24 HOUR EMERGENCY

Washington Post: FMD

2012-01-20T07:09:00.000-08:00

Above is one of the finished illustration from the Washington Post Medical Mysteries series I had missed posting last year. This particular piece was about an young woman whose undiagnosed Fibromuscular dysplasia led to years of dizziness, chronic headaches, vertigo and dangerously high blood pressure before finally being diagnosed as the cause. The sketches below were roughly based on the idea of her athletic marathon running life colliding with the physical effects of the disease, and ways the internal symptoms of hypertension and vertigo might be expressed in an externalized, two-dimensional way. Art Direction by Brad Walters.

New York Times: Twenty Eleven

2011-12-30T10:15:00.000-08:00

In September when the imprisoned hikers in Iran were nearing release I was in the process of moving and got a call from Aviva Michaelov at the New York Times to illustrate an Op-Ed by the co-founder of Lonely Planet Tony Wheeler. It was an interesting piece about the perceptions of the dangers of traveling the world. Ultimately the article did not run, but the quick turnaround provided the opportunity to go completely brush and ink which is always fun.

I've really enjoyed working with the Times on illustrations for some significant events of the past year. Below are some of the letters pieces for revolts in Egypt, the torture debate, solitary confinement, and the withdrawal of U.S. Troops from Iraq.

St. Nick

2011-12-23T10:57:00.000-08:00

Broke out the quill and ink for a series of concerned Santa drawings on postcards. Happy Holidays!

Granta: Bonfire

2011-12-09T09:05:00.001-08:00

The upcoming "Exit Strategies" issue of GRANTA has a short fiction piece, entitled "Bonfire," by David Long that I got a call to illustrate. The story traces the narrator's memory of a passionate but fleeting Fourth of July rendezvous from years earlier, leaving the reader with an interesting mix of exhilaration and loss. The sketches below were my first impression of the story, but after discussing it with the art director and editor, we revised the composition so as to touch on more of the fading embers of the memory of love lost than the night itself.Also, I did an interview with Daniela Silva about illustrating the Roberto Bolaño stories which is now online at Granta's site.

Granta: Horror

2011-11-21T09:12:00.000-08:00

Over the past year, I've had the opportunity to illustrate several short fiction pieces by Roberto Bolaño for the literary magazine Granta. A few weeks after working on the watercolor illustration (above) for the short Bolaño story, "The Colonel's Son," art director, Michael Salu, asked if I would be interested in collaborating on a motion comic he had in mind to tie the short story and issue in with their digital readership. Time was short, but having already read through and sequentially visualized much of the story, it sounded too interesting to pass up.

The animation is now live at nothingbutamovie.com, and here are some samples of the finished layered illustrations, which were all inked digitally using Manga Studio (which I've just recently begun using inspired by the amazing illustration work of Asaf Hanuka).

Many thanks to Jocabola, David Bonas, Sorgerune and the visionary Michael Salu for the collaboration.

Seattle Met: "Diary of a Deadly Year"

2011-10-26T08:29:00.000-07:00

Last month, I had the opportunity to work on an illustration for the Seattle Met Magazine's November Issue on an article about a sudden spike in murder rates in Yakima County, Washington in 2010. The illustration's job was to both narrate a specific attack as well as convey the tone of shock from the string of 29 killings in a population of only 89,000.

Below are sketches we worked through to develop the direction (the first couple thumbnails in this case were done on my phone) and the final artwork and headline treatment from the magazine by André Mora and Chris Skiles, which is on stands now.

Washington Post: September Medical Mystery

2011-09-27T08:12:00.000-07:00

The September installment of the "Medical Mysteries" series is out in today's Washington Post, with an interesting story about a young boy's sudden, inexplicable development of anxiety and obsessive-compulsive tics. As with the previous illustrations in the series, the design was to convey the symptoms as well as the culprit, which in this case interestingly enough was an autoimmune neuropsychological disorder's (PANDAS) response to to a bacterial strep infection.

Above are the thumbnails and finished sketches, attempting to convey fever symptoms from different angles as well as his symptoms of severe anxiety. Art Direction by Brad Walters.

Saturday Evening Post: "Yesterday's Garbage"

2011-09-08T07:03:00.000-07:00

Earlier in the summer I got a call to work on a short fiction piece for the Saturday Evening Post September/October issue. The story by Jon Hassler is entitled "Yesterday's Garbage" and follows a garbage man through an unexpectedly macabre turn of events in suburban Minnesota. Below is the smaller second illustration that accompanies the text, as well as some of the sketches for the full-page piece. Art Direction by Brian Sanchez.

Washington Post: August Medical Mystery

2011-08-30T07:29:00.000-07:00

For the past few months I've been illustrating an ongoing "Medical Mysteries" column by Sandra G. Boodman in the Washington Post's Health & Science section. This month's piece, follows a newborn whose unusual delays in development elude doctors and specialists for years until an unlikely genetic cause is discovered. Below are the thumbnails and sketches, the challenge being how to distill down both the symptoms and the culprit comfortably in the composition while still retaining the uncertainty of the story.Art Direction by Brad Walters.

Boston Globe: "This Beautiful Life"

2011-08-17T10:46:00.000-07:00

Here is a small illustration I did for last weekend's Boston Globe Book Review of the novel "This Beautiful Life" by Helen Schulman. The review traces the path of a family newly transplanted by the father's career into an affluent Manhattan lifestyle, and crisis that emerges against the unfamiliar upper-class backdrop. Below are the rough ballpoint thumbnail ideas and then the more legible sketches that were submitted. Art Direction by Jane Martin.

July Sketchbook

2011-08-12T10:16:00.000-07:00

Above are some sketchbook pages from the past couple months. Additionally the original 5"x7" painting below is for sale through Gallery Nucleus' "Power in Numbers" show with all proceeds going to UNICEF.

Ten Thousand Saints

2011-08-08T10:43:00.000-07:00

Illustration and idea sketches for the LA Times book review of the novel "Ten Thousand Saints" by Elanor Henderson. Art Direction by Judith Pryor.

American Trypanosoma

2011-06-30T13:51:00.000-07:00

A series of illustrations from a side project that's been in the works.

Illustration Now! Portraits

2011-06-24T10:23:00.000-07:00

Just got a copy of the new Taschen Illustration Now! Portraits book in the mail. I have a couple pages in the book alongside an humbling collection of work by eighty illustrators and edited by Julius Wiedemann. The first section of the book is available to browse through on the Taschen site. (Cover illustration by the always cool Raphael Vicenzi.)

Beach

2011-06-22T07:04:00.000-07:00

Two-color illustration for a short fiction piece by Roberto Bolano in the "Aliens" issue of Granta Magazine. Much thanks to Michael Salu (and Roberto Bolano) for such consistently rich source material.

Idris Elba

2011-06-20T12:20:00.000-07:00

Working on a portrait of Idris Elba for this month's issue of British GQ reminded me how much fun just hitting the page with a brush and ink and some flat colors can be. Below are the sketch ideas inspired mainly by his role on the BBC crime thriller "Luther" with a little super hero thrown in since his role in "Thor" was kicking around the back of my mind while working.

Also in case anyone's interested the original artwork for this piece, along with a few other paintings is now available for purchase at owenfreeman.bigcartel.com

Medical Mysteries

2011-06-15T08:44:00.000-07:00

Over the past couple months I've been illustrating the Medical Mysteries column for the Washington Post Health page. The articles are on real-life cases where symptoms and conditions lead to unexpected revelations with some false-leads along the way. From an illustration standpoint it's been an interesting challenge to try to distill the long-term situations into a single dramatic reenactment that contain the condition, the suspects and the culprit, all without giving too much of the ending away. The June mystery (out yesterday) is about a man who's was repeatedly admitted to the hospital after suffering serious symptoms of liver cirrhosis and diabetes; below are the rough thumbnail ideas and then the sketches which lead to the finish above.

The second illustration below was for the May Medical Mystery about a wedding photographer suffering from a debilitating skin condition and potential culprits from her daily life. Art Directed by the always great Brad Walters.

Forgetting Why We Remember

2011-05-31T10:41:00.000-07:00

Here is an illustration I did for an Op-Ed piece by David W. Blight in yesterday's New York Times. The article was on the largely unknown beginnings of the Memorial Day tradition in America, and the events surrounding the first recorded gathering to mourn the losses of the Civil War in 1865.

Below are the quick ballpoint thumbnail ideas, and then the two more realized sketches from there, and then the finished ink wash painting. Much thanks to Aviva Michaelov for the always inspiring assignments.

To End All Wars

2011-05-17T11:06:00.000-07:00

Here is an illustration I did for Sunday's Boston Globe Book Review of To End All Wars: A Story of Loyalty and Rebellion, 1914-1918 by Adam Hochschild. The review highlighted the complexities and political ramifications of the first World War. Instead of attempting to capture an elaborate, global concept, I thought it would be interesting to focus on the effects on the individual soldiers, who, due to the breakdown of technology and resources, were left in unprotected trenches with only rudimentary equipment and supplies to survive.

Herman Wouk Is Still Alive

2011-05-03T23:23:00.000-07:00

This month's issue of The Atlantic is on stands now, and features a new short fiction piece by Stephen King that I was asked to illustrate. The story (which is available on The Atlantic's site), follows two young mothers who win a small sum in the lottery and a retired couple from outside Fairfield, Maine whose lives eventually intersect. The illustration appears alongside the first page of the text, so one of the challenges was to allude to the end without undermining the narrative that was taking you there.

The thumbnail sketches below were jotted down in pauses while reading, and rougher than usual since much of the idea phase ended up being done through an ongoing dialogue with the Art Director, Jason Treat. The conversation was especially helpful with such an emotional and highly-charged story. The third sketch, which was an interior of a van, came up as a strange/interesting option for the bleak but beautiful world the story is set in. And below that is a slightly more worked-out composition, and then the ink and wash underpainting, which was then finished digitally (above.) Much thanks to Jason for the opportunity.

Communication Arts 52

2011-04-27T12:02:00.000-07:00

This year's Communication Arts Illustration Annual comes out this week, and I'm very honored to have had my illustration, "Visiting," chosen for the cover. My Burroughs covers were also included in the books section. The CA Annuals have been sources of great inspiration to me since way before I began actually working as an illustrator, and it's a tremendous thrill to be included alongside such a consistently excellent group of illustrators. (Art direction thanks to Melissa Bluey for The Atlantic and Jo Walker at Harper Collins.)

Panorama

2011-04-11T10:30:00.000-07:00

Last week, I got a call from Judy Pryor at the LA Times to illustrate the book review of the novel "Panorama" by H. G. Adler. This is the first english translation of the novel, written in 1948, which follows its character, Josef Kramer, through 10 distinct chapters of his life, some of which mirror the author's own years in Nazi forced labor camps and surviving Auschwitz and Langenstein (where Kramer's character ultimately arrives).

Below are the rough thumbnail ideas based on a couple passages in the text echoing a recurring theme of isolation and obliteration throughout the passages of Kramer's life.

Above are refined versions of three of the sketches; the third sketch of the characters at the labor camp was selected. Below is the ink-wash drawing, which went through a range of trial and error with color and light before coming up with the final version (top) that felt closest to the tone of the story.

The Inside View

2011-03-21T07:46:00.000-07:00

A few months ago, I got a call to work on the cover and interior spread for a feature on insider trading for Wardour's Securities and Investment Review magazine in London. The article was still in progress, so I began working from the brief, which mainly outlined a noir take on a short sequence involving the illegal exchange of privileged information. So right out of the gate the spy sketches were flying and rainy nights and briefcase handoffs at train stations were too enticing not to jot down. However, after sending in the above sketches, I received the final copy for the article and after chatting further with the Art Director, I realized that, as opposed to corporate espionage theatrical international treason, real-world insider trading is usually done under much more mundane circumstances like homes or offices, often with as little as zero fedoras.

So the next round of sketches were tailored to the idea of a dark and stormy night, but more in a cubicle setting and with some foreshadowing of the regulatory enforcement agencies looming into the scene in the second image.

The second set above were approved with a few small adjustments, like adding an eerie late-night custodian on the cover and lowering the angle on the office on the double page spread. Overall, it was an unexpectedly fascinating subject to get to research and illustrate. Much thanks to Steven Gibbon at Wardour for the call.

By the Power of Grayscale

2011-03-08T08:40:00.000-08:00

Here are a couple of recent black and white assignments for the New York Times and Nylon Guys. Getting to think in limited color and focus on light and contrast are aspects I've always loved doing in sketchbook work so it's fun to be able to develop those elements into more finished pieces.

Above is from last week's New York Times for an Op-Ed piece by Mohammad Al-Asfar about revolutionaries in Libya, and below is a piece for the Times letters page on "Echoes From the Revolt in Egypt" which ran shortly before Mubarak's departure. The third image is the illustration for the latest installment in the Nylon Guy's serialized story, "The Empath."

Eight Hours

2011-02-22T23:52:00.000-08:00

Here is a piece I did for an article in last week's Washington Post on the science of sleep disorders. The illustration was especially fun because we had a bit of lead-in time and I was able to collaborate with the AD, Brad Walters, on not only sketches for the composition but actually pitch a few ideas for how it could interplay with the page. Below are a few of the layout ideas, and above is the Health & Science page with the finished artwork and copy.

A Just Defiance

2011-02-14T08:53:00.000-08:00

I had the chance to illustrate the cover for Peter Harris' novel "A Just Defiance" for Portobello Books in the UK. The book chronicles the trial of four young ANC soldiers being charged with a string of political murders in Pretoria, South Africa in 1987 and, told through the eyes of their attorney, is interlaced with flashbacks of the violence and circumstances leading to the events. Above is the wraparound cover illustration and below is the final cover design by the always great Michael Salu.

Destiny & Desire

2011-01-10T09:06:00.000-08:00

Here is an illustration I did for the LA Times Book Review of Carlos Fuentes' new novel "Destiny & Desire." Based on the brief synopsis and a couple overviews of the book, my AD Paul Gonzales and I came up with a couple specific visuals from the story, including the severed head of the novel's narrator lying on the pacific coast. Below are the quick thumbnail roughs, and then two tighter sketches that best carried across the cast of characters and violence while retaining some traces of magical realism, found in Fuentes' storytelling.

New York, New York

2010-12-13T08:33:00.000-08:00

Last week, I had the good fortune to get a call from Aviva Michaelov at the New York Times with an assignment for the Op-Ed page. The article, which ran yesterday, reflected on Sinatra's role as the touchstone of style and cool within mainstream hip-hop on what would have been his 95th birthday.

The American

2010-12-06T10:36:00.000-08:00

This month's British GQ has an illustration I did alongside their review of Anton Corbijn's film "The American." Inspired by the duotone designs of the film's poster, the sketches (below) were done with a mono-print approach in mind, using red over blue and white to allude to the character's nationality (and line of work.)

Kind of Blue

2010-11-29T07:48:00.000-08:00

Here is a piece from yesterday's Los Angeles Times book review of Miles Corwin's latest novel "Kind of Blue." The book centers around the reinstatement of the main character, an unusually keen and obsessive officer, to the LAPD to solve a high profile murder. The thumbnails and sketches below were a inspired by the character's lone-wolf mentality against the backdrop of LA. Much thanks to Judy Pryor for the call.

Collateral

2010-11-23T22:27:00.000-08:00

Excerpts from side projects over the past couple weeks.

By Nightfall

2010-10-26T07:03:00.000-07:00

Editorial assignments are generally fast-moving targets, and having one good shot seems like the best you can usually hope for. So the chance to take two swings at the same subject for two different assignments was unexpectedly nice. The assignments were book review illustrations for Michael Cunningham's new novel "By Nightfall," in which the main character, a successful Manhattan art dealer, begins to question the life and career he's built after the his wife's younger brother enters their lives.

The first call was from Nick Vogelson at OUT, and the focus was on a specific chapter in the book to accompany an interview piece with the author. Below are the sketches, a few color phases and the finished piece.

Shortly thereafter, I got a call from Paul Gonzales at the LA Times to do a piece for their book review with a broader focus on the overall story. It's rare opportunity to do a second finish on the same concepts and characters so in the LA Times piece, I tried more of a designed poster format. Below are the sketches and the finished piece, where the main character is being pulled between two worlds with his wife on his arm and a young and bright figure drawing his attention behind him. Overall a lot of fun to do both, much thanks to Nick and Paul for being great ADs as always.

Mary Poppins

2010-09-27T12:16:00.000-07:00

Today I have an illustration on the Picture Book Report, an ongoing narrative/collective blog I've been enjoying for months and home to illustrators like Meg Hunt, Sam Bosma, and Kali Ciesemier among many others. The above piece is based on a scene from the first Mary Poppins book by P.L. Travers, where Mary Poppins takes Jane and Michael Banks to St. Pauls Cathedral in London to see the Bird Woman. Below is a bit of the process from idea thumbnails, through to the rough pencils and then the finished ink drawing.

Engineering Terror

2010-09-16T07:48:00.000-07:00

This is an illustration I just finished for an article in last Sunday's New York Times Magazine about the disproportionately high number of engineering degrees found among members of radical/terrorist organizations. The initial three sketches were based on the discussion of detachment and calculation, which are characteristics of members of both groups in the article.

After going over these sketches with Leo Jung at the Times, I went back and expanded further on the second one and the miniature city idea from a little more claustrophobic angle. In the process, I noticed the rough colors on the wall had a strange smudged look, almost a burn-mark feeling that worked unexpectedly well with the rest of the piece.

Carraroe

2010-07-26T09:29:00.000-07:00

Here is an illustration I did earlier this year for a Zombie compilation project. The parameters were pretty open, and for some reason the idea of zombies handling the ocean and uneven terrain seemed really unsettling to me at the time.

Kings of the Earth

2010-07-12T00:46:00.000-07:00

Here is an illustration I did for the LA Times book review. The book is Jon Clinch's latest book Kings of the Earth: A Novel about the lives and deaths of a family on a rural upstate New York farm. After going through the first half dozen sketches based on the short synopsis available before the book's release, I realized the ideas were really just guesses at plot points and character descriptions. For the final sketches (the last three which I submitted), I tried to keep the themes broader and more symbolic rather than narrative.

Ultimately the obscured, voyeuristic family photo idea was selected, and the finished piece ended up running in black and white (below right). But as luck would have it on newsprint the black and white version gives off an eerie documentary feel that hopefully helps drive home the concept of the story's unsettling, incomplete history. Much thanks again to Judy Pryor for the assignment.

Watercolor sketchbook

2010-07-06T07:23:00.000-07:00

I've been trying to keep entirely to watercolors in the sketchbook recently and it's been one of the toughest/best teachers in terms of letting go and reacting to the subject and paints. Here are a few pages from past couple months.

Rolling Stone: Eminem

2010-06-23T02:37:00.000-07:00

Earlier this month, I was contacted by Steven Charny at Rolling Stone to do an illustration for the magazine's review of Eminem's new album, "Recovery." Interestingly it also turns out to be the same issue as the late-breaking McChrystal interview thats out this week.

Aside from heading away from drug references, the brief was nicely open, so the sketch ideas below were inspired mainly by the longevity of Eminem's career and his role as a veteran of fame. The scaffolding idea, which we went with, was based on the his role a cultural icon with a lot of baggage facing an uncommon amount of scrutiny at the release of his seventh album. (Also after roughing out the sketches I discovered the video from the first single off the album used a lot of the same elements of risk and vertigo, which seemed like a good sign.)

Overall it was a lot of fun to have such a flexible brief and the opportunity to work with Steven at Rolling Stone on such an interesting subject.

William Burroughs

2010-05-24T07:45:00.001-07:00

The William Burroughs paperbacks that I illustrated earlier this year along with Naked Lunch just arrived from the printers. Because the art director liked the style of the Silky Shark print in my portfolio for the initial Naked Lunch assignment, I continued the process using a silk screen-style approach and a limited palette throughout the sketches and finals. The Soft Machine, The Ticket That Exploded, and The Place of Dead Roads all followed the same process as Naked Lunch, including two or three layers of drawn tones, which I attempted to keep in tune with the style of each book and as a set. The final layouts and text were done by Jo Walker at Harper Collins and I think they did a nice job of pulling the artwork together. (Below is a bit of a process breakdown of the finished covers.)

Initial sketches for The Soft Machine, The Ticket that Exploded, and The Place of Dead Roads (columns L to R respectively.)

The selected sketches with some adjustments in the saturation and color to help balance out the group as a set.

Ink and brush on Bristol Board drawing for the Soft Machine shadows layer.

Ink drawing for the Soft Machine mid-tones layer.

Finished colors on the background layer with some separations for black.

Finished cover illustrations and designs:

Washington Posts

2010-05-22T06:22:00.000-07:00

Here are a couple new illustrations that have run in the Washington Post Style section this week. The image above is for a piece by Hank Stuever about the finale of "Lost", and the image below is for another piece about the evolution of the mockumentary format into today's TV sitcom landscape. (The "Lost" one should be on stands today.)

The Terrorist Next Door

2010-05-04T08:25:00.000-07:00

My first OpEd illustration for the New York Times is out today, alongside Michael Sheehan's piece about the challenges of preventing lone-wolf terrorism. Much thanks to Aviva for the call.

Visiting

2010-04-28T03:02:00.000-07:00

Getting the chance to illustrate short fiction has been such a pleasure that I'm actually starting to feel a tiny bit guilty about it. I received an assignment from the Atlantic last month for a piece by Stuart Nadler entitled "Visiting" which, after reading, had already conjured such an atmospheric picture of this quiet, slightly suffocating afternoon trip by a father and his estranged son that I really just felt like I was reporting sketches from the scene.

Below are the idea sketches mocked up on the page to see how they fit with the spread, and the finished piece above was done with ink and wash and then colored digitally, and should be available now on stands in the Atlantic's annual fiction issue. Thanks to Melissa Bluey for making it such an enjoyable project.

Symposium

2010-04-18T15:05:00.000-07:00

Here is my latest Symposium opener illustration for the current issue of OUT, which is on stands now. It is accompanying an excerpt from the story by Helena Andews entitled "Riding in Cars with Lesbians" about witnessing domestic violence as a girl. Initially there was a sketch that touched on the fight itself, but ultimately the sketches of the moments after when she's tending to her mothers injuries in the bathroom seemed truer to the overall tone of the piece.

The Redhead

2010-04-13T07:13:00.000-07:00

The spring issue of Granta just arrived and includes an illustration I did for a fiction piece by Roberto Bolaño called "The Redhead." A part of the Sex issue, the excerpt sketches the narrator's dreams and memories of a girl from his past and her relationship with a narcotics cop. I worked with the very cool Michael Salu at Granta who suggested we play on the author's style with an equally loose illustration finish.

Treme

2010-04-08T02:33:00.000-07:00

Today's Washington Post includes a piece I did for a preview of the new series "Treme" which premieres on HBO this Sunday. While doing research I came across an interesting interview with the creators (who also created "The Wire") on Fresh Air. The show sounds like an uncommonly hard look into the nuanced world of post-Katrina New Orleans, and the thumbnails and sketches were mainly inspired by the disparity of the city's vibrant music and traditions against the more muted state of the characters' personal situations and the neighborhoods they're returning to. Much thanks to Chris Meighan at the Post.

Naked Lunch

2010-03-14T15:23:00.000-07:00

A few months back I had the good fortune to get a call from Jo Walker at Harper Collins in London to do the cover illustration for the new paperback reissue of Naked Lunch: The Restored Text by William Burroughs. The thumbnails below are a few of the quick visual notes taken while reading the book, which were then re-worked into more coherent sketches, drawing mainly on Burrough's hyper-detailed neurological accounts of heroin, as well as his more visceral themes of primordial fluids and nightmarish, inky lagoons. Much of the inspiration for the finished drawing approach was also inspired by the bold, monochromatic silkscreened book and album covers contemporary to the period Naked Lunch was first published.

The book will be available in the UK from Harper Collins next month.

The Surrendered

2010-03-08T07:48:00.000-08:00

I had an illustration in yesterday's Boston Globe for a feature on Chang-Rae Lee's new novel "The Surrendered." While it ran in black and white on the link above, here is the a color version as well. The novel follows several characters through the aftermath of the Korean war, including an eleven year old orphan. Not having had a chance to read the book, I was drawn to the broader psychological impacts of war and how the effects of its brutality on the characters could be conveyed.

Thanks very much to Jane Martin at the Globe for the opportunity.

Jan/Feb Sketchbook

2010-02-23T16:07:00.000-08:00

I've finally had the opportunity to do some life drawing again over the past few weeks, which has been really good/daunting to begin practicing again (especially in a workshop with natural light.) Here are some of the sketchbook pages, the first two using a brushpen, then crowquill and wash on the next few, and then watercolor on the last one. (If anyone has any advice on working with watercolor vs. short poses, or a source for portable heat-ray, please let me know.)

La Digitale

2010-02-02T06:54:00.000-08:00

Here is my cover artwork for the upcoming French sci-fi novel La Digitale by Alfred Boudry. The story tells of a sudden death involving a mysterious perfume, so the book's editor Eric Holstein and I were inspired to play with the style of contemporary perfume ads, while still retaining the ominous undertones of the detective story. The book will be available later this month from ActuSF. Also owenfreeman.com has been updated with new work and sketches.

January

2010-01-20T02:12:00.000-08:00

Here is an piece I just finished for a promotional series for Heflin Reps. The concept was to take the name of a month as the portrait/theme and run with it, and I lucked into January, so the Betty Draper sketches started almost immediately. Below are some of the preliminary idea drawings.

Suicide Watch

2010-01-03T14:35:00.000-08:00

A few months ago, I got a call from UCLA Magazine to illustrate an article on rising suicide rates among middle-aged Americans. After sketching the first few thumbnails and re-reading the article, I decided to focus on the absence of connection and we went with the man in the park. From there I experimented with the idea of visual isolation by including the passing world in watercolor figures and warmer temperatures.

Postcards from London

2009-12-23T15:49:00.000-08:00

In between projects over the past couple weeks, I've been working on some pen and ink drawings on postcards to send from London. Here are a handful from the British Museum, London Natural History Museum, the Louvre, Tower of London and some streets around London and Paris.

Hope everyone out there is having a warm and happy holidays, here's to the end of a monumental year and the beginning of a bright new decade.

Chirac

2009-11-23T14:14:00.000-08:00

New promo series: Jaques Chirac

Superstition

2009-11-16T00:07:00.000-08:00

Just completed this comic sequence in collaboration with Helen and the good folks at Sonny London. (The fully scripted and scored version is also available here.)

Londinium

2009-11-09T02:11:00.000-08:00

Seeing London for the first time made me wish my full-time job was location sketching. The city just draws itself. Here are some sketchbook pages so far, fountain pen and ink wash mainly, more to come.

The Big Sleep

2009-11-02T08:47:00.000-08:00

Here is an illustration I just finished of Carmen Sternwood from the final scenes of Chandler's The Big Sleep. I noticed a lot of my thumbnail sketches while reading were characters other than Marlowe, so it was interesting to attempt to capture his tone through a supporting character and scene. Unlike previous approaches, I tried to limit the compositional drawings to rough thumbnails, which allowed the final drawing/watercolor process to be a bit more fluid.

In other news, I've been included in Taschen's new "Illustration Now! 3" book, alongside some amazing artists. I also did a quick Q&A with the good folks at Gym Class Magazine, which is on internet-stands now.

Overlook

2009-10-08T04:54:00.000-07:00

A new illustration I just finished for this week's LA Weekly. Also, I've just started on Twitter, in case you're interested in more links and less alphabetical-characters.

PULP

2009-09-29T01:17:00.000-07:00

Earlier this year I got the opportunity to collaborate with photographic dynamo Neil Krug on two illustrations for his and Joni Harbeck's upcoming PULP ART BOOK. I have been a huge admirer of Neil's polaroid work since first seeing it on Flickr, and although these are still in-progress, I thought I would post some of the sketches and pin-up drafts so far.

Nerding Out

2009-09-20T14:51:00.000-07:00

I had the good fortune to get a call from Nick Vogelson at OUT magazine last month for an article on the crossing-over of nerdism into mainstream American culture. Through the eyes of the writer at events such as the San Diego Comicon, I was left with a certain reverence for the pop culture pile-up that these events seem to inevitably lead to. The first few sketches were essentially riffing on this idea of fictitious comic book and film worlds colliding, first with each other and then again with the world around them. The rough pencil ideas were scanned and re-drawn into the more legible sketches in Photoshop, and once the hallway version had been approved I did my best to retain as much of the loose, crowded quality of the rough sketches as possible.

Overall it was an incredibly fun assignment, and really any day I get to draw Skeletor sleeping on someone's lap at a bus stop is a good day. I think it's the issue should be on stands now, thanks again to Nick for the opportunity.

Conchords

2009-09-08T15:50:00.000-07:00

Here is a new self-promo portrait I just finished of New Zealand's fourth most popular guitar-based digi-bongo acapella-rap-funk-comedy folk duo, along with a bit of the process from sketch to digital paints. Owenfreeman.com has also just been updated with a bundle of new sketches and illustrations.

Also in case you haven't seen it there is a fantastic Drawger post by Yoku Shimizu detailing the process of a new portrait she did for Golf Digest. Can't recommend it enough.

Tempest

2009-08-21T00:17:00.000-07:00

Here is the latest illustration for this week's LA Weekly, inspired by a longstanding infatuation with the concrete forests of overpasses across Los Angeles.

Brütal Lemmy

2009-08-12T23:59:00.000-07:00

Here are some of the sketches I did for the new issue of Nylon Guys magazine along with the finished illustration. The piece was for the "Rock & Awe" interview with Lemmy Kilmister about his role in the upcoming heavy-metal themed Brütal Legend video game- I couldn't ask for more visually fun elements to work with. Much thanks to Alexander Chow for the opportunity and thanks again to the illustrious Frank Stockton for the assist.

Mash Up

2009-07-16T15:17:00.000-07:00

Here is a new piece I just did for this week's LA Weekly. I had been reading about the history of Malibu Creek State Park, where M*A*S*H and the Planet of the Apes series were filmed when I did the rough sketch. After hiking up to shoot some reference shots for an idea about a misdirected extra, I painted the ink and watercolor version. After some trial and error and strange accidents with color and temperatures, I came to this version, which hopefully retains most of the anachronistic feel of the original concept.

In other news, I'm incredibly honored to have my unpublished "Waiting" illustration awarded a spot in this year's Communication Arts Illustration Annual, which is on stands now.

Unbelievable 2.5

2009-06-25T09:38:00.001-07:00

Unbelievable_2.5, originally uploaded by owenfreeman.

Portrayals

2009-06-14T23:19:00.000-07:00

Here is an ink drawing/portrait of Mr. Hugh Hefner I did for this year's Playboy Jazz Festival. Throughout the assignment I was inspired to keep practicing with daily warmup portrait sketches of whoever else came to mind, and push various limitations like duotones or lighting as I went (while trying to maintain some fleeting likenesses.) It's an unexpected bunch, all together, but I guess there was a lot of Kojack on in the background...

Northlake

2009-06-04T22:49:00.000-07:00

New illustration for this week's LA Weekly. Also just received a bronze medal for the Meric piece in the current issue of CQ, which was a cool surprise.

G20

2009-05-14T17:58:00.000-07:00

Here is a cover and double-page spread I did for the current issue of Securities & Investments Review. The assignment was a super-heroic take on the single superadvisory board that world leaders were creating to confront the global economic recession at the G20 Summit in London this year.

The cover was penciled pretty much directly from the rough sketch, but the thumbnail sketches for the spread at the top left were still a bit too subtle, so for the tighter pencil versions we tried to take it in a more direct and cinematic angle. After a few color treatments the double page spread finally felt dark enough without being too dark, and the recession had the correct number of tentacles and it was off to print. Thanks to Johanna Ward at Wardour for the opportunity, and special thanks to Frank Stockton for the assist.

The Four Star

2009-05-11T20:00:00.001-07:00

Illustration I just finished for New York Magazine about the impact of the recession on four-star restaurants in Manhattan.

Morello

2009-04-20T01:52:00.000-07:00

Here is a full page illustration I did for the current issue of FHM magazine in the UK. The illustration was based on an article detailing the brutal rise and fall of GIuseppe Morello, the head of the first organized crime family in America during the turn of the last century.

Help is on the way

2009-04-02T22:09:00.000-07:00

Just finished this assignment for this week's LA Weekly based on an article by Courtney Moreno recounting tales of life as an ambulance driver. The stories are a fascinating glimpse into a harrowing and often surreal side of medicine and was a great challenge to try and tackle visually. Also owenfreeman.com has just been updated with a bundle of new illustration and sketchbook work.

Forget it Jake...

2009-03-26T08:43:00.000-07:00

Here is a piece I just did for the LA Weekly, on newsstands this week. The sketches were based on the broader idea of the city of Los Angeles, and then the finished illustration was an expansion on the upper right sketch with a nod to the classic film. Much thanks to Darrick and Jason for the opportunity and special thanks to the talented Eric Davison for his assistance.

Waiting

2009-02-15T20:38:00.000-08:00

Just finished this illustration inspired by a piece on the daily risks in the lives of sex workers. Above are the thumbnail idea sketches, trying to work out a few compositional elements and then expanding further into quick color and value studies on the upper right. The interesting challenge to the piece was to try and create a sense of space which could then serve as a stage for the headlights to stand-in for a foreboding figure and still cut into the motel room with as much (or more) menace.

MF Doom

2009-02-09T21:57:00.000-08:00

In From the Cold

2009-01-08T00:29:00.000-08:00

Here are some initial sketches and then the finished illustration I did for this month's issue of Runner's World magazine. The piece was an autobiographical account of the writers near-death experience during winter run in a frozen canal outside Washington D.C.. Thanks to Kory Kennedy for including me among such auspicious company.

2,009

2009-01-01T12:54:00.000-08:00

So the year two thousand and nine means it's almost twenty ten, which still sounds freakishly futuristic. Hope this post finds everyone well, I was aiming for a more organic theme for this post but instead here is a strange bundle of sketches and daily drawings to make way for the new.

Collect all 2!

2008-12-15T08:34:00.000-08:00

Just in time for the holidays, my first two prints are now available at Gallery Nucleus.

Solatia

2008-12-11T23:30:00.001-08:00

Op-art piece based on the cost of civilian casualties in Iraq and Afghanistan and the actual claims filed in for non-combat related deaths.

Tanker

2008-11-24T21:44:00.001-08:00

Just finished this op-ed piece based on a recent New York Times article on the recent uptick of pirate attacks along the coast of Somalia.

Night and the City

2008-11-19T11:05:00.001-08:00

OpEd

2008-10-06T21:28:00.001-07:00

Illustration based on the New York Times editorial titled "Barack Obama, John McCain and the Language of Race"

Meric

2008-09-23T23:07:00.001-07:00

PR

2008-09-10T23:06:00.000-07:00

I just found out that this first piece I did for a Coastal America competition was selected to be on display in the Smithsonian from December 1st of this year through the end of March 2009, coinciding with the opening of the new Sant Ocean Hall to the public.
And in local news, I was given the opportunity to create an installation of work alongside the always impressive student gallery for the fall term at Art Center College of Design here in LA, which will be up through the beginning of December.

Gustav

2008-09-01T13:26:00.001-07:00

Severance

2008-08-19T12:11:00.000-07:00

The artwork for a short story I just finished about a guy trying to leave town to quit his numbers job, and a scrap handgun he can't sell.

It Was a Very Good Year

2008-07-25T00:36:00.001-07:00

Ocean on the edge

2008-07-15T03:08:00.001-07:00

Just finished this poster proposal piece for an ocean science exhibit at the Aquarium of the Pacific. Still a work-in-progress, but it went from sketch to here relatively quickly it seemed like it might be worth posting.

Silky Shark

2008-07-03T02:14:00.001-07:00

Thought I'd post this process sheet just to blow whatever spontaneity the final silkscreen may exhibit. The concept was sort of a love letter to Los Angeles, the beauty and toxicity of it all, for a three-color silkscreen assignment. At the left are the thumbnail roughs, taking the Super Fly approach for a minute, then something about water, then some type. From there the three rough color sketches revealing how increasingly muddied the idea had become.

Finally I went back to try some ink sketches in the hopes of salvaging it using the limitations of three flat-colors. The far right top and bottom ink drawings became the basis for the black and violet screens, and the cropped final silkscreen, the second from the bottom right was one of the alternate color compositions based off those drawings.

Birds

2008-06-16T23:58:00.001-07:00

Two-plate etching/aquatint assignment for printmaking.

Dracula's Pajama Party

2008-05-29T22:03:00.001-07:00

Hand etching and aquatint print I just finished.

Columbia

2008-05-17T00:11:00.001-07:00

Finally got some figure painting hours in today, can't wait to do it again.

SOI/AI

2008-05-07T00:35:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the slow news week, here are few sketches from the past few days, falling back in love with the crowquill pen of all things. Also found out that I had pieces selected for both the Society of Illustrators Student Competition and this years American Illustration annual, which was a great surprise and honor to be included alongside such killer work.

Serious play

2008-04-03T11:36:00.001-07:00

Get Up

2008-03-20T11:41:00.000-07:00

Ten Trophies

2008-03-03T12:05:00.000-08:00

Here is a series of illustrations I just finished for an article in Aeroflot's In-Flight magazine on the "Ten Oldest Sports Trophies."

Marching ahead

2008-03-02T15:58:00.000-08:00

Sorry it's been a bit since I posted anything. New work has been happening in fits and starts, but still doesn't quite seem quite presentable, but here it is anyways. Also, after 600 consecutive days at Twango (which has now become some weird tool of Nokia) my daily drawing project has migrated over to Flickr and will stay daily here until I finish school, or school finishes me, whichever comes first.

Happy New Year!

2008-01-05T22:21:00.000-08:00

Hey, hope the new year finds everyone well. Here are a couple pieces from a series of illustrations I finished last month for Aeroflot Premium in-flight Magazine. Also wanted to mention I'd added a second page of work to my portfolio site, and also plug the good people over at Molokoplus Magazine, who were kind enough to include me alongside some really cool artists in their latest issue.

Pulp covers

2007-12-16T10:19:00.000-08:00

A series of Pulp magazine covers loosely based on Los Angeles landmarks.

Assorted studies

2007-12-16T09:57:00.000-08:00

Medical tourism

2007-12-16T09:51:00.003-08:00

Raymond Chandler

2007-11-27T20:09:00.000-08:00