ROCK STAR!

   I should clarify. I'm not a rock star, but occasionally I collaborate with talented bands to solve some rock star-sized design problems. Such was the case in 2009 when Chicago band Lola Balatro asked me to create cover art for their soon to be released album.

   Lead singer Paul Thomas had this idea to feature Lola, the fabled grandmother-turned-namesake of the band, on the stage as an aging, over the hill burlesque dancer. Honestly I wasn't sure how I'd ever pull off this idea, so I did a bunch of quick sketches and focused on the motion of the dance. The big fans helped. I also wanted to give the granny character a cute face.

   I quickly blocked this idea out in Adobe Illustrator and showed the concept to Paul. I figured this was for the back cover and I envisioned the track list would form a column on the right. Paul's response was A) the colors look too feminine and B) the boobs need to be bigger.

   I knew he was right about the colors- nothing matched the band's existing look. Then I got the idea to pull shades of blue, aqua and black from the front cover photo to create some color consistency.

   Paul was excited about the new direction and, after consulting with bandmates Cork Kangas and Jeff Madden, decided Lola should dance on the front cover art. I exported my vector workup into Photoshop, finished painting the cover, then gave it a nice type treatment.

   The last touch was to make some disk art to match. I envisioned what it must look like backstage after a crazy show and went with that.

   And true to their legendary persona, Lola Balatro went on to have the craziest release party ever with clowns, comedians, and blue-painted burlesque dancers.

   I think you'll love their intro song "Rock Star" and another favorite track, "Questionable Beef." You should look them up on Facebook and iTunes. Like, right now!

Painting a Monster

Americhip Books contacted me in 2008 to illustrate a story about a boy named Cameron who uses various night lights to keep the "monsters" away. It was a fun-sounding concept so of course I said yes!
   One of the challenges was laying out the artwork to accommodate a light bulb and "press" button for each spread. The other challenge was keeping the scenery interesting, since the entire story takes place in the same darkened room. A mixture of "camera" angles and closeups helped keep the readers engaged as Cameron tried scaring the monsters with a lamp, a flashlight, and a firefly, among other things.
   The final art incorporated rich, dark colors built up in Adobe Photoshop. Below are the layers from scene 3, depicting Cameron's firefly leaving the room.

Base layer

General shading, PJ details

Light source, shadows, wall details, final text

Back from the Dead

Wow, I can't believe it's been 2.5 years since my last post. Gulp! Suffice it to say, I got a bit sidetracked. But this does not mean I've slacked off illustrating. No way! If anything, it has been my most prolific period yet. I simply didn't feel like writing about it. However, it simply won't do to ignore the need to write. And now that I'm up to the task, there are many cool projects I need to catch you up on. For now, please accept this humble illustration as a peace offering.

It feels good to be back from the dead.

Spring Awakening!

Despite the snow and cold just outside my window, the calendar says (as of yesterday) Spring is officially upon us! Keep your fingers crossed- warmer weather is on the way. Wishing you Peace on this Good Friday, and a Happy Spring to all.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Wishing you and your loved ones a super sweet Valentine's Day!

Ice Cold Illustration!

Ever since I was a kid, I've always loved those crazy, kitschy ice machines seen outside of gas stations in the summer time, hawking big bags of ice with igloos or polar bear illustrations on the front. The machines I remember also had giant block letters spelling I C E with piled-up snow caps on each one.

So lately I've been thinking, why not make my own version of the classic ice machine art? Maybe I've been inspired by all this recent Chicago winter weather. Or maybe I just think it would be cool to see a penguin delivering a block of ice the old fashioned way. Whatever the reason, I hope you enjoy this icy treat.

The Joy of Line Art

It's not too often I get to work in simple, good ol' fashioned black and white line art. These days,it's mostly all about saturated color and richly detailed artwork. But what about when you are asked to create minimalistic imagery – in one color? How do you keep it interesting and dynamic?
If it's still in the realm of line art, for me the answer is 1) composition and 2) line weight. And when I say line weight, I mean effective, thick to thin line strokes, that get fatter where indicating more volume, or curvature, or weight. I just love the results you get when you let the lines get expressive.
These pieces are from a batch of German kid's books I illustrated last summer for Hooked on Phonics. Lots of pictures of fish, cats, and crazy dogs. Seems these would also be pretty fun if they were coloring book art. Hope you enjoy these.