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Weekly Reader
Posted by Paul Rogers at 3:05 pm on October 2nd |
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I just finished some portraits of African-American leaders for current event posters to be put in classrooms by The Weekly Reader. Hopefully, this won’t be the last time I draw Obama, but I’d rather the other two spend the rest of their long lives out of the public eye.
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Polo Grounds 1951
Posted by Paul Rogers at 3:55 pm on September 19th |
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American Express is producing a book with portraits and feature articles about some of their charter members. I was asked to do a portrait of Ralph Branca. He’s the Brooklyn Dodger pitcher who delivered the pitch to Bobby Thomson that became known as “The Shot Heard ‘Round The World” in a playoff for the pennant in 1951.
I drew the fatal moment Branca delivered the pitch. The game, played at The Polo Grounds has taken on legendary status in baseball history, and fans have been talking about it ever since. Should Branca have walked Thomson with first base open and pitched to the rookie Willie Mays? Did Giant coach Herman Franks steal pitching signs with a telescope from the centerfield clubhouse and relay them to Thomson? Russ Hodges famous play-by-play call was recorded off the television by a fan at home. What happened to the ball?
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I also illustrated an imaginary baseball card of Branca from 1948, the year he was an All-Star. After Branca retired from baseball he worked in the insurance industry and was instrumental in the formation of the Baseball Assistance Team, a foundation that offers help to former major-league players who have fallen on hard times.
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Forever Young
Posted by Paul Rogers at 11:42 am on July 28th |
I just received an advance copy of “Forever Young.” Last year, Ginee Seo and Ann Bobco at Simon and Schuster/Atheneum Books called to see if I’d be interested in working on a children’s book based on the lyrics to Bob Dylan’s song. They didn’t have to ask me twice. This is one of Dylan’s most loved songs and my job was to not screw it up, and to do something that Bob would like. I’ll post some more about the book when it’s released in September.
Publisher’s Weekly has called the illustration style “chilly.” Just what I was aiming for.
It makes a nice gift.
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NYT Week in Review
Posted by Paul Rogers at 12:36 pm on June 30th |
The article mixes historical events with images from literature and popular culture. That's Brando in the center, (I've already taken some heat from friends for the sweating beefcake) |
Last Wednesday Aviva Michaelov at The New York Times called with an assignment for the cover of Sunday's Week in Review. She wanted an image to accompany an article that looks at how long, hot summers have been a crucible for the evolution of America's idenitity from the very beginning of our history. The illustration covers a lot of front page real estate, 15.5 " x 8.6" She sent me a rough draft of the article with a note that the illustration should have a Hot Summer feeling not one of dread. A collage of images from the article made the most sense, and I added a Weber Grill and stole some Ben Shahn-style flames to wrap around the images. Aviva sent a layout that showed where the art would fit with the typography so I could design the shape to work well on the page.
The sketch was approved on Thursday morning and I worked late and sent the final art Friday morning. A call for a quick turn-around for the Times always gets my blood going, and it seems like magic to see the piece in Sunday's paper.
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A close-up for Clive. |
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Sketch with preliminary layout |
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Playboy Jazz Festival
Posted by Paul Rogers at 1:54 pm on May 19th |
30 Years of PJF |
This June is the 30th anniversary Playboy Jazz Festival at the Hollywood Bowl. Every year they produce a nice program that's full of illustrations; there are portraits of each performer and a few feature articles.
This year Fred Fehlau, the AD for the program asked me to do a piece to accompany an article about the history of the festival. So I filled the stage with a group of musicians who've played there. From left to right there's Count Basie, Sarah Vaughan, Wynton Marsalis, Stan Getz, Benny Goodman, Ron Carter, Dizzy Gillespie, BB King, Art Blakey and Miles Davis. Fred asked me to include Hefner, festival MC Bill Cosby, and producer George Wein in the crowd.
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eddywestveer.com |
Fred also asked me to do a portrait of the trumpet player Roy Hargrove. While looking around online for photos I came across this wonderful picture of Roy taken by Eddy Westveer, a jazz photographer who lives and works in the Netherlands. I e-mailed him to get permission to use the photo as reference for my drawing and offered him a fee. The photo supplied such a nice vibe, the drawing was finished easily and very quickly.
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PJF covers |
I've done the cover for the program three times. Fred asks for comp ideas, and that really means do a finish and if Hefner likes it, it gets used. Hefner has picked mine three times, yet still no invitation to the mansion.
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Terence Blanchard |
Las year I did this drawing of composer and trumpter Terence Blanchard. Terence is from New Orleans and has written film scores for a lot of Spike Lee's films. I was listening to his score for Lee's documentary "When The Levees Broke" while I worked on this drawing
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PJF portraits |
I've done portraits of musicians every year since 1986. Here's Cosby, Tony Bennett, Joshua Redman, Elvin Jones, Ray Charles, and Miles Davis.
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PJF portraits |
Here's a sample of some of the fantastic work by a few of the illustrators that I admire from past years. Mel Torme by Robert Risko, Hefner by Al Hirschfeld, Wynton Marsalis by Jeffrey Decoster, Kenny Garret by Calef Brown, Cassandra Wilson by Ann Field, Buddy Guy by the legendary Jeff Smith, Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter, Dave Holland & Brian Blade by Chris Pyle, Dr, John by Brad Weinman, and Femi Anikulapo-Kuti by Jason Holley.
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Opening Day
Posted by Paul Rogers at 2:24 pm on March 31st |
Scorecard Cover |
From deep in the archives...
During the years 1997-2001 my friend Dan Simon was in charge of much of the design for mechandise and promotions for the Los Angeles Dodgers. We worked on a number of projects together and I enjoyed every minute of every one. I grew up in Los Angeles, and have been a Dodger fan my whole life, even when they fielded horrible teams. Dan is a great art director who knows the value of good illustration and it was great to see these projects appear at Dodger Stadium.
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Scorecard Cover |
One of the ideas Dan had was to print up old-fashioned scorecards like they used to sell in the past. Just a simple four-page scorecard with a cover design and an ad on the back.
I have a collection of the scorecards Otis Shepard did for the Chicago Cubs in the 40's and 50s, and Dan didn't have to ask me twice if I thought I could do some new designs in that style.
These two covers are shameless imitations of Shepard's wonderful work. (He also created hundreds of ads for Wrigley's Gum.) The second one is an even more shameless imitation of the legendary Joseph Binder, the poster artist that Shepard leaned heavily on for his own work.
This was a short-lived idea however. These scorecards didn't sell well, maybe because no one knows how to keep score themselves anymore.
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Otis Shepard scorecards |
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Outfield Wall Dodger Stadium |
One year the Dodgers decided to line the outfield wall with portraits of Dodger greats from the past. Dan thought it would be a good idea to treat each player's portrait as a vintage advertisement. There were about 12-15 billboards that remained up all season. I enjoyed watching every game that year.
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Dodger Heroes Patches |
For the 1998 season each Dodger player selected a great Dodger player from the past, and we made sleeve patches to be worn on their uniforms. There were about 30 different ones.
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Dodgers Marketing Trailer |
The Dodgers had this Marketing Trailer that they dragged around to schools and community events that was full of memoralbia and information on the history of the team. I designed this mural to decorate the sides of the trailer.
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Jackie Robinson 50th Anniversary Poster |
To commemorate the 50th anniversary of Jackie Robinson's breaking of the color barrier, the Dodgers produced this poster, It also pays tribute to the fact that a Dodger player had won the Rookie of the Year Award for the past five straight years.
Sadly, this level of design only lasted at Dodger Stadium for as long as Dan was there. He very selfishly decided to move to Louisville KY for the benefit of his family. He actually put the lives of his children before thoughts of my illustration career and my access to great tickets.
He now has his own design studio in Louisville. http://www.studiosimon.com/
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Now this...
Posted by Paul Rogers at 6:26 pm on March 24th |
Last week we got the "So?" and now we get this
In an exclusive interview with ABC News, Vice President Dick Cheney was asked what effect the grim milestone of at least 4,000 deaths in the five-year Iraq war might have on the nation.
Noting the burden placed on military families, the vice president said the biggest burden is carried by President George W. Bush, who made the decision to commit US troops to war, and reminded the public that U.S. troops in Iraq and Afghanistan volunteered for duty.
http://abcnews.go.com/WN/Politics/story?id=4513250&page=1
Bob Dylan has been ending concerts in the last couple of years with his 1963 song "Masters of War."
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Paperback Covers for Random House
Posted by Paul Rogers at 12:15 am on March 18th |
Finished cover I sent for Death in the Afternoon |
Last year I get a call from Random House in London for two Ernest Hemingway paperback covers for the Vintage series. They have a basic cover format using Gill Sans and Bodoni and they want me to create simple images that look like they fit the period of each book. Death in the Afternoon and The Old Man and The Sea. What could go wrong?
I send two pencil sketches each, they pick the ones they like, I finish them up and send them off. Everybody's happy, I get paid and look forward to seeing the printed books.
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Finished cover I sent for The Old Man and The Sea |
A few months pass, and I think, "I wonder if those books are in the stores yet?" I'll check the UK Amazon site and take a look.
They're listed...but something looks odd.
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Finished covers issued by Random House |
It seems like the art director or someone at RH thought the covers needed that little something extra to make them look "Vintage."
I need a drink.
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Sketch for Death in the Afternoon |
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Sketch for Death in the Afternoon |
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Sketch for The Old Man and The Sea |
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Sketch for The Old Man and The Sea |
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LA Bookstores
Posted by Paul Rogers at 12:28 pm on March 5th |
The Los Angels Times is running an article this Sunday on the closing of Dutton's Books in Brentwood and they've interviewed a few writers about their favorite independent bookstores in town. Paul Gonzalez, the greatest art director on earth, calls and asks me to do some drawings of the stores to accompany the article. So, I make the rounds, do the drawings and send him these. He likes them so much he ups the budget!
The fee now just about covers what I spent on books in the stores this weekend.
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