SVA Illustration Summer Residency 2014

The SVA Illustration Summer Residencies are in full swing, and the first group of students is already done! The second group is starting now through August. It's a very international group from all corners of the earth, and it's always a huge pleasure to work with them.

Congrats to the June 2014 students!

The Illustration Residency is a one-month bootcamp in which students have illustration and visual storytelling classes, go to exhibitions, events and artists' studios, experience the cultural richness of New York City, and have a (hopefully) amazing time together.

The principal instructors are Viktor Koen, Anna Raff, Lisel Ashlock and me, plus guest lectures by the likes of Paul Buckley, Aaron Meshon and Marshall Arisman, for example.

In my Visual Storytelling class, the students create work on the spot

Setting up for the Open Studios

Open Studios / mini-exhibition at the end of the residency

For more info, check also last year's blog post about it, visit the SVA Website, follow the residency on twitter and facebook, or contact program coordinator Keren Moscovitch.

New York Times Sunday Business Cover

Had the pleasure of illustrating a cover and interior spot for the Sunday Business section of the New York Times. Art Director Minh Uong, with whom I've worked since his time at the Village Voice, asked me to do something sequential.

The story is about Shanesha Taylor, who was arrested for leaving her children in a car during an important job interview. It's written by Shaila Dewan and you can read it here.

The challenge with sequential editorial pieces is that the image is a bit fractured and cannot be as bold as one single image.

After a first round of sketches, we tried to increase the graphic impact by using one large panel and a few smaller ones.

As the project progressed, we rearranged the panels several times, till everybody was content with the flow of the story.

For the interior, we did a simple comic-strip of 3 images. For the cover, we used one large, loud image and and four smaller panels.

Thanks again to AD Minh Uong and the New York Times!