The New Yorker: Nightmare Alley

I’ll be at the Alternative Press Expo this weekend in San Francisco alongside Chris Koehler and Alejandro Larin with some small art books and prints (including this unpublished illustration for The New Yorker on the MoMA screening of the Tyrone Power noire “Nightmare Alley.” AD Jordan Awan.)

Also for anyone wondering why this blog is much quieter, I have migrated to an Tumblr blog within my site and posting new work primarily there and on Facebook. Thanks!

The New Yorker: Fruitvale Station

Last week I worked on a cinema illustration for this week's New Yorker. The film "Fruitvale Station" is based on the events leading up to the murder of Oscar Grant in 2008 at the Fruitvale BART station in Oakland. The assignment deadline was tight (a day and a half start to finish), but having just moved to the East Bay and due to the gravity of the story, I felt I would be remiss if I didn't take the train down to take reference of the actual space and architecture where this really happened.

Sketches below were rough designs of different narrative elements closing in on Grant (as played by Michael B. Jordan) and I'm glad in the final I was able to involve other passengers and community awareness in the scene. AD Chris Curry.

The New Yorker: Mastiff

Illustration for a fiction piece by Joyce Carol Oates in this week's New Yorker.

The New Yorker: Much Ado About Nothing

Last week I got a call to illustrate The New Yorker film review of Joss Whedon's "Much Ado About Nothing." The lead review changed at the last minute and the piece did not run. Nevertheless, I enjoyed working with a limited palette and playing up thematic elements from the film in the composition. AD Chris Curry.

Raze

"Get your facts first, then you can distort them as you please." 
-Mark Twain

The Washington Post: RCE

  
This month's Medical Mystery column for The Washington Post follows a woman whose undiagnosed Recurrent Corneal Erosion Syndrome (RCE) led her through an excruciating sleepless search for answers. The most vivid symptom of RCE is the inability to separate the cornea from the eyelid, which inspired the composition ideas below before going to the ink and digital illustration above. AD Lisa Schreiber.

Security Management: Flight Risk

Just finished an interesting assignment on threats to international business travelers beyond the airport. Art Director Roy Comiskey at Security Management was looking for a hint of isolation and noir in exotic locales for the cover illustration, so the sketches below were inspired by the article's warnings of moments just before things take a turn for the worst.

OUT: (In)dependency

An illustration and sketches for a first-person piece on the author's management of his own HIV treatment for the June/July issue of OUT. AD Sarah Crumb.

Washington Post: Mycobacterium Kansasii

Illustration from last fall in the Medical Mystery series.

Digital Sketches

Experimenting with some digital paintings using the Procreate iPad app + Pogo Connect stylus.

The New Yorker: Mexican Manifesto

Short fiction is a great well to draw from, and Roberto Bolaño is always a fascinating and disorienting author to illustrate. Above is a full-page illustration for the Mexican Manifesto piece in this week's New Yorker, and below are the thumbnail ideas and slightly more developed composition sketches. AD Jordan Awan.

The New Yorker: To the Wonder

Spring Movie Preview illustration for The New Yorker. Art Director Jordan Awan.

Washington Post: Biliary Dyskinesia

This month's Medical Mystery in The Washington Post followed a young woman who suffered from a seemingly undetectable gallbladder deficiency. The thumbnails and sketches below were inspired by the dismissive relationships she encountered moving from doctor to doctor. Art directed by Lisa Schreiber.
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The New York Times: India/Pakistan

Yesterday morning I received an email from Matt Dorfman at The New York Times about an illustration for today's Op-Ed by Mohsin Hamid on the recent extremist violence between India and Pakistan and the growing public outcry. I pitched ideas of a flaking icon of militarism or figures coming together in the wake of destruction to see if either struck a chord. The flaking fresco won out, and twelve hours later it's in the paper. Thanks again to Matt Dorfman.

British GQ: Literary Stalkers

Above is an illustration in this month's British GQ on stalkers in the world of literature, and James Lasdun's book "Give Me Everything You Have On Being Stalked." Sketches below largely inspired by the great cat-and-mouse scenes in films like The Third Man and Night of the Hunter. AD Warren Jackson.

Instant: Hardwire

Illustration on the innate human drive towards networking for an article in Instant Magazine.
Prints available at owenfreeman.bigcartel.com

Macbeth

Poster illustration for a production of Macbeth. Tried to pull as much of the guilt and remorse of the story with some old-school theater lighting.

Grantland: Macklin vs. Martinez

McSweeney's fourth Grantland Quarterly is out now and includes a two-color illustration I did for a piece on the St. Patricks Day Macklin vs. Martinez fight and the racial politics of boxing. I thought it was an interesting read, touching on the how the crowds drive promoters and how "...being the best is second or maybe third on the list of qualities needed to become a superstar..."
The sketches below were approaches to the idea of the fighters being overshadowed by their nationalist bases, and how many other layers besides the fight were at play. AD Juliet Litman.

Ink Sketches

Happy 2013 out there.  Even with all the freedom of digital work on assignments, I've found sticking to ink on warmup drawings has pushed me to try out some interesting techniques, like dry-brushing, grinding Sumi ink, and experimenting different ways to grow the drawing without a pencil. I've recently become a big fan of the smooth heavyweight paper in the Stillman & Birhn "Epsillon" sketchbooks after discovering one a few months ago in San Francisco. You can find sketchbook ink drawings from the last year or so on my Flickr page, as well as new drawings as they happen.