Independence Day for The New Yorker

New piece in this week's New Yorker– illustrating a review of Independence Day: Resurgence.

This was a really cool assignment to work on of course… buildings that are being sucked into the sky by a giant space ship!

You can see the original sketch below, as well as the finished ink drawing, along with the published piece in this week's magazine.

Thanks so much to Creative Director Nicholas Blechman and Art Director Chris Curry for working with me!

ProBio for The New Yorker

This piece is in today's New Yorker, it's about a show at PS1 called ProBio. The show is about how technology becomes an extension of ourselves.

I went there to check it out, did some photos and scribbles on location, and did all the sketching in their cafeteria, from IPhone photos. The sketch to the left is what was picked, and it was fun to execute it. It's a terminator hand!

Thanks so much to AD Jordan Awan!

Spring Arts Cover for Washington City Paper

The Washington City Papers does an annual Spring Arts Preview, and this time around it'll feature a section cover of yours truly. (Click to enlarge)

As you see to the left, there was very little change from sketch to finish. Just the type took us a while to figure out. Many thanks to Art Director JD Rothstein!

Tales from Ovid, for The Phoenix

This is for the anouncement / review of a play in the Phoenix (formerly the Boston Phoenix). In this staging of Tales from Ovid, some scenes have the players perform hanging on fabric that is suspended from the ceiling.

It was interesting to read up on the background, on Ovid and his writings, and Greek Mythology. The inspiration for this image is the story of Phaethon, son of Helios, who was allowed to steer the sun-wagon, lost control and almost set the whole earth on fire. I enjoyed working with energetic brush strokes to emphasize raw energy in the piece.
Many thanks to AD Kevin Banks.

SXSW Festival for Isthmus

(Please click to enlarge)

This semi-sequential piece came out on the pages of Isthmus today. It's illustrating an article about the South by-Southwest Festival in Austin, TX, and about music festival "junkies". The idea for the Family Circle-inspired approach was by Art Director Carolyn Fath.

Sonntagsblatt Illustrations

OK, it's not Christmas anymore, but it's still snowing, so here are some illustrations I did for the Magazine "Thema", published by the German Newspaper Sonntagsblatt, about the favorite Christmas Songs. As I did with a similar assignment last year, I incorporated some of the lyrics and a bit of sheet music into the images. The first one is the Christmas Oratorium by Haendel, the second one is Silent Night, and then it's White Christmas. If you like, you can order the issue here.

The Stranger Books Section

For a text about the writer Lydia Davis, you can read more about her here. Art Direction Aaron Huffman.

Lindwurm

I created this drawing for a play called King Lindworm at the Young Theater Konstanz, Germany. It was great to collaborate with my friend Felix Strasser, who happens to be the director of the Junges Theater. Whish I could have been there to see it!

Cover for Isthmus

I had the pleasure to do this week's cover for Isthmus, celebrating the 11th annual Wisconsin Film Festival. I had a blast, incorporating characters from various indie movies, and mixing them with all those typical movie goers that all of us have encountered at some point. Thanks to AD Carolyn Fath!

Here is a key of all the characters (click to enlarge)

Discovering James Morrow

A new illustration for The Stranger, one of their writers describes how he discovered the work of James Morrow as a teenager – and how it has stayed with him ever since. You can read the full story here.

Bodensee Quilt Festival

Here's a fun project I worked on with Thomas Curtze-Schatton, a friend and freelance Art-Director in Stuttgart, who I know from my time at Panama Advertising. The image I provided was for a Quilt Festival at the Bodensee (not far from where I grew up). A Quilt Festival in Southern Germany, featuring the world-famous Japanese quilter Noriko Endo? What a mix!

Open Mic in Boston

This was for an article about Open Mic venues in Boston, published in the Boston Phoenix. Thanks to Kristen Goodfriend and the lovely people at the Phoenix!

Capitol Hill Block Party

I did drawings of Vampire Weekend and Jay Reatard for The Stranger's coverage of the annual Capitol Hill Block Party. The theme was wet'n wild! For more info check out the Stranger website.

Hymns

For the the Bavarian Newspaper Sonntagsblatt, I illustrated two hymns.
Since part of the assignment was to include the lyrics and the sheet music, I had fun playing around with the typography as image, and used illustration only as a framing device.

Illustration for The New Yorker

This drawing just came out in the new issue of The New Yorker. I was sent on location to check out the Art Show "Who's Afraid of Jasper Johns" and did an illustration from what I experienced. Many thanks to Max Bode!

One-Man Variety Show

Illustration for Isthmus about Martin Short's upcoming show at the Overture Center in Madison. Thanks to AD Carolyn Fath!

Illustration for The Stranger

I did a new piece for Seattle's Only Newspaper. It goes with a text by the author Keith Gessen about the trials of a book tour. Thanks to AD Aaron Huffman!

ID Magazine Illustrations

The following illustrations just came out in ID Magazine's Annual Business Issue (on funky pink uncoated paper!). These are for an article about some businesspeople who suggest instead of hiring designers, they should rather become designers. You can read the full article here. Thanks again to Art Director Thomas Porostocky!

Publish Post

Cover for The Boston Phoenix

This is a drawing of the voluptuous Beth Ditto and her colleagues of The Gossip, that just came out on the cover for the Arts, Music + Events feature of The Boston Phoenix. AD Kevin Banks

Laurie Anderson for Isthmus

Here's a portrait of performance artist and singer Laurie Anderson, that just came out on the pages of Isthmus.