Xmas card for 2019

personal

Been doing ‘Krampus’ holiday cards for many years, and, since I had a little free time this morning (and wanted to practice a more ‘brushy’ comic book style for an upcoming project), I created a card for this year. You can see previous year’s Krampus designs in the portfolio section (under ‘Personal’ work), plus you can buy various merchandise emblazoned with many of the designs at my Zazzle store.

Saints For Young Readers

Pauline Books

Finished up the two covers for the books ‘Saints for Young Readers’ (volume 1 and 2) for Pauline Books. I’ve been sharing the interior illustrations for this project over the past month or so. Below are each of the covers at a larger resolution, plus a reposting of all the interior portraits. Been a busy autumn season and am looking forward to a brief respite so I can work on a few personal projects before jumping into some new exciting upcoming projects.

How to Eat an Elephant

First Second, MacMillan

One bite at a time.

Just finished up page 264 of the ‘What Unites Us’ graphic novel. I put together an overview of every page to check on page flow and overall look. I’ll likely be making some tweaks here and there, but for right now I think I’ll pour myself a celebratory glass of whiskey and give a toast to one of the most challenging and most fulfilling projects I’ve ever tackled in my thirty plus year illustration career. Word from the publisher is that this is scheduled for a spring 2020 release.

Blast from the Past (and more Saints)

Newsday, Pauline Books

Heard from a client this week who I haven’t heard from since 2012. The above illustration was was a two page spread for New York Newsday. It was a nice break from the daily routine I’ve been at for the past three months. At one time, this sort of ‘quick turnaround’ work was the lion’s share of my business, but in recent years it has slowed to a mere trickle, while book publishing work has taken over, with their much longer lead times. Meanwhile, I’m still working on the “What Unites Us” graphic novel project, but I am now on the final week, with only about twenty or so pages to go (more samples to share next week on this). I’ve finished up the interior illustrations for the ‘Saints’ book (the last weeks’ output is pictured below) with total ending up at 68 (or 80 if you count all the heads in the ‘duos and sextets’), and I’ll begin working on the color cover illustrations for that project very soon. Looking forward to a relaxing Thanksgiving vacation.

When the Saints Go Marching In…

Pauline Books

Another week of pretty much the same routine. Averaging about 3 ‘saint portraits’ , plus 3 pages of the ‘What Unites Us’ graphic novel per day. I’m getting near the finish line on both projects (about a week and a half to go), and I’ll have some more samples from the graphic novel next week, but in the meantime, here’s another heaping helping of ‘saint portraits’ for your viewing pleasure.