Summer into Autumn

This piece for Rutgers Magazine celebrates the transition from summer into autumn. It accompanies two articles about how alumni volunteers help students transition from their communities into a new school year on campus. Thanks to editor Scott Fognall for this colorful assignment! You can view my illustration portfolio here !

Life As I See It

Here are some recent sketchbook excerpts of the world around me. The image above was drawn from my front porch - of workers installing a new waterline on my street. Fortunately, I've been able to balance all the noisy construction taking place with quality time at the local pool.  None of these drawings are pretty, they mark a moment in time in the life of an artist.

Red Hook Pool 07,02.16

Red Hook Pool 7-24-16

Construction in front of my house 08.27.16

Under the Canopy 07.02.16

You can view a beautiful new gallery of sketchbook excerpts here!

Bubby's Burrito Stand

 I'm very grateful to the 3x3 International Illustration Show judges for giving this drawing an honorable mention. This local burrito stand is open in the summer, and it's just a few blocks away from my home. Bubby's adds so much charm and character to my community, I was compelled to capture it in a picture. Beautiful prints of this piece are available here!

You can view my entire collection of map drawings here!

Share My Lesson

This illustration appears in the summer issue of American Educator. It accompanies a story addressing ways for teachers to keep their skills sharp over the summer months. The art director, Michelle Furman, asked me to depict teachers in a poolside setting. Here are sketches I submitted:

 Here's another smaller piece which accompanied the story:

Thanks to Michelle for an assignment which has gotten me psyched 

about hitting the local pool this summer!

Summertime Swimming

Summer seems to be taking shape in my sketchbook. 

I hope yours is going swimmingly!

Illustrious Equations

The summer heat inspired me to share these equation-themed illustrations. As a child, did you ever use flash cards to practice mathematical tables? I always thought this format had visual potential beyond numbers. By adding or subtracting elements from an image, you can convey fun and provocative ideas. I can see this equation-theme applied to greeting cards, website banners, children's books, and all kinds of projects. In any case, I hope your summer adds up to a happy one!

This was inspired by a story about poodle-couture in Dogue Magazine.

This was inspired by graffiti which had a political organizing theme. I also kept
thinking about the ongoing collective bargaining debate in Wisconsin this year.

Welcome...

...to my blog. I was trying to think of an appropriate drawing to start off with, but was 'drawing' a blank. This may be due to the fact that it's 'hot and humid as heck' outside my window today! After a solid month of rain, the trees & flowers are bursting with color. Bees and assorted bugs are busily buzzing though the air! All this activity jarred my memory of the image above, "Summer Symphony", which attempts to capture the composition of our warmest season.  Hopefully this picture starts my blog off on an upbeat musical note.

My goal going forward is to shed light on the creative process behind various illustration projects. I'll draw upon over 20 years of publishing experience to share my knowledge of picture making. I hope that you'll gain some useful insights, get a few laughs, or at the very least, enjoy some of my quirky drawings. Here we go!