Random House: Brief Encounters with the Enemy

Earlier this year, I had the pleasure of working with Robbin Schiff at Random House on the book cover illustration for “Brief Encounters with the Enemy" by Said Sayrafiezadeh. The characters in the stories had a quietly haunting quality as they moved through their seemingly mundane city; exploring those elements in the sketches below was a lot of fun.

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in San Francisco alongside Chris Koehler and Alejandro Larin with some small art books and prints (including this unpublished illustration for The New Yorker on the MoMA screening of the Tyrone Power noire “Nightmare Alley.”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.