Born in Detroit and youngest of four artistic boys for whom many a creative ruckus were attributed. Moves to Pittsburgh in his youth and finds it a cool town. Attends Syracuse University and studies illustration. Lives in Vermont for a few years doing freelance illustration and lots and lots of snowboarding. Moves to New York City and begins doing illustration and interactive design work for the Wall Street Journal Online. Lives in NYC for 10 years during which time he meets the ever-amazing Kristina. In the spring of 2009 they drive across the country with two cats in the backseat to relocate in Sacramento and enjoy the awesomeness of nothern California.
A recent illo for the Wall Street Journal economic forecast report, which is obviously not predicting a rosy scenario. Right after I finished the pencil drawing for this I came down with a stomach virus. It was a rough slog dragging myself back and forth from the couch to the computer trying to finish it in the few hours I had before it was due. All and all I was happy with the outcome.
In early January Kristina and I spent an amazing week snowboarding at Powder Mountain which is situated west of Ogden Utah and is about an hour and a half from Salt Lake City. It was some of the best riding we’ve ever experienced and was six days of plundering powder for days on end. Powder Mountain has over 7000+ acres of skiable terrain which is the most in the U.S.
There’s a portion of the mountain named Lightning Ridge and is accessible via snowcat and costs a mere $12 – which is a total bargain as it covers a 700 acre area of often-varying terrain from woods to bowls to steep chutes. We found the mountain to be completely uncrowded with a friendly mellow staff.
I’d intended to do some sketching but instead stuck to a strict schedule of riding all day, consuming cheeseburgers and beer, watching a Hitchcock film and passing out by 9pm.
One night we received a foot of snow and by morning the mountain was enshrouded within a dense cloud. I stuck mostly in the trees to get a lay of the land but would often find myself out in the open areas where there was nothing to see but a foggy whiteness. The low visibility, abundant snow and Jedi skill-set made for a peaceful and incredibly fun day of riding. We stayed at the Columbine Inn which was a great little place directly next to the main lodge and we were shuttled out there by Wasatch Crest Shuttle who were great in getting us up the snowy and steep road to PowMow.
Just finished this illo for the Wall St Journal economic forecast report. It was the first time I’ve ever drawn Barack Obama and it’s thrilling to know his presidency is looming only hours away now. This inspiration for this illo probably came from all the ‘Top Chef’ viewings I’ve had as of late.
Just finished an a interactive guide for wsj.com of these bowl game mascots facing off. We’ve been looking to do projects which could incorporate lots of illustration and the BCS match-ups seemed like a good candidate. Big props to my colleague Susan McGregor who did the animating and interactivity. Below is a look at the final layout which has a slight comic book cover composition going on.
Click on the images to view larger and here to view the guide.
Below is an early sketch done before match-up announcements were made.
Josh Brown and Jeff Rooney operate the Capacitor Design Network, a very rad agency which works out of Burlington VT/Portland OR. They contacted me about illustrating my interpretation of a volcano for a Gordini magazine ad. I was stoked to have the opportunity to draw mountains, yetis, a volcano – stuff thats right in my wheelhouse. It was an interesting challenge incorporating this photo of Banks Gilberti jibbing in Colorado with my illo and ultimately a really fun project to work on. Click on the image for a larger view.
Here’s a good interview with Josh and Jeff from the folks at Josh Spear.
This image started with the background in which I was going for a ‘surface of the Death Star’ type of look in photoshop. Then I thought to rework some sketchbook drawings of a Joel Shapiro sculpture and in the end they seemed to have a lumbering-robot feel about them which worked well with my Death Star theme.
In less than two weeks the snowboarding season opens for those of us who reside on the east-coast – and I am damn excited for it. The drawing above was initially just a quick drawing in the sketchbook which I then scanned, augmented with a sharpie-drawn background and gave it the whole photoshop treatment. More than ever I’ve enjoyed rendering our elusive Yeti brethren and for some reason they seemed an appropriate addition to the lone operator of the shred-sled.
If you are in need of some additional snow-stoke (and who isn’t?) I would recommend downloading the very awesome and very free snowboarding film ‘Pony Tale’ by the fine folks of Actionhorse Films. It’s quite good – especially the Utah backcountry section.
Recently I caught the WunderKammer exhibit at MOMA here in New York. It’s akin to the chambre des merveilles or ‘cabinet of curiosities’ shows of 16th century Europe. It’s a good show and I was sort of taken with the whole idea of a collection of strange objects and specimens. I absent-mindedly doodled this cabinet in my sketchbook, then sketched out an old musty room for it to sit in and quickly finished up the color and such in photoshop.
Next I want to see what’s in the drawers.
With the nervewracking state of the economy as of late, I was hesitant to go too overboard with this month’s WSJ Economic forecast. I’d already done the whirlpool of doom a few months ago, so it felt right to show Hank and Ben working to fix the dire situation. By the way, that’s the fed rate that Dr. Bernanke is about to snip.
Multiple views of Joel Shaprio’s sculpture ‘Untitled’ drawn in the sketchbook and tweaked a bit in photoshop. I like the AT-AT Walker-like feel to the overall sketch.