Billboard

Got to do a fun Dali spoof for Billboard magazine on the "End of the CD"

AD was Christine Bower. It's done in gouache with some digital airbrushing.

Here's the roughs,
the editor totally flipped out over the Dali sketch.

Progressive Cover

Here's the upcoming cover for the Progressive. Art director was Nick Jehlen.
The subject was the writer apprehensions about NorthCom,
a new Pentagon command that includes the U.S.A., a first, which can help co-ordinate with other govt and ngo's in disaster and terrorist attacks, but it's already accused of some abuses of power, like spying on anti-war protesters.
So I tried to explore the concept of a force that is projected outward to protect,
also being turned inward.
Here's the roughs. Nick liked the eagle, but it needed refining.

Sent this preliminary drawing in for approval.

Some color studies.

and the final.

Team of Hawks

For TIME column by Peter Beinart on Obama's foreign policy team of hawks and how he (the author) believes they are a cover for actually making peace.
Art director was Patricia Hwang.

The article wasn't written when I got the assignment which is typical for a weekly, and kept changing focus after the first and second round of sketches, ( I'm not going to bore you with them all), so when there was only a few hours left, the story came in with the headline "Team of Hawks".
Since we were running out of time, I could just quickly paint a group of hawks, but I just had to give it another layer of meaning.
A few weeks before I had done a MC Escher-like full page piece for Money magazine, so I still had a bunch of MC Escher reference around.

So a simple ripoff of Escher, although it took about 5 attempts to come up with my version below, which I sent it in for a quick approval.


And the piece on the page.

SI 51 Annual and Alt Pick Awards

Just found out this piece I did for This Old House magazine on windpower was accepted into the editorial category of Society of Illustrators 51. Art director was Hylah Hill.

and this piece won 1st place in the 5th annual AltPick Awards. Art Director was Richard Weigand at the New York Times.

Emotion on the brain

Full page illustration for a Newsweek article on emotion and the brain.
AD was Patty Alvarez.

Here are the rough, Patty liked the smiley face ones, but I need a better composition for a full page.

In print

This one ran inside the article.





Also included in the package were 3 other articles about the brain.
Here's one on music.

And the roughs.

In print.

Ryder Cup ESPN

This was for a full page in ESPN the magazine. It was about how the European team usually beats the American team despite it's star power. According to the writer it is because the european team travels and parties and plays together, while the american team are lone wolves, albeit chauffeured ones. Art director was Lou Vega.

My first set ideas were too much about the concept of team golf. ESPN wanted to highlight the fact that the team travels together, so below is round 2.

Lou picked the carts, but I needed a much more interesting composition to hold a full page, especially a page in ESPN which is 10x12! Made me anxious, because usually I count on a memorable idea to do the heavy lifting.

Here's the preliminary drawing, I must have done atleast a dozen rougher ones trying to get an good composition. Orchestrating multiple figures isn't my specialty so this took longer than usual, but it was fun - it's sports.

I decided to keep the final more sparse and graphic to try to hint at the european union flag and american flag.

Ironically a week later the Americans won the Ryder Cup! So I don't know if this ran or not.
If it did I'll update this post with the accompanying design in print, which in that magazine is always amazing.

$4 a gallon gas... Yes!

This was for a BusinessWeek package on why cheap oil is bad for America.

Art direction by Ronald Plyman.

If only we could have had sustained $4 dollar gas awhile ago, we could be so much farther along the path of getting off oil and instead of being second place in the boom of green tech, America would be leading it.

But then we might have not "won" the cold war, since the huge and sustained drop in oil prices in the 80's and 90's had alot more to do with the demise of the Soviet Union than is realized.

Anyway here's to dreaming we can do it!

partial spread

quarter page


the roughs.