Recent Work:“Cashay” Book Jacket Sketches

The impoverished housing projects of Chicago provide the backdrop for this middle-grade novel about about a teenage girl struggling to overcome the violent death of her younger sister and her mother’s spiraling drug addiction. I tried experimenting with layers of urban textures I photographed to set the tone. I like these sketches, but I am currently working on revised versions which focus on the girl’s face.

CLIENT: HOUGHTON MIFFLIN
ART DIRECTOR: SHEILA SMALLWOOD

Recent Work: “The Adversary” Book Jacket

The latest episode in the “Inspector Nergui” crime-thriller series by Michael Walters, The Adversary, like its predecessor, The Shadow Walker, is set in modern day Mongolia. Hard-boiled, film-noir, and shadowy were all words that quickly came to mind while thinking about this book. I thought the idea of a sort of mystery figure facing the glare of oncoming headlights on a lonely road would set the mood, as well as reflect the content of the text.

For the finish, my idea was to photograph the figure (me) facing the headlights all in one take. I could not get the light I wanted on the figure, though, plus it was getting really cold that night. So I ended up shooting the figure in the studio and pasting it digitally into the scene. Though I did not use the photos, it was still useful to have actual photos of the figure in the scene for lighting reference when re-shooting the figure in the studio.

Above is the finish, and below are all of the original sketches presented.

CLIENT: BERKLEY BOOKS
ART DIRECTOR: RITA FRANGIE

Recent Work: Integrative Medicine Illustration

In addition to conventional western medical treatment, “Integrative Medicine” includes holistic practices, yoga, meditation, and traditional herbal Chinese medicine. I have tried to suggest this blending of east and west by intertwining western medical instruments with a medicinal herb plant. A pair of “healing hands” suggesting massage reaches up from below.

Client: Connecticut Magazine
Art Director: Joan Barrow

Recent Work: Cyber Terrorism illustration

With almost every sector of our government and the economy dependent on technology, many experts argue that an attack in cyberspace poses as great a threat to our national security as a military attack. In this illustration, I have used a hand holding a computer mouse with a lit fuse to make the point. The background portrays the “information”grid under threat.

Client: Military Officer Magazine
Art Director: Kitty Weiss