posted: July 29, 2008

 These were done for Brody Price at Spirit, the magazine for Southwest Airlines. These are obviously the first six months we did together. Six more to go. Brody's been great to work with. Each image relates to a portion of the text for each sign.

Pisces

Aries

Taurus

Gemini

Leo

posted: July 27, 2008

SELF-PORTRAIT: BOOK PEOPLE PICTURE THEMSELVES from the collection of Burt Britton. Random House 1975. From the February 10, 1975 issue of The New Yorker. “…Still another Strand-hound is Burt Britton, who presides over the review copies at the Strand. He once ran the door at the Village Vanguard where he asked the performers and known people in the audience to draw themselves on napkins. When he got his job at Strand, he asked writers and illustrators to do the same in a sketchbook. He now has almost 2 sketchbooks which Random House will publish as a book. Britton says it’s the only original thing he's ever done.” The book collects over seven hundred self portraits by novelists, poets, children's book authors, critics, artists and illustrators. Here are some examples.

Maya Angelou

James Baldwin

Romare Bearden

Saul Bellow

Truman Capote

Roald Dahl

Ralph Ellison

Oriana Fallaci

Carlos Fuentes

Allen Ginsberg

Lillian Hellman

Brad Holland

Elaine Lustig-Cohen

Norman Mailer

Arthur Miller

S. J. Perelman

Richard Price

Philip Roth

Patti Smith

Terry Southern

Stephen Spender

William Steig

John Updike

Kurt Vonnegut

Eudora Welty

Thomas Wolfe

posted: July 22, 2008

Just got back from seeing GONZO: The Life & Work of Dr, Hunter S, Thompson with David Flaherty. Fantastic documentary. Highly recommended. There's lots of Ralph Steadman in it, from interviews to a generous selection of his drawings throughout the film including a series of his portraits of Thompson in the end credits. Here are a couple of classic Steadman ROLLING STONE covers illustrating Hunter S. Thompson's reporting on the '72 election.

Another Steadman cover. This one for Thompson's FEAR AND LOATHING AT THE WATERGATE, 1973.

 If you're in the market for a Steadman book I think this is the one to buy. It includes his "Fear and Loathing", "Kentucky Derby" and "Disneyland" drawings. Introduction by Dr. Hunter S. Thompson. You'll want to track down a copy of the original STRAIGHT ARROW publication from 1974. It measures at 12 1/4 x 9 1/4". The drawings are reproduced on a full page including several spreads. The first Steadman book I ever bought and still my favorite.

posted: July 22, 2008

Text (front): ARTIST COLONY ON THE CAPE
Handwritten: Lots of painters and painters around here

 "ARTIST'S COLONY ON THE CAPE
 Because of its great natural beauty, it's delightful summer climate, and it's easy accessibility, Cape Cod has become the mecca od artists the country over. A typical summer's day scene in one of the many colonies which dot the cape."

posted: July 21, 2008

"Lapel Pin."

posted: July 4, 2008

The Leonard Lopate Show, July 3, 2008, interview with Gary Panter Gary Panter's Website Order the book. Now.

The interview should be of interest to all and the book is just fantastic. It's divided into two parts. paintings and sketchbook pages. I've been an avid follower of Gary's work since living back in Pennsylvania ia in the seventies. I've collected all of the books including his hard-to-find photocopied ones and gone to many of his gallery shows in NYC but still there's lots of work in the books that I hadn't seen before. If you're going to buy one art book this year or this lifetime I highly recommend this one.

"An intimate look at the work and life of a legendary artist. Gary Panter has been one of the most influential figures in visual culture since the mid-1970s. From his era-defining punk graphics to his cartoon icon Jimbo to his visionary design for Pee-wee's Playhouse, he has left his mark on every medium he's touched. Working in close collaboration with the artist, PictureBox has assembled the definitive volume on Panter's work from the early 1970s to the present. This monumental, slipcased set is split into two 350-page volumes. The first is a comprehensive monograph featuring over 700 images of paintings, drawings, sculptures, posters and comics, alongside essays by Robert Storr, Mike Kelley, Richard Klein, Richard Gehr, Karrie Jacobs and Byron Coley, as well a substantial commentary by the artist himself. The second volume features a selection from Panter's sketchbooks--the site of some of his most audacious work--most of which has never been published in any form.
A three-time Emmy Award-winner for his production design on Pee-wee's Playhouse and the recipient of the 2000 Chrysler Award for Design Excellence, graphic artist Gary Panter has drawn inspiration from diverse vernacular and traditional art arenas over the course of the past four decades. Closely associated with the underground comics and music scenes on both coasts, he is responsible for designing the Screamers iconic 1970s poster, many record covers for Frank Zappa, the Red Hot Chili Peppers and The Residents and the ongoing comic character Jimbo. Most recently Panter has performed psychedelic light shows at the Hirshhorn Museum in Washington, D.C. and at New York's Anthology Film Archives. He was a featured artist in the major 2006-2007 touring exhibition, Masters of American Comics."