Recent Work: “How Safe?” Illustrations

These illustrations will appear on the cover and interior of the March/April issue of Common Ground Magazine. The title “How Safe?” refers to what extent a community can provide security to its residents, specifically how much security is enough and at what cost? Art director Mary Prestera Butler wanted me to come up with a symbol or metaphor that would express the emotions of fear and vulnerability along with specific content such as alarm stickers and video cameras. I came up with the image of a crow to represent the “criminal threat.” I love bird imagery, and I had been waiting for an opportunity to use these reference photos of crows I had taken some years ago. I am also tentatively trying to introduce a little hand-drawn imagery into the work, which I was able to do in the interior piece. Below are some of the stages of the final Photoshop composite for the cover image.

Texture Studies

One look at my work will tell even the casual observer that I love texture. When I first began making montage illustrations in the early 1990’s, the background textures were all lifted from previously finished or half-finished paintings of mine. One thing I loved about digital montage was that it gave me a use for many unresolved works that maybe had small passages that I really liked. After a couple of years, I was doing more digital illustration than painting, and I ran out of paintings to pillage. So I began a practice of painting just backgrounds, and it remains one of the favorite parts of my job, a welcome antidote to staring at the computer screen ( something I must guiltily admit I also love). I like to use a variety of techniques, I think it fulfills my inner dilettante. Here are some samples from the last couple of weeks:


These were made by applying a fairly thick coat of Golden Crackle Paste to a sheet of heavy cold-press watercolor paper, left to dry completely. An acrylic wash is painted over that for a color foundation. A dark oil wash is the next layer, then, while not yet dry a thicker, more oily layer of white oil paint over that, with portions of the layers underneath left to show through. Sometimes I use a brush, sometimes a palette knife. I may add an oil glaze on top of these, but that’s another thing I like about the digital component; I can record and make use of progressive states.


The three above were made with Lazertran Inkjet transfer sheet waterslide decals. First, an image is printed on the transfer sheet (in this case, one of my previously painted textures). Coat the surface to which you will be applying the decal with turpentine gum spirits (must be real turpentine). Soak the decal in water, then slide the decal off the backing paper onto the surface. Use a rubber squeegee to firmly adhere the decal. My favorite part is that if you continue to gradually apply the turpentine to the decal after you squeegee it, it begins to decompose and crack in all these wonderful ways. You have to be careful, it’s easy to end up with nothing. The texture on the far right has some layers of varnish and oil glazes added later, which made it darker and richer.


No art supply alchemy to these last three, just good old acrylic and collage. Lots of layers, with varying degrees of transparency, some drawing. I am trying to move towards making use of the hand-painted backgrounds more as a compositional foundations, not just textures. Stay tuned...

Francis Ford Coppola and Self-Doubt

We all have periods of self-doubt about our work. I felt better about my own small struggles after hearing this excerpt from an interview with Francis Ford Coppola by his wife, Eleanor, during the filming of his future masterpiece, Apocalypse Now. To say things were not going well would be an understatement. Martin Sheen was having a nervous breakdown on camera, Marlon Brando arrived on the set obese, Dennis Hopper could not remember his lines because he was strung out on who knows what, and production costs were forcing Coppola himself into bankruptcy:

“What I have to admit is that I don’t know what I’m doing… I don’t have any performances, the script doesn’t make sense, I have no ending… this is one crisis I’m not going to pull myself out of. I’m making a bad movie, so why should I go ahead? I’m going to be bankrupt anyway…why can’t I just have the courage to say it’s no good?”

—Francis Ford Coppola, on the set of Apocalypse Now,
from the documentary, Hearts of Darkness,
directed by Eleanor Coppola.

Recent Work: “No Pretty Pictures” Book Jacket

This must be the month for holocaust book covers. No Pretty Pictures is the powerful wartime memoir of the well-known children's book artist, Anita Lobel. The project art director is Paul Zakris of Greenwillow Books.

Born into a Polish Jewish family in 1934, Lobel, along with her younger brother, spent most of WWII fleeing the Nazis in the Polish countryside before being sent to a concentration camp near the war's end. Miraculously, they were liberated in 1945 and eventually reunited with their parents.

Above is the finished artwork depicting the small "framed" figures of the author and her brother silhouetted on a lonely hillside. At right is the b&w photo (taken shortly after the war) which I used for the figures. To make the photograph of the figures in the landscape, I made a table top model and placed small colorized cutout figures (about 2 or 3 inches high) on the "hill" against a sky backdrop. Much of the detail ended up on the cutting room floor when I digitally added the frame, branches, and painted textures in the finish, but such is life.

My intention is for the weathered, hanging frame to suggest the abandoned possessions of the many victims, as well as to tie in with the title.

Recent Work: “T4” Book Jacket Final Art

Here is the finished wraparound artwork for the T4 jacket (with many thanks to my striking young model), and how it will appear on the cover with the type treatment (see previous entry) The images of the hands on either side of the "T4" type are sign language for the title. This was the author's idea (nice touch!).

Work In Progress: “T4” Book Jacket

T4, to be published by Houghton Mifflin, is a middle grade holocaust novel in verse by Ann Clare LeZotte.

T4 was the name given the Nazi plan to exterminate Germany’s mentally and physically disabled population. Derived from the address of its headquarters in Berlin, Tiergartenstrasse 4, the policy ended in 1941, but not before 270,000 people had been murdered and another 400,000 sterilized.

The book tells the story of Paula Becker, thirteen year-old German girl. Paula is deaf, and therefore a target of the T4 policy. Fleeing the Nazis, Paula spends two tense years in hiding before being reunited with her family.

The brief called for a cover that evoked history, without being depressing. Creative Director Sheila Smallwood suggested a subdued but appealing image of Paula. The brevity of the title gave me the opportunity for a type treatment that mimicked the Nazi swastika.

Above are the sketches presented on the left. On the right, are some photos used for reference and inspiration taken with my cell phone at the Maltz Museum of Jewish Heritage exhibition, Deadly Medicine: Creating The Master Race.

A Five Step Brainstorming Process

I have been creating conceptual illustrations for about fifteen years, and solving design problems longer than that. To generate ideas, over time I have developed this five step process which has worked well for me:

1. Immerse yourself in the material. Whether it is a book jacket, magazine illustration, or corporate brochure cover, I take time to really focus on the text. The amount of time will vary, of course, depending on the project. I like to spend enough time so that I can comfortably state the theme of the piece in a couple of sentences.
2. Free associate. Before I actually start drawing, I spend about twenty minutes making a list. With the content from step one fresh in my mind, I write down any word that comes to mind. These could be visual elements, verbs, or adjectives. Don't edit, just write.
3. Make many thumbnails. Next, drawing on your free association list, create eight to ten rough thumbnail pencils. Try different combinations of list items. Often for me, adjectives from the list will conjure up visual images. It is important to really push yourself at this point, but still without judging, and don't worry at all about the quality of the drawing. The goal at this stage is quantity. I allow about forty five minutes for this step.
   
4. Take a break. Let your unconscious do some of the work, while you do something else. Take a walk, take a shower, I like to play my guitar. This break could be for half an hour, or it could be overnight.
   
5. Edit the thumbnails, refine sketches. Okay, this is really two steps, but a five step process sounds so much better than six. Usually, when I come to stage, I have fresh ideas for the thumbnails, so I add to or modify them as needed. Then, I choose the two or three best thumbnail ideas to work up into tighter sketches to present to the client.