Arkansas & Louisiana
Posted by Adam McCauley at 12:42 pm on July 1st
A couple of months ago I got a call from Mike Bain, who I've worked with on and off over the years. He's now at Oprah at Home, and wanted to know if I'd be up for an assignment based on my sketchbook work.
The story was a reflective piece about a woman who's main residence is in Iowa, but spends her summers on the Louisiana coast. O at Home wanted artwork that showed a sort of diary-like reflection of her feelings about the contrasts in her two residences.
Her Iowa home reflections centered on the cold winters and modern architecture, a more internal feel, but with the surrounding Ozark mountains. Having grown up in Missouri, I channeled a bit of my own childhood experience getting through some crazy cold winters and river trips in the Ozarks.
Her Louisiana home reflections focused more on the beach and family. The few references provided included this large red plastic toy truck, so I used it as well as I could. This was the first sketch, which they thought was too focused on the kids and not enough on the landscape.
This was approved; I thought it was a better image as well - a bit more open to interpretation and less nostalgic.
I love to sketch whenever I travel, and always enjoy an assignment where I can simply draw. Unlike my travel work though, these required assembling scenes from provided reference as well as instilling mood into personal scenes of people who I knew little about. Fortunately for me the writer, novelist Ellen Gilchrist, did a great job and made the job a bit easier for me. That said - and not that I needed it - I have a new found respect for illustrators who have to assemble believable scenes out of limited reference.
These are simple, straight up drawings. I use a ball point pen, a sketchbook, and some Windsor Newton watercolors - and hope it all works out. No pencil first, that's cheating.
Here's the final printed spread. Mike did an amazing job of placing the images onto "sketchbooks" using his wizardry.
Zoos and Radio Shows
Posted by Adam McCauley at 5:21 pm on June 24th
A few months back I did these two images for The Oakland Zoo. This is the third year I've done this gig and it's always great fun working with the amazing and talented Becca and Alex at Zipfly.
The event the illos are for is a fundraiser for the zoo, which has incredible grounds and houses only orphaned animals. The zoo opens it's doors in the evening and for a $250 ticket you get to roam around eating and drinking to your Bacchanalian content, sampling local wineries, restaurants, breweries, etc. and listening to various musical acts that play away in between the pens. I did a post on this last year.
Each year the zoo asks me to use illustrate two of their animals. This year it was Macaws (above) and giraffes.
They use the images on advertising materials, mailers, banners, award plaques and what not. They also do a limited edition of 200 signed posters that I guess people buy for additional fundraising.
Along with the gig comes free tickets to the event, so this past Saturday evening we invited along our pals Julie and Lisa and headed to the zoo. There's been quite a heat wave here in the Bay Area so it was a very warm night.
We bumbled around and ate and drank and looked at the animals. I remember this giraffe family from last year's trip, except I think this is a little new member.
The girls looked fabulous, even as they sipped wine and ogled the expansive tiger pen.
A cool feature at this zoo is you can take a sky tram over it all and see the beasts from above. The Oakland hills are gorgeous and an ideal spot for a safari like atmosphere. I just hope some knuckle head doesn't fall of into the lion area one of these days.
After a couple of hours Wig and I had to run, so we said our goodbyes and drove off to play a gig.
From 1992-1995 I drummed with a band called the Buckets. They're having a reunion show in July at The Cafe DuNord in SF, and were doing a promo live gig on KALX 90.7 Berkeley. So, we drove to the UC Campus and met the guys in the studio and got to work.
Earl Butter is the songwriter, and he's an amazing one at that. I hadn't played with them in eons, but the songs are so great I hadn't forgotten much. They've had a slew of amazing people play with them over the years. Here's their obligatory MySpace page.
Kim Deal's The Breeders even covered a Buckets song, "Driving on Nine", which was actually written by Earl's old pal Dom from Ed's Redeeming Qualities. Here's the Breeders video of the tune...I'd embed it here but I can't for the life of me figure out how to do it.
Anyway, we packed into the tiny performance space and rocked out. Between the high nineties temperature outside and the tiny packed room it was like playing in a sauna. By the end of the set my jeans were soaking wet.
Even though she wasn't an original member of the band, Wig got recruited to play fiddle in lieu of Wanda Taters, who's now living in the Catskills. Wig sounded fabulous, but was taking the pictures so there aren't any shots of her in action.
Here's a link to a few of that night's performances. Sound quality isn't the best, blame the institutional sound board!
Anyone in the Bay Area who wants to come out for the reunion show, here's the info: The Buckets July, 17 2008 at Cafe Du Nord 2170 Market St., San Francisco, California 94114 Cost : $10.00
Spaz Duke Kahanamoku Nandi
Posted by Adam McCauley at 2:06 pm on June 1st
On the morning of this last Memorial Day, after a long night at the pet hospital, our beloved cat Spazzo had to be put to sleep. His urethra was blocked, a common problem with male cats, and he didn't make it.
We brought him back as a kitten, along with our other cat Gertrude, from Maui, where we'd lived for a year in 1999. We lived in a jungle section of the island and they were both little wild jungle cats.
They had quite a transition moving to the big city. Surprisingly, both adapted quickly and actually seemed happier in the city.
Spaz was always an outdoor cat, and with a robust "spray", we couldn't keep him inside for long. Here in the Mission, he reveled in catching rats and birds, which he always completely ate - except for the random bit. He became a legendary ratter in our neighborhood, and although he was a big, fearsome hunter he was also fuzzy and cute and very personable.
Most commercial cat food is actually really bad for cats. The cheap stuff is full of ash, which is a primary factor in the urethra blockage of male cats. In our case, as hard as we tried to feed Spazzo the best food we could find, he turned his nose up at it and went down the block, where a crazy lady feeds the neighborhood cats with cheap kitty junk food.
Our next door neighbors have a huge back yard with a big compost pile. Spazzo loved hanging out there all day, catching rats and lying in the sun. It was here that our neighbors found him, paralyzed from his condition, and we rushed him to the hospital.
Spazzo lent himself to the visual.
I sketched him, painted him.
I asked Mark Ulriksen to make a painting of us from our Maui time; not only did he capture the spirit of Spazzo dead-on, he made an absolute masterpiece we'll always cherish.
Spazzo liked it too.
He was also an artist. This was a composition he left for us on the back porch.
RIP Spazzo, may you run freely through the rat-filled jungle on the other side.
Dustbin of History
Posted by Adam McCauley at 12:50 pm on May 25th
It being an election year and all, I thought you folks might appreciate this item.
I found this at some second hand store more than fifteen years ago, an office trash can entitled "Presidents of the United States of America".
We use it daily.
It lists all of our great leaders, up until Lyndon B. Johnson. It has a lovely wood veneer look, and features lovely vignettes of each President, with an especially prominent LBJ.
One is left to wonder - was this a promotional item? A gift item? An homage? A statement?
Hey Stephen, is this the Laugh-In can you're referring to? Found this on eBay!
Recent Editorial Work - Boston Style
Posted by Adam McCauley at 12:57 pm on May 2nd
Some recently completed editorial work in my "Boston Style". I really enjoy working this way, it's generally more conceptual.
These were done for Mount Holyoke Quarterly. The original assignment was for one full page, but they liked both sketches so commissioned a second one as well. The article was about the recent trend of "downshifting" one's career in order to enjoy life more. Notice the signatures - my first ever, in preparation for Orphan Works.
Digital Native / Spreading the Word
These were done for Ronn Campisi, for a magazine done by Intel. Another nice break, they originally commissioned three illustrations but bought all five submitted sketches.
Communal Security / eSupport
USB Monitoring
the sketches
Another for Ronn, a cover for Vantage magazine. The subject being data leakage.
the final
the sketches
These were done for ESPN Magazine. As sometimes happens, they didn't choose my preferred piece, but here are the sketches. The article was about the fan's favorite players, as voted in by readers.
the final
This was a feature for Runner's World, about training for the Olympics being done in Boston. They wanted elements of both Boston and Beijing.
Competing with Industry Giants / Shared searching / Combined Access
These were for the always excellent Mary Beth Cadwell at Storage magazine, for a section. I'm glad I got to draw a spork!
This was done for a feature for a lumber industry magazine! About CFOs of lumberyards.
Sorry about the meat and potatoes post, I'm kind of exhausted!
Attention! Do Buy These Books-
Posted by Adam McCauley at 11:12 am on April 18th
At least for your youngsters. I recently got these in the mail., from the very cool Roaring Brook Press which just got gobbled up by Harcourt. They did a really nice job with paper choice and unusual trim size.
I'd illustrated a cover of one of Betty Hick's earlier books, and really enjoyed her writing. So when she asked me to illustrate her clever new series about a group of neighborhood friends, I said of course!
Each book in the series has it's own sports theme as it relates to one of the particular characters. The first one out, Basketball Bats, was actually the second one I completed. Next up is this one.
Then this one, the interiors of which I'm working on currently.
Inside the Walls
Posted by Adam McCauley at 1:05 pm on April 8th
Print samples...
As they are gutting the ground floor of our house, the guys have been giving us the items they're finding within the plaster walls. Our house was first built in 1927. Here is some of the ephemera...
The timing is perfect for us, as we may be able to use some of this stuff in one of the book projects we're working on.
Before they close up the walls we plan on leaving our own special things within...
cover
These are from a tire catalog...from 1927!!! The year the house was built.
interior spread
back cover
Business cards for a couple of insurance agents...
Longboards
Posted by Adam McCauley at 2:20 pm on March 1st
Alright Mr. Dunlavey, you started a trend here.
These aren't snowboards, they're longboards - as in skateboards.
They were done for a studio in New Zealand last year, and were to be screen-printed onto two different sized boards. They had to incorporate an oval hole near the top, where the kid grabs onto the board as he whips about.
Tunage
Posted by Adam McCauley at 5:22 pm on February 23rd
I haven't been posting much around here lately. Pretty much all I've been working on illustration-wise is legally un-postable for a while, so I thought I'd do an old-school Drawger style post, about music stuff. Back when this place started, people posted their musical escapades a bit more, so I thought I'd put up a few fun music project things that I've done recently. I've peppered this post with some random sketchbook pages as an attempt to make it relevant to the "biz".
I recorded drums for three different album-groups of songs this last year, two of which I literally learned and recorded in one day - a challenge which I love, although it always leaves me wishing I'd done some things differently. Sort of like doing a newspaper gig I suppose. The third recording is with my wife's band and has a good bit more work to be done.
One of the former was an album of songs for kids, written by my enormously talented pal Jason Kleinberg. Jason had created a complete concept record for children, and enlisted me and our pal Bernie Jungle to flesh out the rhythm tracks at the lovely Tiny Telephone studios here in San Francisco. Jason is currently touring solo through Japan. Here are a couple of the songs from this session, Come On and Tulip. The YouTube video above is by Jason (not me on drums) - I love this one! He's a dang good drawer, too.
The second recording was done for my pal Guy Capecelatro III. I met Guy years ago while touring the East Coast with my then band Little My. Guy is the one who hooked me up with Nahcotta gallery, as he is at the heart of the Portsmouth NH art and music scene. Anyway, he was out on the West Coast last summer, and being an insanely prolific songwriter was in the midst of making yet another record. He enlisted me and the aforementioned Bernie Jungle and Jason Kleinberg (playing some killer viola), as well as the master pedal steel/bassist Scottie Houston. Another concept album, something about a steel worker who falls in love with a nurse and runs away with her or something: here are two of the tracks, Party and Nurse. Recorded by the great Wally Sound at Wally Sound studios in Oakland.
Finally, Mr. Bernie Jungle. I did the drums for this record with Bernie in one very long and fun day. I hope he puts this out, as he has made some really fine tunes. Bernie is a great friend and sweetheart of a person and shreds on guitar and bass. I played with him for years in Warm Wires. This epic tune, Belly, utilizes our pal Peter Altenberg on Sarangi. On this one, Pop, I also laid down the bass and keyboard incidentals later at home. These aren't final mixed, so you may have to adjust your volume levels a bit. These were recorded by the great Scott Greiner.
Anyway, that's my random music / random sketchbook pages post. I hope those of you who took the time to listen found something to enjoy, and if not oh well sorry!
An addendum: to add to further randomness, JD King thoughtfully, if not cryptically, sent me this in the mail. Thanks JD!
A further addendum: I almost forgot this song I sat in on for my friend, the master violinist and songwriter Carrie Bradley. Carrie's energy is magnetic and addictive, her performances riveting. She wrote this beautiful tune Lucky Stars, enlisting Bernie as well, and we recorded it with Scott Greiner in an afternoon. Carrie is well know for her work for The Breeders and Ed's Redeeming Qualities, as well her own rock band 100 Watt Smile. The photo above was taken by our pal, master designer and artist Yuri Ono, of the wedding band: me(I got to play melodica) and my wife Wig (violin) and Bernie (pink hat and geetar) and our pal Jason Porter (double bass). We're playing "On the Street Where You Live" from My Fair Lady, in the ferns at Carrie's wedding last summer in Upstate New York.
