Many of you may already be aware of Steve Mumford. Lately he has been getting a TON of press, both on TV and in print. Until this week I’d never heard of him.
As the Boston Globe reported:
“During 2003 and 2004, Mumford traveled on his own to occupied Iraq four times to chronicle military and civilian life. He made hundreds of sketches and kept a journal; entries were posted at Artnet.com, an online magazine. Now his writings and paintings have been collected in a book, Baghdad Journal, from Drawn and Quarterly publishers.”
I am VERY impressed. The skill Mr. Mumford displays across a diversity of mediums and scale of imagery is staggering. I long to see his work in person. Until then I’d happily settle for getting the “Baghdad Journal : An Artist in Occupied Iraq” for Christmas. Anyone feeling generous?

I’m working on a series of illustrations this week for US News & World Report. Here’s one of them in progress as seen from a Keegan’s-eye-view. I’m always amazed at the sensation of working on a high-resolution image at 100% on my 23″ Cinema Display. Based on this 300dpi piece of artwork, the size on my screen is the equivalent of working on a detail of a drawing that is 5 1/2″ feet tall! I cannot wait until we have drafting table-sized displays, that we can lean on…and draw directly upon…and spill our coffee upon…
Click to see a detail at 100%.

I drew President Jackson upside-down. Click above for a larger view.

New York Magazine has published a holiday shopping map of Brooklyn’s Fifth Avenue carefully compiled and playfully penned by MY invisibile woman, Corrie Pikul. The map is accompanied with wonderful illustrations by Steve Murray. Although his website does not reveal much (or even confirm that it’s the same guy) it appears that this Steve Murray contributes to a illustration and design blog very similar to our own. Check out the shopping then check out the sites. If you do end up buying gifts in the stores mentioned, please say you saw the piece in NY Magazine. Then maybe they’ll give Corrie some free stuff!

* it is so hard to photograph books… but here’s my somewhat distorted solution 🙂
* this is my 30th “official” sketchbook since starting count in 1995. the cover uses imagery inspired by my “5 senses” prints. for this image i just played around with the images on silkscreens and i only “registered” where i wanted to.
* the binding is a coptic binding / single needle link stitch.
* for the inside pages, i used a variety of graph papers as well as some english and japanese alphabet practice paper.

On the left is a detail of a drawing I slapdashedly made while crossing Pennsylvania on a train this past week; just quickly sketching whatever I caught a glimpse of. To the right is a drawing/watercolor of a nice geezer who was sitting ahead of me. For anyone whose sketched much on trains, this over-the-shoulder pose should look familiar.
Click the picture for the full version of the ink drawing.

Above is a cityscape I am currently working on. Like my landscapes, all work has been done on site using my travel easel. Weather permitting I hope to enjoy (at least) one more session outdoors before having to head into the studio. Once inside I’ll rely on digital photographs in order to put final touches on the painting. I’ll keep you posted on it’s progress and post a final pic once I am through.

It’s always nice fleeing the city to break bird with the family; crossing the Pennsylvania landscape along the train tracks.