Kick start my art

snow more mr. nice guy

2012-01-30T07:30:00.000-08:00

New piece for for the super awesome Lesley Palmer, and AARP about time banking and time bank participation. if you're not familiar with the term, time banking is a community initiative where individuals "log" hours by performing tasks for others, and by doing so, build up hours they can use to receive help from others. example, i shovel your driveway, you unclog my sink. get it? my idea was pretty straight up, to show someone performing a task, and link that up with the concept of time keeping. couple of ideas - there were lots more...

eggs-actly

2012-01-29T07:48:00.000-08:00

Very quick piece for the WSJ, about knowing the right direction to take your investment. will it be in your companies 401k, or an IRA? etc. This idea came up pretty organically. I was thinking about the line "whatever direction the wind takes you" - which got me thinking of a weather vane. I always think of a rooster or goose as part of the weather vane, and it didnt take much thought to add a little egg under that goose. A no brainer, and a solid solution for the problem, i think.
However, this wasnt the initial image that was chosen. this was: but, as it turns out - another illustration printed today had a question mark - so we went with plan B. always fun working with the WSJ.

Heavy Metal

2012-01-18T13:39:00.000-08:00

Full Pager for HR Magazine, about what an extreme burden having a
criminal record/ criminal past is for professionals re-entering the work force. the article also talked about what good employees ex-cons generally are - and how the hurdles to hire them are slowly being removed (hence the various positive ideas)

you can't pick your friend's nose.

2012-01-02T05:52:00.000-08:00

Had the pleasure of doing a full-pager for the always excellent Cincinnati Magazine. It was for their Top Doctors issue (out now) - my aspect of medicine was "endoscopic tumor removal surgery" - that is, where they travel up the nose to remove a tumor in the brain. I had a really hard time not coming up with gross concepts - but through about a billion sketchbook failures i had the idea of someone reaching up through the opening of a gum ball machine, and removing the "bad" gumball. The final step was to make the machine resemble a face, to kinda tie it all together.

cover me

2011-12-28T06:17:00.000-08:00

This might be a really long post.
Basically, I want to share a couple of covers out this week, and then do my year end re-cap. I guess I'll start with this cover I did for the Broward New Times, about predatory charter schools - you know, the kind that really target "at risk" kids with the promise of a diploma, but dont deliver (and are corrupt to boot). I focused on a few different elements - this type of education being dangerous, the idea of profiting from churning out diplomas, and even a focus on "at risk" kids graduating. The solution that was chosen turned out to be really graphic - but man, i was totally thrilled with the solution - so clear.I also made a process video for this cover - you can check it out here: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/17679720/Pete_01_169.mov - Here are some roughs below:Another Cover!
I also did the cover of Seattle Weekly, out today. The topic was the wide number of professional football players going bankrupt. Even people with 100 million dollar careers are retiring with no money, and often in debt! Jane Sherman was the AD for this one, and she came to me with an idea in mind - I was happy to see that come to life, but figured I'd pitch some of my ideas too:

Finally, I wanted to say some words about 2011. Illustration wise, 2011 was an amazing year for me. I added some dream clients to my client list, and made some pieces i am really proud of! Im continuing to try to employ my "do whatever feels right" approach to illustrating. Sometimes that means rendered images, sometimes a graphic approach. I'm not sure where this approach is going to take my work, but I'm eager to try as many things as possible, until something feels perfect. The big story this year has to be the community thats developed on twitter. I've made so many supportive and talented friends, and thats EXACTLY the industry I want to be a part of. Its super important to me to support my peers successes and triumphs, and that forum has been great. I also had the good fortune to meet many people in person this year and im happy to say the great people I've come to know online translate to great people in real life. You guys (and girls) are the best - Im fortunate to have such wonderful, and talented peers. Big thanks to everyone who has given me a chance to draw for them this year - i really appreciate it, and always try my best. Heres hoping the Mayans were full of shit, and 2012 is going to be amazing! The year of the Hobbit! And the Dark Knight Rises!! Thanks family, friends, Jill and Lox.
I love you all.

space jam

2011-12-23T08:43:00.000-08:00

two small spots for Canadian Wildlife about space pioneers, and colonizing. Making silly images and trying some new techniques is such a nice treat from time to time. Great working with Steve!

i scream, you scream

2011-12-21T07:06:00.000-08:00

New piece for the Utne Reader about the growing racial integration in many American neighborhoods. it seems for for many years now, white and black neighborhoods have become less and less segregated - partly because laws preventing Blacks from owning homes in White neighborhoods have been done away with - and also partly because of changing attitudes. Having a swirl icecream cone do the heavy lifting for me (race wise) was an easy and light hearted approach. - Didn't hurt that a cone can look so much like a house, either.
Really was a pleasure to be able to work with Stephanie and Utne. here are some roughs:

Publish Post

Bloomberg Businessweekend at Bernie's

2011-12-05T07:14:00.000-08:00

In September, when in New York I had a portfolio review at Business Week. I had only been to NY twice before so the city for me is pretty hard to navigate. As scheduling is always hard for everyone, the only time that worked was about two hours after my flight landed - this scared me, but i didnt want to miss the opportunity. I arrived at their building about 30 minutes early and decided to wait across the street at a sandwich shop. About 2 minutes after sitting down, another customer fumbled and spilled lemonade all over my shirt and crotch. 20 minutes till my review. I panicked, went outside, took off my sweater and frantically padded away at myself. 15 minutes. I decided to push past it, walked across the street and into the lobby and announced "I have a review at Business Week". I was in the wrong building ... by a lot! The real building was across town. I ran out, jumped into a cab with my girlfriend and raced towards the real location. 10 minutes. Then, we hit traffic and the cab stopped moving. I decided to get out and run. About 5 minutes into running i looked to the street and saw my girlfriend wiz by in the cab i had abandoned. DAMN! it pulled over, and i jumped back in. 2 minutes later, we pulled up to the Bloomberg building and i ran in. Big thanks to Maayan, Shawn and Lee for being kind about me showing up a few minutes late, and giving me so much of their time.

Anyway, Business Week is a real dream client for me and it was an excellent and exciting process to be able to contribute to their beautiful and brilliant magazine. The piece was about "across the board" financial cuts - bankers are being laid off and there is no job for them to turn to, because ALL of the banks are cutting. Replacing the bits on a chainsaw with little banks seemed like a no-brainer - Thanks to Shawn for helping me get the image to interact with the page a little bit.
Thanks for reading.

mortor kombat

2011-12-02T06:29:00.000-08:00

Heres a new piece for Government Executive about the US Government taking over health care benefits, such as prescriptions. The result of this action is bulk amounts of certain medicines, but a much more narrow variety. I explored ideas in this direction, and also the more broad approach of combining Government + Health Care. This chosen idea was a no brainer as a mortar and pestle fit together with the Capital building so perfectly, what was a challenge was the execution. I have played around with really stenciled looking pieces a bit in the past: this Village Voice cover from a few years ago - and i thought it might look awesome to combine that ultra graphic approach with some realism. The result is pretty neat, i think and made for a piece im really happy with. heres a pic of me finished painting, not able to see properly for the rest of the day.and some roughs:

makes (money) sense

2011-11-27T09:12:00.001-08:00

So I've been working on some illustrations for Money Sense over the past few months. They have an ongoing info section about ETF's - buying /selling them, using them, boutique ETF's etc. Its a fun little series because the pieces are never overly conceptual, and allow me to illustrate in a much more narrative way than im used to, not to mention have lots of fun (and freedom) with the technique. Below are two recent series, the first about using different ETF's to achieve financial growth -The second set was about buying boutique ETF's - tried to conjure diagon alley a little, but fill it with classy old people Thanks to Money Sense for the fun.

we're not in Kansas, anymore.

2011-11-23T10:04:00.000-08:00

I had the good fortune to work with Mike at City Pages on their cover this week. The story was about a neighborhood in north Minneapolis that was just totally decimated by a Tornado about a year ago. The neighborhood, and its people are still in ruins. They're mostly poor, and theres been little in the way of aid. The power of the subject matter aside, i grew up OBSESSED with, and terrified by tornadoes. We lived in the country, and in my mind that was the only place they struck - i used to hide under the basement stairs at even the sight of storm clouds. Lately, i've been working on making my illustration more autobiographical. I dont want to compromise the conceptual nature, but my pieces seem strongest when both co-exist. The image we settled on shows a cowering mans life being up, and taken from him. Thats really the biggest fear, right? elements of his neighborhood and life are sucked up (including an adorable Boston Terrier). I had a lot of fun painting this, and am unusually happy with how it turned out. This is probably a result of my continued fascination with the subject matter - and maybe aided by the 1996 movie "Twister" which i watched while painting, for good measure.

Oscar the grouch

2011-11-18T06:09:00.000-08:00

Piece in yesterdays LA Times about the confusing new math behind oscar nominations for Best Picture. Lots of fun to work with Wes again! Thanks for stopping by

Speak friend, and the doors shall open

2011-11-16T07:11:00.001-08:00

This piece was an over-sized full pager for Leap Magazine. The subject matter was pretty tricky, as it spoke about the harshness of cancer, and how talking about it - sharing your story - is the best was to deal with the pain. I worked on ideas for a solid day, and it was certainly tricky, because i didnt just want some conceptual one liner, but rather i wanted to connect with the article on an emotional level. I've been working on making my illustration more personal (in general) lately - for this piece in particular, across the road from the farm where i grew up there was a long field, backed up against another field - in the wintertime it becomes this expanse of bleak snow, with only a few trees breaking up the landscape. Remembering how that specific area made me feel set the tone for the piece and seemed like the proper setting for cancer. I thought about how spring always eventually came, and with it life and energy. Having the mans lines of speech BE spring seemed like a perfect way to show the power speech has. Some less than perfect roughs below, there were lots more:

i believe i can fly...

2011-11-13T11:44:00.000-08:00

did a few pieces for HR mag recently - heres a full pager that went through a couple of steps -
The piece was about flextime work, and the freedom it grants workers from the clock. because its fun to paint birds i decided i'd make this bird fairly realistic - to really push that super graphic juxtaposed against realistic kick i've been on lately. Mari, the wonderful AD who i've worked with a number of times now thought that maybe the feet were making it look too real, and a little freaky. she's probably right, so i took to photoshop to take them out. We then adjusted the background colour, as the cover had the same yellow in it, and we didnt want things to get confusing. Not sure which one I like best, maybe still the yellow one - but im sure that the revised version works best for Mari, so I'm happy with that!

mac daddy

2011-11-04T06:35:00.000-07:00

For MacWorld about their new advanced search engine. They pretty much had this idea completely in mind, so it was my job to bring it to life. Although we've all seen the concept a million times before i tried to add my own spin on its look, and thought it came out to be a pretty nice piece.

bubbles

2011-11-04T06:25:00.000-07:00

For Readers Digest Asia, about a father whos so afraid of his son getting hurt (no matter what activity he does) that he finds himself being obsessive and over-protective. i liked the idea of showing the father creating a force field with his over-parenting - ideally using some child like activity as his aid. Towards the end of the article, he comes to the conclusion that no matter what he does, his kid will never be totally safe - i tried to hint at this by showing the son breaking the bubble confines with his own bubbles.

When i catch MC's, its time for wing clippin'

2011-10-26T20:56:00.000-07:00

Full pager for Ryerson Review of Journalism about limiting Journalists freedom when posting on twitter. I guess some journalists have got into pretty some pretty hot water for tweeting personal opinions / twitter wars, where they were not appropriate. Many publications have social media codes of conduct which can be pretty strict. I really liked the idea of showing the twitter birds wings being clipped - a great metaphor for showing restriction. some roughs below:

Nuclear your mind

2011-10-19T07:24:00.000-07:00

Ok, I might have oversold this piece late last week, but im convinced its maybe one of the best ideas i've been able to illustrate. This illustration was for Seattle Weekly's cover story about the skyrocketing cost of running and trying to clean up the Hanford nuclear site (wasteland) in Washington. Theres a lot of money being burnt through, and little clean up happening. Now whistle blowers are starting to come forward and point fingers. The idea that was chosen shows an upside down piggy bank whose legs and belly double as cooling towers and wasteland site. I know, piggy banks arent super cool, or fresh approaches - but the visual overlap here was too good to resist!I also made an opener for the story - good thing i like money images so much! - it turned out pretty cool too!and, of course, lots of ideas that didnt make the cut:Huge thanks to Mark Kaufman for sending me these pics! what a nice guy!!

That'll learn ya

2011-10-13T09:46:00.000-07:00

Was fortunate enough to work with one of my favourite AD's, Colleen Nicholson over at Canadian Family for their most recent issue. The article was about how education is becoming more personalized and geared more directly to each student. Heres what i came up with:While it was a really fun image to make, i made the mistake of trying to screen acrylic over printing ink - the issue was that the ink didnt dry all that fast, but the paint did. It cause very random paint to be pulled off the image every time I passed a new screen, and there were a lot of colours. What initially seemed frustrating turned out to look really cool, although, i would have a hard time replicating it! - I also did a spot that focused on individual assessment in the classroom.

Neanderthal that and a bag of chips

2011-10-11T07:02:00.000-07:00

Recently finished two cool pieces for AD extraordinaire, Steve Balaban - the article was about Neanderthal's - but in a greater way about what it means to be human. It seems that modern man may have mated with Neanderthal back in the day - and we share a good amount of DNA. heres that final: The other aspect of the article was about cave art - and how the desire to create image is both a sign of our intelligence, and our humanity.here are a bunch of roughs that didnt make the cut - i liked the one below with the paintbrush spear - what an amazing visual overlap!!!

One more before the month is over

2011-09-30T12:07:00.000-07:00

Wanted to squeeze one more post in before the end of the month - so i'm doing a little combiningfirst piece was work Moneywise UK - it was a sequel to a piece i did for them this time last year - a follow up. The original piece depicted a man dipping his toe into an investment pool - testing the water, or whatever. this one they wanted to show the same guy leisurely floating in the water, clearly having had a good year. I liked the idea of following up the image - but i thought i'd pitch a few new directions for the piece - just in case: i really liked the idea of having the water floaty things be like an abacus This second piece was for Investment Advisor - heres the explanation i sent with the rough: I liked how the article mentioned segmenting and focusing on specific areas for best results. - man (firm) juggling numerous balls which also double as centers of a target - the balls are different colors to represent different areas - there were a few different places in the article i could have taken it, and the roughs reflect that.

I like the line-work in the final, and hope to keep that or more in the pieces im working on right now. Thanks for reading

pig out.

2011-09-27T06:41:00.000-07:00

Heres a few pieces I did recently for Alberta Venture - the total package was two main illustrations, and five spots - here's just a few. These pieces feel a lot like my work did this time last year, more line work etc. or maybe thats all just in my head - i liked how they turned out though. This first piece was about the power of having cash saved up, and how it can give your small business a fighting chance. I thought putting the old WW2 spitfire paint on a piggy bank could be cool:Next one was about small business guide booksand then a couple of spots - one about finding the right employees, the other about the benefits of making a plan.Thanks for stopping by.

Toronto no

2011-09-24T08:20:00.000-07:00

Hello friends,
Yes, it's been a while since my last blog post. Just had a lot going on in the past month, but i'm going to try to cram a few posts in before the end of the month. So, seemed the easiest way to get back into the swing of things was to post a recent failure. Well ... not failure exactly, but something that didnt quite work out. I was asked by my friends at the Walrus (again nepotism) to pitch some ideas for their upcoming cover. They werent totally set on illustration, so i would really need to sell it. The subject matter was about how Toronto has come up short. In a broad sense, its failed to reach its potential - or i should say, while it once had the makings of a great city, a lot of factors over the years has left its ambition limp.
this might be the first time i had a completely clear idea immediately.
for those of you who arent familiar with Toronto landmarks, that idea depicts the Toronto national tower (until recently the tallest freestanding structure in the world ) and the skydome (now known as the rogers center) - HAVE ANY TWO BUILDINGS EVER LOOKED MORE LIKE MALE GENITALS ?!?! - what a perfect idea then to show the tower "going limp" - and not to sexualize it, but to clearly associate it with the concept of impotence. At least in my mind it seemed clear as day. Like always, i mocked up a good number of other ideas using other toronto icons (our coat of arms, our city hall - which is kinda dome shaped with buildings on either side, even our baseball team - the bluejays (our hockey team "the leafs" need no additional mockery) and one i really liked - about our transit system known for its intense over crowding) - In the end the cover went in a very different direction. I was thankful for the opportunity to share my ideas, and it was really nice of my friends to think of me for the project. I was thinking of doing a run of limited edition silk screen posters with the image, but realized the demand might be too localized to be worth it, or more likely - there would be no demand at all - ha.
thanks for reading, more soon...

DNA2

2011-08-24T12:36:00.000-07:00

while I'm on a DNA kick - heres a piece about the DNA of obesity

DNAOK

2011-08-24T07:38:00.000-07:00

This weeks SF Weekly cover about shady DNA crime lab inner workings. Andrew (who's awesome) wanted to show deception / behind the back / shady dealings. Some of the ideas i pitched revolved around a damning memo that had been "lost" - and then others on the more general sense of deception. Some ideas below:

I just wanna fly. higher higher higher higher whatcha want...

2011-08-18T12:51:00.001-07:00

Couple of new pieces for Canadian Wildlife mag
First, about having your gardens be a stopover for migrating birds -
The Second, answering the question "how fast do geese fly in the V formation" - the answer: between 75 - 95 km/h - thats pretty fast!Big thanks to Steve for these spots, as always.
In other news, I launched a new website this week with the help of the amazing illustrator / designer / problem solver Phillip Nessen. come stop by: www.peterthomasryan.com

Stay Gold, Ponyboy

2011-08-11T08:00:00.000-07:00

small op-ed style piece i did for Ron at Adweek for a cool article about agencies leaving their small boutique firms for the the comfort of big firms. Tried a lot of ideas for this one - and had a few i liked a lot - but couldnt get past the impossible visual of a fish swimming between a bowl and an aquarium. Fun to put a new spin on used up imagery, i think!
Was also hoping for this "Hermit crab" idea (you know, how they leave their little shells for bigger ones) - in fact, i had several underwater ideas. Odd.
Thanks very much for reading!

Bear with me...

2011-08-08T08:58:00.000-07:00

that may be the second time i've used that title for a blog post involving bears.
oooppps.
Anyway, here is my late summer / fall postcard - if anyone would like one, please let me know, I'd love to mail you one!!
An important thing to note: I had a brief 5 or 6 year period growing up where all i did was draw bears doing things. Like, from everyday tasks to big adventures - I LOVED bears, and loved the thought of them doing things bears couldnt really do. When deciding what image to make as a promo i was going with the theme "innovation" - a pretty common one for promo's, i think. I wanted something that was much more playful than my usual images. something involving bears.
who knows, maybe more bear related commissions will come of this! Or fish related ones. Or lawn watering related ones. Dammit.

Float your boat

2011-07-31T07:33:00.000-07:00

Quick piece for the WSJ about making sure your money is insured, if your bank went under. These are mad times. mad! I really like the challenge of painting money - and all the better when you can freshen it up a little. here's and a process shot.

One punch death

2011-07-29T06:10:00.001-07:00

Cover for this weeks City Pages. The story is about a man who ends up in a drunken bar fight, punching a guy once, and killing him. It was kinda tricky to find the right concept because it was important to be sensitive to the victim, i didnt want to depict him at all if i didnt have to. Its also not like the man meant to kill him, it was a total accident - and he's paying for it with jail time.
In the end everyone loses, which is a good reason not to fight, i suppose.
The chalk outline cast like a shadow seemed like the right solution - i liked the connection it suggests. The AD was clear he wanted something pretty graphic - had to channel my inner Tomac to get those shadows right ;)
Couple of roughs as well, there were lots more:

2011-07-28T07:13:00.000-07:00

I had the extreme pleasure of working on a really cool project with Lesley Q Palmer and AARP last month. Essentially, it was setting AARP's stance on Social Security straight, as there had been some false information in the media about their view points and concerns.
The problem:
The youngest boomers are late 40s, which means for the next 20 years (approx until around 2025/2035), these boomers are making lots of $$ and funding the system. Even though some older boomers are starting to tap into their SS benefits, there’s still several years of boomers putting $$ into the system. Once 2025/2030 comes, and the last of the boomers retire, not only are they NOT paying into the system, they are taking $$ out, and so are the older boomers. This leaves generation X (which is a notoriously small generation) trying to pay for the HUGE generation of boomers social security benefits. So when the last of the boomers retire, the bottom totally falls out of the system.
My initial sketches played with the idea of Social Security running out, and also a little on it being sustained - as its possible, there are just steps that need to be taken...Lesley liked the "Americana" nature of the last sketch, and because the story was changing and growing in that direction, it made sense to develop some more with that feel. Here are a few of my attempts to marry "American" and retirement - there were more, but im fearful this blog post may go on forever.The last idea was perfect - mixed the elements we were hoping for, and still said "time is running out" - *sigh of relief*
I sometimes draw things in illustrator before i paint them, just so i know lines are straight and ellipses are right etc. heres a few that didnt make the cut:upon further inspection, it needed to look a bit more like a hat, so we went back and i paid a bit more attention to my sketch - Heres the final: and Lesley's wonderful layout:and some details from within:Thanks very much Lesley for the great project and great input. and thanks for reading, if you made it this far.

playing catch up -

2011-07-18T10:29:00.000-07:00

I have been a bit lax on posting recently - sorry - summer is always a busy time, but im going to make an effort to catch up on some recent projects -
the first was a spot for american lawyer, about the rise of minority lawyers - well specifically, how minority lawyers are slowly coming out of the shadows and reclaiming some space. things are getting a bit more even ... well they're not - the gap is still mind bending, but a little better all the time.
Next was a piece for inside counsel about electronic contracts - those little "i agree" buttons that everyone clicks without consideration are actually enforceable by law. Only, they arent, really. the contracts are easy to break. people even agree knowing they wont follow through. Trying that whole juxtaposing real and graphic with questionable success. fun piece though, i like remembering how fun it is to get a piece a bit messy.some roughs: (was really hoping the fingers crossed one would be picked - oh well!)

Cakewalk

2011-07-10T10:09:00.000-07:00

very quick spot illos appearing in todays LATimes op-ed.
Smart layout (and copy) from Jim Brooks! Thanks Jim

Got this covered

2011-07-06T07:33:00.000-07:00

I have a couple of covers out there this week -
The first comes from Westword, and the wonderful AD Jay Vollmar.
Jay came to me with his idea already in mind (I'm pretty sure he has a bit of a reputation for smart ideas) - The cover focused on cronyism and an unending stream of corruption in the city - and Jay's concept was perfect - two hands in an infinite shake. I've been pretty into Deco period work lately, and really wanted to get across a "stately, old Fortune magazine" type feel to it. Sometimes (rarely) a piece turns out exactly how you want it to. a perfect mix of graphic and painterly.
I added the cover type for effect - but Jay's layout is better (cant seem to find a large enough version of it online) - couple of ideas below:Also - I was asked by Miami New Times to do a cover for their feature story about doctors who remained in Haiti, helping repair it - here were some concepts -They also pitched their own idea which i mocked up - in the end they ended up going with one of mine: (seen here with mocked up type (theirs is nicer))and then I got some good news that the story was also being run by Broward New Times, and the AD Miche had picked the Miami editors idea, to put on his cover - neat! Here it is below:I paint a lot of hands - so its fun to try new things all the time.

ooohhhh baby i like it rawwwwww...

2011-06-25T07:20:00.000-07:00

This piece was for one of my fav AD's, and all around nice guy Greg Crippen. It was about raw milk being illegal in new Jersey, and really, on a grander scale - the whole idea of people wanting to get milk straight from the source. The editor had an idea in mind, but i pitched some ideas too - I wanted to play around with it being illegal and all shady - thats a pretty funny way to show getting milk - i also wanted to show that its sad for the people who cant buy it, blah blah blah in the end we went with the editors idea of getting the milk straight from the source, and the udder acting as a tapI tried a more refined rough that "zoomed out" to show more of the scene but in the end we zoomed back it - which made sense, to have the focus show the tap and udder more. Check out the article here. Thanks Greg!! you're the man

yellow

2011-06-20T10:24:00.000-07:00

This idea took almost two days to come up with.
I know, its crazy to spend that long concepting for a project - but sometimes its the only way its going to happen. a few weeks ago I was approached by UofT's law magazine "Nexus" to illustrate an article about finding a balance between the consumer/investor/corporate vs. citizen interests. The article stated how, due to a larger amount invested politically - consumer and corporate interests tended to be heard over that of the average joe. My job was to show the citizen finding room for their voice within this - thought it would be clever to take the lines from a bar code and use them as speech lines. not only does it take some space from the corporate, but gives some to the citizen. This was NOT AN EASY idea to come up with. i spent one full day working on it - and when i went to review what i had come up with, realized it was all crap and started again. at one point i thought about giving up illustration all together as i had "lost it". I freaked out, threw up my hands, then, like always - picked up the pencil again and went back at it. Another day went by (at this point the roughs were due the next day ... along with other projects) and finally, some good stuff. And thats what made getting some good ideas feel awesome - because it was so hard. correction - it IS so hard. the only shortcut is sitting at your desk, swearing to yourself, hating everything - until, ultimately, it works out.
At least thats my process.

Punx not dead

2011-06-16T15:30:00.000-07:00

I did this weeks cover of OC Weekly - and boy, was it a fun gig!
Initially the story was sons following their fathers career paths - i was set loose.For a while - it was going to be bigfoot!!!Then it was going to be this one:Then there was a punk element added - father and son were musicians / punks / in the same business / businessmen, so i revised a few previous ones - and pitched a few new ones - how AMAZING would this tie image have been!?!?Finally, we settled on an image that suited the story best - a bit of a hybrid from a previous ideaThen I had free reign, and set out to make the most fun image i could. I loved how it turned out.Thanks Laila!!

Alberta Oil

2011-06-14T07:11:00.000-07:00

A few months ago I was contacted by Alberta Oil to make some pieces for an upcoming issue. For the last year or so, i've tried as much as possible to take a real "try anything" approach when it comes to execution. Not at the expense of the piece - but finding the right tone and delivering that. This has resulted in work that is very graphic - to much more painterly. Consequently, these four piece each look a little different. So be it.
First article was about the oil industry in Alberta "growing up" - aging - evolving etc. this could have been cool - but just wasnt clear enough - wanted to show a kid growing up, leaving their sandbox - sandbox to represent dig sites. ...in hindsight maybe it made no sense?we ended up going with removing the training wheels from one of those massive dump trucks - seemed like a fun solutionNext article was about the cost of eco drilling - sort of a split article, because it was pro eco - but really wanted to stress the costs the final was cool - i like painting money - and i like juxtaposing "real" with graphicNext was about this energy project in Newfoundland that involves building a hydroelectric dam. the issue - is that there is a lot of risk involved - maybe people wont buy the electricity - and its a big investment. I'm a really big fan of Tim O'Brien, and more "realistic" painting in general. Not that i can do it at all - but im always really inspired to inject a little bit more of that into my regular work. I try to be really careful with this though, as i dont want to step on anyones toes - people that may already work in this manner. its not super obvious in this rough, but i wanted the crack in the dam to be shaped like a lightening bolt - really liked the idea below, with the puffin trying to fly away (nflands "official" bird) and he is tangled in the wire / being held back a little - seemed perfect. I had a few more generic ideas too - heres onethen for the final my pitch of "painting a worried puffin, with electric outlet feet" was good enoughFinally, the last piece was a spot about "risky oil" ventures - Investors could sink their money into a refinery, but it might make them broke. some fun roughs for this one - but i'd like to hold onto them for a future project - heres that final: - the sky was really fun to screen.

hammer time

2011-06-07T06:27:00.000-07:00

sample type layout above ^^

full pager for Canadian Wildlife about sustainable building projects

i like to move it, move it...

2011-06-04T17:34:00.000-07:00

Here was a piece in todays Washington Post. It's about people, who's possessions are held hostage by movers they hire to help them move. Basically, the moving companies quote one price, and then once at the new home demand much more or they'll keep the home owners stuff. i really liked the idea of people's stuff being held hostage, or for ransom. the people are really trapped by the proposition. what are you going to say, "I dont want my stuff!"?? theres really no choice in the matter. Heres some ideas i had going in -I really liked the above idea, and pushed for it. Thankfully, Diamond the AD knew better.
She liked the idea of having the home owner in a jail - or at least trapped - and with this idea we moved forward a bit. here was the first attempt:Diamond wisely suggested that we make the person two people - and add a mover and moving van in the background. good ideas! Heres that revised rough:I've noticed my work getting much more ... comic-ee looking lately - that might not be the term i'm looking for, but its looking different. at first, i wasnt sure if i liked it - but im starting to. Who knows how long it will look like this, but its fun for now. (note, it may look NO different to you, the reader - I'm just a weirdo)

Banjo Kazooie

2011-05-30T07:13:00.000-07:00

Small piece i did for this months Cincinnati Magazine about a radio program dedicated to bluegrass music. What other solution is there? They mentioned that they wanted the piece to be really grimy, i was happy to oblige. Heres the original bg color (above) - and one i changed in photoshop to a kinda neutral greeny - yellow (bellow). I offered over both, cause i thought each one was kinda cool - but would be curious which one you find more effective, at such a small print size. Really great working with Cincinnati Mag again - they're great!
June is almost here, can you believe it?!! Time flies...

know your role...

2011-05-22T07:42:00.000-07:00

This piece is appearing in todays WSJ - about people investigating, and ranking their neighbors home. I tried a bunch of different options for both aspect (have added a couple of roughs below) - but really liked the idea of judges scoring. Fun, piece and great to work with Mark again.

More than you expected

2011-05-21T16:13:00.000-07:00

My summer postcard, with the tag line "More than you expected"

Please let me know if you'd like one :)
Thanks for stopping by.
I love you.

oh - i was also screwing around with how it could look as a book cover (because it would be fun to do some of those) - so i very poorly threw this together...

what the devil

2011-05-18T08:42:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the lack of posts - this month has been nuts - i'll make sure to be more attentive for the rest of the month! This was a full pager for HR magazine - about ethics tests revealing the true nature of potential employees. Such a nice magazine to work with! A couple of roughs below:

book learnin'

2011-05-04T07:10:00.000-07:00

Some ideas are head and shoulders above other you have. it's really exciting when these happen, because it isnt all the time. for some reason, i felt that way about these two -
both for the new issue of Education Forum, the first - about Standardized Testing and how TEACHERS are being punished for their students low test scores - the F matches the smack across the back of the hand

Next piece was about debating - im really hoping someone didnt have this idea first - i thought it was super fun.Big thanks to Fresh Art and Design, some of the best people to work for!

Mixed metaphor

2011-04-30T19:17:00.000-07:00

did this piece for Phoenix magazine. the topic was about many mental health treatment centers being closed by the state, due to lack of funding. The people have no place to turn. The AD wanted to show "slipping through the cracks, and no safety net - as a metaphor for what was going on. - i thought it would be cool to show someone drawing in parched land, like water - the cracks could take of the characteristics of water - they liked that idea - but preferred to show the person slipping through these cracks, rather than drowning in them - they also decided to combine that with another rough, that showed a wall of people neglecting a patient - their clothing mirroring the state flag.Im always nervous to combine metaphors, but i think these two work pretty well together.

here are some roughs:

Nepotism

2011-04-22T09:05:00.000-07:00

I did this months front of book illustrations for The Walrus (never underestimate the power of proximity) - but these were handled in a very different way from regular finals i do - in that, there were no finals. Correction my roughs were finals. Jen Spinner who AD'd the pieces thought the roughs might be a bit more fitting for the section rather than finished pieces. I thought "cool!" - i've never tried anything like that and am always open to something different. The results? Pretty cool! - although i wont be abandoning my final process anytime soon it was neat to let a bit of loose energy come through.

For the FOB section the illustrator picks a theme, and carries that theme through a variety of subjects. Joel Kimmel did the section the month before me and absolutely killed it! his theme was the grapes of wrath. After some thinking and back and forth i decided my theme would be Brian Wilson. I'm a huge fan afterall and he's had a pretty crazy life.
First stop was the "Contributors" section - the only real requrement to show someone - in this case Brian, shirtless, in bed.next, the "Letters" section - the requirement here, obviously, to use the theme and tie it back to letters - i thought showing Wilson dropping a stamp like a hit of acid made sense.Next was the "Editor's Note" section - where the content, conveniently was somewhat regarding Canada - Obviously, showing Brian riding a loon like the Wish Dragon from "the Neverending Story" was the only logical directionand finally the "Miscellany" section - where i only really needed to include the type Miscellany - i chose to pay a nod to the famous photo of the beach boys sharing a surf board.lots of fun with these - and although it was hard leaving the drawings at this stage its always good to try something new! Thanks very much Jen for working with me on this, you're the best.

I also had a gallery opening this past weekend in my hometown, Stratford. It was a joint show with my friend Jack Dylan - and was a lot of fun - I hung 10 large prints of various pieces and layouts - and 40 paintings / some process work. - Heres a pic!

compostttiiinnn''''

2011-04-18T08:24:00.000-07:00

Two new pieces for Canadian Wilderness - the article was about composting - and its insane, numerous benefits. the first image was a full page, but i've cropped some image on the left where text went - my idea for this was partly inspired by Indiana Jones and the Ark of the Covenant - the scene where the guys face melts off - only, i guess in this case, the opposite.
Then the spot which addressed compost as "Gardeners Gold" and treasure - Lots of fun working on these! couple of ideas below

HeyyyeyyyeEYEYyyyEYYYY....

2011-04-09T22:01:00.000-07:00

.... smoke weed everyday! - Nate Dogg (rip)
Medical marijuana, for the Stranger.

BOOOOOOOOOMMMM

2011-03-30T12:07:00.000-07:00

i dont get time to do as many personal pieces as i'd like - this was a rejected rough for a financial piece a while back. i took out the stern looking business man and replaced him with a kid. my idea was to title it "being a kid is hard" - although not sure if that really makes sense. Really wanted to push the piece to be super fun and childlike. i'm also very into gradients lately, so you'll be seeing more and more of them in my work in the coming weeks - or until i realize they dont look good.
thanks for stopping by.

DOZER

2011-03-27T14:28:00.001-07:00

I have a piece in todays Washington Post - its about this neighborhood thats being wrecked by by construction. This was SO MUCH FUN to work on. I've been really wanting to do a super complicated piece (for me) since the "Inception" piece a few months ago - so was really excited to get the chance to do it again
Diamond (the AD) was an extreme joy to work with and gave some really fun feed back and really made the piece sing. I was looking at a bunch of Waldo books to get some inspiration, and would love a chance (and some more time) to do something REALLY complicated - but this was great for now.

The Rememberers

2011-03-24T18:33:00.000-07:00

This was for a feature story about a woman (and a group of people) that remember everything. Like, literally everything! isnt that nuts?! apparently, its a pretty small number of people that have this ability, like 9 so far - so its a pretty remarkable skill to have. I was lucky enough to have some of the image spill onto the opposite page and also illustrate the headline. I was seeing string for days afterwards! Big shout out to Jill, who modeled for this piece (as they requested the woman look pretty, and she fit the bill)
just a few ideas - i wanna hold onto a few of the better ones, for now...
liked the one below - the string making an infinity symbol
also thought this was funny - putting your brain in reverse gear...

magnets

2011-03-21T21:23:00.000-07:00

i had a piece in the globe and mail today. the story was a bit of a weird one - it was about an older man who likes playing with spherical magnets - and believes they help him think / use his brain.
for at least a few hours i had no idea where to take that. none. i started doing some research and came across this image of magnetic fields - the lines really seemed to look like the two halves of a brain (top view) - that was good enough for me - i worked for a while on other brain ideas - but they ended up going with this one. this piece is shown with the line work yellow - it went to print in brown, but i prefer it like this - a bit more subtle, i think. I've really cut away doing elaborate line work in the last few years - but it seemed a bit necessary for this. also tinkered with just pink outlines - but maybe its too subtle?heres some ideas that didnt make the cut - there were lots more, each relating in one way or another...

the (new) times, they are a changin'

2011-03-16T11:56:00.000-07:00

Current cover for The Broward New Times, about police corruption ... kinda ... I'll explain -
Basically there was a large overtime scam happening where cops were stealing additional hours to pad their cheques. (This was the angle many of my roughs took) - There was also a small number of whistle blower cops that "ratted out" the crook cops. cops arresting cops arresting cops essentially. (thats the angle the final went)Also, with the help of Joel Kimmel and my kind and selfless friend Greg Benedetto I was able to put together a process video - Greg did the editing, and I'm sure im jumping the gun a little, as he was putting on some finishing touches - but i though he did an awesome job - and he's the best! So, check that out here: http://manwithoutacountry.ca/pete/pete_01-H.264.mov

you shoes you lose

2011-03-08T11:12:00.001-08:00

This piece was for Runners World about planning / customizing / tuning up your week.
As such, we decided to use a calender to show organization and planning.
What an awesome magazine. They use SO MUCH illustration - and its all very different. This issue included pieces from Victo Ngai, Thomas Fuchs, Josh Cochran, Edel Rodriguez, Mike Byers (who absolutely KILLED a massive feature - nice one Mike) among others. Marc Kauffman, the AD for this piece was really great to work with, even when i needed a little back and forth getting the final just right -

thanks for stopping by...

somewhere, over the rainbow...

2011-03-01T14:38:00.000-08:00

This piece was for Investment Advisor - the topic being "How much do investors stand to lose when interest rates reverse course?" - Sometimes financial pieces like this really get me excited because you really have to exercise, you know? here are some ideas i had - i really liked the speedbag one, like your investment takes a beating -
Chris Nicholls, The AD for this one came up with the idea of pushing the chosen image to the right to make room for the header - great idea Chris, it was fun to work with the negative spaceand the final (cropped a bit from the original, for your viewing pleasure)
also Chris' idea to have the rainbow run off the page.
Thanks for reading.

From the magazine that brought you bear doing the limbo...

2011-02-23T13:41:00.000-08:00

Comes these little gems. Its spring, and that means I'm back working with Cottage Life. Ahhhhh Cottage Life, takers of my most outrageous ideas - so much fun to work with. First piece was about Loving your dock spiders ... or at least being buddies with them - I had some personal problems doing this piece - as I HATE AND FEAR spiders with all i have in me. But i put it past me and decided to soldier on - My first idea was my fav - I thought it would be funny to make the dock look like a bunkbed - where two bestfriends would be having a slumber party! just my luck, cl was already doing a feature on bunkbeds this issue, so it wasnt meant to be :(the best friend theme was pretty easy to run with though, and they ended up hangin' out on the end of the dock - enjoying the day.
The second feature was about the healing aspects of going to the cottage. good for your mind and body - the "prescription" aspect was a no-brainer.
final \/there is also a third, equally zany illustration in the issue - so pick up the mag to check it out.
Finally, big shout of and thanks to Dan, Dan, John, Kate, Jenn, Victo, Robyn, and Dadu - for showing me a great time this past week in New York. Hope to do it again soon :)

metronome chomsky

2011-02-20T13:07:00.000-08:00

Recent full pager for OPC about focusing on various areas of reform to produce overall education consistency. was really psyched about this idea as it seemed to really speak of consistency in a fun way by using a metronome. Let me know if the saturation is way up, or down - I'm using Jills computer while mine is in the shop and her monitor is calibrated differently - couple of roughs below, there were a bunch of others - the first one addressed a a part of the article that spoke of common direction / goal - liked that idea too.

double your pleasure

2011-02-14T10:31:00.000-08:00

Heres two more pieces - a spot and a larger one -
First for Registered Nurses Journal - this article was about nurses helping and guiding people in difficult times, like death. nurses are always there offering hope and support. the article refers to nurses as "bridges" a lot - so that was the direction we ended up going.couple of roughs - i really liked this tissue idea -Second for Education Forum, about one particular school thats "lifting the veil" so to speak on why their students were not performing. through a number of infinitives teachers and volunteers were able to turn it around so that all students were doing well and actively participating. i wanted to show a blind being lifted on a classroom door - but the blind actually doubled as the window into what we see in the classroom. the part being rolled away shows students that dont care - are not engaged. the window beneath shows happy attentive students. took a lot of drawing for me to feel like it looks like the blind is going up, rather than down.there was something i really liked about leaving the hand unfinished -
some roughs, there were lots of others:Both projects were Art Directed by the fantastic people at Fresh Art & Design - really great group there!!

sponge bob

2011-02-14T08:32:00.000-08:00

This was a half pager for Canadian Wildlife Magazine. The topic, was about spring runoff, and how to prep your property so it absorbs the water, rather than letting it damage the land. Lots of my roughs focused on the damaging part - but we ended up focusing more on what people should do, instead - and i think that was the right choice. The AD was Steve Balaban who has recently started his own design studio called "Studio B". Needless to say, it was fun to work with him again.
some roughs and some pics Jill took while i was painting - note what we're listening to - awesome.

rhino what you did last summer...

2011-02-03T17:09:00.001-08:00

I have a mountain of work to post, but the sheer thought of that is semi terrifying, so I'm going to take it slow. one piece at a time. This was for Cincinnati Magazine, about indian rhinos getting pregnant. Im serious, thats what it was about. It's apparently very difficult, especially in captivity. many dont make it to term, others die shortly after birth. is there anything more sad than a dead, baby rhino?! We decided it would be a fun juxtaposition to show a massive rhino being carried by a struggling stork. Incidently, the clouds were painted with the help of a youtube tutorial on "Painting clouds at night" - its really did help. The AD was the very wonderful Megan Scherer, she was totally open to my ideas and very fun to work with. Here are some roughs that went with the final, as usual, there were many many more...

Come back soon, I'm going to be posting lots this month...

Magic Johnson

2011-01-18T11:44:00.000-08:00

A little while back I had the extreme pleasure of working with fantastic illustrator John Tomac (who also designs for Barron's) for an article about Closed End Mutual funds. In the brief John explained to me that they're a bit shadey and hoped to see some slight of hand / deception. John suggested pulling money from behind the investors ear and that seemed to be a good fit - as the returns seem to materialize from out of nowhere. Lots of fun working with John, and a bit intimidating, as Im such a big fan of his work - In the end I think the final looked pretty badass.
Thanks John! some roughs below, there were lots

muppets in Chi Town

2011-01-13T06:59:00.000-08:00

sounds like a musical, right?
The is this weeks cover of the Chicago Reader - I painted it out Monday night. The whole process went really fast - It was about the "hidden hands" in the mayoral campaign - the people behind the scene, calling the shots. They wanted to feature one candidate in particular - Rahm Emanuel - so the idea was to do a conceptual portrait. Fun. this is what I came up with, along with some roughs.
Interesting side note Rahm is missing half his finger on his right hand - AND so is his campaign manager ... weird.

Heavy Metal (Detector)

2011-01-09T06:45:00.000-08:00

Heres a piece for todays WSJ. I was working with the blurb "where jobs are" - then later the article which elaborated a bit more and was essentially explaining which industries are hiring in 2011. My initial idea was to show a circled job in the classifieds (as the article spoke of finding a job, as well as looking) the circle would double as the end of a metal detector. - kinda, you know, detecting the jobs that are hiring. I got the go ahead from Mark, who felt It would work better with just a regular metal detector. Fair enough - but I decided to see both through to final - Maybe when Mark saw it he'd get what I was going for. Below are the two finals, Mark decided to go with his version and he was right to do so. Mine just doesnt read as immediately. I still like the idea OF the idea - but Im glad I had someone to steer me away from the rocks. Thanks Mark, great working with you as always - love those quick overnight finishes. Winner

Baby New Year

2011-01-02T06:41:00.000-08:00

2011 Whaaaaaaaaaatttttuuuuupppppppp!!!!!
I did this series for Alberta Venture over my break. I love working with them and usually get to do one big project for them a year. This one was about companies franchising!
The main image was just showing business franchising - i wanted to show everyone "in it together" as well as showing a clear leader. I was really happy with the solution, as a sidecar (or a bunch of them) seem to fit these requirements really well :)I also did a bunch of spots for this project -
one about how businesses get further with multiple revenue sources rather than one:
another about selecting valuable property locations among the bad / toxic onesI LOVE this crown / trap idea - it originated with another project I was also working on, but worked great for this too.
Thanks for stopping by!

All good things...

2010-12-23T12:21:00.001-08:00

So, in whats become a bit of an annual tradition for me, its my 2010 "thank you" post.
This year has been incredible. I'm really enjoying living downtown Toronto, and love spending time in my work and living space more and more (for better or worse) ha. I've been super fortunate to work with some really amazing clients this year, and for that I am super thankful. I feel incredibly grateful every time I'm selected for a project and try my best to make a good image with each opportunity. Thank you, everyone who has hired me. Not only do you feed my body and pay my bills, but you give me a sense of purpose and complete happiness. I owe you all a high five. I've made some good work this year, and some pieces not so great - but i learn with each one, and always approach new commissions with a spirit of adventure. I think this is why I hold onto working in a traditional manner. Its a bit difficult to explain, but for me, working traditionally is more about the exploration than the destination. Im not replicating a process, in most cases I'm wrestling with it. Desiring a particular texture or "look" requires figuring out how to physically make it. its sometimes slow, and often clumsy but im holding onto it with a mechanics grip. Im proud of many fo my 2010 projects.
Each year I meet great new designers and illustrators, and this year was no exception. People in this industry are so good to each other. The folks I've gotten' to know, or know better have totally inspired me and humbled me with their skill and friendship. The list would take forever, but to all my friends - thanks for this year. To all the industry vets who's work and careers I admire so much I wish you continued success and thank you for the inspiration and for forging the path.
Thanks Fish and Mark for helping me get Nonslick back on track - and thanks to everyone who reads the interviews we post. I really care about that blog and really see the value of asking questions and sharing experience. I appreciate the support people show it.
Thanks Jill for sharing a workspace with me. i look forward to listening to records and This American Life along side you every day when I wake up. I'm lucky I get to spend so much time with you. Thanks to my family and loved ones - your support and encouragement will always have a home with me. Finally thanks to everyone the checks out my work, leaves comments, sends me emails or supports me in any way - its appreciated more than you can imagine. Making images for a living can provide a healthy amount of self doubt. I'm trying my best with every piece I make, so having people give a shit is really really validating. Seriously, Thank you.
Finally a bit of advice that I try to remember everyday:
Work hard(er), Stay Humble (always) and Be Thankful (for everything).

I'm going to be an uncle in 2011 - so the year is already shaping up to be a new favorite.

You down with OPC? YEAH, YOU KNOW ME!!!

2010-12-15T12:14:00.000-08:00

Heres a few fun spots I did for the Ontario Principals Council magazine.
The first one (and idea i've been waiting to use for a dogs age) was about ontario principals setting and reaching new standards. obviously principals wear orange sweaters...
next one was about kids bringing their home education practices with them to school
the last one was a movie review of the film "waiting for superman" - the reviewer takes a very critical look at a film taking a critical look at schools. thanks for stopping by. i love you.

license to pill

2010-12-12T07:13:00.000-08:00

Painted this for a feature story on Thursday for the LATimes - it was about how drugs designed to help curb obesity keep being held back by the FDA. Got to work with Joey Santos on this one, and he was awesome! In the roughs I tried to play with the idea of blocking and denying. here are a few below - Oh, and it ran BIG - like 8.5 x 11

Shot through the heart...

2010-12-08T17:47:00.000-08:00

kinda.
insensitive.
Heres a cover I did for Westword about a man who's wife shot him in the face and blinded him. It's actually super sad - he was sleeping at the time. He even supported his wife for a while through the trial - must have been a really confusing time. Anyway, This idea seemed too good to be true - in fact there were a bunch of easy solutions. heres the final with some mock text and without, and some roughs.

cheap - er by the dozen

2010-12-01T06:27:00.000-08:00

last week or the week before i got a call around 3:30 to see if i could do a small spot for the next day for the WSJ - roughs by 5:15. the article just had a blurb at the time, but would be about all the cheap holiday gift deals going down over Thanksgiving. lots of savings to be found! i got excited and put my thinking cap on (aka an old beer hat i wear for no real reason other than it makes me look slightly homeless) - I had lots of fun brainstorming for this - even for just a small amount of time.
the illustration also need to fit a completely different set of dimensions, so i painted everything separately and fit them back together in the final process
thanks for stopping by!!

Pie not

2010-11-26T12:56:00.000-08:00

for an article about disabilities effect on the bottom line. one of those solutions i cartwheeled over. always need to remind myself to keep things simple. whether its in my ideas or my execution - my best stuff comes when i dont over work it.
hey, my first illo using a pie chart :)

this, and that...

2010-11-24T14:18:00.000-08:00

So, I was fortunate enough to do some spots for this months issue of WIRED - this one in particular was about dreams - specifically "nightmare on elmstreet" and Freddy ruining peoples sleep. grab the issue if you wanna see more - theres a fun series. Im pretty sure they werent all used, in print atleast but i'll post those sometime soon too.

I also had some good news that i had a piece included in this years SOI annual. so thats nice.

hands up, baby hands up...

2010-11-18T06:02:00.000-08:00

I had the extreme pleasure of sharing a magazine for the second time with Juan Solon. This time, RBC Dexia (the magazine put out by my bank) (royal bank). my job was to illustrate 3 articles, and by God, i did just that - first was about smaller, alternative investments reinventing themselves as a good investment rather than certain debt. the second, about finding the select opportunities within the asian marketplace and the third about china opening up to currency trade with canada.
after handing this in I hear back from the AD that they wanted to change the canadian currency to the Euro - i was a bit bummed because i liked the portrait i painted - they needed it soon, so i decided i would use PHOTOSHOP!!!!!! it was a pretty easy, graphic bill - and i think it looks pretty good!now for roughs. i had a million roughs for these. i'll post a few randomly - lots focused on developing industry:

take it or leave it

2010-11-16T12:14:00.001-08:00

This image was / maybe still is going to be used for a winter postcard. the thing is, im not sure if i like it, or hate it. this is ALWAYS the way i feel about promos - i usually make about 6 a year, and usually only end up mailing 2. the idea behind it is that i still work traditionally, and im trying to spin this a a good thing. you know, have some fun with the concept of digital images. like most promos, this was a rejected rough from months and months ago. so, yeah or neah?

snakes on a plane

2010-11-15T13:47:00.000-08:00

I feel like i painted this piece ages ago, happy to be posting it. This was for Harvard Business Review (a real dream client of mine) about the dangers of the internet. Yes, there are some...lots in fact. This was a real bitch to paint, and about three times i started over on the same piece. you may notice in areas that the texture is pretty whack (like the scales area). when i finally got it looking the way i wanted i decided to keep all the imperfection in, i think it looks better this way. moral of the story, all the frustration was worth it, at least for me. read the article here if you like, its good. heres a few of the many ideas that didnt make the cut...
this one isnt drawn out amazing - but i think its a really cool idea - having the navigation arrows circling around the kid like sharksi also went a bit sci fi with a few ideas, which for me is somewhat of a long shot - but fun to throw out there anyway :)
thanks for stopping by

Angles in the outfield...

2010-11-09T15:21:00.000-08:00

Im actually kind of proud of that title. So, time for something a bit different. Last week I was asked by Wes at the LATimes to do a large piece for the envelope section about the movie Inception. Its been about a year of working with the LATimes and Wes throws a lot of assignments my way, so I set out to really knock this out of the park. Basically, they were running a quiz about the movie and my job was to do my best capturing the spirit of the film. Daunting. After lots of roughs I set upon a very ambitios task. So many of the films aspects seemed inspired by, and reminded me of amazing artist MC Escher. Escher had an wonderful way of showing the sureal, in a way that is believable - I decided to do my research on his work, and on optical illusions. images that show a reality that could never really exist.
Inspired by this image and others I sent Wes a load of roughs and really tried to sell my favourite idea - Using this image as a template I set out to re-create this world of weird angles and numerious realities but infuse it with elements from inception - eg. water rushing in windows, mountaintops, a van going over the edge, explosions, a cafe like enviroment, a safe, an elevator, and lots of people fighting, or, just hanging out.Wes went for it. Shit. I had bitten off more than i could chew, as it was due in 3 days, along with a smaller spot image. I buried my head and started planning, drawing and painting. Days came and went, but i didnt leave my desk (except maybe to get coffee)
- i have more process pictures but they wont load for some reason :(
anyway, i tried to draw it out so it could be viewed from multiple angles - heres two There was also a spot - which is a little nod at Leo's totem in the film, with a mix of the surreal i was talking about earlier.finally, I submitted a LOT of roughs for this, heres one i was sad didnt make the final cut:Thanks Wes! This was a great project!! Its in todays paper - go pick it up if you can!!
thanks for reading :)

Sea Quest

2010-11-06T23:38:00.001-07:00

For the last couple months I was doing a regular spot for MoneyWise in the UK. it was for an ongoing feature about first time investors, and following them all the way up to experienced investors. The AD wanted to continue with a nautical theme - guy in boat, etc. sometimes these illustrations are great opportunities to make a well traveled metaphors a bit more fun with the way you draw. We decided to go with the (reoccurring) character happily trekking across a sea of ticker tape. As much as i love super clever conceptual solutions, Im learning to love making more fun, narrative work too.
Heres a couple of roughs - there were a bunch of nautical themed ones, these focus a bit more on mixing in varried amount of new investments and investment growth It was a great pleasure working with you Mark - thanks for the fun!!

The rule of thirds...

2010-10-31T09:32:00.000-07:00

apparently I like to draw people in 3's. so be it.
Quick piece I did for HR Magazine about cuts across the board.
basically at a certain State University, rather than firing workers HR had the genius idea to just implement miniature, unpaid leaves of absence - super miniature - maybe just a few hours once a week. these were also tiered so that it had the greatest effect on the highest paid employees - that way, everyone could afford the cutback. basically everyone sacrifices so that no jobs are lost.
Good of the University to want to keep its employees - from bottom to top
heres some roughs.

Quick, like a bunny ...

2010-10-23T13:20:00.000-07:00

yesterday i did a very fast turn around op-ed for the nytimes (running today) about doctors treating patients using guidelines rather than personal assessments. this is a reaction to malpractice suites etc - and in an effort to curb that - standardization would help. the downside is you can not treat an illness in a uniform way - everyone is different. from beginning starting on roughs to end about 4 hours. read it online here
Thanks Alex for bringing the wrong credit to my attention :)

SAAS

2010-10-19T08:42:00.001-07:00

Sometimes a less conceptual approach is necessary.
Those words haunt me, but are true. I recently did this piece for CSO magazine about Software as a service coming to surveillance. Say that ten times fast. Basically this means that those that use surveillance software will be able to use it anywhere thanks to the internet. Thanks internet.
I tried to push for a few conceptual ideas - but a clear a+b+c solution made more sense. We decided to do with 50's style service men presenting the necessary components. I wanted them to all look the exact same to get across a more mechanical / consistent vibe as its ultimately being offered by technology, not a human being.
heres some roughs and a picture of me painting. For a while i was focusing on the "dead weight" that was dropped by the new software ^^^

I have issues with food...

2010-10-13T13:24:00.000-07:00

A few months ago I was contacted by Houston Press about doing some spots for their "Best of" restaurant issue - Here is a few of them -
Best "ethical zen" dining:
Best highbrow, oldschool, expensive meal:Best winebar (and a reuse idea from when i was in university)There were more, but i felt these worked really well as a series of portraits.
Oh - and heres a video that goes with the title: man like me - fruit

Under Pressure...

2010-10-06T20:22:00.000-07:00

Such a classic song. maybe, in my top ten. maybe. Anyway, heres a piece i did for AARP about the added pressure bank fees and overdraft charges cause their customers. is costumers the right word? are bankers customers? anyway, was really happy with the solution, seemed to fit like a glove. upon submitting the final i received an email asking if i could do another small illo for the bottom of the page to show tying together finances, and they needed it ASAP. AARPASAP. so did that one too. really nice clients to work for, thats for sure! - couple of roughs, there were lots!loved this idea - cant believe it hasnt been done before! im sure you'll be seeing it sometime in the future. ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
and then the little spot illo
and a rough i was hoping might make the grade:

Mao Mao Mao

2010-10-01T06:47:00.000-07:00

Op-ed running in the LATimes today about the Chinese Communist Party "adopting" many of the ideologies of Confucianism - in an attempt to bridge many of the serious gaps plaguing the country. Long sentence ... sorry. Essentially, the solution is a bit suspiciously convenient. Man this painting went late - but its great to work at that time of night - the city gets so calm. Drawing Confucius' mustache on Mao was my favorite idea, so i was thrilled Wes went this way - here are some of the other roughs too:

thunder struck

2010-09-25T10:58:00.000-07:00

(ever notice my shadows make NO sense??)

This piece was for Leap Magazine, Alberta Cancer Foundations magazine, put out by the great people at Venture Publishing. The article was called "the science of stress", and basically went into the health and personal dangers stress causes. Even though its very serious subject matter, i had some fun playing with depicting stress, and its consequences. Nice, fun piece to paint, so big thanks to them for thinking of me for this project. On a side note, nonslick is getting a bit more help (Mark and I are falling behind) as friend and fellow illustrator Daniel Fishel has agreed to join the team and help us conduct some interviews. I'd really like to add at least one more person, so, if you'd like to reach out to other illustrators and discuss their work with them get in touch with me.
Here are some of the roughs that were submitted:

bully

2010-09-18T10:51:00.000-07:00

My titles suck.
So, this piece was for byFaith Magazine. Its a Christian magazine that tackles everyday subject matter. In this case, Wall street's possession of the housing market, among other things. my initial stab at roughs was way off - as i wasnt focusing on wall street, or housing, but rather the strong element of materialistic Christianity found in the article, as well as the tendency to put money and spending ahead of their faith. so I sent some roughs in, heres a look...those, and others were turned down, and i was given some thoughts on what i should focus on and a bit more of idea of what they were looking for. I had some clear ideas of ways I'd like to show wallstreet, as well as the role they played in the mortgage meltdown, and their possession of so much real estate. so, i submitted more roughs (that i might just hold onto for now) and my fav was picked. a bull wearing a (house like) cowbell seemed like the perfect way to show the possession and control, so i was happy. Like most pieces, i tried some new techniques. My hope was that the viewer would be drawn to the eye / face area of the bull and almost notice the bell secondary. So, I kept the colours similar, except for the blue. I wanted him to looked a bit pissed, but more powerful than anything else. really fun to paint
thanks for visiting. oh - and check out the FANTASTIC layout up top!!!

and then there was light

2010-09-13T20:54:00.000-07:00

heres a little spot i did for Treasury & Risk Magazine. The piece was about people whistle blowing solely for the cash incentives. The kicker, is that those being caught arent necessarily upset, they can get a cut too. its all loco.

Run away train, never coming back

2010-09-09T06:39:00.000-07:00

Heres a piece i did last month for New Jersey Monthly about this train line called "The Dinky". Its this really little train thats been running to Princeton since, like, 1839 and its going to be replaced with a bus service. The article title "Death of the dinky" really says it all - making the solution of a train speeding into a tunnel / grave a pretty obvious one - they are the same shape after all. Pretty sad article considering its rich history. Very rarely do i have to paint things that looks like they do in real life, so this was a fun challenge.
I have to say too, the AD for this was THE COOLEST.
Gregory is a former hardcore kid, still straight edge, and we've had a lot of fun talks about music, concerts etc. Really hope i get to work with him again in the future, but in general, all around super rad guy!!
some roughs:
there were lots of other "death / grave ones"

if you build it...

2010-09-05T09:55:00.001-07:00

This should be in todays WSJ - an overnight about how workers help build investments.
it appears REALLY small - like 2.5 by 1.75 - so i wanted it to be pretty bold and easy to read. these fast turnarounds REALLY make you think on your feet and I was super happy with the solution. In other news it seems like fall has crept up on us. Stay warm with handmade vintage fur headbands, by headmistress here <--- Oh come on, its my girlfriends company, i have to plug it from time to time.

Operation Ivy

2010-09-01T06:09:00.000-07:00

Operation Ivy was a band. Fish, I'm look at you to have been a fan. This really has nothing to do with the piece, it just clearly involves the childrens game Operation ... nevermind. Ok, I got a chance to work with one of my fav AD's recently - the great Colleen Nicholson at Canadian Family. The article was called "Beat the Odds" and was about preventing childhood illness. Pretty serious content, but not impossible to approach light heartedly. This little gem of an idea was 100% Colleens, but i posted a few of my own below as well (there were way way more). If you haven't worked with Colleen send her harassing emails until you do - its a lot of fun and totally worth it. Wait ... maybe dont do that...

Zero tolerance

2010-08-29T17:45:00.000-07:00

Heres a piece I did, what seems like a VERY long time ago now, for Reader's Digest - The article was about how zero tolerance / over-reaction is making good kids seem like criminals.
because of the backlog of piece to post its kinda fun to look back now at it. I liked the final they picked, but was really hoping for the school house / jail one. oh well. i had originally painted a full final, but upon completion, didn't feel like the piece had any life, so re-approached and was much happier the second time around. Sometimes my work can get a bit messy, so due to the size that its printed i tried to keep it nice and clean. lots of ideas for this one.
( like the school zone sign, but the kid being led away in handcuffs)

Leave it to beaver

2010-08-24T21:29:00.000-07:00

not even the best title i had. i considered Justin Beaver briefly. Anyway, heres a piece in the new cottage life about getting your toilet to use less water. lots of different ways apparently!
Im convinced cottage life's AD's have a great sense of humor - cause this sure is zany. Heres the final and some roughs

me so thorny

2010-08-22T07:02:00.000-07:00

is that title appropriate? so, i know, i said i would post way more like...two weeks ago, i mean it for reals this time. im gonna update this mother like its going out of style. so, here a piece in todays Boston Globe - its a book review for "the Pain Chronicles" a story about this really amazing womans struggle with chronic pain. shes this really positive, beautiful person on the inside, just surrounded by hurt. so check that out. side bar I've been having so much fun painting in the last few months, especially pieces like this. thanks for stopping by, more soon. heres some roughs - there were LOTS.

Shady's back, tell a friend

2010-08-09T06:56:00.000-07:00

So,
I decided to take a month away from my blog. Basically, its summer and Im a nerd. that natural combination causes an eternal war. i want to do things like blog etc. but i also want to force myself to go outside and enjoy the sun. Like this very second, i also look for reasons and ways to procrastinate. Long story short, in a whole hearted effort to seize summers embrace, as well as to focus my work time exclusively on work i took a break. A month off. So here we are 29 days later (the month off could be February) and I'm ready to pick up posting. The upside to my absence is that a surplus of pieces to post have built up, so at the very least August will be ripe with new stuff. Heres a piece i did for Wes a little while ago about the various aspects of Emmy acceptance speeches.As always, Wes is the best to work with.
Here are some roughs:

flower power

2010-07-10T07:39:00.000-07:00

This piece will be appearing in todays LATimes on the cover of the IMAGE section.
The article is about a new trend in women embracing the natural beauty of going gray.
For this image they wanted to get across elegance and feminine beauty - as Im no expert on these topics there were lots of roughs. It took a while for me to find the right tone, even with Wes suggesting cascading hair. Nice quick turnaround!

Its just business... Now with Final

2010-07-05T19:39:00.000-07:00

Any business work I do is probably my favorite. There are so many ways to get conceptual, but remain clear. Heres is the final rough of a recent project ( I will be posting the final final shortly) - The piece centered around banks, and how their resources are continually being "tapped" - this leads to temporary strain, but if done at the right time then given time to re-strengthen it can be a rich resource. Given the description (and lucky break that pillars look just like trees) it sounded just like gathering maple syrup. a sweet solution indeed.
It sure is fun (AND FAST) doing a bulk of my rough work in illustrator. Im jealous of the skilled illustrators who use this program on the regular.

IM BACK!

2010-06-29T10:22:00.000-07:00

Tired? Yes.
But had an amazing time! Big up's to Mark Smith - got to meet up with him for a night out of drinks and chatting about old punk rock and skateboarding- great bloke!!! Now for a little work - this piece in in the new issue of The Progressive and was about corporate criminals. I had a lot of ideas for this piece - but the briefcase doubling as a mugshot slate seemed too good to be true. painting this was also so fun - i had a few days to get it done so i took my time and really played around. some airbrushing, some stencils, some straight up brush work. Thanks for reading - lots to come!!

Hot fun in the summer

2010-06-16T10:32:00.000-07:00

This is for my summer promo postcard.
The idea was initially for another project, but wasnt chosen and i always liked it -
Im gonna go with the tag line of working together, or finding solutions / opportunities etc.
I've been painting it in my spare time for the last week or so, so overall i had more time that usual to develop it - pretty happy with it.
Also, Im going back to England on Friday for a few weeks - for Glastonbury festival (willie nelson, snoop dogg, others) so thats going to be awesome. Im also going to try to stalk Mark Smith while im there!

REAL

2010-06-15T06:46:00.000-07:00

Heres a piece appearing in todays LATimes, again for the envelope section. This time, it was Wes' idea I was illustrating. He had this image in mind and it was my job to bring it to life. Its sometimes fun painting someone elses idea - in a way it takes a bit of pressure off - and it gives you a chance to make the image as close to what they had in mind as possible - in this case, branding irons in a fire that spell R E A L. I've been working a lot on this airbrush technique and this piece offered a great venue to push it a bit further. it really works smoothly with the texture that comes from silkscreening. heres the image and a little detail of the texture.
Thanks Wes!!
oh and everyone check this out: http://hawkandsquirrel.wordpress.com/ its a fun illustration podcast some friends have put together

Junebug

2010-06-01T06:07:00.000-07:00

Heres a piece appearing in todays LATimes.
The article is about how tv is changing, and the audience has more say than ever.
Programs are listening to feedback and episodes are being tailored to popular opinion.
some roughs:

wha chu know about dat

2010-05-31T08:49:00.000-07:00

Heres a quick piece I had in Sundays WSJ - for the Yoder & Son feature in personal finance - my second for them. When i say quick i mean that i started painting at about 6pm and it was due the next day at noon. The piece is about Yoder & Levi answering letters re: travel -
The chosen idea was the two of them looking at an envelope / map
Heres how the piece was initially finished:
parts of painting this made me want to kill myself - but I was happy with how it looked in the final and the likenesses of father and son -
However, due to some last minute issues I had to photoshop the addresses out, then turn it B&W- not sure if its as clear as the initial final - but still happy with it and obviously thrilled to work with Mark again. Thanks Mark!!
Heres some roughs:
stamps on suitcases instead of travel stickers stamps like odometer:also played with the theme "GO"