Drawing In Church- 6/28

The Sun is Hot

Money magazine tells us that we should water our grass in the summer- or it will turn brown. Slow news week.

More bling...

Ok, I promise this is the last post about book awards- but I got this in the mail the day after I got the Comstock Award stickers. Junior Library Guild selected the Abe Lincoln book as a part of its 2008-2009 selection list. But, what is better than a sticker? A lapel pin! So, if next time you see me- please count my pieces of flair.

Comstock Book Award

I got this fun letter in the mail wednesday- Abe Lincoln Crosses a Creek won the Comstock Award, administered by Minnesota State University. Even more fun is the roll of gold stickers they sent. Now I can carry these around and affix them to my books when I see them in the remainder bins at Borders. Many thanks to the committee for selecting our book!

Late Night Fight

Here is a fast turnaround piece I just finished for the upcoming issue of Entertainment Weekly, about the Late Night 6-way ratings horse race.



Those of you following my Twitter feed may be aware of some of the mid-drawing hysteria not mentioned here.

Drawing In Church- 6/7

I always draw more in my sketchbook (read: procrastinate) when I'm on a big deadline. It is one of those odd behaviors I see in many illustrators, and I try to tell my students about- good work creates other good work. Freedom from deadlines does not always make for better drawings... 

Gold Medal!

The new 3x3 Illustration Annual has awarded a Gold Medal to a recent favorite, "Insurance Myths", as well as Distinguished Merit to both "The Best of Times" and "WOE!"...also accepted was the "Sex and the City Marathon" drawing from Entertainment Weekly. Thanks to the jury and 3x3!

Fountain of All-Nighters

Luerzer's Archive, a directory to advertise illustrators, designers and photographers asked me to do the newest cover. It will also run as a stand alone ad without the 25 years box someday soon. I got final approval on my sketch on tuesday morning. I need some sleep.

Spot, beloved mutt of the illustration world

Illustrators may get the awards from the full-size covers, jackets and posters- but we all pay the bills with the spots. It is hard for me to turn down the New York Times, regardless, but I always take a Letters-to-the-Editor illustration (my old stomping grounds) when I can. I'm very thankful for such jobs, which are enjoyable and short lived.





I take many of these jobs every year, and they are usually never seen by anyone who doesn't read the magazine, but here are a few recent anonymous drawings. The wind turbine from OnEarth Magazine, and the iPhone from PC World.



Other news relating to smaller illustrations... Popular Mechanics let me know that my drawing of the astronauts trying to buy the moon was accepted into the SPD Spot show. Good boy!

Drawing In Church- 5/10

Common grace, the theological idea that God's blessings fall on all mankind- regardless of their internal/external condition, ...and dinosaurs.

Books Arrive!

Yesterday was a great day- the first copies of new book arrived. Seeing it exist as a real book for the first time is so thrilling and humbling. Truly, I have no idea how this book got made. I've made a long post at Drawger.com about this if you want to see some shots of the inside spreads.

I'm a printmaker?

The St. Louis chapter of the AIGA asked me to do a 20 edition print run of an image to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the STL chapter. It is a great project, 19 other artists are participating... that means 400 prints!

When I think about how our industry has changed in the last 20 years- its hard to think of a facet of communication design that HASN'T changed since 1989. I decided that my print is 'about' the collision of technology and deadlines. It is only a matter of time before I receive my first editorial commission via twitter, and so, I'm already feeling a desire to unplug. This print is made up entirely of repurposed images and text. The drawing was lifted from my sketchbook (keen observers will remeber that I later used it in a New York Times Op-Ed illustration) and transfered onto paper using acetone on photocopies. The text and colors, in a nod to our endangered and beloved CMYK, is from a collection of rubber stamps I've found in rummage sales throughout the years.

Come to the event and hope you get a good print!

Drawing In Church- 5/3

Making Yuko jealous...

A great project landed on my desk a few weeks back, the cover for the United Airlines in-flight magazine Hemispheres. Most artist are aware of United Airlines' incredible visual identity and advertising over the past few years. It is wonderful to work for a company who decided that a humungous panda in the ocean was a great way to tell a story about visiting San Diego.




Travel pieces are tough in an editorial context because many times the article has much more to do with a vibe and less of a clear conceptual thesis. So, all of my ideas were focused around the beach and surf culture of souther california.

Golden Oldies

Paste Magazine is running an online review of Bob Dylan drawings from their past issues, and one of my drawings from yesteryear made a cameo.

This was my very first commission from Paste. So long ago, that I was the one who called Jose to ask for some work, because I was a subscriber and liked the content! My work has changed for the better, since way back in 2003.

I'm huge in Taiwan

From Taiwan's DPI Magazine, a eight page feature on my work. If any of you are fluent in Mandarin, please read this and make sure it isn't full of anti-John Brown propaganda.

Selected

Good news from American Illustration 28- A record for me, with three images selected to appear in the forthcoming annual. Even better, two images from my sketchbook series, "Drawing In Church" ... I love that these images get some dap outside of my blog (and the folks next to me in the pew).

Space Junk

Another entry in my Popular Mechanics series "Astronauts Doing Silly Things" - this drawing is for an article about the hazards of space junk. Did you know the government tracks over 19,000 pieces of space junk?

Drawing In Church- 4/5

Maps! In German!

The German edition of Runner's World asked me to do an illustrated map for a running course in Germany. Finally, a professional use for Google Earth!