Dwell Illustrations

I have these 4 illustrations in the new April issue of Dwell Magazine, which should be out on newsstands in a few days. The article deals with the history and future of manufacturing. The art director let me get a little more experimental with these concepts, perhaps to help liven up the subject matter a bit. The added leeway made these illustrations a lot of fun to work on. (Thanks Brendan!)

"Adrift"

Arrive Magazine Illustrations

Last week I worked on these 3 illustrations for Amtrak's Arrive Magazine. The article's headline is "You can go your own way", and the subhead reads "The entrepreneurial spirit is alive and well in these hard economic times." For the opener illustration, I wanted to come up with a metaphor that tied in with this. I thought that the visual pun of swerving headlights could suggest that entrepreneurs are thinking ahead and avoiding disasters when they seem imminent. The 1st spot illustration (with the butterflies) will be in a section that discusses how to get the word out about your (the entrepreneur's) product or service. And the 2nd spot (with the horse) will accompany one of the sidebar sections – "Are you running away from something or running toward something?" If you ride on Amtrak's Acela line in December/January, be sure to flip through the mag to check these out!

I included my sketches below. For the opener, I was actually kind of hoping they'd pick the sketch of the guy on the stilts avoiding the bear traps.. but it in the end I think the one they picked works better. That 3rd one shows a beaver making a dam out of all the "For Sale" signs out there (doing something constructive in a bad situation). As for that 3rd spot sketch, it would have been for the sidebar section titled "Can you sell your vision?" I think I was channeling Magritte a bit on that one..

Spirit Magazine portraits

These are the last 3 portraits I did for Spirit Magazine - Howard Stoeckel, Richard Nelson Bolles, and T. Boone Pickens. The Howard Stoeckel portrait (top) is out in the current issue. Apparently he's the CEO of Wawa Food Markets, so he's got that going for him. My wife is from New Jersey, so I've purchased many a convenient snack from Wawa. Plus, it's fun to say.. Wawa!!

By the way, if you're thinking those words in their heads look sort of difficult to design and draw.. you would be absolutely correct.

wawa

Men's Journal - Chuck Yeager & Jon Voight

Here are my two most recent portraits for Men's Journal. The Chuck Yeager piece was in the last issue (January), which may still be on stands. Shaquille O'Neal is out next. Each of these portraits are appearing on the very last page of the mags, in the "Exit Interview". I especially liked Chuck's answer to the question Who's the toughest guy you know?: "In my profession, it'd be the guy who kills you."

Spirit Magazine portraits

Here are my portraits from the last 3 issues of Spirit Magazine - Dean Kamen, Cathie Black, and Yvon Chouinard. I actually pitched them the idea of using Yvon Chouinard, the founder and owner of Patagonia, since he's an incredibly inspirational business man. (I also happen to be good friends with his kids.. Fletcher and Claire.) Patagonia is one of the most environmentally-conscious companies around, and they basically started the trend of using organic or recycled materials in their products - like using recycled plastic bottles to make fleece. Oh, and Yvon pretty much invented ice climbing and modern climbing tools. Here's a cool interview of him (though it is a bit old): http://www.grist.org/news/maindish/2004/10/22/little-chouinard/

I do have a disclaimer to make on Yvon's portrait, however. I'm given the list of words for each portrait from the copywriters, and in this case I protested a bit about the word "Advertising".. but still had to keep it in. It's sort of misleading out of the context of the magazine, with the accompanying interview, because Patagonia actually tries to avoid advertising whenever possible: "We hardly advertise. In the late 1980's, we grew as much as 50 percent a year, and it nearly destroyed us. Now we grow by word of mouth, or between 3 to 10 percent a year."

Men's Journal - Tim Robbins

This one is in the current November issue of Men's Journal. I'm back to doing monthly portraits now, after a 2-month hiatus. I've already done portraits of Jon Voight and Chuck Yeager for the Dec. & Jan. issues, which I will post after they hit stands.

Tim Robbins = Tall

Men's Journal - Dennis Hopper

I did this one back in May, for the August issue of Men's Journal. They asked me to do portraits for the September and October issues as well, but I unfortunately had to decline because of this Key Bank campaign. I've had to say no to all other jobs that have come up since June, too. I haven't even had time to update this blog since last month! I'll be wrapping up the Key Bank job in the next couple weeks, after which I'll be able to post more updates, and take more jobs (oh, and leave my studio!). I have been squeezing in my monthly Spirit Magazine portraits, though, since I had already agreed to do them back in April. More posts soon (hopefully)..

Men's Journal & Update

I know I haven't posted in about a month. But it's not for lack of work.. quite the opposite. I'm not sure if I've ever been quite this busy. I landed a big ad campaign for Key Bank, which has me creating all of the artwork for 5 different TV spots as well as the artwork for print ads and billboards / bus stops. The artwork for the spots will be animated by a motion graphics team. And all of this work will need to be finished by mid-August. More on this job later..
So in addition to starting this job, I managed to create a portrait of Morgan Freeman (above, on stands now) and Dennis Hopper (next month's issue), another 2 portraits for Spirit Magazine (will post those later), and about 10 icons for Death & Co.'s new menu.
Also out this month, a couple illos I did for Runner's World in early May. I'll post those later too...

Spirit Magazine portrait

This is the first of a monthly illustration assignment I'll be doing for Spirit Magazine. It's the in-flight magazine for Spirit Airlines. Each month will feature a different, prominent business-person (mostly company founders, I think), and some of the history and philosophy of their company represented by a sort of brain-map. The brain-map was the art director's idea, and took some time to get to work.. but I think I've figured out a good process for future portraits.

Rolling Stone Illustration

I did this portrait of REM 2 weeks ago for Rolling Stone Magazine, which is out now in their April issue (Chris Rock is on the cover). It's for the Reviews page to go along with the review of their new album "Accelerate", which is supposedly "one of their best records ever". I'm not really able to agree (or disagree) with that since the preview CD they sent me was watermarked and wouldn't work for anyone but the Art Director. I did manage to listen to a couple songs on their website, though. Based on their faster, more energetic songs, and the title of the album, I decided to reference this new speed and acceleration with the motion lines. Those lines were actually sorta fun to draw. I didn't have a t-square though, so I improvised one with a ruler and a piece of cardboard!

Design Ranch Illustration

Design Ranch commissioned me to do this 2/3rd spread for a magazine they design, 39th+Rainbow. The article was about the varied paths taken by students of medical schools. It talks about how some students have already had completely different careers, or raised families, before deciding to become doctors.

Business Week Illustrations

I did these two pieces over the weekend for Business Week. The issue will be on Newsstands Friday, the 14th. Here's the copy that accompanies them, if anyone's curious:

--"U.S. Carmakers care about what online game players think about autos – the gamers are an important demographic for the industry: Most live in households with at least 2 cars. And they are seen as “influencers,” with many researching vehicles online and giving advice to other potential buyers about brands of vehicles. Now a new study of these gamers shows that while the majority now own American-made cars, almost 80% are planning to buy an import for their next car – many of them in the next 12 months. Other results of the surveys: Not surprisingly, they like cars with a lot of tech (MP3 plug-ins, GPS systems, SurroundSound). Many like hybrids, too."

--"There’s a shortage of watchmakers and watch repairers in the U.S. Rolex, which has been supporting training programs for years, has just given $1 million to Oklahoma State U. for a program to train more future watch technicians.. And the American Watch Guild has just announced the Watchmaker and Technician Training Program –scholarships and apprecenticeships for disabled and other veterans."

"200 BEST ILLUSTRATORS" pages

The Lüerzer's Archive book "200 Best Illustrators Worldwide" 07/08 is now available. I got these 4 illustrations in (not including that awesome cover piece, which was done by Hanoch Piven). There's a lot of other killer work in there as well, so check it out at your local bookstore or you can buy one here.