Dresden

Hey folks. The day got away from me. Here's a last minute entry before the weekend. This is a map I did for the New York Times of Dresden, which was supposedly an amazing looking city before we firebombed the bejesus out of it in WWII. So I gather from the writings of Kurt Vonnegut, anyway. The look of the buildings in this map are as accurate as I could make them. Click on this thing to see it bigger. And have a great weekend!

Smog

Hi everybody. Here's an image I did for The New Yorker. It's a portrait of a musician whose name is actually Bill Callahan, but he calls himself "Smog." A few of his friends called up because they wanted to give the original panting to "Smog" for his birthday, but they didn't want to pay me anything for it. That kind of thing happens a lot. Oh well. At least I can put The New Yorker on the clients list. So long!

Agent M for TV

Here's another agent from the TV project I'm working on. This is Agent M. His specialty is Mech Ops (Mechanical Operations). He builds all the spy cars, spy boats and spy planes the agents use every day. Then he repairs them. He has a poor command of English and speaks with a Russian accent. He is always yelling. "What you do this?" "Spy car for spy drive! Not for spy crash!" He's very good at building these machines, but terrible at explaining how to operate them. When he presents Agent A with his super sleek spymobile (complete with ejector seat, smoke screen, auto-drive, and self-opaquening windshield), his instructions consist of jabbing a finger at the accelerator, brake, stick shift and steering wheel, and barking, "Go, stop, shift, turn! You!"

Bully Bear

Hey people. Hope you all had a great long weekend. I did. I went camping with my lovely wife. But before I did that, I did this image for the Wall Street Journal. It ran over the weekend.

Isn't It Annoying...

... when you're trying to work and someone else in the office is humming or singing? At least we don't have to worry about that on Monday. Have a great Memorial Day!

Agent C for TV

Hey people. As I've mentioned a couple of times, I'm working with a friend on an animated TV pitch based on my children's book Agent A to Agent Z. It's a really fun project. One thing I needed to do was change some of the agents around from the book so their names would stand for their specialties. For example, above is Agent C, whose specialty is Comm Ops (Communication Operations). Her command center is linked to all the agents videophone wristwatches (and similar devices). Receiving calls all day from agents sinking in quicksand, strapped to a laser table, or pinned under a crashed hovercraft tends to force Agent C into a bit of a mother role to the team. But she remains calm in the face of her fellow agents' misfortune, almost to the point of callous disregard. Keep an eye out for more agent character designs as the blog trudges on! Bye.

Storyworks Spy Cover

Hey people. I'm working on a cover for Storyworks Magazine, which is put out by Scholastic Inc, so I thought I'd show you another cover I did for them a while back. This one is obviously tied in with my book Agent A to Agent Z. So long!

Fortune Telling Chicken

Hi folks. Here is an image from the book Fat Camp Commandos by Daniel Manus Pinkwater. He was one of my favorite authors when I was a kid, so I was really excited to illustrate one of his books. Unfortunately, we have never met face to face. Just a couple of phone calls. I also illustrated the sequel to this book: Fat Camp Commandos Go West.

Doodling

What's this? Beats me. Have a great weekend.

3D Superhero School

Hey folks. Why all the old work? Well, I'm treating this blog as a portfolio favorites site as well as what I'm up to right now. But a lot of what I'm up to right now is stuff I can't show you because of nondisclosure agreements with book publishers, and other intellectual property issues. For example, I'm working on a book called Superhero School which should be out sometime next year. The thing above is not an image from it. It's a model I designed to help me visualize an imaginary building from several angles throughout the book. This building was created in SketchUp, as was the infographic map from yesterday. The design of the building was inspired by the Hall of Justice from the Superfriends animated show from the 70's, which was inspired by Union Terminal in Cincinnati. Also, the side door is based on my own high school in Kingsport, Tennessee. Click on the image and put on your 3D glasses for the full effect. Bye!

Lipstick on a Pig

I don't think I knew this expression before I did this for the Wall Street Journal. Now I know.

Post 100!

Welcome to the 100th blog entry! What a journey it's been! thanks to all the commentators out there. Here's an image from way back. It's the first thing I ever got published nationwide. If that sounds like something I've said before, I should clarify that the other first thing I got published was something I was paid for. This was first ever and a freebie. It ran in Raygun Magazine, which was art directed by David Carson, the enfant terrible of early 90's graphic design (a description which seems even more ridiculous now than it did then). Carson was always setting his type backwards or upside down or in wildly varying point sizes. He once set an interview with Bryan Ferry in Dingbat, making it a completely illegible series of stars and asterisks. We need people like Carson to do weird stuff like that, if for no other reason than when the next guy tries to do it we can all say, "It's been done." But anyway, this was an illustration of a song called "Headache" by Frank Black, who was previously Black Francis of the Pixies. So long!

Blogger's Block

I couldn't figure out what to put up today, so I wadded up a piece of construction paper, scanned it, and drew on it in Photoshop. It's a genie. Ta-da. Have a great weekend, people. And call your Mom. 

Prostitutes and Skunks

What article in Time Magazine could possibly justify the illustration above? Some questions are better left unanswered.

Morgan Freeman

Hey everybody. Here is a portrait I did of Morgan Freeman that was selected for the Communication Arts Illustration Annual. So long!

¡Happy Cinco de Mayo!

Happy Cinco de Mayo, everyone! 

Earlybird

Hi everybody. This illustration ran in the New York Times Travel Section just a couple weeks ago. It was about how you can get cheaper seats on a plane the earlier you book. Duh, right? It seems like half the articles in any publication are based on completely obvious ideas that never really change. Have you ever looked at a fitness magazine? They could have written a single magazine in 1973 and just rereleased it every month with a new cover photo. Who'd notice? Oh, eat right and exercise, huh? THAT'S the secret! Now they tell me. In defense of the New York Times, they do have the common decency to put in up-to-date statistics each time they rerun these things, and also they hire new illustrations, so I guess I shouldn't complain. I should really just start thinking of another metaphor for purchasing airline tickets early, for next time.

Happy May Day!

2X2L calling CQ. 2X2L calling CQ. Come in, please. 

Isn't there anyone on the air? 

Isn't there anyone on the air? 

Isn't there anyone?