Illustration for the April AARP Bulletin on the types of online fraud and the shady characters behind them. Sketches exploring visualization for different personas and arrangements, along with the final color version. Thanks to CD Scott Davis.
Illustration
2021 Communication Arts Illustration Annual
Happy to have work included in the 2021 Communication Arts Illustration Annual along with so many great illustrators and the beautiful cover by Ryo Takemasa.
The piece was for the ESPN 30for30 Michael Vick documentary and art directed by Eric Paul. The goal was to include a portrait with some narrative nod to the film's arc. I've included the time-lapse process of early thumbnail idea sketches done in Procreate on my iPad, essentially trial-and-error experimentation with possible designs.
Thanks again Eric and all the judges.
New York Magazine: The Great 21st-Century Treasure Hunt
Illustration for a fascinating mystery by Benjamin Wallace for New York Magazine about the search for the treasure of Forrest Fenn. “The Great 21st-Century Treasure Hunt” documents the grand, cryptic, deadly search by hundreds of treasure hunters until the unexpected discovery earlier this year.
Above are some of the early development sketches and a sketch for the final composition set in Southern Yosemite National Park.
AD Aaron Garza
This American Life
A couple more illustrations from earlier this year for This American Life. The first, above, "Swtiched at Birth," we follow the lives of two families whose daughters were born in the same hospital on the same day in 1951 in Wisconsin. The aspects of shifting crossover/symmetry in their lives jumped out as key to represent in the drawing.
The second piece, "Chip in My Brain," a new episode premiering earlier this year, we follow a seemingly mundane series of events over ten years of childhood as Cody Treybig. The episode is fascinating and unexpected, I highly recommend listening to it. Process sketches below.
Thanks again AD Whitney Dangerfield.
The Hollywood Reporter: "Murder, Mayhem and Torture" Off the Sunset Strip
Happy to report this years Communication Arts Illustration Annual includes a piece that I worked on late last year for The Hollywood Reporter.
"Murder, Mayhem and Torture" Off the Sunset Strip" is a true crime piece covering the days and months leading up to the night police apprehended Blake Liebel with the scalped, murdered body of his girlfriend in their Los Angeles apartment.
Below are some of the development process for the final illustration. Rough thumbnail sketches to explore the visual elements, tone and composition, and then from there taking the strongest ones to a tighter final sketch to discuss with the Art Director. Ultimately we went with the drawing of the arm and bed melting into the interior apartment crime scene.
Thanks again to AD Kelsey Stefanson and everyone at Communication Arts.
Simon & Schuster: The Nightsiders
I came across a copy of Vault of Shadows this week, the second in The Nightsiders book series that I illustrated for Simon & Schuster, with Art Director Krista Vossen.
Author Jonathan Maberry's second book in the series picks up where The Orphan Army leaves off with young Milo Silk and his friends defending their Louisiana bayou camp from an alien bug invasion.
The Vault of Shadows book dives further into the malevolent Huntsman, so we played with a few different designs and compositions emphasizing him in different panes, though ultimately the dark worked best as an anchor and we kept the darker block beneath the title.
Below is the illustration for The Orphan Army (The Nightsiders Book 1) and a few sketches, which include some of the design elements that became part of the type template for the set.
Thanks again to Krista for the excellent design and spot varnish on the final covers. Both are available now from Simon & Schuster.
WWD: Square Off
Full page and spot illustrations for WWD Magazine piece on Sycamore Partners’ Stefan Kaluzny and Golden Gate Capital’s David Dominik's competition for the future of the American mall. AD Oliver Yoo.
The New York Times: Dinner and Deception
This is a recent cover illustration for the New York Times Sunday Review. The opinion piece by Edward Frame recounts working inside top-end New York City restaurants and catering to the super-rich. The inspiration behind the first sketches below was to use light and shadow to represent the bright, poised ritual framed by the slightly noir, sinister goings on in the restaurant's shadows. The second interior spot below highlighted one of the undetectable hand signals "captains" used behind their backs while taking water orders. Thanks again to AD Alexandra Zsigmond.
