American Illustration 39 Chosen

Happy to report that a few illustrations I made in 2019 have been chosen by the judges of American Illustration 39 to appear in this years online archive. Amidst all the craziness of the last couple months in NYC I felt guilty for not jumping for joy, which I usually do when AI emails me that my work has been accepted, but it does really mean a lot to have my work acknowledged by the judges and I'm very honored to be included in this year's batch of winners. So, I would like to say Thank You to all the judges this year. This news did brighten my week. 

I hope everyone is staying healthy and safe out there. Looking at the 3 pieces that were chosen makes me look forward to the days when we can go see live music together again, dance at Jonathan Toubin's parties and sit together in open spaces next to all our friends without having to wear masks. 

That rocket ship should have been a loaf of sourdough. If anyone is running out of space in their kitchen and needs to unload some bread they've been baking, hit me up. I will gladly be a taste tester for all your sourdough tests.

Mister Rogers and his Disciples

I've been working on this commission for the past 3 months, mostly straight through, excluding Christmas and a few freelance projects sprinkled here and there and I'm psyched to finally have the chance to show it to the world. I tend to complete most pieces within a week or two. It's very hard for me to sit with something too long because I just get antsy and start thinking of all the other things I want to get working on but having a few things to work on on the side helped me from getting restless and actually showed me I am able to juggle 2-3 pieces at a time. I think having so many different characters to draw that I had never drawn before also kept me very engaged. And, I always look forward to a chance to draw ol' Sly Stallone. Dude seriously has one of the best faces to draw out of anyone. 

Originally, it was planned that after I laid the ink and paint down that would be where I crossed the finishing line. But, a friend mentioned they thought the original idea was that gold leaf was going to be added, which the client and I hadn't planned on, and I honestly can't believe we didn't. So, that being a total no-brainer, I got busy testing out how to lay down gold leaf. This was a totally new technique for me and I had a great time learning how to use it and I'm hoping to continue to apply it to my work in the future. 

Now having the piece finished and after a few days of looking at it, I'm really happy we continued past just using fluid acrylic for the halos. They seem a tad too bright with the cad yellow and the gold leaf really calms them down and adds a bit of seriousness to the silly cartoon vibe of the piece. 

Now it is complete. Some close-up shots below to give a good idea how the gold leaf looks when the light catches it just right.