 BP Oil Spill, The Aftermath
posted: August 23, 2010
Will it fade in importance as the leaves turn this fall? Months of oil gushing into the gulf as our summer just started made us all feel fragile.
Just as fast as it started and our anxiety mounted, the news of the capped well allowed the American people to exhale once again. We knew that this oil would be in our water for a long time but when it was announced that it was hard to find, I think we all feel a sense of skepticism. Mother Jones in it's September issue tackles the story and gets down there to look for the truth. While we watched the well plume gush, overhead planes were dumping dispersants over the vast slicks of oil that were the size of states. The dispersant is toxic as well. BP seems to have spent much time controlling information and the measurement of actual oil. Did you know that BP rented virtually all the available hotel rooms on the shores or Louisiana to keep the press from moving in? They've bought scientists off, chartered every boat they could. The cover story by Julia Whitty is thourough and thought provoking. Read this story http://motherjones.com/special-reports/2010/09/bp-oceans
Tim Luddy the Creative Director called and asked me to do the cover. The idea was the sea floor. Death and decay. The light from above would TRY to filter down, perhaps as a metaphor for shedding light on the situation.
The deadline was tight so I went to a serious sketch right away. I love drawing out a rough sketch and sending that to an AD but in this case the image was pretty much settled on and what we had to work out was the color and value and bone situation. 
This was an image that I thought would serve the type well. Less going on behind the type.
Tim asked me to combine the two and for the final I did just that. 
One request was to add some pipes behind or IN the scene. I was in Pasadena at the time and at the Langham hotel, at the end of the covered bridge was a nice collection of gas pipes. I tried them out but Tim suggested I be more accurate so they found me some authentic images of oil pipes to work from.
When I see what a plumber can do I see them as artists with a sense of humor. 
Almost the last sketch. I was working fast. 
The final art of the leaking connection. I know light can go down that far as to create shimmers on the pipe but it is a metaphor, remember? 
The bones on the top are from a porpoise and the long beak is from a pelican. The others are various fish. A ton of work to paint when you eventually hide them in darkness but all worth it in the end. 
I was glad to have an opportunity to add my illustration to the great work being done out there pertaining to the oil spill. Thank you to Tim Luddy who again filled Mother Jones with great illustration throughout; Sam Weber, Matt Mahurin, Tim Bower, and Steve Brodner among others.
Finally, buy electric! Nisson Leaf Chevy Volt Ford Fusion Maybe one day The Tesla S Oh, and this My WORX Lawnmower 17 comments |
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Ascent of Man
posted: July 29, 2010
Recently I was asked by Discover Magazine to work on a cover illustration. They were to publish a special issue on evolution.
The concept was the ascent of man. Like mount Rushmore, Lady Justice, Uncle Sam and many other illustration staples, this image is ubiquitous for our profession. I was basically asked to put my spin on the ascent of man and I knew I could add dimension and light and hopefully some sort of connection to the viewer. The job actually started with an initial request to illustrate a skull? I did some sketches but the process froze and after some internal meetings the job changed to the ascent of man. I knew that I had to represent accurately each step along the way and worked to make the necessary adjustments to size and detail to pass muster. After sending in the sketches they picked one but asked that I reduce the number of steps and to create some eye contact with modern man. That solved the last issue, connection to the viewer. When the art was delivered, the AD Michael Diioia said that someone asked who the last man was. He joked that it was me. The truth is that the Neanderthal body is mine (from the late spring, prior to a 25 pound weight loss). I make a good caveman. I just shortened my neck and changed my head. I aspire to modern man but will never be that tall. 
First sketch. Simple and clean. You have to start somewhere. 
This was my effort to make this cover look more 'scientific'. Omni Magazine circa 1985? 
This is a sketch for the next phase...the head with flesh on it. 
I like this and think it could have been a powerful cover but it might have come off as his face being eaten off. Probably not what they wanted the cover to suggest. 
He was the model for my early man. 
A rough for the new direction, the ascent of man. 
The AD asked for a mixture of all these leaning towards cooler tones.
I then removed a step and turned modern man's head to make eye contact. 
A close-up of one of the stages. 
I actually remove belly fat from my reference to look like a fit neanderthal. Perhaps this was the motivation I needed to lose the weight. Go photograph yourself for reference. It's quite a motivation. 
The final art. FIRE FROG at Gallery Nucleus
posted: July 8, 2010
Well, today seems like the day to announce shows in LA next week.
Gallery Nucleus ICON6: A Labor of Line July 16, 2010 - August 9, 2010 Jul 16, 7:00PM - 11:00PM I am showing my FIRE FROG there. Gallery Nucleus is pleased to present a select group of work from this year's contributors featuring over 50 artists in all. Absorb an inspiring array of fresh ideas from the contemporary world of illustration presenting a mixture of mediums. Artists include: Melinda Beck Chris Buzelli Josh Cochran John Hendrix Jody Hewgill Jessica Hische Leif Parsons Maria Rendon Edel Rodriguez Whitney Sherman Chris Sickels Brian Stauffer Greg Swearingen Gary Taxali Mark Todd Esther Watson Ellen Weinstein Carl Wien and me. 
Time Cover; Thomas Edison
posted: June 25, 2010
It was quite an honor to be asked to paint this year's History Issue cover for Time Magazine. D.W. Pine's request was on the day I found out that the Pope cover was going to run. Good news comes in bunches just like bad.
Once the request was made, the tough challenge of coming up with a cover set in. These History Issue covers have been done mostly by Michael Deas in recent years and all of his pieces were stunning. Quite a high bar for anyone to have to follow. I knew they wanted some sort of concept so I opted for the obvious one of the invention of the light bulb. Amazing that this world was dark at night quite recently. As per usual I get some reference from Time. Looking through it I look for useful elements and try not to fall in love with crisp reference in favor of the right reference. This was an early career mistake at times. I found a few laboratory shots I liked but felt his portrait was grim most times. I needed to capture a proud and pleasant face. Once I found a workable head I went about making my sketches. Once a sketch was chosen, I needed to make it work for real. I tried to provide an alternate head and some alternate backgrounds but I was in favor of two backgrounds and only one head. Skye at Time got me my reference very late at night and saved me a night of messing things up. I've done many Time covers over the years and some are big ones. Obama, Clinton, Person of the Year, and some are unpublished. If I told you of the alternate history my unpublished covers describe you'd be amazed. I'll save that for another time. This cover was special to me. First, it's out for a couple of weeks. The fact that they called back so soon after the Pope was great too. In Elizabeth's (my wife's) family there are the Langmuirs. This storied family are a successful clan and perhaps the most well know was Irving Langmuir. Irving worked at GE and helped develop the gas filled vacuum light bulb. Later in his career he received a Nobel Prize for his work on surface chemistry. I wanted to try to pay homage to him and also remember another Langmuir, Paul. Paul Langmuir passed away suddenly a few days before I got this assignment. Paul was a long time lover of illustration and graphic design. He taught at RISD and was a passionate man, full of stories and love. We are all deeply saddened by his passing. It is partially his place we go to each year on Martha's Vineyard. To pay homage to the Langmuir name I painted it on the spine of a book in Edison's lab. Of course it was cropped out but it will live here on Drawger. Thanks D.W. Pine and Rick Stengel for the opportunity. 
This background was too messy and did not make sense. Kind of like my studio 
This is the approved sketch. I painted the whole thing. Fixing things up too forever. 
This is the final art. All elements are part of his laboratories. I had fun actually.
Here is the painting up close. My copy of the cover is from my iPad as I don't have a printed copy yet.
It was painted full figure almost so cropping it kind of zoomed in on brushwork. If it appears more loose than usual, that's the reason. |
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