The Editor and the Sword


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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.”


  

Steal This Title


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This is an illustration I did a few months ago for Publisher’s Weekly “Soapbox” column. This is a regular feature where authors, editors and other publishing figures get a chance to rant, rave or tell a personal anecdote about the industry.
This installment of the column was a particularly painful (yet funny) account by the author Liam Callanan who had just published his book “The Cloud Atlas”. Thinking he had coined a clever and unique title, he was more than disappointed when he found that his own publisher had just released David Mitchell’s “Cloud Atlas” (one of my favorite books in the past few years by the way). Worse yet, Mitchell’s “Atlas” went on to receive heaps of praise and critical acclaim (even a breathless mention on a soap opera). This all lead to confusion at the book store, and misguided letters to the author. He took it all in good spirits though, and had a good sense of humor about the whole affair, noting how this has happened to many authors in the past.
So for the illustration, I imagined Callanan engaging on a guerrilla street campaign to alter the promotional campaign for Mitchell’s book, and co-opting it for his own title.
See more of my work for Publisher’s Weekly here


  

Morocco – March 2007




Here’s a smaller subset of the pictures I took on our recent trip to Morocco. We spent time in Casablanca, Fez, Marrakesh, Merzouga and Ilmil in the High Atlas. It is one of the most fascinating places I’ve traveled to, and I’m still reeling from all that we took in and experienced in the time we were there.
Fellow Google Earth nerds can check out the path we took around the country by downloading this placemark.
You can see the full set of pictures here (with descriptions).


  

Drawing in the High Atlas


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I drew this while staying at the warm and friendly Kasbah du Toubkal in the town of Ilmil in the High Atlas mountains of Morocco. The peak in the distance is Jebel Toubkal, the 2nd highest peak in Africa at 13,671 feet above sea level.
We were all pretty worked over with various maladies when we got up to this beautiful spot, and here Julie is wrapped up in a scarf, hoodie and sunglasses taking a nap.


  

Rooftop in Marrakesh


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This was painted on the roof of the wonderful Casa Lalla riad in Marrakesh, Morocco on March 29th. The large minaret in the upper left is the Koutoubia mosque, next to the famous Jemaa el Fna Square. I had done another version of this in gouache, which I thoroughly screwed up. Pictures from the trip coming soon…
Continue reading below to hear the call to prayer being called out over the entire city by loudpseaker…it’s a haunting, droning cacophony.

Click here to read more »


  

Dorkbot NYC- April 5, 2007


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Kurt and I attended our first Dorkbot NYC get-together tonight. Having been told from trusted sources that it was in my “wheelhouse”, I was finally lured to attend when I saw the list of projects being presented. The one that caught my eye was RepRap. On their website, RepRap is described as follows: “RepRap is short for Replicating Rapid-prototyper. It is a practical self-copying 3D printer.” My mind jumped to images of self-assembling nano-machines from Neil Stephenson’s The Diamond Age The concept they have working is far less fantastical, but just as exciting.
Basically, they are attempting to make a very simple, CHEAP, open-design rapid prototyping machine (all designs and software open-source).The killer feature: the parts which it will be made of can be made using the machine itself.
So if I have a working RepRap, and you come over, and see it working, and say you want one, I can print up all the parts of the machine for you to make your own. All you need are a few extra components that cannot currently be “printed” by the machine, some raw material (plastic, resin or metal) and you can assemble your own RepRap.
My mind was spinning thinking of the possibilities.
Dorkbot NYC meets on the first Wednesday in every month.
LINK: http://reprap.org


  

Two New Illos


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I’ve been absent for a while working in the shadows on a time-consuming project for many weeks now (no excuse for not posting!), but I was happy to get two fun jobs within 10 minutes of each other a few weeks ago, so I feel they should be posted together.
The detail on the left is from an illo for Retail Traffic magazine, and is about how big box retailers like Home Depot are expanding into new, unfamiliar territory selling plasma TV’s and videogames in a quest for profits.
The detail on the right is from a piece for the Soapbox column in Publisher’s Weekly. A veteran children’s book editor wrote a funny essay where her agent interviews both herself, and her over-eager naïve alter-ego; the first-time children’s book author.
Visit my site to see the full images:
LINK: Big Box Retailers Expand
LINK:
The Editor’s Alter-Ego


  

NYT: Stealing a Bike, Then Backpedaling


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This article for The New York Times was about a family’s unusual encounter with a bike thief. The kid in the story had his bike stolen, and he had a prime suspect in mind. When the victim’s father showed up at the suspect’s house to confront his family with the accusation, they denied it, and the family was forced to give up (a similar thing happened to me as a kid!).
Amazingly, more than a year later, the suspected thief shows up at their door with an older man an envelope full of money, and the kid apologizes for stealing the bike. It’s a pretty awkward moment for both adults and certainly for the kids themselves. I felt this was a moment where both kids lose some degree of their innocence, and deal with some tough stuff for the first time.
You can see more of my work for The New York Times here.


  

Interview in Risen Magazine


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The kind folks at Risen Magazine came across my work, and were nice enough to interview me about my work a few months ago for their November / December Issue. You can check out a PDF of the interview and spread below.
LINK: Jon Keegan Interview in Risen Magazine (PDF 1.2mb)
You can see more of my work at jonkeegan.com.


  

Arches & Canyonlands




I totally forgot to do this post!
Back in October, Julie and I returned to one of our favorite places we have visited together, the mysterious and majestic state of Utah. Having visted Bryce and Zion a few years ago, we promised to return for Arches and Canyonlands. Utah has such raw natural beauty and varied terrain, it’s hard to believe it’s all in one state.
A big thanks to fellow invisibleman Jamie for the use of his amazing Nikon D70. An amazing piece of hardware…