Brian Stauffer

Cover For Election Issue Of The New Yorker!

2008-11-05T13:22:11+00:00

Mixed in with the still raw realization of what a historic moment this is for the nation and the world, is the surreal experience of finding my work on the cover of such hallowed ground during this historic event.

A Little over a week ago an idea for a possible New Yorker cover came to mind that I felt I really wanted to pursue. Due in no small part to the encouragement of postings by fellow drawgers, Barry Blitt and Bob Staake, I comp'd it up and submitted it to the famously elusive Francoise Mouly. An enthusiastic response started a 2-week roller coaster which culminated in the arrival of box of issues on my doorstep yesterday. The resulting cover has gotten much attention, including a treasured compliment from Esquire legend, George Lois (oh and my mom too!).

Thanks again to all who helped and encouraged. And I'd especially like to thanks the folks at The New Yorker - Francoise Mouly, David Remnick, and Leigh Stein, for what I'm sure will remain a highlight of a lifetime.

A Friend Passes

2008-10-29T15:43:50+00:00

On Monday night, after 11 years, our wonderful dog Chip curled up at the foot our children's bed and peacefully slipped into a deep coma and had to be put down. We had scheduled it for tuesday morning following the past several weeks trying to rehabilitate him from seizures and a stroke, so I guess it's all for the best. He passed in the most ideal way I guess, an ending befitting of the life we tried to give him.
For those of you who never met Chip, he was an exceptional personality who experienced amazing travels and witnessed historical events. We saw Chip and his brothers and sisters shortly after his birth by a breeder in Southport, Connecticut in the summer 1997. At 5 weeks-old we went back to make our pick. Each of the puppies had a string around their necks with a single colored bead, a different color for each dog. They were placed in the middle of an open field with us and we played with them until one puppy clearly sought a connection with us.
Although many thought I was crazy, I left a lucrative day job as a designer (and part-time illustrator) because I couldn't stand to leave him alone during the day. He's a big part of what led to my decision to go full-time freelance from home. He used to sit behind me in my studio chair, standing on his hind legs with his paws on my shoulders, begging me to throw a stick or take him fishing in the Saugatauk and Housatonic rivers.
He was with us on 9/11 at our studio/loft in NYC, only 2 blocks from the towers. Chip was on the roof of the building with me when the second plane hit. He evacuated with Alina and me and about 5 other people off the South Street seaport in the back of a small police boat. The boat captain backed-out of the dock so fast that the entire birth of the boat was flooded with about 2 feet of water. Chip was so happy to splash and jump around in the water, creating a moment of sunshine for the folks on the boat.
The kids are quite upset, especially Andy. We're all sharing stories about the fun we had with him and that seems to be keeping the perspective where I think Chip would like it. Andy said that Chip was still alive inside his memory. Julian wanted to know if we could use fur that Chip had shed to make a blanket or something soft, which immediately brought mind the many times he would curl up next to Chip on the floor and rub one of his ears while sucking his thumb.
There is a bit relief today. I realize now how consumed I've been, knowing that I might have to intervene. That weight is much lighter. He taught us so much. He taught the boys that some creatures love effortlessly and unconditionally, that they love us as the people we hope to one day be.
This puppy picture was taken the day we brought him home at 9 weeks. I carried him from the car and set him down on the wet lawn. He didn't move, he just looked up at me with his timeless "what's next?" look. What's next now is that when I come up for the American Illustration party on the 13th I'm bring Chip's ashes to CT where Alina and the boys will meet me to return him to his favorite rivers and streams.
He will be missed by many.

In response to numerous requests

2008-10-16T14:28:20+00:00

Death Wish

2008-10-10T13:51:45+00:00

A recent New Times 2-part cover assignment is another chapter in the bizarre dramas that are happening in the homes all around us.

For example, A devout Mormon wife who's husband is having an affair believes she is summoned by God to die attempts to kill herself by jumping from a cliff. Her clothing snags on a tree branch and she is saved. And although her husband ends the affair, the wife writes a long series of letters including on to the her husbands former lover, explaining that the woman needs to take care of her family after she joins the Lord.

The woman is eventually found dead her bathtub. The evidence points to suicide but the husband is charged with murder.

I don;t always do this, but in this case I only did one sketch for each of these covers. The ideas came quick and felt right.

And Now For Something Completely Different

2008-10-07T14:02:39+00:00

Anyone who's seen my svelte, 6'6" 250lb profile knows that I'm ALL about fashion.
Ok, so I may not be the most delicate flower in the bouquet but I've been interested for quite a while in expanding my appeal by doing work that is a bit more lifestyle oriented. By lifestyle I mean upbeat day-in-the-life, not day-in-the-life of the Manson family.
I guess I resisted this type of work because it's seemed more style driven than concept driven and I've never felt that style has been my strong suit. Anyhow, I enjoyed doing these and am planning on venturing into music related imagery as well I'm excited to potentially find myself scewering a Presidential candidate one moment and then exploring a lighter topic the next. I need some balance.
These three pieces are from a recent series of mailings. So far, the response has been great.

When the issues turn against you, attack the character

2008-10-05T02:01:49+00:00

I'm disgusted with the Republican Party leaders. They claim to be the party of values and morality while spewing fiction as fact in the same breath. They've lowered the bar of validity to the election process by irresponsibly nominating a candidate who's major victory is that she didn't fall apart under pressure during the last debate.

But rather than address why they are losing on the issues, they've sent out their newest footsoldier to reach out and distract Joe sixpack with claims that Obama is a friend of terrorism.

Numerous mainstream news agencies including The New York Times, Washington Post, Time, and now CNN have revealed this latest salvo as a baseless hatchet job. I've been so impressed with how the Obama camp has used the Internet to directly and quickly go after these swift boat tactics. I just wanted to do my part in getting the facts straight.

Send this article to a Republican who claims the high moral ground

"Gotcha" Illustration?

2008-10-02T14:05:48+00:00

Nevermind "Putin rearing his head", according to the recent Republican response to widespread criticisms of Palin's performance in interviews, the real enemy is The Media.

If basic questions asked to challenge and, dare I say, seek a more detailed picture of a candidates' knowledge and philosophy on world issues are considered "Gotcha Journalism", then this is the single most blatant attempt to lower the bar in modern history.

For the past 8 years the Republican party has fed America a steady diet of fear mongering fueled by a sympathetic and sleepy and brow beaten press core. Now that a series of transparent poltical manipulations have awakened the mighty microphone, the repubs are returning to a clinton-era old standard, the attacks of the Liberal Media. If there's one great lesson for them here, it's that in today's world of information, hiding is only slightly better for your candidate than facing tough "gotcha" questions like, "What publications do you read?"

A Great Perspective

2008-09-30T14:37:51+00:00

With over 1.9 million views, I'm guessing that a few of you have seen this already. If not, it's an amazingly brillian way to boil down the discrepancies of a massive, complex, and ovewhelming global community.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rvTFKpIaQhM

NY Times and Boston Globe

2008-09-29T12:44:56+00:00

A few months back Alina I grew tired of the battle with our New York Times "delivery boy" and cancelled our subscription in disgust. I spent a couple hours yesterday driving around this literary desert trying to find a copy to no avail, kicking myself for the decision. Tim O'Brien pulled-out the huge dose of brotherly love and scanned the beast for me in three pieces.

A big thanks to Aviva Michaelov for the last minute (barely exaggerating) assignment on friday for the cover of The Week In Review. And what a week it was. Stunts and posturing in order to appear Presidential while still just a candidate, sprinkled with a few extremely awkward Palin interview clips (ironically trying to ALSO look presidential).

Thanks Aviva, for the great opportunity and to own such a huge swath of NY real-estate.

My semi-regular relationship with Susan Levin at the Boston Globe also continued this week. I find her to be one of the best thinkers in her field. SHe almost always goes for the poetic, rather than the literal.

The text was a review of a historical book about witch hunts and the dynamics that fuel them (see not so subtle fingers pointing in the flames). We went back and forth about whether the background added or subtracted from the piece. In the end they went with the version without.

Thanks again Susan and Aviva.

For TIME

2008-09-26T15:42:35+00:00

This is my contribution to Michael Kinsley's column in TIME which discusses the ponzi scheme-like nature of America's economy being based on housing prices.

Kinsley's full text often comes in long after the art is due, so the brief basically distilled this tough topic down for me. "Housing as an unstable foundation for our Nation."

Story Here

Serial Illustrator

2008-09-17T12:57:23+00:00

I admit it. I can't help myself. I must be stopped. I apparently am now magnetically attracting assignments about serial killers.

Just outside Seattle a crooning guitar-playing cowboy finally reached the end of his string of killings and rapes. Known for his snake skin boats, a favorite cocktail named the "snake bite", and a penchant for strangling his victims with his bare hands, Michael Braae (known as Cowboy Mike) was a slick character who serenaded his victims before doing them in. Story here

For the past 13 years, a mysterious lone killer that the cops have nicknamed "The Grim Sleeper" has been preying on young black prostitutes. What is additionally disturbing, beyond the 13 known victims, is that the task force assigned to the case AND the existence of the killer were kept secret from the public. One doubts that the string of killings would have been kept a secret if it was young college-age white women. Story here

And for the cover of The Village Voice, this last image doesn't involve a serial killing, but it does reveal the US Military's apparent serialized method of hiding the true circumstances of accidental deaths of its' soldiers. No, I'm not talking about Pat Tillman, this is the story of PVT Michael Fremer who was accidentally crushed between two vehicles during a training exercise in the U.S.
The story opens with a full-brass military burial service with a 21 gun salute. The soldiers father describes it all as an elaborate smoke screen put on to distract them from the reality that the military would not release any official word on his son's cause of death. Story here

And finally, a recent string of child pornography busts in St. Louis provided this cover opportunity for the River Front Times. This one was too icky to talk about, but let me just suggest that if you have children, as I do, go hold them tight and give them a protective hug and a kiss.

For The Times

2008-09-16T13:19:07+00:00

The New York Times continues to be a source of challenging and thoughtful assignments. I'm sure fellow drawgers will confirm that NYT AD's consistently push the artists to bring their best work to fruition. Since my days as an AD for a Weekly, many moons ago, I've been addicted to newsprint. I love it for it's touch, it's smell and especially it's immediacy. Below are a few recent fixes for my newsprint habit.

Shortly before hopping on a plane to NYC for the SOI Politics 08 opening last week, I got a call from Veronica Ferre in the Science Section. She had one of those topics that's just too rich to turn down. We streamlined the process and knocked it out a few hours later. It was about a patient in a demetia ward that specialized in hospice care for Alzheimer's patients. The patient, named Pat, used to love to look out on the lush garden surrounding the grounds but had become completely catatonic and unresponsive. One day a regular visitor came to her and spoke of the garden. Pat spoke, for the first time in months, only one word as she was propped upright in her wheelchair. "Beautiful". She then slipped back into her failing mind. Story here

Not long ago, Nicholas Blechman called from the Book Review with an assignment for the book, 'Palace Council,' by Stephen L. Carter. It's a fiction work that portrays the world of a "clandestine fraternity of powerful white men who are bent on undermining democracy by deploying an armed black group called the "Jewel Agony". Story here

We're all too familiar with the scene of a student violently lashing-out at student bodies, but what happens when it's the individual student that feels that the school is out to get them. For many teens with behavioral disorders, this fear is a reality. For the article entitled, "Calm Down or Else " Jennifer Pelzek assigned a section cover that she had hoped would convey the sense of isolation and violence these students face. Story here

Impaled and Palin

2008-09-11T00:35:55+00:00

Leave it to Alina and me to pick 9/11 as the day to fly up to NYC for the Politics 08 show at The Society of Illustrators. A big thanks to Tim and Edel for including a handful of my pieces for TIME and The New York Times in the show. Being among this roster of artists is truely humbling.

Above, is one of the images that will be included. It was for a Michael Kinsley column in TIME in which he discussed the utter futility and selfishness of former Hillary supporters who claim they will vote for McCain as a form of protest. Kinsley pointed out that the real benefactors of this selfish act are the jobless, hardworking, uninsured, and forclosed families who need them the most.

I hope all who can will come to show and hoist a few with friends. I'm sure the conversation will be lively. opening info here

The second piece was done earlier this week for TIME, again for a Michael Kinsley column. It will not be included in the show but I thought it was appropriate to share. He discussed Governor Palin's quest for big pork. There's some great facts in this one in case you get stuck next to a Palin supporter at your next dinner party. story here

See you in the city!

Better Off Dead

2008-09-04T16:31:29+00:00

In this week's TIME, columnist Peter Beinert suggested that the worst thing that could happen to the Repubs is to actually win with a candidate so mis-aligned with the mainstream party views. I'm wondering if the selection of Sarah Palin as a running mate might have compensated for this discrepancy.

Anyhow, here's the piece I did for the column which can be read here.

It's been a fun political season and I'm honroed to be included in the Politics 08 show at The Society of Illustrators. My thanks to all the fine folks there. And a special shout-out to Edel Rodriguez and Tim O'Brien for their curating of the exhibit. I hope to see you all on Sept 12 for the opening (pending hurricane IKE). here's the info again

also

I've been buried under since my return from the month-long stay in San Francisco but am going to be putting together a couple posts in the coming days to show some work and photos from that time. It was a transformative experience that I hope to share.

Good News From AAN

2008-06-30T12:39:06+00:00

Around this time each year, the AAN hands out it's awards for a range of Newspaper categories spanning the entire jouranlistic process. This year I was fortunate to receive a handful of nods for which I am grateful.

In the Cover Illustration categorie I received 1st place for my grisly Miami New Times cover, The Suitcase Murders. I also received 3rd place in the same categorie for another illustration, Guarimba", again for The Miami New Times.

In the Best Cover Design category, Darrick Rainey, who is now at the LA Weekly, won first place for three of his covers for The SF Weekly. I was honored to have my artwork on one of those awarded.

Beyond the elbow wrenching pat on the back, I wanted to post this news as a plug for the often maligned alt-weekly assignment. I was an AD at the Miami New Times for 4 years, and remember the difficulty in getting top artists to work for our budgets.

Many of the bonds I've made in the illustration community were made way back as an alt-weely AD, when artists who deserved much more were taking assignments because of the richness of the topics and the relative creative freedom. And that's the main reason I love working with these folks. Alt-weeklies often have a lot to prove, up against "established" slick dailies with their massive circulations. Most often what they prove is that the little guy is closer to the ground, and the ground is where the action is.

I remember fondly the intoxication of being part of exposing a corrupt politicain (ok, maybe that got a little boring with all the easy pickin's down here). I felt like my efforts were significant. We made a difference, cleaned things-up, bullied them right back. My sure-fire way of getting a reluctant official to sit for a photo was to threaten them with a Brodner carricature if they would not cooperate (I always hoped they would still refuse so I could assign art). Illustration as blackmail, I love it.

Weeklies are still one of the most immediate ways to get your stuff out there in ink. I'm addicted to newsprint. I can't imagine that folks wont always crave a tactile experience of print on pulp. It's where my real design career started, and it directly led to me becoming an illustrator.

Late Bloomers

2008-06-27T12:54:41+00:00

A rare genetic trait that results in a unique dwarf-like condition, called Bloom's Syndrome, was the topic for this weeks cover of The Riverfront Times. This syndrome almost exclusively affects descendants of Jewish heritage, hence the Star of David icons as flowers in "Bloom".

This one was delicate for a couple reasons. First and foremost, I didn't want to portray the subjects in a way that would exploit their physical differences. Instead, I wanted to nod to the life of someone who is always looking up at the world. The woman in the feature is a proud and defiant person who's stature is measured in optimism.

The other has to to do with how this condition has been twisted as some sort of proof of inferior genetic heritage by white supremacists and hate groups. I didn't want to give them any imagery that could be twisted for their own use (I've had this happen with Pro-Choce illustrations in the past). I found this out when I did the customary google search on Blooms Syndrome. The first few links were to these hate groups, rather than to the support and social networks that "Bloomies" rely on to cope with everyday life.

A big nod goes out to Riverfront Times AD Tom Carlson, and Editor and old pal Tom Finkel. These guys are amazing to work with. Tom and I built an extremely fruitful AD/Editor relationship during my 4 years as the art director for New Times in Miami.

Good Medicine

2008-06-23T22:46:13+00:00

More and more doctors are being faced with patients who consider religious beliefs to be an important part of their healing. Some doctors are offering prayer, even prayer not of their denomination. A recent study has shown that it's working for many.

This was the topic of my first, and hopefully not last, assignment from former TIME AD Janet Michaud who has made a soft landing at The Washington Post. Janet is one of those great AD's - an open mind with high expectations.

This was another chance for me to work some of my drawing "skills" into the final.

Reconciliation

2008-06-04T21:09:49+00:00

I consistently get rich topics from the folks at Pentagram Design. On this occasion, DJ Stout and Daniella Boebel assigned a full page for an article about the process of reconciliation between warring factions in African conflicts.

The first thing that came to mind was the weapon of choice, the inexpensive and plentiful AK-47. Every kid should have one. In fact, in Africa many do.

The sketch and a detail of the final are also included below as an example of how I'm continuing to bring more of my sketching into the final pieces.

About today

2008-05-26T13:59:04+00:00

This image was a personal piece that I submitted to the Nation back in 2006. They ended-up running it as the cover art for their issue commemorating the 3rd anniversary of the war. I posted it a long while back but thought it was a good one for the day.

Today was a great opportunity for me to get my kids thinking about the holiday and what it means. I told them the story about how back in 1966 when my parents were searching for a name for their new baby boy, my dad chose to honor his best pal, Brian Medford, who was serving in Vietnam at the time. Brian was shot 8 times in the stomach and legs by a 10 year-old Vietnamese boy with a machine gun. Members of his platoon shot and killed the boy. Brian survived his injuries and returned home, needing to learn to walk again. I vivdly remember meeting him in 1973. He wore cowboy boots and walked with the aid of a cane. My father lost track of him a number of years ago. I think about him every Memorial Day. I hope I get to meet him again some day.

On a side note, my 6 year-old asked me why they have so many "sales" on memorial day. I have to admit, I was at a loss for a good answer.

In Memory Of

2008-05-23T14:11:08+00:00

On May 6th, a relatively little discussed hearing was taking place on Capital Hill to discuss the alarming rise in soldier suicide attempts and the VA's complete lack of response to the crisis. With over 1000 vets attempting suicide each and every month, the militarys response was to relieve the doctors who completed the study. WHen pressed, they relented and admitted that more should be done. read story here.

An acquaintance of mine who recently returned from Afganistan explained to me the often bottomless sense of loss and disconnect that soldiers feel when trying to reconcile the world they've experienced with the relativley superficial and petty existence of everyday life in the states.

As much as they want to rejoin "normal" society, their eyes have been opened to a level of life and suffering that most of us actively suppress in order to maintain our comfort zone. This is not meant as a criticism of our everyday lives, but rather as a reminder that the casualties of war go far beyond life and limb. I do suspect that this crisis is directly related to how much we as a society engage with the reality of the wars in Iraq and Afganistan. What is lost by many is a belief in the value of their very existence previous to their service in combat. The worlds are so different, so how could they both represent reality. For some, they cannot both be true.

When we look at the numbers, it seems that the chasm is widening and deepening. For a growing number of those who have served our country in honor that gap is too far to bridge. When pressed about what we can do, the simple answer was to reach-out to these vets and listen to their stories. Close the gap by letting them know that on some level they are not alone in knowing what they now do about the wider world that we live in. Often vets worry about protecting their friends and family from the harshness they've experienced but this is thought to be the first step towards isolation.

What will I do? Remember them. And then I'll go and hug my children. I'll try to keep my eyes open to the world and remember what I see in the hope that the collective knowing of the truth about these events will in some way make us less and less interested in sacrificing so much beauty, life, and innocence in the future.

Myanmar Op-Ed

2008-05-12T13:11:07+00:00

In the Myanmar cyclone disaster, the difference between life and death was only a few feet in elevation. The assignment, from Brian Rea at the New York Times, was for an editorial that discussed the tragedy within this recent tragedy - that the need to heed early warnings, particularly in this low-laying region, is crucial as the storm surge submerged 2000 square miles. The use of a topography map felt like a nice way to bring that across.

In recent weeks, I've been working some of drawn elements from my sketches into the final illustrations. This Op-Ed as well as the piece below are the beginning of more and more line work being infused with my textures and scanned elements.

For the Phoenix alt weekly, New Times, is an illustration for a story about a home for the mentally retarded. It seems that a particularly slimey realestate developer has his eye on a prime piece of AZ property that just happens to be the site of a 70 year-old home for mentally retarded peoples. The facility, which has received high marks for quality of life, has been the lifelong home (from infancy to senior adulthood) for it's inhabitants. It the only home they know. The developer has been accused of trying to have the facility closed due to poor care.

Both the bear and backhoe scooper are texture-filled line drawings from the original sketch.

Genetic Discrimination, For TIME

2008-05-09T16:30:37+00:00

Congress passed legislation this week making it illegal for insurance companies and employers to use genetic data gathered during routine blood testing as a basis for choosing who to hire or cover.

In this week's TIME, Michael Kinsley explores this new law and the many questions it raises. The issue is anything but clear-cut.

You can read the article onlline here, but you will notice that once again, and for reasons that defy reason, the online edition didn't run the art. They used a corbis stock DNA strand-in-a-pill image that has no relation to the topic. Way to go!

Adolf Who?

2008-04-28T11:19:04+00:00

When asked, 1 in 4 of Bostons public schools teens didn't know the answer to "Who is Adolf Hitler"?

In response, the Boston School District is making a switch to a form of teaching history through empathy for those who lived through it's tumultuos chapters. This illustration, which appeared in yesterday's Boston Globe Magazine, was my attempt to show this new method of making kids "walk in the steps of history".

Thanks again go out to Josue Evilla for fantastic topic and venue.

Father and Son Op-Ed

2008-04-25T16:57:17+00:00

My kids spend a lot of time in the studio, but I usually kick them out when it's time to get down to some serious thinking. Yesterday was the official Take Your Child To Work Day at my older son's school, so of course it was the perfect day for a same day turnaround assignment from Brian Rea at the NYT Op-Ed section.

The editorial discussed the 25th anniversary of a critical report on the state of education in the USA entitled, A Nation At Risk. The report spoke of the imbalances, inequalities, the erosion of our educational foundations, and the possible future consequences for the Nation.

I was fortunate to have Andrés, my 6-year-old on the job with me to help out with the mental heavy lifting. He saw a ladder in one of my sketches which led to the final. He was such a big help, in fact, that I asked to include him in the art credit! Seems only fair.

Congratulations Andrés, and welcome to the world of illustration. And thanks again to Brian Rea for a tricky topic to play with.

NYTimes and The Boston Globe

2008-04-14T02:47:05+00:00

This past week brought a couple of those juicy topics I love to sink my teeth into, as well as an opportunity to collaborate with a couple fine AD's that I've not worked with in a while.

A big thanks to Nicholas Blechman at the New York Times Book Review for an assignment to illustrate the review for "The Finder". The book opens with a deadly hit on two janitorial workers suspected of stealing corporate secrets by way of the office paper refuse. It's been a few years since I did work for Nicholas when he was at the Op-Ed page. It was good to reconnect on this one int Review. article here

I enjoyed working some of my line work from the sketches into the finals - something I'm thinking of doing more of.

Thanks guys for two stimulating assignments.

Greg Klee at the Boston Globe called with a fantastic assignment. In "How To Defuse A Human Bomb" Drake Bennett explores the practice of de-radicalizing would-be terrorists and martyrs. It's the cover of Sunday's (4/13) Ideas/Books section of the Globe. article here

On The Fence + Hillary

2008-04-04T12:36:42+00:00

The issue of the Mexico/USA border fence may divide more than the Republicans had intended now that there is an initiative to force McCain's hand in the issue. He is on record in opposition of a border fence, preferring better enforcement of existing laws and the introduction of guest worker programs. Expect a battle royale within the Republican party as the staunch right tries to define the party with immigration fears as their rallying point.

Chrissy Dunleavy was the AD on this one and she was a pleasure to work with.

+++++++++++++++++++++

For the NYT Op-Ed, Can Hillary Change?

Today's Op-Ed offers the opinion that it is not necessary for Hillary to get out of the race if she can morph herself into a more positive, more populist candidate.

She seems to have started a message shift from the "candidate of experience" to "putting the people first". The writer doesn't see a continuing primary race as a negative unless the negative tactics (incorrectly or correctly) perceived to be the tool of choice by Hillary continue.

Brian Rea was wonderful to work with, as always.

Mother, Interrupted

2008-03-25T18:33:47+00:00

An incorrect hunch by a pediatrician results in the court-ordered separation of a 3 year-old girl from her loving mother. The mother originally brought her daughter in for an evaluation of the child's physical developmental issues. The doctor felt that the mother was creating these conditions in her daughter via Munchausen by Proxy Syndrome (when a mother causes illness in her child in order to gain sympathy and attention for herself). This was not a proven diagnosis, simply a hunch that she reported to officials. There's only one problem. The mother was in fact a devoted caregiver.

By the time a contradictory second opinion was obtained, the damage was already done. Now it was time for the agency to circle the wagons to save their own asses. They dropped the original charge and replaced it with a newly conceived charge of "Excessive Care". That's right, she was just caring too much for the special needs of her child.

The New Times Phoenix AD, Peter Storch, and I went back and forth between whether the image should depict the moment before or after the "intervention" by the agency. We also considered versions with and without the mother's hands. In the end, with the headline , they were included.

Another tough topic but a great subject to work with. Peter has only been at the New Times for a few weeks, but he's an AD to put on your mailing list. peter.storch@newtimes.com

I've updated this post with a couple samples of some of my raw materials. See below.

All Dolled-Up

2008-03-14T04:09:55+00:00

What child doesn't enjoy a seaweed wrap, eyebrow plucking, or exfoliating rub? This image accompanied the article, "All Dolled-Up" in the new issue of Phiadelphia Magazine in which the writer reveals sickening rise in the number of mom's who are bringing their little girls in for spa treatments and cosmetics makeovers.

The irony of a mom turning her poor child into a doll for herself jumped-out as the key to the image. I don't often send only one sketch, but in this case I felt strongly that this was an image I wanted to do.

I want to thank AD Andy Zahn for such an awesome topic to work with.

Spitzer OP-ED

2008-03-12T19:19:34+00:00

Is prostitution a victimless crime? After all the sordid details are revealed and picked-over, will we have forgotten who the real victims of Spitzer's senseless behavior are?

Brian Rea, New York Times Op-Ed AD, called yesterday with a refreshing challenge to an already saturated media frenzy. "Forget the sensationalism, focus on the small details that remind of us of how deliberate his actions were. What were those consequences? Oh, and I need it in 3 hours."

Like many, I empathized with Spitzer's family. They've done nothing to deserve this. I imagined the number of moments, while in the process of arranging his many romps, when he had to deliberately and calculatingly discount the lives of his wife and 3 daughters - where polar opposites existed in direct conflict with respect.

Was there a family photo on his desk near the phone? If so, I could see him turning it upside down to avoid the onlookers in the frame. In the end I pictured the inevitable moment when he payed "Kristin" for her services. As the hand clutches the wallet to pull-out the cash, his thumb obscures the happy-family photo underneath.

The forgotten Ones

2008-03-04T20:46:37+00:00

Here is a handful of images that are just now seeing the light of day. It seems that by the time my work for monthly and quartely publications makes it to the newstands I forget about posting it here on drawger.

There's also a few other samples from the New York Times that were done around the hectic holiday season. There was just too much going on to get them up here.

There's a piece here for Seattle Magazine about the rise in popularity of catholic schools. It seems that nuns as teachers have gone to the wayside. Students of all denominations are welcomed as the placement rates to ivy league schools skyrockets. Maybe they do have God on their side. AD Sue Boylan rode me like a pony on this one, wrangling some extra sketches that made the difference.

"No flame imagery" was the main direction from Jonathan Bernbach for the next piece, about treating the hot flash symptoms of menopause. I got a chance to play around in Adobe Illustrator a bit on this one, further confusing my style.

Annemarie Neff of the AMA News asked, "Ever had an itch you couldn't scratch?" She commissioned a full-pager to communicate the frustration of sufferers of chronic itching. It gave me a chance to get out my old life drawing studios from college for body expression.

And finally, for the New York Times both Peter Morance and Paul Jean came through with a couple of sweet assignments for the covers of the Arts and the Style sections. The first, from Paul, was for a story about the difficulties in making documentaries in Iraq. How do you get a balanced and accurate film if you are embedded with troops? The second image, for Peter, was about how the gifts we give and receive define who we are and how others see us.

Sorry for the shotgun approach on these, I've just wanted to post them for a long time.

Art Anxiety!

2008-02-29T13:59:37+00:00

Apparently, some folks faint at the terrifying prospect of filling their white walls with artwork. Snooty gallery personel, committement issues, resale values, and the fear of getting gouged make the world of art collecting a daunting task for some. Ok, so it's not on par with more notable disorders like, say, Post Traumic Stress Disorder or Post partem Depression, but I guess it really bogs some folks down. Anyhow, Joyce Wadler's piece in yesterday's (thurs 3/28) New York Times made for a good read and a terrific assignment as the cover for the Home and Garden section. Artcle here

It was a pleasure to work with Ken McFarlin on this one as he gave a concise suggestion at the start, "Think 'High Anxiety'". The rest is (art)history.

Buck-up all you richies! Buy art.

The Oscars Have Landed

2008-02-25T14:35:51+00:00

I didn't watch the ceremony last night but I was pleasantly surpirsed by the overseas invasion of all the "best acting" categories.

It reminded me to post Last week's "DateBook" cover for the SF Chronicle - AD Matt Petty who was a pleasure to work with.

I've yet to see any of the winning pictures as I've written-off trying to see movies in Miami theaters. It would seem that the socially imposed ban on cell phone use in theaters has fallen to the wayside. The last time I went a theater here I looked down our single row to see 4 people chatting away at the same time. crazy

Attack Iran! With Words.

2008-02-20T13:19:49+00:00

Thanks to Brian Rea and Guillermo Nagore for this gem of an Op-Ed assignment which appears in today's New York Times.

The text, which is entitled "Attack Iran, With Words", addresses the urgent need to choose diplomatic dialog over preemptive bombings to curb Iran's march toward nuclear armament.

I was initially more interested in the "Bush-Ahmadinejad " mushroom cloud sketch, but the wiser folks at NYT wanted to go in the direction that emphasized the dialog aspect of the article (jet dropping speech bubbles sketch). I wasn't loving the dialog ovals though and suggested the possibility of using words or individual letters.

7-UP vs. Coke

2008-02-13T14:09:10+00:00

The Art Director had me at "cocaine-addicted heir to the 7-Up fortune."

Illustrators, for a good time call Tom Carlson, AD of the River Front Times. (Tom.Carlson@riverfronttimes.com)

Warning To Dems

2008-02-08T17:36:36+00:00

When I got the call this week from Cynthia Hoffman at TIME to do an illustration for Ramesh Ponnuru's column, I was cautious at first, given that he usually bangs the Republican drum pretty hard (I'm an Independent). It turns-out that I couldn't agree more with the basic jist of what he had to say.

In his column entitled, "The Price of Overconfidence", he discusses the lessons to be learned from the hubris and over-reaching agenda which has sabotaged the once mighty elephant.

This one had to be done fast, soup to nuts in a couple of hours.

Story here

The Tough Ones

2008-02-07T13:15:27+00:00

Every so often a topic comes along that demands a depth of empathy that I find extremely painful to take on. These topics, although rich with possibilities, force me to the reality that these stories we are illustrating are about real lives and events. I'm so eager to have a topic I can get dramatic with that sometimes I have to remind myself that these human condition stories that I seem to get so often represent the experiences of real people. My biggest fear is of creating soul-less sensationalized images rather than delicately balanced provocative ones. Keeping the real people at the core of these stories in mind is an emotional burden that I find difficult to pick but impossible to put aside. This is made even more clear when the topic involves children. For me, these stories hit too close to home.

So last week when Josue Evilla at the Boston Globe Magazine called, I felt the bitter sweet sense of excitement rush over me, "here comes a great topic, damn". After all, the last assignment was for a story about a park ranger chaplain who comforts a dying moose after it was fatally struck by a car (previously posted but shown again below). This assignment was particularly tough to tackle, being a parent of two young boys. The article, entitled "Return To Me" by Stacey Chase, discussed the difficulties that parents must face when a child goes missing for years on end, most-often never to return. How do they continue day to day suspended in the artifacts of the child surrounding them at every turn? I did a handful of sketches for this one, but ended in agreement with Josue on the iconic element of a neglected and unused tricycle partially sunken into the yard. In the back is a slightly open gate door.

A while back I got a call from Diablo Magazine in SF. Tim Luddy (now at Mother Jones) had an assignment that really nailed me. It was a story about a father and a selfish stepmother who repeatedly abandoned their 5 and 10-year-old boys over long weekends while they snuck out for romantic getaways. What's doubly cruel is that the 5-year-old is autistic. If there's a silver lining, it's that the 10-year-old was an amazingly gifted caregiver, beyond his years. He fed and bathed his younger brother, dressed him, and consoled him. After his parents returned from a 5-day New Year's Eve trip to Las Vegas the boys were found safe and sound and taken into protective custody by relatives. The parents were put in jail. Being a father of two young boys (Julian 5 years-old and Andrés 6 years-old) I had a particularly difficult time with this one. The image below was the product.

An assignment for Northwestern Law Review questioned the right to die for death row inmates who have decided to refuse the appeals process in leu of immediate execution. The state argued, I think insightfully, that although to John Q citizen the notion of granting the inmates' wish might seem like a no brainer, they argued that the jury should consider the entirety of the inmates life not just the resulting crime for which they were sentenced. They felt that a prisoner's upbringing, in this case one of catastrophic mental and physical abuse, prohibits them from looking out for their own well being. Consider the offender when he was a child, what that was like, and how it formed his sense of self esteem. I am personally opposed to the death penalty, even more so after reading the argument in this article.

The subject of the rising trend toward medicating our children with anti-depressants and other mood altering prescription made for a tough assignment from Forbes as well. What will history recall about this generation-med and the parents who are caught between legitimate medical advances and the lure of a panacea for problematic behavior?

His Way

2008-02-04T14:37:27+00:00

An entrepreneur's 5 year journey to take his home-spun ginger beer brewing company public, HIS way, made for a fantastic assignment for the Feb issue of INC Magazine. Blake Taylor, INC's Creative Director, was an absolute pleasure to work with, balancing the needs of his editors with the need to have some fun.

The story is a profile of Chris Reed, the ex-hippy entrepreneur who started Reed's Ginger Beer out of his Venice Beach bathtub in 1987. Five years ago he decided to generate much needed expansion capital by doing an IPO. Unfortunately the hippy side of him told him that he could buck the system and do it on it own. The story accounts the journey, his battles, and the result.

http://www.inc.com/magazine/20080201/his-way.html

Our Eyes

2007-12-13T15:22:39+00:00

How do we see? The age-old question of wondering whether green and red (my favorite two colors) look the same to you as they do to me, has been in my mind lately because of two recent but separate events.

The cosmic forces of irony were working overtime when Alina and I found out that both of our two sons, Andres and julian (6 and almost 5 years old) have been diagnosed as being color blind. In the world we live in, which stretches the boundaries of the word "tragedy", I understand that this is a minor wrinkle. And it was in that context that I initially took the stoic outlook, being thankful for their ten fingers and toes all where they should be. But over the next few days I felt a small space of sadness open-up. It struck me that with color being such an important part of my work, there would always be this distance between our different ways of seeing. How will they ever know my true mind, and I theirs?

I stayed in this space for a couple of days until I got one of those perfectly timed surprise visits from the boys out in the studio. I had just finished a book review piece for Susan Levin at The Boston Globe about transcendentalism and nature. They both took a good long look at the image and then Andrés asked, What's this one about Daddy?" With that single question he closed that distance by defining our connection as one based in the appreciation of ideas. It's proof to me that although we all see with different eyes, if there is a desire to share our visions, we find a way.

Just about the time I figured all this settled down, I got an unexpected call from my father. He had woke that morning with a massive blind-spot in his left eye. An emergency visit to an optometrist revealed that a huge swath of his retina had detached from the lining of eye. If left untreated for more than a day or two, he would likely lose the use of that eye.

So after a 4 hour drive from the remote norther CA town of Arcata where my dad was living an independent nomadic life, he had what now appears to be a totally successful (and quite bizarre) procedure to re-attach the retina to the eye wall. The procedure inflated a bubble of air in side his eye, forcing the retina back into place. The bubble naturally dissipates over a few days restoring the normal vision.

So what's the cosmos telling me? That we all see differently? That sight is fragile? I'm not totally sure. But the bittersweet take-away for me is that I think I'm seeing things that I hadn't before. And for that, I'm thankful.

For more info on color blindness (did you know that 7-10 percent of the male U.S. population has some form of it?) check out this site. http://www.eyecaresource.com/conditions/color-blindness/

And this site allows you to upload sample images to simulate the various forms of color blindness. http://www.vischeck.com

15 More Months!

2007-10-20T21:02:29+00:00

I've been having a bunch of really heavy dreams lately. You know the ones, they stick with you through the day like a hangover (sometimes combined with a hangover). I'm attributing it to events in the world that seem especially vivd right now. Although it's a pretty pathetic silver lining, more and more I have to remind myself that we are 15 months away from the end of the most destructive presidency in the history of our nation.

This morning I awoke from a nightmare I was having about Bush being re-elected for a THIRD TERM. In the dream I was so enraged and disgusted at the lack of intellectual curiosity in the American society, resulting in his remarkable election to a 3rd term. I wondered, "How will we survive it? Who else will we go to war with? How will we ever fix the environment?" What will this say to the world AND to our children about our collective values, that we want him as our leader?"

Once I was finally awake and half the way through a cup of coffee, it dawned on me. This is how I felt the morning after Bush was elected to his 2nd term in 2004.

That day I did this cover for the LA City Beat for an article that discussed how to go on living as an American in the face of so much ignorance.

Gotta Love GITMO

2007-10-16T21:55:23+00:00

This is a cover for the Santa Fe Reporter's piece about a 26 year old Muslim young man who happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time. He was arrested, at the age of 21, in the company of "suspected" Al Qaeda recruits. His lawyer won his release a couple years ago but the government has not complied. The prisoner has been held at GITMO for 1/4 of his life.

The article is entitled "Growing Old At GITMO". My intention was to use the growth of a beard on a young man's face as an indication of the time that has passed.

I put the "Rough" in rough sketches! Here's a couple sketches that led to the final illo.

An then the actual cover.

Some juicy topics this week

2007-10-12T14:31:33+00:00

Revolutionaries, diplomacy and overheated runners combined in the past few days to make this a fun week in the studio. I'm also posting a couple from late last week since they were data dumped in the now infamous "Crash of October".

For TIME I was asked to do an image to accompany a commentary piece about the lack of vaild, unbaised political entities who can negotiate peaceful resolutions to international rifts and human rights issues. The writer argues that with the loss of our moral compass, America no longer holds sway in the world.

In today's New York TImes Op-Ed section I illustrated an opinion by legendary Olympic runner Frank Shorter who chimes-in on what really happened at the Chicago Marathon where vast numbers of runners overheating forced the cancellation of the event. Brian Rea, the Op-Ed AD was a true pleasure to work with. I'm attaching the sketches for that one as well.

From a previous posting that was lost in the Drawger data crash I include this cover for New Times here in Miami. The AD is a wonderful and talented young woman named Ivylise Simones. The story is about Roberto Alonso, a Miami transplant formerly from Venezuela, who is fomenting a political uprising against Hugo chavez.

And also from a previous post lost in the crash, from Rolling Stone Deputy AD Joe Newton came a great assignment on how as a culture, Americans have become so numbed and sedated by pop culture distractions that we don't give a damn about what's happening in the rest of the world.

oh, and another running piece for Runner's world Germany, about ways to prevent injuries.

Luck book Completed!

2007-09-29T16:40:35+00:00

A hellish 2 weeks has come to a close now that I'm all wrapped-up on 70 illustrations for a book entitled "The Field Guide To Luck". It is the tenth in a series (my first) published by Quirk Books covering topics such as dreams, gestures, etc. Quirk Books are the publishers of a lot of the funky pop culture books with irreverent titles such as: "The Stuntwoman’s Workout", "The Big Book of Porn", "The Baby Owner’s Manual", "How to Tell If Your Boyfriend Is the Antichrist, (And If He Is Should You Dump Him?)", and the very popular "Worst-case Senario" series.

They were pretty fun to work with, although I definitely wanted to add more commentary than they did so most are simple depictions of various lucky practices from various cultures.

The handful of images below are some of my favorites from the book which represent the following:

Princess Lakshmi, Black cat crossing your path, guardian angels, not seeing a bride before the wedding, getting the evil eye, pich of salt over the shoulder, lucky frog, wishbone, african birth doll, bedtime prayers, stepping into boat with right foot first, scarab, saying "bread and butter" when olding hands, ouija board, tarot reading, evil eye protection, blowing candles and "om". whew.

It was a tough haul, hence my absence from Drawger, but a fun project to work on. The book should be out for the Holidays.

Iragi Refugee Crisis

2007-09-28T17:15:12+00:00

This is a piece in this week's TIME assigned by drawger's very own Edel Rodriquez. The commentary speaks of the much ignored issue of Iraqi refugees. As the war takes on more and more characteristics of a civil conflict, ethnic purging and cleansing has exploded into a crisis for millions. The US has predictably failed to respond, providing at times inadequate or no aide.

I attached the sketches because Mr. fancy pants Rodriguez has challenged my drawing abilities when it comes to sketches! Ok, I guess they are a bit primitive.

From the Boston Globe

2007-09-18T15:40:03+00:00

Two of my favorite AD's to work for are thankfully under the same roof, The Boston Globe. Both Susan Levin and Josue Evilla are the kind of folks who really push and prod the best of my stuff out of me. It also doesn't hurt when they bring great topics to the table, something that they almost always do.

The art below is a recent example. The story describes the work of a lady who is a chaplain for the Maine Game Warden Service. One of her most common responsibilities is to provide comfort and prayer to lake drowning vicitims and the victims of the many auto vs moose accidents in Maine. It seems that due to the height of the average moose, it most always ends-up going thru the windshield of the car, killing the occupants.

On the occasion of this story, the chaplain was suprised to find the driver unharmed. The moose, however, lay on the pavement, near death. As the chaplain approached, the moose drew his last breath and she said a prayer for the animal, "Dear Father, bless the beasts and singing birds, and guard with tenderness all things that have no words…

For This Week's TIME

2007-08-24T14:25:36+00:00

This is a recent image done for a Michal Kinsley commentary in TIME. The story discusses the plights of the housing market.

The second image was for a Businessweek article that discusses how happy day traders are with a volatile market.