The One that Got Away

Friday at 5pm, I got the biggest call of my editorial career- the cover of Sports Illustrated. Illustrators certainly think of the cover of Time and the New Yorker as the crowning jewels of our industry- but Sport Illustrated hasn't had an illustrated cover in a long long time- according to their Design Director. Of course, with Sports Illustrated, a weekly magazine, you don't have much time. Final art due by Monday, they close the issue at 2pm. For the high honor of an SI cover I'd have to chain myself to my desk for the next three days- but it would be worth it if I could pose the following question to my friends at parties for years to come, "What do I have in common with LeBron James, Derek Jeter, Jacque Vaughn and Brooklyn Decker?"

With Colorado leaving the Big 12 conference for the PAC-10, and Nebraska leaving for the BIG TEN- the fate of the athletic college landscape rested with the University of Texas. They dramatically announced last week that they were leaving for the PAC-10 and taking four other with them. Goodbye Big 12. The concept for the cover was to illustrate the PAC-10 as a golden paradise- drawing all the great teams into the beautiful Rose Bowl.

I sent the first sketch on Saturday and we were revising the mascot placement every few hours as news broke about which teams were going where. I should have seen where this was going...





Sunday was quiet and I spent most of the 24 hours drawing and painting on the final art- just hoping that Texas didn't get cold feet before the closing of the magazine on Monday.

I sent in the final art, exhausted, right on time.

Just as the email leaves, I see this story on ESPN. Texas is going to stay. Story over. The PAC-10 isn't the promise land, it is just another conference. The cover is dead.

This is the point in the post where I write with great eloquence about the nature of our industry. Perhaps I will even evoke terms of poetry to describe how the tight deadlines and pressure-cooker editorial changes creates the very fiber of our business, which at the core, is thrilling to be a part of on a daily basis.

This is the point in the post when I can say that pouring three days into something like this to have it flushed by a 3pm press-release just stinks. Now, if you'll, excuse me, I need to get back to the drawing board.

Drawing in Church- 6/6

I started this one on Pentecost a few weeks back and just finished it on Sunday.

Sarah Edmonds- Sneak Peak!

I've been hiding in the art-cave for the last few weeks, laboring over the final images for my next book for children. Nearly there, but I have heard from many of you asking for a bit of a peek at the final images. One of the strange things about a doing such a large project, as opposed to the instant world of periodical illustration, is the year long delayed-gratification buzz of seeing your work in print and getting feedback on it. Hoping, like a sad junkie, to get a sufficient enough fix to propel me over the finish line.



For those of you who are not aware of the story of Sarah Edmonds- she was a passionate woman who wanted to fight for the Union in the Civil War. But in order to enlist, dressed up as a man, Frank Thompson. In this book, we tell the tale of her enlistment, her exceptional abilities in the battle field and her adventures as a spy behind the Confederate lines. She went on many clandestine missions, but in this book we depict one where she dressed as a slave.



These are just a small collection of the images I've got done- so I'll try to post some more images in a few weeks.

The Boulevard of Broken Dreams (and Killed Sketches)

The business of illustration demands flexibility and kind of mercenary approach to image-making. Illustrators pride themselves on believing that nothing is too sacred or too important to scrap at a moments notice. But every now and then, it really hurts when a beloved image gets killed at the last minute. I was on the hot seat for the The New York Times Op-Ed Sunday page for over the weekend (Sunday is a most desirable page to get).

For this article about accurately measuring the amount of oil leaking into the Gulf of Mexico, I sent the following ideas.





It is rare that an art director will let you take a crack at the page design as well as the illustration. So, I was pretty sure we'd end up with idea C, the freestanding measuring cup. BUT, the very best idea approved, sketch B, where the column of text forms the oil spill. The amazing Aviva had even worked out a rough layout of the text for me to work with.



BUT, as is common in the newspaper business, things change quickly and the column was moved around, leaving no room for art. So, this amazing idea is dead in the water. Still a bit hurt. Viva La Illustration.

AIGA 50 Books/ 50 Covers Show

Mark Helfin, Director of American Illustration and Matthew Lenning, Art Director Extraordinaire, contacted me yesterday with some great news. The American Illustration 28 book was juried into the AIGA 50/50 show, collecting the best book designs of 2009. It is an exciting honor because the competition is really about design and not specifically titled towards favoring illustration- so to be included is thrilling.

The AIGA website has a collection up of the 2008 winners.



The jury’s selections will be mounted as a public exhibition scheduled to open at the AIGA National Design Center in New York in 2010. In addition, the show will travel to AIGA chapters, student groups and galleries throughout the country and China during 2011. In addition, one copy of the book will be housed at the Rare Books and Manuscripts Library within the Butler Library, Columbia University in New York, and a second one in the AIGA graphic design archives at the Denver Art Museum.

ICON Interview

Most of you know that I am on the board producing ICON, The Illustration Conference, taking place this summer in Los Angeles. As the PR chair, I've done a interview with Escape from Illustration Island about the conference, my work and teaching. Check out the new podcast here along with several other great conversations about illustration on the archive. Thanks to Thomas James and his great work over at Escape from Illustration Island!

Drawing in Church- 5/9

I've been in the batcave for the last month finishing up the art for my upcoming book about Civil War hero, Sarah Edmonds. It is a wonderful story written by Marissa Moss and the art is really starting to take shape, hope to post some sneak preview images soon. I have two more months left before the final deadline and I'll be drawing non-stop till then. But, somehow I find time to waste an hour drawing in my sketchbook. Did I mention I'm behind on the final art?

Seminar Sketchbook

Our seniors just presented their Senior Seminar Project, a self-generated semester long exploration that serves as a capstone experience for their undergraduate education.



I have a small tradition of doing a drawing during the three nights of presentations, touching on some of their themes. This year includes- Rasputin, talking bread, tigers in a grandmothers kimono, stepford wives, martians, dogs with jobs...etc. etc.

Congratulations to all of the seniors!

WORDPLAY at The New York Times

Many of you know the "On Language" column from The New York Times Magazine, not just from the etymological brilliance of the late William Safire, but for the gorgeous hand-drawn/hand-built typography featured there every week.



The New York Times Gallery on the 7th Floor is opening a show called WORDPLAY, and features some of my illustrated type in an exhibition of these pages. If you are in New York, the opening is Thursday April 22nd 2010, at 7pm.

American Illustration 29 - Selected

Good news from American Illustration yesterday, I got three images into the new annual, which will come out at the launch party this November. It is also exciting because they selected three images that didn't get into any other shows- so I'm excited that these drawings will have a bit of life beyond their original publication. An unusual year of annuals, with very little overlap between the images selected by the juries of the major shows. The winners:

The Headless Horse/Man- An uncommissioned drawing I created for Dan Zettwoch's Villains Show last fall.



Uncharted 2- Entertainment Weekly called me to create an image about "Uncharted 2," the top video game selected for the year end "Best of 2009" Issue. The main character Drake is a kind of Jason Bourne meets Indiana Jones: a fearless treasure-hunting tough guy with the aerial dexterity of a stunt double. As a conceptual image-maker, it really offered me a great chance to have some fun with the conventions of first-person shooter gaming.



Coloring New Orleans - The cover for United Airlines Hemispheres magazine about the new New Orleans.

Drawing in Church- Easter edition

Gambling in the Locker Room

Just finished a drawing for ESPN The Magazine about the astonishingly pervasive practice of gambling in professional athletic locker rooms. A recent gambling altercation that lead to Washington Wizards superstar Gilbert Arenas bringing multiple guns into the locker room to frighten a third-stringer indicate the extreme stakes of these wagers. Superstars have been known to lose hundreds and even tens of thousands of dollars on a single game of dominos, pool and the bet-inducing card games like "Hit the Post." In this insidious betting game, when you lose, you don't just pay in your share but match the whole pot on the table.

Perhaps this visual idea seems obvious (or inevitable), but using the look and palate of Vegas was an exciting solution to explore in my sketches. I barely had 5 days for this, so I didn't have much time to look around for other ideas. The scope of the drawing would take a majority of the time. So I was eager to get started on something.



I sent a super rough idea for a quick "you're on the right track" approval. I wouldn't want to spend 6 hours solving this drawing if they hated the idea of a vegas locker-room.



Once they signed off on the concept, I had to add some new player likenesses and adjust the layout accordingly. And they took out my favorite part, that the devil was dealing the cards. All the players are specific likenesses, though none anyone would really recognize.



The final art was executed in about 36 hours (not ideal)- which did allow time for a rough color study, above (which I ended up mostly ignoring). I rarely get a chance to use a garish high-saturation palate- so I went all out. Perhaps too far out. The drawing will run across the top of a magazine spread, and their format is a big larger than most magazine- a full 10 inches wide. The full drawing will be seen at about 20 inches long. A few details below.

Just Enough Jeeves

W.W. Norton & Company are re-issuing the classic British early 20th Century novels about "Jeeves" - the uppity valet. (He is NOT a butler. Butlers manage the household, Valets manage the man!) This collection of several stories, called Just Enough Jeeves is the first in the series.




I liked both of the final sketches I sent, above. they picked the one with many different Jeeves, a challenge once I got past number 15, but really enjoyable to draw. The full cover including spine and back cover below.

Drawing in Church- 3/14

We have started a long trip through my favorite book in the Bible, the Gospel of John. The book is loaded with powerful metaphors, stark descriptions of good and evil and the quiet moving narrative of Jesus' closest friend, John. I'm looking forward to a good season of pew drawing. Here is Nicodemus, on the day he met Jesus- and the question that changed his life.

Battle of the Books

Just got back from an amazing event in Chicago, put on with a collection of area libraries, including the Bartlett Public Library called Battle of the Books! The audience was full of a couple hundred kids who were thrilled to talk about books and especially Abe Lincoln Crosses a Creek. Thanks to everyone who made this such a great event. A few pictures from the night.



The winning team from Centennial School, above, the winners got a copy of John Brown: His Fight for Freedom for their school library.




A view of the audience before I went on- these kids were truly awesome. They love books!

IAM Conference Sketchbook

I just returned from the International Arts Movement Encounter 10. They kindly brought me up to enjoy the three day conference. I was asked to join a panel discussion about the intersection of the digital and the handmade world.... but more importantly the IAM folks commissioned my sketchbook to do some work, with the title "Conference Illustrator" (like I'm a journalist!) I drew throughout all the sessions and documented as many ideas, quotations and concepts as I could. I decided before I arrived that I wasn't going to draw anything from observation from the weekend. The result is a visual salad of symbols, metaphors and typography. What a fun weekend- hope those of you who were not there can imagine you were.

New World Order

With great thanks to Matt Kirkland and the folks at Brand New Box, I have a brand new design for my website and blog, and couldn't be happier with how it looks and functions. Lots of new goodies on my site with new work, new features and a much more cohesive look between my blog and website. If you see anything that needs fixing, let me know!

Drawing in Church- Redux

During the course of any particular week, there is always a moment or two when I wish I could sit down with my sketchbook for an hour, but deadlines and other work prevent it. Recent annual submission deadlines have given me the excuse to waste some time on these again. Since the day I've made them I've been meaning to sit down with these pages and have a little fun with them or finish them/ruin them. A few from the greatest hits catalog, now in color.