Garlic Escapes

Robin Cherry is an excellent travel and food writer. She asked me to create a banner for her blog, Garlic Escapes. Its description reads "In Pursuit of Garlic Around the World, Around the Web, and Around the Corner". She writes fascinating stories relating to the history, uses, and varieties of garlic. A delicious recipe is included with each post.

 I found this to be a very tasty assignment. The unique shape of garlic came in handy when conveying  travel-related imagery. I used a drawing paper which has a texture and color reminiscent of this member of the onion genus. It was fun to create a mini-mythology combining travel and garlic. I hope you enjoy these banner ideas.

Robin travels far and wide to research garlic, so I thought a garlic balloon  would be a fun image
to convey her adventures.

Robin liked the day and night theme in this banner.

            

                                 

I tried to convey an old-world etching quality here.

         Robin loved this more literal interpretation of garlic escaping from the ground,
and sees it as a possible t-shirt design.  

Here's a more delicate approach.

Here's a cross-section of an 18" by 24" page of mixed-media sketches.

Please visit Robin's blog to see the banner that was ultimately chosen. 

More importantly, you'll learn a lot about garlic and find delicious recipes!

http://garlicescapes.wordpress.com/

All the News That's Fit to Draw

Have you seen the new documentary about The New York Times, Page One? I'm looking forward to getting a peek inside the newsroom of a truly iconic newspaper.  This inspired me to share some drawings from a branding campaign that's all about what this publication stands for. It ran form 1999 through 2003.

Art director Sharon Driscoll asked me to illustrate ads which would promote various features of the paper, as well as home delivery.  She'd seen samples of my work which combined line drawings with collaged text.  She asked me to incorporate New York Times text into each illustration. I loved the idea of using their famously recognizable copy as an element in my drawings.

I worked with a copywriter who was adept at simple yet clever word-play. The text elements I added to each drawing always matched the theme of the ad. For example, if the business section was being promoted, I would integrate copy from the business section directly into the image. I liked how the intellectual content of the paper became part of each drawing.  Words and phrases from stories would come into focus, adding an extra dimension to each image. Sharon's clean and simple design helped each drawing stand out.

Originally, this campaign was to feature six to ten images, and run for six months. But it quickly took on a life of it's own. Over the course of three years, I collaborated on over 100 promotional ads. Drawings were also used on t-shirts, direct mail cards, new year's cards,  joint promotions with Starbucks, and even on a cow (see below)!

Given the many aspects of this project, I found it challenging to curate this post. Hopefully you'll get a sense of the fun I had creating these images.

Thanks to Sharon, Jasmine Shumanov, and the promotions department for allowing me such a gratifying experience. I couldn't have asked for a more unique palette to work with.

 

The concept process began as stream of consciousness doodles in a sketchbook. The page on the left contains ideas for the headline "Perfect Pitch". Many baseball and musical metaphors came to mind.

This "Perfect Pitch" ad ran square or horizontal, depending on how far the newsworthy music ran across the page.

Photoshop offers amazing tools, but for this project I enjoyed copying, cutting, and pasting the old fashioned way!

Here's an example where I simply enlarged a sketchbook doodle to use as the final art.

I've often used pages from The New York Times to wrap gifts. It might make a nice wallpaper as well?

For most drawings, I made a xerox transparency of the line art, and would use it as an overlay of the text. This made it easy for me to change the weight and size of the typographic elements.

Some ads had unique space requirements. Just as a story unfolds, this illustration unfolds.

Five drawings were used in direct mail promotions as well. I can relate to this "Personal Trainer" metaphor. My brain gets an excellent workout with this paper's help.

I love the simplicity and directness of this ad.

In 2000, New York hosted the Cow Parade. Artists decorated thousands of life-size cement cows which were displayed on city sidewalks. Along with the talented artist, Bruce Henke, I was asked to design The New York Time's entry, which was titled "All the Moos That's Fit to Print". This colorful cow stood, where else, but Times Square! Thanks to Bruce and Finn Winterson for making this bovine beauty look so vibrant.

I contributed drawings to 'new years greetings' pages in 2000 and 2001. This image was also used on a holiday card sent to subscribers.

I really enjoyed creating these drawings in black and white. In the case of this project, I think the content of The New York Times added all the necessary color.

You can view my new illustration website here!

Historic Hemp

In honor of America's 235th birthday, here's a unique portrait of our most famous founding father. Nancy Stamatopoulos from Whole Health Magazine asked me to illustrate the following quote:

“Make the most you can of the Indian hemp seed and sow it everywhere.” - George Washington, 1794

Our nation's first president grew hemp on his Virginia farm. He presumably made this proclamation because it's fiber is useful for making rope, paper, and clothing. Of course, what made this assignment provocative is hemp's membership in the Cannabis genus, making it a close relative of marijuana. It was fun to place the father of our country in a counter-cultural context. I'm curious what today's tea party movement would make of this depiction? In any case, I hope you have fun today, celebrating the red, white, and blue (or is it green?).

Here are a few ideas I cooked up for this assignment:

Happy Birthday America!

You can view my new illustration website here!

Postcards from Lyon...

Vacation season has arrived. This inspired me to share some of my hand-drawn postcards. Every year I visit my daughters and their mother in Lyon, France. I love to explore the streets of this beautiful city. I sketch my observations onto blank postcards. Once I've compiled a variety of drawings, I send them to family, friends, and clients. This is one of my favorite rituals. It's gratifying to mail original artwork to the people in my life.  I hope your summer adventures are picture-perfect!

 the view from my bedroom window...

 Outdoor markets are an integral part of French culture.

This park has a nice view overlooking the city

 Notre-Dame de Fourvière is a minor basilica in Lyon.

Lunch hour traffic at Place Saint-Jean.

This man on the park bench perfectly echoed the sitting statue.

The Rhône region has beautiful rolling countryside.

You can see more fun sketchbook scenes here.

Take the 10% Challenge!

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I was thrilled to contribute drawings to a local organization, Red Hook 10% Challenge. Their mission is to educate citizens about simple ways we can reduce personal energy consumption. In this program, home-owners sign a pledge to to reduce energy usage by 10% in a year's time. Participants are encouraged to take 10 steps to help achieve this goal. Examples include carpooling, hanging a clothes-line, or using a bicycle for local transportation. Consumers benefit from these actions by saving money, and putting less strain on our shared environment.

Group coordinator, Laurie Husted, initially asked me to create 10  B & W spots to illustrate these steps.  The spot illustrations appeared on the organization's website, brochures and t-shirts. They were also the genesis for the drawings on display here.

To help publicize this program, a fabulous local cafe called Taste Budd's offered to exhibit larger color versions of these drawings. I liked the idea of working on a bigger scale, and for the opportunity to display my drawings in a great setting. 

 

I  tend to rely on digital tools when I put together illustrations, so this was a healthy challenge to step away from my computer. It was fun to utilize papers of various colors and textures to convey each theme. Creating these pictures reminded me how rewarding the pure physicality of drawing is. There's no substitute for the joys of connecting hand to pencil to paper!

There has been discussion about utilizing these drawings in a calender. I can imagine each image acting as a monthly reminder of  little things we can do to save money and reduce our energy dependence.

Here are examples of the original B & W drawings:

Every illustration starts with a simple thumbnail sketch...

 Every year, more towns across the United States take part in the 10% Challenge. You can find out more about my local program by visiting http://www.redhookchallenge.org/

The King's Speech

Ever since President Obama entered office, much has been said about his reliance on teleprompters. So I was thrilled when John Van Cleaf at Rutgers Magazine asked me to create a drawing relating to this timely topic. The article was about  teleprompter technician, Jeff Sult,  and his experiences in this unique line of work. I was asked to come up with a witty representation of his job. It was a fun challenge to visualize a concept that's more about words than images. Of the six ideas submitted, the winning sketch set the stage (both figuratively and literally) for a drawing which gives the teleprompter an opportunity to shine.  This technician deserves an Oscar for best supporting role!

For illustrators, the idea process can be just as interesting as creating the final art. I like looking back at submitted sketches to see what worked, and what didn't. Here are a few examples:

I still get a thrill out of seeing my work on the printed page. Thanks to John for creating such a nice layout for my drawing! You can view my new illustration website here!

The Bill of Flights!

 

If summer travel plans are in the works, then you might relate to these drawings, commissioned by Derrick Gonzalez for the Wall Street Journal. He asked me to create spot illustrations about frustrating situations many airline passengers confront. The story is about how our government is addressing these problems.

This assignment resonated on a very personal level.  I was one of those unlucky travelers grounded due to one volatile volcano's recent activities. (In Iceland, this ash-spewing beast goes by the name of Eyjafjallajökull.)

The spots were to be circular and  have basic themes addressing issues such as cancellations, delays and lost baggage .  I decided to create the finals on a parchment paper that I've been experimenting with. This earthy paper helps create a unique pallet. Also, I find that adding the color white helps set off each image.  In any case, I hope these capture the frustration we feel when our travel plans go kablooey!

PS. I love brainstorming, so I always supply a healthy number of concepts for editors to choose from. Below are some examples of those choices:

Here's to a season of smooth, safe & relaxing travels! 

You can view my new illustration website here!