“Twenty Gold Falcons” Book Jacket

The middle-grade novel, “Twenty Gold Falcons”, by Amy Gordon, is a fun read with lots of unusual characters and plot twists. A spunky twelve-year old girl and her two friends search for lost gold coins, and my art director, Claire Counihan, said she wanted the cover to convey “the thrill of the search”. There were many visual themes running through the book–gold coins, old clocks, opera, sumptuous wealth, along with actual falcons. There is also a scene with a flashlight, and I felt that depicting the protagonist shining a flashlight would be the best way to show the idea of a search.

Below are the sketches in the order I did them. Since I love birds, I wanted to include the image of a falcon along with the character shining the light (first sketch), but the concensus was that the image was confusing, so I replaced the falcon with “hidden” gold coins (second sketch). This was an improvement, but Claire suggested I make the character crawling towards to add drama, which seemed to do the trick (final revised sketch) . I also could not resist adding some red velvet curtains to suggest both wealth and the opera. Special thanks to Grace, my fine young model.



CLIENT: HOLIDAY HOUSE
ART DIRECTOR: CLAIRE COUNIHAN

Caregiver Support Illustration

I did this montage a couple of months ago, I just haven't had much time to post lately, which I guess is a good thing(!).

It has been well documented the difficult time wounded Iraq War vets have struggling with brain injuries and the psychological wounds of combat. The stress on their caregivers, usually parents and spouses, has received somewhat less attention. This illustration accompanied the transcript of a panel discussion addressing support services available for these caregivers. Special thanks to my friends and neighbors Eric and Pedreia for posing for this piece.

CLIENT: MILITARY OFFICER MAGAZINE
ART DIRECTOR: JILL AKERS

“Moon Over Manifest” Book Cover

The year is 1936, and the protagonist, Abilene Tucker, is in most ways a typical eleven year-old girl in Moon Over Manifest, the middle-grade debut novel by Clare Vanderpool. What is unusual is that Abilene’s single-parent father is a hobo, and as the story begins, she has spent the last several years of her childhood happily riding the rails with him.

For the cover, art director Vikki Sheatsley asked for a shot of Abilene walking down the Kansas railroad tracks. The hardest part was finding the right model (thank you, Kate!) and setting. The most labor-intensive task was aging the overalls. The rest pretty much took care of itself.

CLIENT: RANDOM HOUSE
ART DIRECTOR: VIKKI SHEATSLEY

NY Times “House Of Dreams” Illustration

Apparently, trying to buy the “house of your dreams” in this economic climate can lead to actual nightmares, and that is the subject of the article this illustration accompanied in the Home section of the NY Times. For me, subject matter does not get any better than this, so I really tried to have fun with it. The final montage was created by combining a photograph of the “sleeping” model with a table top set I created, along with some images from my archives for the background. Below are the rough sketches I originally presented.

ART DIRECTOR: KEN McFARLIN
CLIENT: NEW YORK TIMES

"A Very Cold War" illustration

So it turns out that the U.S., Canada, Norway, Denmark, and Russia are all vying for property rights to oil reserves in the Arctic Circle. Hence the title of the feature this illustration accompanied, “A Very Cold War”. The idea of divvying up an “arctic pie” seemed somewhat obvious but irresistible to me. The most fun was making the frosted window treatment by mixing beer and epsom salts, details of which can be found on many how-to sites. Okay, so the studio smelled like a brewery for a few days, but it passes. Below are the two rough sketches presented.

CLIENT: MILITARY OFFICER ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA
ART DIRECTOR: LYNNE WOYCHIK

Tech Survey Illustrations for Internal Auditor

Below is a series of four illustrations for the Technology/Software issue of Internal Auditor Magazine. The biggest challenge in these kinds of jobs is to present very familiar themes and relatively dry content in a fresh way. I often respond by marrying organic symbols and images to the dry material, in this case different kinds of birds and a handmade “data” globe. Below the illustrations are the two sets of sketches presented, including an alternate set with a “flower” theme.

CLIENT: INSTITUTE OF INTERNAL AUDITORS/YACINSKI DESIGN
ART DIRECTOR: JOSEPH YACINSKI

Unpublished Cover: The Cross Gardener

Another one that got away, and alas, will not see the light of Amazon, at least not in this guise. The Cross Gardener, by Jason F. Wright, interweaves themes of loss, grief, and healing as a young father struggles to deal with the sudden death of his beloved wife. Designer Annette Fiore-DeFex requested a bucolic image with a picket fence, some vegetation, and possibly a path. Above are two of the comps presented.

CLIENT: BERKLEY BOOKS
ART DIRECTOR: ANNETTE FIORE-DeFEX