Oberlin Alumni Magazine Cover

Oberlin College has embraced environmental sustainability as a core aspect of what its students should learn. The cover story of this issue of the alumni magazine discussed the many initiatives now underway at the College, including innovations in waste water treatment, use of locally grown produce, energy use monitoring, a solar parking pavilion, and an exceptionally bike-friendly campus.

They wanted a cover image suggesting a variety of these initiatives, so that details could be pulled out for use as spot illustrations throughout the article. Below are the original rough sketches presented.

CLIENT: OBERLIN COLLEGE/KELEMAN DESIGN
ART DIRECTOR: BOB KELEMAN

“Crossing Stones” Book Cover

Though the conventional wisdom in cover design is to avoid having the visual literally duplicate the title, I felt I could not avoid it for this young adult novel told in verse form. Set in rural Michigan in the year 1918, Crossing Stones, by Helen Frost, follows the intertwined lives of two pairs of young adult siblings all struggling to find their paths in life. World War I, the flu pandemic, and the women’s Suffragette movement all figure prominently in the story. The over-riding tone of the book is heartfelt and bittersweet, and this is what I tried to convey in the artwork.

After the concept was nailed down and approved, my biggest challenge was finding the right setting to make the photographs for the montage. Though, as luck would have it, I am very familiar with rural Michigan. Unfortunately, I live now in southwest Florida, which bears little resemblance. For one thing, while there are plenty of creeks here (and no palm trees in Michigan), there are virtually no creeks here with stones. In the final image, I was able to use a creek I shot near my house, but the stones were added using a tabletop still life I made for the project. The model was shot separately in a park nearby, and the rest of the landscape was added with images from my archives.

CLIENT: FARRAR, STRAUS, & GIROUX
ART DIRECTOR: JAY COLVIN

“When I Crossed No-Bob” Book Jacket

In this middle-grade novel, When I Crossed No-Bob, by Margaret McMullen, 12 year-old Addy O’Donnell struggles to break free from her troubled family amid the poverty and devastation of post Civil War Mississippi.

After submitting the sketches below, the publisher decided it would be best to show the character on the cover. As it turned out, the most difficult part of the job was finding the right girl. I have no idea how many candidates’ photos I emailed to the art director for approval. In the end, I drove 200 miles to photograph the girl above.



CLIENT: HOUGHTON MIFFLIN
ART DIRECTOR: SHEILA SMALLWOOD

“Gambling Addiction” illustrations

Experts refer to video slot machines as the “crack cocaine of gambling”, because of their powerfully addictive nature. Bankruptcy, broken relationships, and even suicide are all too often costs of the addiction. For this feature story in Rhode Island Monthly profiling one woman's battle to stay “clean”, art director Ellen Dessloch wanted an image with a human presence that was sad, but not dark. She liked the idea I came up of lemons as an organic symbol of the futility and loss associated with slot machines. Above are the finished full-page opener and spot illustrations. Below are the sketches submitted.



CLIENT: RHODE ISLAND MONTHLY
ART DIRECTOR: ELLEN DESSLOCH

“Irene Dos Santos” Book Jacket

The Disappearance of Irene Dos Santos, by Margaret Mascarenhas, explores themes of love, truth, and belonging through the character of a free-spirited fifteen year-old girl who one day disappears into the Venezuelan jungle. The art director requested an image of the character in her white dress and red shoes walking into the lush, green jungle. Not much Photoshop in this one, one or two layered textures and some hand coloring. For the type treatment, I was inspired by Latin American cigar boxes.

Above is the finished artwork, and below are the original sketches presented.

CLIENT: GRAND CENTRAL PUBLISHING
ART DIRECTOR: BRIGID PEARSON

“Internal Auditor” Spot Portraits

I did the above spot photo collage portraits for the great folks at Yacinski Design. They will appear on The Institute of Internal Auditor’s website. That last generic one will accompany the blog section on the site. It is an homage (with apologies) to a hero of mine, illustrator Malcolm Tarlofsky.


CLIENT: YACINSKI DESIGN, INSTITUTE OF INTERNAL AUDITORS
ART DIRECTOR: JOE YACINSKI

“Snow Angel” Illustrations

Angels On Earth Magazine wanted an image of an angel in a snow globe for this year's upcoming holiday issue, plus an additional variation for a second illustration. As props go, snow globes are not too hard to find, shrinking the model was much tougher (and I appreciate her patience).

CLIENT: ANGELS ON EARTH MAGAZINE
ART DIRECTOR: JAMES CONRAD