One of my favorite projects from the past year is sharing the spotlight with such elite products as Wasabi Gumballs and the Pole Dancer Alarm Clock. Yes, it's true, the Men's Underwear Repair Kit has made the Top Ten Stupid Gifts of 2008.

According to the folks at Stupid.com, finding a truly stupid gift is an art form. Something to put on my resume.

Happy Holidays, folks!

TVbot from the brilliant mind of Mark Fisher

Harry and Mark suggested starting a show of Robot drawings in a recent post. So fire up them up and let them go to work!

Let's see your interpretations - good benign, and evil. Contraptions, automatons, gadgets, apparati & visual creations of all shapes sizes are welcome.

You can submit your creations here

Is there anything better than drawing robots?



I dabble in robot doodles, but my sketches pitched for clients end up being just that- they never seem to make it to final art. This assignment for the New York Times proved to be the perfect fit.The illustrations are for the launch page of a new service called TimesWidgets.

When I took on this project, a widget factory was suggested by the client. So I jumped in and started drawing out a low-tech version of a high-tech app. Tiny robots cutting up large volumes of articles and reassembling information into tiny, perfect, colorful widgets.

If you want a great new widget, go over to New York Times and build your own. I worked with Heena Ko on this one closely. There was a lot of back and forth to get things right.

 

Thumbnail

Here is the evolution of the main drawing, from sketches to finish.

I recently received an assignment from Ronn Campisi. I've heard a lot of good things about him, especially from Adam McCauley. So I jumped at the chance. The subject matter was, to say the least, droll. I've always liked science-related subject matter. This article was about Dataspace. If you are working in research, the answer you seek may be out there -- but how do you go about finding it? There is a mountain of data to be sorted through. The challenge is making such valuable information accessible - and the Dataspace program promises to make that possible.

I set out with a batch of sketches. Here are a few. I needed to work with Ronn to get something that stated the message more clearly. After several attempts the answer wasn't quite there yet.

This was closing in - but needed a bit more wrestling. It's always interesting how a solution presents itself when you work with something long enough. It was literally drawn out.

Bears? Bottomless pits? What kind of image can capture the times we live in?

With all of the institutions teetering on the brink and the bounces in the stock market it's a bit hard to get a handle on things. How about a bi-polar bear? (Sorry - I just had to slip that in) Even better -  a bi-polar bear at the helm of a locomotive hurtling into the abyss?

With all of the fear and panic it's a bit of a balancing act coming up with a metaphor that won't induce apoplexy or at least a minor case of the vapors and make it to print.

I don't want to appear insensitive to all the real pain and anguish out there - I know we are in for a very bumpy ride. It's not my job to despair, I guess I'm wrestling with the right way to respond.

It took numerous iterations to get the image up above. Sometimes it takes a fair amount of trial and error to strike the right balance. Here are a couple of the sketches along the way.

It's been a crazy ride so far. I am staying hopeful that the new team Obama is putting together will pull us through. I am also grateful that things haven't slowed down too much yet.

So where am I going with this? Here is one more image. The spot of the empty vault at the top of this post was not published. I received a call from the art director at the last minute to add cash. Lots of cash. There. Doesn't that feel better?

Persistence pays off.



My cover for Sci-Fi Baby Names made it into the Print Regional Annual. A first for me. I've been freelancing full-time for 19 years, so I guess the old adage is true.

 

Tipping point - A piece for More magazine, on the right time and amount to tip

Whenever I get recognized for my work the work I do, I really do appreciate it. I got the message from Doogie Horner at Quirk Books last week. Living where I do I haven't had the chance to pick up a copy yet - I'm sure there are lots of Drawgers in there - post it if you're in!



It's been a good year, I've had some cool projects to work on and a few more in the works. After all this time, I still feel my work moving in new directions. Here's a few recent pieces.

best. mustache. ever.

November doesn't have a whole lot to offer. Every year at this time, I get out my sweaters and long underwear and start packing on a few pounds to get ready for the long winter. We turn our clocks back and  the sun starts setting shortly after I wake up.

 

This year I thought it would be interesting to add some excitement by participating in Movember. Grow a mustache. Make a statement. Raise money for a good cause.

I heard about this when I was in Australia. A lot of the local surfers participate, and it sounded like a bit of fun. Turns out it is a worldwide phenomenon and raises money for prostate cancer prevention & research. So why not give it a shot! I haven't sported facial hair since my senior year in high school, when I sprouted a serious cookie duster.

You can check out the promo video here

Thanks to Hitz for the cool poladroid app!

Anybody else up for this? We could have a Mo' Drawger team. Let me know.

Want to help out? Make a donation here.

I'll post before and after pics later

Löyly is the finnish word for steam. There is nothing like the rush of heat you feel when water hits hot rocks. The only real way to counter is to rush outside and jump into a large body of ice-cold water. And then get back inside and do it again.



The sauna is almost a sacred place. In the Finnish tradition It is a taboo to use swearwords in sauna. Conversation should be relaxed and arguments and controversial topics should be avoided. We keep the lights very low inside as well. Sauna is a place where you can also cleanse your soul. Although I'm not finnish, I have to agree with all of this. You will never feel cleaner than after a good one or two hour session. You can clear your mind and soothe your aches and pains.



One of the best things about our family cottage is the wood-fired sauna. We don't have any plumbing so it is not only enjoyable but also essential. The best time of year to use it is either in the spring or fall when the lake gets icy.



My father built this about twenty years ago. We all pitched in but he did most of the work. We were smart enough to get a good quality finnish stove. This thing really kicks out the heat! It takes a fair amount of work - hauling water from the lake, building the fire but the result is pure bliss.

 

Treehouse Update

I wrote a couple of ealier posts about the treehouse project here and here. I thought I would follow up with a few pics of the finished version.

In the midst of all of the volatility and craziness of elections I was lucky enough to get away for a couple of weekends. I spent a couple of nights up in the treehouse. My father did a fantastic job finishing off the railings, windows and screens. My brother also wired up a light and outlet. Waking up you catch the sun rising through the trees.

"The Federal Reserve is not currently forecasting a recession, we are forecasting slow growth."

Ben Bernanke - January 2008

 

“Not only have individual financial institutions become less vulnerable to shocks from underlying risk factors, but also the financial system as a whole has become more resilient.” — Alan Greenspan - 2004

"You know, in this business, you don't have any control over what the press says and how they portray things. And that's their prerogative. But I think anybody who looks at it objectively has trouble making the case that somehow this is a bad economy."

Dick Cheney

"The American people should remain confident in the“soundness and resilience in the American financial system."

Henry Paulson

 

“We will continue to act to resolve this crisis and restore stability to our markets”

George Bush

Is the sky falling? Are we spiraling towards another Great Depression or is the market 'fundamentally sound'?

I got a call from Kim Bost to work on a piece for today's NYT OpEd page. It's an article by Robert Reich, former Labor Secretary under the Clinton administration - a fairly impressive performer at the time.

Reich's piece 'Saved by the Deficit' is both damning and somewhat hopeful, some sober thinking in an atmosphere of panic where he parallels today's conditions with 1993, the year Clinton took office.

Kim was great to work with, although she threw out my first round of drawings (which was for the better). It's exciting to weigh in on such a critical discussion.

You can read the article here

One of the first round sketches. I was working with overlays so I had to put the piece together to see how it would work. Whenever I get this detailed the piece never makes it to print!

In the end I was happy with how the piece turned out. I hope that some serious thinking goes into the next administration. Whoever inherits this thing is going to have one hell of a mess on their hands!