James Madison

 

This portrait of James Madison appears in today’s edition of The Wall Street Journal. This story looks at the debate our founders had about how much federal representation individual states should have. Madison argued that representation should be proportionate to the population of each state, which would have been more reflective of a true democracy. Unfortunately, the author of the Constitution lost this debate. Regardless of enormous disparities in population, each state has two senators. Thanks to art director, Alice Cheung, for this fascinating assignment!

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(Map: David Rumsey Historical Map Collection. Convention scene: Alamy Stock)

Self Portrait

 

Hey, who is this guy? I haven’t drawn a self-portrait in many years, but at the request of my agent, I drew this one for a group promotion. It was surprisingly fun to draw.

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Ben Franklin

I drew this piece for a dear friend who recently retired from teaching social studies. As a history buff, she always admired this founding father. And why not? To name a few accomplishments, he served as a statesman, inventor, scientist, publisher, printer, and abolitionist, as well as the first US Postmaster General. Of all the founders, he was one of the biggest believers in democracy.

Signed prints of this piece are available here, in my Etsy shop.

Angela Davis

 

Whenever I contemplate a new portrait to on a map, I always ask myself, "who can hold that space?". In this case, I chose a woman whose courageous activism and intellectual contributions to education could fill the state of California.  

Signed prints of this portrait are available here, in my Etsy shop.

 10% of each print sale will be donated to Black Lives Matter.

Adrianne Lenker

 

The borough of Brooklyn is a famous hotspot for groundbreaking indie-rock bands. In that spirit, here’s a portrait of Adrianne Lenker, singer and guitarist for Big Thief. I drew this while listening to their rewarding new Album, Dragon Warm Mountain I Believe in You.

Patti Smith

 

Last year, my dear friend Bernadette found a beautiful Hammond Atlas at a Brooklyn yard sale. Knowing that I’m obsessed with drawing on old maps, she generously gave it to me. I wanted to give her a thank you gift, and she suggested a portrait of the great Patti Smith. Knowing that they’re both Jersey-girls at heart, I was sold on this idea. I hope I captured an inkling of this artist’s poetic spirit. Thank you for this incredible gift, Bernadette!

Kingfisher

   

Kingfishers are such badass-looking birds, I just had to draw one.

 

Signed prints of this piece are available here, in my Etsy shop.