about history—if you weren’t there, you can’t know for sure.” Add that thought to a rousing telling, and here’s a story worth waiting one hundred and ninety-two years for. b.c.

Logotype

A hand-drawn masthead I designed for the brand new culture magazine Curator, from The International Arts Movement, IAM. The image in the 'O' will change every month.

John Brown - Preview

I've been hard at work this summer completing final art for my children's book about John Brown. I wanted to post a recent image I enjoyed. This depicting John's relationship with Harriet Tubman, one of his greatest friends and allies. Due to her bravery and leadership, he called her "The General."

Drawing In Church- 7/13 + 7/20

This one is from the last two weeks... just added some color this morning.

Insights: Commarts

Communication Arts has an interview with me about my process and working philosophy (stifle your laughter, andrea). It is featured on the home page today, and will move to the Insights section later in the week. My church drawings even got tagged for the headline. Take a look, but once you do, the mystery will be gone.

Sunday Op-Ed- In Color!

As most of you know, The New York Times Op-Ed page is close to my heart. I still love getting the call from them. But, best case for every illustrator is when we get to draw AND design the page. The Op-Ed page has a great history of illustrator/art director collaboration. For this article on streetsweepers, I proposed the idea of putting a grey tone behind the entire page, with the sweeper pushing the text around, and scrubbing the page back to 'bright' grey. Once again, many thanks to Brian Rea for one more time round the block. His name is up there on the list of greats at the NY Times.



Nice post about the drawing here.

3x3 Annual

Two drawings, one from Abe Lincoln Crosses a Creek and one from my Drawing-in-Church stuff, got into the new 3x3 Illustration Annual. Though technically not illustration, its very exciting to see my sketchbook drawings getting some ink.

Drawings from ICON 2008

Just returned to the studio from the fabulous Illustration Conference. A few pages from the sketchbook. Lectures and presentations from Pixar story artists, Gary Panter, Blue Cube Studios (of 'Cat Butt Air Freshener' fame) and Starbucks Visual Development Guru Stanley Hainsworth.

Map?

An article for Newsweek about cultural literacy. The article covers a range of current issues on the ideological map. So to speak.

JAWS!

A first drawing for the RiverFront Times, my hometown alternative weekly. Heman Park Pool is screening Jaws. Bring your floaties.
Perfect summertime drawing material.

Jello?

I do a book review spot illustration for Christianity Today every third month. Can anyone guess the topic of the book they are reviewing this month?

Keihl's

This is a cover for the Economist, on the accelerated tension of nuclear proliferation in the Balkans, former Yugoslavia.


No, actually it just a cat in a chair.
Sometimes when doing work for advertising, you're told exactly what to draw. These two images are for a Christmas window display in New York City for the flagship store Keihl's Since 1851. Portraits of typical New Yorkers for a giant photo album- each representing a signature product. Cat Shampoo and Pearl Butter, natch.

Drawing in Church - 6/15/08

All silhouettes this week, with apologies to Kara Walker and Melinda Beck.

Disaster and Insurance

A generous portion of destruction, courtesy of USAA magazine. This drawing for an article about the myths of insurance coverage. The drawing depicts various insurance nightmares, in the faux-informational style of 19th century encyclopedias.

Drawing in Church - 6/8/08

Press Bits

Doomsday, thanks to its many awards, is getting reprinted in the new issue of The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, where if first appeared over a year ago. Many thanks to Joy Miller at The Bulletin. Here is the release online.



UPDATE: Here is the page from the new issue.



AND

The newly christened American Illustration 27 has just released the entire annual online. Check out the amazing work.

Drawing in Church - 6/1

Finally, a sermon where I get to draw the Rock of Ages!

Sketchbook Book

Some of my sketchbook work will be included in this upcoming book Sketchbooks from Designers, Illustrators & Creatives. I have 3 or 4 spreads including some sketchbook drawings dating back to 2002 and one of the drawing-in-church selections. The book was originally slated to come out this fall, but is being held till Jan. 2009. So I guess this is really advance notice.

Light Children

Kyle T. Webster, illustrator of the graphic novel Light Children, asked me to participate in a promotion for the release of the book. This is a drawing of Bruno, one of the protagonists.

Drawing in Church - 5/25

Op-Ed: Today ONLY

This one is running on the New York Times Op-Ed page today.
In hopes to save the earth from the millions of plastic water bottles used every year by city dwellers, New York is hoping to make their public fountains suitable for drinking.

Bearded

In February, at the IAM conference, I got to participate in photographer Wayne Adams' ongoing project called Jesus Portraits. By executive order, I've made this my official head-shot for all media inquiries. Wayne has got some other great work to enjoy on his site as well.

The Summer of John - (Brown, that is)

I'm going to be spending most of the summer working on the final art for the picture book I wrote about John Brown. The book is in pencil draft form now, and the final art is underway. I'll make sure to post some drawings as they become declassified.

Earlier in the month, I traveled to Kansas City, where I took in the world premiere of an original opera about John Brown. Nice review in the KC Star. It was quite moving. Even better was to experience the choices another artist made to tell the story of John Brown with honesty, clarity and poetry. I also had the honor of meeting John Brown's great great great granddaughter (who has posted on the blog a few times), Alice Mecoy.

Below, one of the first spreads I'm working on. John Brown smuggling escaped slaves on the Ohio branch of the Underground Railroad.

Drawing in Church - 5/18

Meeting Sketchbook 5/13

I'm going to color this today if I have time.

Manning (with mustache)

A portrait of Peyton Manning for an article discussing the disparity between his on-field personality and his advertising personality. For the New York Times Sports Magazine, PLAY.

Cross Clients

A drawing about managing angry members for Associations Now magazine.

S.A.T.C.- Update!

After a few edits on colors and likenesses, here is the final version that will appear in the next issue of Entertainment Weekly. Name all the characters and you win a prize! ( There is no prize.)

Images & Icons- 50 Years of Illustration

I've been extended the extreme honor of appearing in a new book curated by Society of Illustrators called Images & Icons: 50 Years of Illustration. The book is a roundup of the best images of the last 50 years of SI annuals. The committee chose 500 images from the 25,000 that have appeared in the annuals since 1958.

The image they selected. 

Sex and the City: ROLL CALL

I've spent the better part of the last three weeks working on this drawing. Entertainment Weekly is devoting an entire issue to Sex and the City, in conjunction with the upcoming movie. This is a collection of ALL the men the four ladies dated over the course of the show: 40 in all, most of them Carrie's.

Drawing in Church - 4/27

Why I love living in an old house

As I was fumbling around the basement, pretending to know what to do about my broken air conditioner, I saw the corner of this peeking out from the vent, resting comfortably for what must have been forty or fifty years.

Oz and Obama

A cover and interior spot for the June issue of Christianity Today. Should we be voting for Issues or Virtues? Dorothy's friends are wondering the same thing.

Drawing In Church- 4/13 & 4/20

The start of a series on the Glory of God- this spread is one drawing from the last two Sundays. Also, I've got one from three weeks ago I need to post after I finish a few passages.

Lecture Sketchbook

A collection of characters from my Visual Communication student's final presentations... topics including black holes, glass blowing, John Henry, the prison system, Al Capone, Hansel & Gretel, self-referential comics, esteemed faculty, etc.

New Books

The final jackets (along with the actual books) of Cicada Summer and The Reavers arrived at the studio this week. Thanks to Chad Beckerman at Abrams and Jason Booher at Knopf.

20 Years.

The ghost of Jacque Vaughn wanders the great plains no more.