Gambling Memoirs
Client: Vegas Seven Magazine Art Director: Lauren Stewart
For this week’s Arts and Entertainment Reading section in Vegas Seven Magazine, I was asked to illustrate two contrasting stories about gambling in one spot. The article is entitled, “Of Girls and Gambling” in which “Two new female-penned memoirs show the spectrum of gambling, from addiction to ecstasy,” written by Richard Abowitz.
Assessing Bloomberg
Client: City Hall Magazine Art Director: Mitchell Hoffman
City Hall Magazine contacted me to illustrate the cover of New York City Mayor Micheal Bloomberg. The article is titled, “An Assessment of Bloomberg’s Third Term So Far, Measuring Up.” It is always an honor to be asked to paint a cover for a client—City Hall is no exception. (This assignment was the beginning of a flurry of work a few days before I took a week off for summer vacation! Murphy’s Law or Karma?)
City Hall Cover
Left Leaning?
Client: City Hall Magazine, Art Director: Mitchell Hoffman
Mitchell Hoffman of City Hall Magazine recently asked me to illustrate an article about a progressive caucus and their efforts to pull City Hall in New York more to the left. I moved out of New York state way back in 1992 but these spots for Manhattan Media keep me fairly well-informed about New York politics. Ironic, isn’t it?
Bike with Mike
This spot illustration of Mayor Mike McGinn was commissioned by Seattle Met magazine’s Art Director, Benjamen Purvis. Apparently the Mayor of Seattle rides his bike to work every day. Writer Johnathon Fitzpatrick refers to him as the pedaling populist. “He inhales and exhales breaths as big and as earnest as his ideas. And he pedals. All the way to City Hall.”
Great stuff!
Zombie Mashup
I recently illustrated some zombies, vampires, robots and Abraham Lincoln for the Arts & Entertainment opener in Vegas Seven Magazine. It was for a story about Quirk Books editor Jason Rekulak. (He and Seth Grahame-Smith are responsible for the book Pride and Prejudice and Zombies.) You can read the article here, it was written by M. Scott Krause.
Comedy Isn’t Pretty
Who is this guy and why is his foot in a jar of mayonnaise?
This is a portrait I painted of Comedian Matt Champagne for Vegas Seven Magazine. Matt writes about his recent gig doing stand-up for a week at the Riviera Hotel and Casino. Mr. Champagne doesn’t mince words when it comes to his complete loathing for the Riviera (and Sin City for that matter.) As for the mayonnaise, just read his article about the experience—after all, he’s a comedian and you could probably use a laugh.
Vito Lopez—The Lion in Winter
Client: City Hall Magazine Art Director: Mitchell Hoffman
I was contacted by Mitch Hoffman at Manhattan Media to illustrate the cover of City Hall Magazine recently. The story was a personality profile of Vito Lopez, a politician from New York.
What Happens Here Doesn’t Stay Here Anymore…
Perhaps you have heard the ad campaign for the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, “What Happens in Vegas Stays in Vegas?” It is only considered one of the most successful branding efforts in advertising history.
Vegas Seven Magazine Magazine asked me to illustrate their interesting article that asks the question, “What Happens When What Happens Here Doesn’t Stay Here Anymore?”
This illustration was very complex with so many figures and costumes, but c’mon—how often do you get to illustrate a pirate text messaging?
The Wi-Fi of Oz
Client: Seattle Metropolitan Magazine Art Director: Benjamen Purvis
Seattle Metropolitan Magazine’s Art Director, Benjamen Purvis contacted me to illustrate this article about the Mayor of Seattle’s efforts to provide wi-fi access to the Emerald City. “Is the mayor’s dream of municipal broadband a viable vision for America’s most techie city?”
Bowled Under…
Client: Vegas Seven Magazine Art Director: Lauren Stewart
Vegas Seven is a new magazine that just made their debut. They were kind enough to invite me to contribute to their very first issue. The article touched on the ongoing (and contentious) relationship that Las Vegas has with the NFL—and the silliness that results from not being allowed to license so much as even the name of the “Big Game.”
Money Starved Republicans
Here is a political spot I was assigned to illustrate for The Capitol Magazine.
Republican Panhandlers
If you are inclined to read the article that my illustration accompanied just click here.
Bring it, 2010!
The Las Vegas Weekly advises “Let’s forget the epic suckage of 2009; here are 36 reasons you should give next year a chance…”
This is the first time I have gotten a chance to paint Barry Manilow–have to say, he and that nose made the job fun. Having a cover illustration is a very nice way to end the year.
Gubernatorial Scene at a Glance
This is a double page spread for The Las Vegas Weekly’s “Who Wants to be our Governor?” article in the October 1-7, 2009 issue. I had fun with this parody as I was asked to draw seven different faces, including Jim Gibbons and Oscar Goodman.
Celebrity Misbehavior
Art Director: Ryan Olbrysh for Las Vegas Weekly
This Illustration for the Las Vegas Weekly comes in response to the city’s desire to build and promote a museum in honor of the mob’s history in Las Vegas. The theory being: if a Mob Museum is acceptable, then why not a museum of Celebrity Misbehavior? A result of this line of thinking concludes with OJ Simpson being immortalized in a museum exhibit where his riveting audio tape (recorded during a robbery where he held up a sports memorabilia dealer in a Las Vegas hotel room) gets replayed.
What, you’d rather see an exhibit of Paris Hilton peeing in a potted plant?
Byron Brown’s Pigeon Coup
The capitol requested I illustrate a fairly straightforward spot of Buffalo New York’s Mayor Byron Brown releasing a pigeon. The metaphor being that of Steve Pigeon—an aide to billionaire Tom Golisano, who helped engineer a June 8 coup in Albany, being a liability to Byron Brown’s political ambitions.
Art Direction: Mitchell Hoffman for Manhattan Media
Four years after removing Steve Pigeon from his Senate staff, Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown has again moved to put distance between himself and Pigeon. (For those interested, this is what Steve Pigeon actually looks like. My favorite part of the picture is “that guy” in the background!)
Chatting with Artie Lange
Art Direction: Ryan Olbrysh at the Las Vegas Weekly
A spot illustration I did of Artie Lange who is performing in Las Vegas at the Hard Rock on June 27th.
The article contains gems such as this one, “I had a bad cocaine problem in the ’90s. The last five years have been heroin. Opiates and booze.”
Obama’s trip to Nevada
Art Director: Ryan Olbrysh for Las Vegas Weekly
Apparently, President Obama declined a meeting with the Governor of Nevada (Jim Gibbons) during his trip to Las Vegas on May 26th. In response, the Las Vegas Weekly contacted me to illustrate this “snub” by contrasting his cozy relationship with Senator Harry Reid to his indifference to the seemingly powerless Governor.
Bill Gates
Back in February 2009, Bill Gates unleashed a swarm of mosquitoes at the TED conference in California. It was apparently a noble effort to highlight the dangers of malaria. It scared the (rich and famous) attendees and resulted in my receiving an illustration assignment from Seattle Metropolitan Magazine, so all’s well that ends well! (I’ll even go so far as to add that more celebrities should act out in similar fashion, so long as it will end up as a steady stream of interesting work for illustrators like myself.)
Art Director: Benjamen Purvis for Seattle Metropolitan Magazine
Credit for this spot should actually go to Benjamen Purvis. Ben has a splendid website and blog which you should make certain to review at your earliest.
Andrew Cuomo
This illustration is for an article in the April 2009 issue of The Capitol titled, “Those who would succeed Andrew Cuomo begin to emerge.” Besides learning about the New York Attorney General and some New York State politics, I also learned that the “shoe thingy” is called a Brannock shoe measuring device.
When Cuomo ran for the office it was to succeed Eliot Spitzer. Spitzer was very effective and there was an ad floating around at the time of Cuomo’s run that showed him holding the shoe measuring device with a tag saying something like, “These are some big shoes to fill.”
Pinching Pennies
- Art Director: Ryan Olbrysh for the Las Vegas Weekly
- Art Director: Ryan Olbrysh for the Las Vegas Weekly
- Art Director: Ryan Olbrysh for the Las Vegas Weekly
Here are some illustrations of an Anthropomorphised Abraham Lincoln Penny, engaging in some gallows humor for the Las Vegas Weekly. These spots are for a cover story titled, “Recession Survival Guide—Our penny-pinching, fast money, feel better roundup of ways to beat this thing.”
For my money, it is hard to beat an illustration of Abraham Lincoln tying one on.
Vegas Currency
Art Director: Ryan Olbrysh at the Las Vegas Weekly
This week the Las Vegas Weekly posed the question, “If Las Vegas ever prints its own currency, what will it look like?” Their question was factually based on the recent trend in several cities in which scrip is printed in an effort to keep tighter control of the local marketplace. While I was brainstorming ideas, I recalled a video that Penn Jillette made about being an Atheist Dad:
So there is my small homage to Penn Jillette—because I think he (& Teller) are money.
Chicken Soup for the Soul: All in the Family
Art Direction: Brian Taylor — Pneuma Books
I was contracted to parody Norman Rockwell’s famous “Four Freedoms: Freedom From Want” illustration (better known as “Thanksgiving”) for the good people over at Chicken Soup for the Soul. The book is titled, All in the Family: 101 Stories about the Fine Line between Comedy and Tragedy in Our “Dysfunctional” Families.
Almost everyone thinks their own family is “dysfunctional” or at least has a dysfunctional member or two. These stories of wacky yet lovable relatives, holiday meltdowns, and funny foibles, along with more serious stories about abuse, controlling family members, and flare-ups, show readers that they aren’t alone. All in the Family is a quirky and fun holiday book, and a great bridal shower or wedding gift! Norman Rockwell’s famous “Freedom from Want” Thanksgiving family painting appears on the back cover and is lovingly parodied on the front, driving home the point that all our families, no matter how much we love them, are just a little dysfunctional!
The book will go on sale: 10/20/09
Sex Tax
Art Director: Ryan Olbrysh for the Las Vegas Weekly
For the April 9–15, 2009 issue of the Las Vegas Weekly, I painted this illustration for an article titled “(Getting Dirty) Ask Not What Your State Can Do For You… Las Vegas Weekly proposes extending the $5 sex-act tax.”
It is an interesting and satirical spot illustrating a true story about the proposed bill that would tax prostitution at $5 per “session” in Nevada.
This illustration was demanding mostly because of the photo reference. As I rely on models for reference, it is never easy to request someone to pose nude— but it is even harder when you are asking someone to pose nude as a prostitute (or a patron!)
Thankfully, I know and rely on several very talented, generous and understanding models.
Christine Quinn
Art Director: Mitchell Hoffman at Manhattan Media
“New York Council speaker Christine Quinn is up for re-election with very little competition aside from two female candidates. Quinn is sitting in a large chair and the the two women … trying to cut the chair down but not having much success.”