Undead Illustration #3: (Almost) The Cover Of New York Magazine

A little over a week ago I received a late email from New York Magazine asking if I had time to kick around sketches for a possible cover. That's a no brainer. The following morning I received the brief: it was a write up about a new mental health study that explores the possible and varying degrees of psychological trauma inflicted upon almost every adolescent American in the name of their basic education. Taking a slightly lighter approach to the art, I'd been asked to create "angsty teenage" typography that said "high school sucks!" and populate the negative space with scribbly doodles of a notebook variety. The designers at NY cobbled together the following comp for me:

As a high school slacker whose mind was often lured away from AP chemistry by his unflattering drawings of faculty members and, somewhat less-straight forward, Batman and Boba Fett in a variety of mundane everyday situations, the prospect of this job actually going through felt slightly incredible, and I had a brief visceral thrill at the possibility of getting paid for the very thing which I was told time and again would dash what little hope I had of any semblance of a career against the merciless rocks of some boho cum Reefer Madness like descent into a hazy drug fueled life of low level misdemeanors and rakism, these distracted doodles but the first tentative step down the proverbial slippery criminal slope perhaps culminating in some sort of anti-art after school special aimed at dissuading impressionable youth from the same treacherous path.*  I grabbed my copy of The MC5's Back In The USA and dug up some old high school notebooks for reference and inspiration...

I think those original Star Wars rereleases had just happened, this is probably early 96?

Yeah...

And I think this IS actually my chem teacher, sci-fi horror brain only slighty exaggerated if memory serves...

...and quickly cranked out the following sketches. Because time was short, I was advised to let the designers comp in some "doodly" drawings from my website until they were sure we had approval. I drew several versions of the words as quickly and loosely as possible, then started pairing up the more successful treatments of each.

Ultimately however, the editors chose to walk back the cavalier language of the original art direction and go with a more ambiguous, serious and i believe authentic actual high schooler drawing. C'est la vie. On the other hand  I can totally appreciate the Twombly black hole / physics class scribble-out action happening here:

Thanks to Tom Alberty for thinking of me in the first place as these were a blast to knock together even if they never came to full fruition. And as always thanks for reading! You can never hold back Spring...

*things were probably not that harsh or dramatic, I was just trying to get back to the 17 year old brain, maaaaan.

Every (Good) Illustration I Made About The 2012 Election*

Weeks later, we're still picking up the proverbial pieces. I'm sure I speak for a large number of folks the world over when I say the palpable feeling of relief that the election is just over has lingered well past the closing of the polls late on November 6. And now, as members of both parties, elected officials or not, begin to plant their fingers in their ears and run deaf and screaming headlong into the holidays, an increasingly unlikely Mayan Apocalypse and hopefully not off the "fiscal cliff**," here's a quick trip back into recent history, from the Republican primary through election night via a bunch of election related illustrations that I've scarcely had time to post - please enjoy:

Remember Rick Perry? A piece for Bloomberg View from Nov 2011 contrasting his general approach to that of eventual Republican nominee Mitt Romney.

The spectre of Florida circa 2000 as well as voter fraud and polling place catastrophe was raised by both parties as early as January of 2012. For Bloomberg View.

A favorite piece for the New York Times Op-Ed section about the art of spinning arguments and facts to reinforce any position. The New York Times, September 2012

A poster image for 30Reasons.org, a group of 30 artists and designers who contributed visual representations of arguments for re-electing the president. This was (loosely/abstractly) related to his stand on social issues, which for me was the single largest reason to vote Obama. 

A chart by Kim Bost and I as JMBOTRN breaking down the accuracy of some "non-conventional" national polls, including but not limited to a donut chain, 7-11 and bourbon distillery. For The New York Times, November 2012.

Finally, and you know, most importantly, which candidate would be best equipped to handle a zombie apocalypse? November 2012, Bloomberg View.

Though I'll miss the savory rapid fire illustration gigs like the above, again, regardless of party affiliation, I'll happily raise a glass to the election cycle's end. As always, thanks for reading!

*There were some stinkers too, but i'll leave that to intrepid googlers and schadenfreude aficionados.

**Hip-hop side project somebody? But make it cool. Please.

"Know Your Rights Revisited" OR Bloomberg Businessweek's International Cover

Two weeks ago I was lucky enough to receive a late afternoon call from the folks at Bloomberg Businessweek asking if I'd like to illustrate the upcoming international cover. Who wouldn't. "Of course!" I enthusiastically agreed, then listened with growing apprehension to the brief: In the run up to the commencement of the London Olympics, various local and national government agencies have been hard at work attempting to tamp down any social unrest as to put the UK's best foot forward with literally, "the whole world watching." The memory of last summer's incredibly destructive riots is still fresh in many minds, but as is often the case almost anywhere with these national and international media firestorms, the threshold between increased vigilance and draconian clampdown is often wide and blurry (NYPD actions during the 2004 Republican Convention at the height of Bloomberg's barely believed and still somewhat troubling extended WWF-esque pretend right-wing conversion come readily to mind).

To illustrate this on the cover, I'd been assigned to conceptualize and create illustrate* a grimy wall of graffiti, littered with language cribbed from various avenues of social discontent currently coursing the UK. This would then be "papered over" with the Olympic logo and a headline in the official 2012 Olympic type face, itself a confused beast of beauty and brutality. 

Initially a bit concerned about timeline, execution and direction, I soon remembered: 

I own a copy of Combat Rock.

AND there's a new a reliable coffee shop half a block from my studio.

A late-day cuppa and few spins through side 2 super confuser "Overpowered By Funk"**,  I felt ready for something. 

Books were borrowed, internet research commenced. Between some classic shots of the graf blanketed MTA of the 70s (for which I've always had a naive out of body nostalgia) and some grabs from UK street art from the last 10 years, I felt like I had sufficient visual reference to use as a jumping off point. Here's a few of the images I cribbed from (sometimes heavily):

With the rough layout secured, i cobbled together the above sketch.

The language, scale and density were pretty quickly agreed upon, the only suggestion being to make the final feel more "angry." I was then free to start building the thing. I'd have about 24 hours...

I'm happy to report that my studio came with an old industrial vent fan, left over from the building's early days as an actual pencil factory. It makes working with mildly hazardous materials like spray paint and various solvents a lot easier to deal with...

Most of the text was assigned or agreed to at the sketch stage, though a few of the more textural images and phrases were culled from in jokes or nods to various friends and colleagues. More imagery was included beyond what the spray paint drawings above, though I find that those are far and away the most interesting components. I also grabbed some quick crops of the wall in my studio that i work on to fill in as bleed and background texture where needed, hopefully lending the piece the feeling that it's been there for awhile, accruing layers of text and grime of a long period of time.

And there's the final piece, digitally stitched together in all it's gross glory. That said, I'm super pleased with how it turned out and how cohesive it feels for having been assembled via scans and shaky iphone photos.

A huge thanks to Richard Turley and the rest of the team at Bloomberg Businessweek (especially the production folks who did an ace job finessing the more visible seams of my rushed photoshopping) for the privilege of making such a mess of their cover. Seldom has this job been as much fun of blissfully exhaustingly messy. And as always, thanks for reading!

*I have more than a few friends in the city who are serious and lauded street artists, and I have the utmost respect and enthusiasm for their work. I just want to make it clear that I absolutely view this piece as an illustrated facsimile and not a serious attempt at or a legitimate piece in that vein.

** "Overpowered By Funk" features a spirited if awkward rap from NYC graf legend Futura 2000 (reverse engineering the assignment by proxy and on a level of real artistic legitimacy with sexy results) and is one of the most confusing pop songs ever recorded. It's impossible to tell whether it's a mocking ironic turn, a particularly sharp piece of self satire, all of the above, none of the above, it's just straight weird. The Clash also recorded a stand-alone follow up single with Futura, "The Escapades Of Futura 2000" which falls pretty short of its already confusing predecessor, despite noble intentions and what feels like 100% earnest investment from all parties involved. Don't get me started, I could fill 2000 words on "Overpowered By Funk" alone. If I ever achieve sufficient notoriety to contribute one of those "33 & 1/3" books, Combat Rock would be high on my list of choices. I'm no Jonathon Lethem but operators are standing by all the same.