Hey, I made one of those!

Nice to be included in this fun list of favorite designer's holiday cards from Steve Heller @ imprint.

http://imprint.printmag.com/daily-heller/these-are-a-few-of-my-favorite-cards/

a strange machine...

A recent promotional piece... we're all part of a strange machine.

a tough row to hoe...

Our smart, reasonable, hard working President could use some help. Let's hope tomorrow's results don't leave him way up the proverbial creek. Everybody vote, early and often.

"Graphic" - a new book from Steve Heller

It's a pretty big thrill to see my work in the pages of "Graphic", the great new design book from the prolific Steve Heller. Inside are select pages from the sketchbooks of some wonderful illustrators and designers and I am humbled to be among them. It's a treat and an education to see how these varied artists organize their visual musings - Milton Glaser, Marshall Arisman, Brad Holland, and many more. Here's a corner from the page about a guy named Tim Robinson.

one face, or many?

This collage was done recently for The Nation. The story dealt with the positive qualities that various immigrant groups bring to the table, as workforces, voting blocks, and as tapestries of varied individuals.

balance

I just fired off this promotional piece that speaks to the spill situation in The Gulf of Mexico. I wanted to create an image that put what's in the balance right up front, without being emotional or sentimental. Just the facts. I find that approach usually cuts the deepest.

PRINT magazine

I find myself among very fine company in the June issue of PRINT magazine, in an article by Steven Brower about that group of visual artists who are also die-hard musicians. It's a thoughtful piece about a subject that certainly makes sense to me. As a bonus they chose to reprint two of my recent collage illustrations to accompany the text.

handling Iran is tricky...

This collage was done recently for The Nation, to accompany a story by Robert Dreyfuss. How should we best move forward when it comes to the volatile situation that Iran presents? On the one hand, trying to get the Permanent Five at the UN to agree to harsher measures, in the face of Russian and Chinese reluctance; on the other, the administration's uneasiness at the firebrands in Congress who are in the final stages of crafting legislation that will probably compel the administration to take punitive measures against third parties (foreign corporations or countries) doing business with Iran. I don't dare say I know the best course, but I can see that the situation is potentially "explosive".

abstraction...

Sometimes it does me well to create something with just abstraction as the goal. This collage is not an illustration of anything, just an exercise in balance and color. Keeps me sharp.

drill, baby... what?

I guess the whole oil spill thing will be okay... Rush Limbaugh says the ocean will take care of itself. He's always "right", right?

posting a poster...

This is a poster I whipped up for an excellent NYC songwriter and a friend of mine, Paul Brill. Paul mixes all sorts of sonic material together to produce his rich sound, so digital collage was a good fit for the promo image. His songs and band are wonderful, so do yourselves a favor and go check out the show if you're in town. All the pertinent information is here, in... the poster.

Are you listening?

This image was done recently for a sales magazine. The subject was "listening". Any chance I have to delve into bird imagery is always welcome. I think we ended up with a pretty surprising and fun illustration, considering the arena. Anyway, the guy listening looks happy. It must be Spring.

Attention Deficit Dis... (what was I typing again?)

This is a collage I just did for The New York Times "Science Times" section. I've long thought the pieces in that section were a good match for collage solutions and finally they seem to concur. Look for it this Tuesday. The subject of the piece is ADD, which is a serious thing, but there's a nice sense of humor in the writer's approach.

the book jacket trade...

I'm just churning these images out, hoping to catch the keen eyes of book jacket designers everywhere. Maybe they all stepped out for a cigarette, or something, because a bit of that "tree falling in a forest" thing seems to be afoot.

Your Taxes (mine too)

This drawing appeared last weekend in the "Your Taxes" section of The New York Times. I guess I have the Olympics on my mind, because I went with another winter sports image - your taxes being your "compulsory figures" and Uncle Sam busy carving out big chunks of the ice. Yeah, I know... they don't score them on compulsory figures anymore, but they still score you on your taxes.

a Valentine

I've been making these Valentine collages for Margi for probably 15 years now, and there's no stopping me!

robot stuff

Like monkeys before them, robots are always good "go to" characters when I'm trying to have some fun and crank out an image. This was a recent promotional piece sent to collage friendly art directors.

windows

A little visual essay on interior and exterior space... or something.

monkey print

When all else fails, draw monkeys. Monkeys are a thing that can't go wrong. I'm pitching my illustrations for a kid's book and needed a few more images to show, so I took my own advice and knocked out this quirky primate, rounding out my all too human portfolio. This drawing makes me laugh.