Great Salt Lake Shorelands Preserve

Here's a drawing commissioned by the Friends of the Great Salt Lake. This conservation group asked me to depict the Great Salt Lake Shorelands Preserve. The drawing is a gift to the outgoing president of the organization. I used an 1885 US Geological Survey map as canvas backdrop. Prints of this piece are available here!

This commissioned project came about after the organization purchased an original piece of mine last year - a depiction of Robert Smithson's earth art masterpiece, "Spiral Jetty", which also sits on the Great Salt Lake. You can view my entire collection of map drawings here!

Prints of Spiral Jetty are available here!

The Lonely Mallard Ballad

Andy Lund is an stellar guitarist and songwriter hailing from San Diego. This is my interpretation of his new song, The Lone Mallard Ballad. This whimsical tune (with a Penny Lane vibe) is written from the perspective of an envious duck who floats on a Dutch canal, dreaming about riding a bicycle like the folks above him. The drawing appears in a songbook which accompanies Andy's new CD, Small World.

This project was designed and art directed by one of my oldest friends, Graham Smith (who also happens to be a master illustrator ). When he asked me to interpret a song, I chose this one because it paints a picture involving two my favorite subjects, animals and geography.  My recent drawings have been portraits of wildlife (whales, elephants, peacocks, owls, and more), so it felt natural to include a mallard in the mix. Since I'm also obsessed with cartography, it made sense to utilize a map of Dutch canals as a canvas. Below are a few of the ideas I sketched out for this assignment:

Duck floats on water, envious of bikers on bridge.

Duck rides on bike of his construction...

Duck steers bike across bridge...

Andy's album has been on heavy rotation ever since I received my copy.  It's whimsical storytelling paints lovely scenes in my mind. Along with Graham's stunning drawings, the songbook includes artwork by some superb talents ( including two other great friends dating back to my days at Parsons School of Design,  David Gordon and Andrea Cobb).  I'm thrilled to have been included in this collaboration!

Catskills Owls

I had a hoot drawing these owls on a map of the Catskill Park. It was also fun to add some collage elements as well. You view sketches for this piece here. Prints are available here.

You can check out my entire collection of map drawings here!

Across the Pond

This portrait of George Orwell was drawn on a map of Great Britain. I'm thrilled that this piece has found a new home in London, England (which is very fitting, considering he was the master of British dystopian fiction). More original pieces like this (as well as prints) are available here.

"As I write, highly civilized human beings are flying overhead, trying to kill me."
 

~ George Orwell

Heroin art

It's always nice to see my work on the printed page. This piece for  About Town addresses the heroin epidemic which is affecting our region. You can read the full story here.

You can view my new illustration website here!

Word Works Exhibit

I'm thrilled to have this piece included in the Word Works exhibit, which runs in conjunction with the Red Hook Literary Festival, April 11th - May 4th. This portrait of Stephen King (one of my favorite authors) was drawn on an old map of Maine.  I titled it "King of Maine". The opening reception is Friday, April 11th, 5-7 PM, at RHCAN Gallery. If you're in the area, please stop by and say hello!

You can view more unpublished work here.

Scottish Pictish

This piece is part of a series called World Tour; drawings which utilize old maps as canvases. It was inspired by mysterious Scottish carvings called pictish stones - which date back to the 10th century.  I'm thrilled that the drawing has found a new home here in the Hudson Valley. Fittingly, the new owner is a Scotsman who grew up in Inverness. Hopefully this piece will be a nice reminder of his heritage - and of Scotland's rich history. You can view my whole map collection here!

Thanks for visiting. You can purchase a beautiful print of this piece here!

Pasque

Pasque is a tiny island off the coast of Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts. I had the good fortune of spending a week there in 2001 - fishing with my former father-in-law. His daughter asked me to create prints which chronicle family adventures on Pasque. The waters around this island are abundant with striped bass, blue fish and lobster. Pasque is not only a fisherman's paradise, it's a beautiful state of mind.

In memory of Alex

There are two houses on the island - one for the caretaker, and one for renters.

John with a very big striped bass.

That's me with a really big fish, caught surf-casting on Pasque, September 2001

Thanks to Ellen for an amazing and personal project.

You can purchase a beautiful print of this piece here.

World Tour Exhibit

I'm thrilled to be exhibiting my map-drawings at Taste Budd's Cafe, Dec. 1st - Jan. 31st. These pictures were inspired by a dusty old atlas which sat in my studio for years. I contemplated taking this dilapidated book to my local recycling center, but thought better of it. Instead, I decided to explore my lifelong  fascination with maps, by turning the pages into canvases. The result is an ongoing journey around the world (through drawings). You can view much of this series, as well as other personal projects, here.

My day job is that of a freelance illustrator. I provide creative content for newspapers, magazines, books, etc. It's a rewarding challenge; solving visual problems for a wide range of clients (You can see examples of my illustrations here, here, here, or throughout this blog). But it's also important to honor personal ideas through art. Projects such as this make me more curious about this enormous world we live in. My goal is to keep exploring these ideas and find an audience to share them with.

I used Sumi ink to draw these pictures. It has a very bold confident stroke, and dries thicker and darker than india ink. Instead of using washes to create the lighter tones, I used a dry-brush technique (literally painting as the brush is drying out).

 

I had fun creating this promotion for the exhibit:

My World Tour will be up until January 31st. 

If you're in Red Hook, I hope you'll take a peek.

Maori Rock Carving, New Zealand

A special thanks to Dan Budd and Taste Budd's Cafe
for providing such a wonderful exhibit space.

Budd's Buzz is my favorite coffee in the world.

Thanks for viewing, and happy travels!