This is a small gouache landscape I did in my sketchbook, looking down onto the Hudson Valley from the top of North Point on the Escarpment Trail in the Catskill Mountains. A small sketch to remember a fun excursion into the woods.
Having not done any backpacking in a few years, Kerry, Paul and I were determined to do a trip early in the summer to get our mojo back. Kerry picked this amazing hike, which was a perfect way to break us back in. And we needed it.
This was such a spectacular geological area, with a whole range of mountains and lakes perched high above the Hudson River valley on steep rocky cliffs. Thomas Cole painted these very views years ago. I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything like it, and it made for a beautiful hike, the way the trail hugs the cliff’s edge, constantly rewarding you with sprawling views, each more splendid than the one before.
We camped out near a peaceful meadow, in a shaded grove of pines, and had a hearty campfire to eat our dinner by.
We also saw a huge snake on the trail, which was quickly identified by the flickr community as an Eastern Milk Snake.
Pictures from the hike can be seen here.
Of course my fellow Google Earth nerds, you may look at the placemark of our hike here.

is there a difference between failure and rejection? i was thinking of that… and willy wonka. (good eggs and bad eggs) “rejection” was created for illustration friday. go & participate!

Picasso’s old trick of painting with light never grows tired…especially with the addition of the digital camera…These were 15 second exposures ‘drawn’ with a bare mini-mag light bulb at 400 ISO. One person stands very still, and behind them, another person draws the outlines really quickly, and since they are moving so fast, they don’t really show up.
These were taken in the woods, where Invisiblefellows Paul, Kerry and I hiked the amazing Escarpment Trail in the Catskills (more to come on that). You can see the full images of these light-paintings here: Jon, Kerry and Paul

This is an illo I just did for Publisher’s Weekly. This installment of the Soapbox column was penned by author Harriet Rubin who sums her rallying cry for more old-fashioned editing as follows:

“Builders of ancient temples in Asia typically carved two huge statues at the temple gate. One holds a book, the other a sword. The book symbolizes knowledge. The sword is there to remind people to cut things off: to edit. Knowledge is not wisdom until you slice through the words you hear, judge them and are moved to silence.”

Drawing from my sketchbook…

i have been gone from invisibleman for a few months and the reason is this…
in january, my father was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. he bravely tried to fight this terrible disease, but unfortunately was only able to make it a few months… He passed away one month ago today, on May 6, 2007. He was only 74. I miss him so much, every moment… every day. He was, and still is, such a hero to me and to all who knew him.
This photo is from my 5th birthday, when we were still living in Brooklyn. I made the popsicle stick frame. Weren’t the 70’s fantastic? I hang this photo, among others, above my desk. I know my dad is looking down and feeling proud. (And I know he is no longer in pain.)
Here is a website to learn more about pancreatic cancer. It is such a fast moving and under researched form of cancer. One last thing… this is “the place” where my dad spent his last 5 weeks. The place was absolutely wonderful so if any one has parents or grandparent on long island, they were great and made my dads last days memorable.
As my mom said in the nursing home, “No one knows whose tomorrow it is.” So, we have to live for today.

This is an illustration done in flash for a Wall Street Journal Online infographic highlighting the big business behind superhero movie franchises. It was really fun to work up some old friends in a comic book style, though I was lobbying for Hellboy to be in there rather than the ninja turtle. Alas I was overruled. Jon Keegan and Mei Lan Ho-Walker worked on the awesome animation and design aspects of the infographic. Check out the handywork here (Safari’s popup-blocker might thwart this link).