RECENT BUSINESSWEEK SPOT ILLUSTRATION

Here's a recent illustration I did for BusinessWeek - always a fun client to work with. Below is the original concept I submitted, which I'm including because, personally, I think it's superior to the image that was finally agreed upon. The art director apparently prefered the original, as well, but the editors found it too spooky. Spooky or not, I felt it hit the mark more powerfully, and that spookiness simply gave it more teeth (no pun intended). Nevertheless, I was pretty happy with the results, despite the awareness that watering down a concept can often lead to a less interesting final product. Slightly evident here, stylistically speaking, is the recent influence on my commercial illustration work of the great comic artist, Fletcher Hanks, who, thanks to Paul Karasik's beautiful anthology, "I Shall Destroy All the Civilized Planets!", is now easy to find in print.

RECENT NEW YORK TIMES OP-ED ILLUSTRATION

Here's my most recent OP-ED piece for the New York Times. Below is a scan of how it ran on the page.

The New York Times is one of my favorite clients to work for, and the OP-ED page is always very creatively challenging and rewarding. I was particularly happy with this illustration because it was the first in which I was able to make a suggestion regarding the way the image appeared on the page and interacted with the text (notice the rope extending upwards through the column breaks). Leanne Shapton's (the art director) wrap-around text turned out beautifully, too.

Below are a couple of other recent New York Times illustrations.

The Book Review

OP-ED letters illustration about the uncontrollable worldwide proliferation of nuclear weapons.

SECRET HEADQUARTERS CUT-OUT COLLECTIBLE

SECRET HEADQUARTERS is a comic book shop in Los Angeles, CA (check out there website at secretheadquarters.com). The owners, Dave & David, apparently liked the cut-out collectibles I produced for ABANDONED CARS, and asked me to create a limited edition collectible of themselves (and their mascot raccoon), in conjunction with Fantagraphics, for the promotion of thier store. The collectible "advertisement" will be printed on their sales bags, and also apparently included in a group of collectible stickers they're producing, as well. This was a fun project: I've always been interested in doing one of the cut-outs as portraiture upon request, and so here I got my chance. I also love to get the chance to produce the design work, and here I was shooting for a 1960's Big Daddy Roth inspired over-the-top toy packaging kind of look. Dave and David are a couple of very cool guys...if you're in the LA area, go give them some business! I'm trying to talk them into producing the cut-out as a life-size, full color lawn ornament. So, if you happen to go to there shop, please suggest to them how cool it'd be if they had one in their shop.

17th ANNUAL ST LOUIS INT'L FILM FEST

The 17th Annual St Louis Int'l Film Fest final poster, for which the Showcase image was meant as a teaser illustration. Here we have the final cinematic invasion.

ST LOUIS FILM FESTIVAL FILM MAKERS SHOWCASE

This year, I was asked to produce the promotional graphics for the Cinema St Louis International Film Festival. The above image is for this summer's showcase of local filmmakers. The idea of a paratrooper decending on the city came from a legend I've heard about a skydiver who attempted landing on the St Louis arch. Apparently, he made the landing successfully, but after landing, he slipped off the top and fell to his death. Whether the story is true or not, I don't know. But that's where the concept began. Then, Derek Bryant, a good friend of mine, subversive advertising genius in the line of Howard Gossage, and former colleague with whom I often worked while I was an art director for an advertising agency came up with the idea of a multitude of paratroopers descending on the city, like the 101 Airborne Division during World War II. Another influence was the Beatles' Yellow Submarine. Although the client says they can't see the connection, believe me, it's there, if only in spirit. At any rate, while I was working on the image, the song Yellow Submarine was repeating itself in my head in the most disturbing way.

The fruition of Derek's concept, and the true barrage of filmmaker paratroopers, will be depicted in this fall's final promotional poster. The image for the showcase is meant to be a prelude.

HOTWIRE #2

Cover for HOTWIRE #2, Glenn Head's anthology of alternative comics, published by Fantagraphics Books. This image was meant to reflect and pay humble tribute to the great, great cover art of old pre-comics code authority comics like EC's CRIME & SHOCK SUSPENSTORIES - those gritty and graphic illustrations pumped out by Al Feldstein, Johnny Craig, Jack Kamen, and Wally Wood. The concept here quite literally ties in with the book's title, obviously - a conceptual approach that, under almost any other circumstances would make me squirm, but because of the unique circumstances of this project, seemed to work well with the gritty attitude and feel that Glenn was looking for.