NYT Townies - Dive Bar Edition

Here's another illustration I recently completed for the Townies section of the NYT. This time the story was about a little girl and her father and a dive bar in Queens. Some really great characters in this story...makes me wish this bar was still around because I'd want to go check it out!

Click here to read the story.

The red faced businessman

There was a red faced businessman who walked past my window every morning on his way to work. His eyes would always be fixed to the pavement in front of him and his slick black hair would shine, even in the winter. I'd wonder, how does he get his face to be so red? Maybe he was born from a mother with a fiery temper. Or maybe his father was an Olympic champion underwater breath-holder. I never would get my answer.

He'd always wear the same drab grey coat with the same drab grey pants. They only emphasized the brightness of his face. I'd drink my coffee and stare out the window and hope that one day he would look up and see me. For some reason I believed if we made eye contact, I'd come to a revelation.

happy holidays!

Get ready to cELEbRaTEEEEEEE.

NY Times illo - Townies

I recently completed this illustration for The NY Times for their Townies section (exclusively online). This particular section features stories from New Yorkers who write about their experiences living in NYC. The story I illustrated was about this woman who grew up in the Lower East Side with artist parents, and was surrounded by the squalor that was the LES. She later went to a private school in the Upper East Side and longed to fit in with the culture uptown...but eventually came back to Lower Manhatten, realizing the UES was a bit boring!

The article was well written and provided a lot of great imagery for my illustration...though I have to say I didn't sympathize too much with the author...I WISH I could afford to live in any part of Manhattan...and wish I had the luxury of giving up a rent stabilized apartment, haha. Either way...I recommend reading the article! Click here for a link.

Seattle Weekly cover

One of my favorite clients to work with, Seattle Weekly, asked me to create the cover for this weeks issue. The feature article is actually a series of articles...each author talks about their favorite CD and how that artist (and that CD in particular) changed their lives.

The art director wanted the cover to look like a high school student's (or young adult's) notebook...decorated with random sketches and words...and ink stains. I never really approached a finished illustration like this and it was very enjoyable! I'm sure this will affect my future work.

Anyways, enjoy!

Weekend drawings

Did these for fun with my friends this weekend. We all gave ourselves a challenge: to draw what one of the other people usually draws, and to add a "punk" theme to it. I was given the challenge of drawing punk creatures...since my friend Marina usually draws creatures. She had to draw, sexy punk women (my friend Ahu usually draws women) - while Ahu had to draw punk muscular men (something I usually draw). Confusing, maybe...but fun!! I think we came up with some pretty cool results. Below, are mine.

Society of Illustrators 54

I'm a little late in announcing this, but my Cotton Club Revival poster for Lincoln Center was accepted into the SOI 54 Advertising show!!! I'm super excited to get this piece in and to attend the show in March! Hopefully I'll see some of you there. :)

doodles

I did these today for fun...I like how they came out!

A buncha new stuff!!

Sorry for the long delay between updates...been super busy between the holidays and some new jobs! Below is a personal piece (the one with the cat) - a piece for a biking magazine, and a number of spots for an article on cereals that failed once put in the market.

Enjoy!!!!!!!!!

The Cloudy Collections 2012 Calendar of Impending Apocalypse

This is my contribution to The Cloudy Collections freshly released calendar. It's a collection of 12 3-color screen prints, one for each month. I got to do my birth-month: March! I hope you enjoy my take on the end of the world :)

To see the rest of the collection and/or purchase it, click here.

Fab.com Pop-up Shop

I designed this t-shirt for Fab.com's first Pop-Up Shop. The theme for the collection was "BRIGHT" and this is what I came up with!

Insanity

Made this crazy drawing last week...spans across three 8.5" x 11" sheets of paper. The whole drawing started with the cat on the left and just kept expanding to the right...I didn't plan anything ahead of time or have any pencil under-drawing. I definitely want to make more work like this!

Dirty Durty Diary

I did this series of comedian portraits for The Dirty Durty Diary, a high-end/luxury/fashion/art/lifestyle magazine. Their most recent issue was all about comedy, so I was asked to create portraits of some of the featured funnymen and funnywomen. I don't ever really listen to stand up comedy, but for this assignment I thought I should probably hear some of their jokes before I went ahead and drew them...and I actually really enjoyed it! Bill Hicks was my favorite....his little bit on marketing is too good not to share:

JC HALLOWEEN GRAVEYARD PARTY!

I designed this image to be used both as a flyer and a graphic for a totebag for the upcoming party/concert in Harsimus Graveyard in Jersey City! Bands will be performing as other bands and there will be food and general creepiness!! I really really have been wanting a leather jacket with spikes and studs and patches...if anyone knows of a good place to get one, let me know. I've considered making one myself but I don't trust myself not to destroy a leather jacket.

Murakami Competition

NOWNESS.com is having a competition to illustrate any one of Haruki Murakami's books or short stories...which is super exciting for me since he is one of my favorite authors. I chose his short story, "On seeing the 100% perfect girl one beautiful April morning." I submitted the drawing directly below, although did the first one kinda as an experiment/study. That one was done completely on the iPad...something difficult for me, but very fun. If you are curious to read the story, click here.

Yellow Bird Project

I designed this t-shirt graphic for the Yellow Bird Project, a charity that invites bands to design/sell t-shirts and have the proceeds go to a cause of their choice. This time around they are asking illustrators to design tees and the proceeds will got to the Yellow Bird Project, so they can keep afloat and allow these charities to keep getting $$ from their other tees. When it's up for sale I'll re-post and let you guys know! :) For now, enjoy.

Chalkboard at Satis

I was given the opportunity to design and hand-letter a giant chalkboard at a local restaurant in Jersey City called, Satis. It's a European bistro that serves fancy foods in a somewhat casual setting. When I spoke to the owner, he wanted to have a bunch of Latin phrases up on the wall instead of a menu, so customers could read and inquire and have a discussion about it. This is my first time doing a job like this, so I wasn't really sure what to expect. This chalkboard was huge - about 9 feet by 5 feet and at least 6 feet off the ground. So the majority of it had to be done while standing on a ladder...much more difficult than I expected. I have so much more respect for any artists who do ceiling paintings or murals...it is so physically exhausting and hard to reach places! Anyways, I am pretty proud of how it came out and that I was able to fit everything in the space without too much planning. Enjoy! :)

Love on the Run

Recently I was asked by a friend to design a cover to a book they wrote (her name is not Elizabeth Cole, if you are wondering). The story is a romance/mystery/suspense novel of sorts that takes place in the midwestern/desert. I tried going for a woodcut effect with this drawing...

SCREENSHOT!

I don't know why but I love when people take screenshots of their computer screens and share them. I feel like it's a peek into their diary or something...but obviously not as personal. Maybe I'll start taking more screenshots...

Depression

I recently did this piece for the Globe & Mail on a write up about depression. In the wake of the two suicides of Canadian hockey players, the writer spoke of her own experience with depression and how it should be taken seriously as a real disease and not viewed as a sign of weakness. It was really well written and heartfelt... read the article here.

Tattoo Design

I designed this tattoo for another Ana who lives in Brazil. She told me she wanted an astronaut alongside some lyrics from the song, below. I am honored that she would want a tattoo designed by me...and cannot wait to see photographs!

Red Hot Chili Peppers

I proposed these two designs for the Red Hot Chili Pepper's performance at the MTV EMA Awards. Sadly, these did not make it past the presentation, and they decided to go with a photo ad (booooooooorrrrrinnnnggggggggggg). When are people going to realize that illustration is a million times more interesting than photography?!? Haha anyways...enjoy!

In the Name of Love

goache painting on neon pink paper. wasn't able to color match the scan exactly...much more vibrant in real life.

UNION SQUARE TOMORROW

Come stop by Union Square in NYC tomorrow where my friend, Ahu Sulker, and I will be selling copies of Egg on Bread for $3, along with some original work! Hope to see you there :)

Bittersweet

Here are two pieces I made recently just for fun...I made them about a month or two apart but I think they have some similarities and make sense together. Also wanted to share a video/song I recently discovered and love! Watch it below.

The Art of Science

I was asked by Julia Rothman to contribute to her upcoming book, The Art of Science, where illustrators are paired with scientists to help answer questions the common person might have about the way the world works!

I illustrated the question, "What happens to time as it approaches the speed of light?" - and the question itself was answered by my dad! A fun little collaboration. I still don't quite understand the answer...but basically it seems that time will get quicker as you approach the speed of light, but only from the point of view of an observer from Earth. So, time will always seem to pass at the same rate to the traveller, but back on Earth time will be going much more quickly. Or something like that.

Anyways...enjoy!

Coca Cola

painting in progress

Sale at Fab.com!

For the next two days prints and originals of my work are available on Fab.com!

CLICK HERE TO CHECK IT OUT!!!!!!!

The Stranger - Music & Books

This was a little illo I did for The Stranger. The article was about a concert where musicians were invited to perform songs inspired by books.

The Day to Day

Goache on neon paper.

Posters with Jazz at Lincoln Center

So I had the honor of working with Jazz at Lincoln Center on a series of exploratory posters for some of their younger concert series. I'm still working with them on another project as we try and figure out the proper style and technique that I should use for this particular market. It's an interesting process since there are many departments involved, so I've been forced to think about markets and age-groups in a way I never have to with editorial work.