This assignment above is for an upcoming issue of Ask magazine on pirates. The inspiration for this particular illustration was an image that I had done almost two years ago for a book cover (original pictured to the right), but with some changes to fit their needs. This was one of my favorite images of the past few years, and it interesting to try and recreate some of what I had done back then, and try to improve on the image if possible. Tried some slightly different colorings and techniques, and used myself as a model for the pirate. A fun assignment, surprisingly, and gets me in the correct frame of mind for a series of ‘Treasure Island’ illustrations I’ll be working on over the next few weeks.
Also, on Friday, I had a quick turnaround assignment for the Wall Street Journal. Some hopeful signs for the economy, but I don’t think I’m done drawing bears just yet.
Month: August 2009
Dog Days of Summer
Freaks of Nurture Comics, WSJ
In between projects, I’ve been working on some masthead design for a friend’s website/blog that has involved a little bit of illustration, and a lot of typestyle manipulation in photoshop (something I don’t do a lot of, but it is fun to try out something different and stretch outside of my comfort zone). The design concept is a mish mash of several ideas of mine and the site author’s, incorporating ‘pulp artwork’, ‘1950s cocktail culture’, and the site’s overall preoccupation with disfunctional family dynamics. Aside from the mastheads pictured here, I also did (and am still in the process of doing) several other bells and whistles on various pages on the site, and a fun ‘background pattern’, mostly made up of doodads and dingbats from various type fonts I’ve found online (pictured, left). The ‘freaks tv’ banner below has an ‘animated gif’ version that can be seen by clicking on the banner below.
In the meantime, other projects continue to trickle in, aside from the two large projects I’m still embroiled in (a board game similar to one I did earlier in the year, and a series of ‘Treasure Island’ illustations for a new client). The illustration above was another ‘health care column’ illustration for the Wall Street Journal, this one on Lyme Disease and deer ticks. I also had a text heavy illustration for the American Bar Association (I haven’t bothered to post this one, mostly involved a picture of a brick building and several chunks of text streaming from it). I’ve also done a series of Aborigine illustrations for a new Australian client (some of which are pictured below).
Mystery Assignment
AHMM
Here’s another fiction assignment for Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine that I just finished up this afternoon. This one involved a seeming hunting accident, a set of deer antlers and a swarm of flies. Quite pleased with how this one turned out. It’s nice to work in black and white once in a while, which I often prefer to color assignments.
Board Game
Sorsamo Games
Received the printed sample of the board game that I worked on earlier this year in the mail. And thanks to the designer in Helsinki who emailed me a link to some english language rules so that we give the game a test drive. I’m currently in the middle of working on a German version of this game, set in Dresden, and will post samples sometime in the coming month.
August Already?
ChronicleHE, North Carolina Magazine, WSJ
After a very slow June and July, August has started out in high gear, with several large projects in the works (some aborigines for a client in Australia, several ‘Treasure Island’ illustrations for a client in California, and another ‘board game project’ for a client in Finland among them), and the occasional quick turnaround projects just to keep me guessing. The illustrations above and below were for the Wall Street Journal this past weekend, about unemployment.
I had a few illustrations for a North Carolina magazine (part of the inside spread shown below), regarding a notorious local personality in a ‘Music Man’ setting and costume.
Another one that I did in a ‘painterly’ style last week was for the Chronicle of Higher Education (shown below) – I actually started to do this one in scratchboard, but didn’t feel it worked with how I wanted to portray the ‘chalkboard’, so aborted and started again in the ‘oil paint style’.
Another of my ‘health care column’ illustrations for the Wall Street Journal last week yielded an unexpected bonus, when the manufacturer of the ‘device’ that was being talked about in the article contacted me with regards to purchasing the rights to the illustration for use with their own advertising and promotion. (pictured below)
