http://www.drawger.com/msloan/ Thu, 11 Mar 2010 12:20:26 EST FeedCreator 1.7.2 http://drawger.com/_images/drawger_leo_logo.gif http://www.drawger.com/msloan http://www.drawger.com/msloan/index.php?section=articles&article_id=9989 The Green Lantern is a weekly assignment on environmental issues published on Sundays in The Washington Post. I've been doing the illustrations for Lantern since last September.   It's always a pleasure to work with Brad Walters at the Post. The subject matter is compelling and very interesting to me. Each week brings a new assignment and a new surprise. The illustrations print at a nice healthy 8" wide size, sometimes in color, sometimes in black and white, so I've started doing all final art in color to cover my bases.   Here's a selection of some of my Green Lantern work:















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I spent 20 minutes talking about and showing my work from The New York Times Op-Ed Letters column, because this mostly political work fit the bill for the event, and also because I love Letters assignments and the body of over 100 illustrations I’ve created for the column over the years. Then Tom presented a survey of his work including covers for The Village Voice, selections from his comic, his book The Very Silly Mayor, and his cover art for the latest Pearl Jam CD.



Our presentations were projected onto a screen at near-billboard size. It was exciting for me to see my Letters art at this scale, strong and graphic, and much different in size from 2” x 2.5” as the art appears in the newspaper.   Tom had recently done the cover art for the latest Pearl Jam CD, and brought a collector’s edition vinyl version of the album, signed by lead singer Eddie Vedder. It was auctioned off, netting a nice big sum of money for EBJ. I brought 40 of my Professor Nimbus graphic novels to sell, and sold nearly all of them, all the proceeds also going to EBJ.



The event was well-attended and I had a great time. I’m glad that the childcare center judged the evening to be a big success. I hope I get a chance to give a presentation like this again.

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#10 – A good year in the annuals. Here’s my spread in the Communication Arts 2009 Illustration Annual featuring work from my “Travels of Professor Nimbus” print series. Three of these images were accepted into the Society of Illustrators 51st annual. The Venice image at bottom right was also accepted into the American Illustration book. I’m very pleased that clients are increasingly asking me to use this "blue" work for assignments and hope that this trend continues.



#9 – Publishing my latest graphic novel. “The Redemption of Professor Nimbus” is about catastrophic global warming, and takes place in Hong Kong. It was a pleasure to work on these brush and ink drawings, especially the detailed and complex images of Nimbus walking through the bustling streets of Hong Kong. You can read all about the book here on Drawger.



#8 – My 100th New York Times Op-Ed Letters assignment. This work represents one of my longest-running collaborations with a client: my first Letters assignment was published in 1993, and my 100th this past September. These assignments have always thrilled me and continue to be among my favorites.  Created under same-day deadlines, modest in size and succinct in nature, they are my haiku of illustration. Thanks to Leanne Shapton as well as all the other Op-Ed art directors whom I’ve had the pleasure to work with over the years. You can see my complete gallery of 100 Letters illustrations here on Drawger.

#7 – Unpublished assignment for The New York Times / This Week in Review. The article asked: Why is it that during this current recession there is an absence of large-scale, WPA - type utopian projects and big thinking of the sort that occurred during the recession of the 1930’s? Kelly Doe, the art director, suggested showing a retro-utopian fantasy landscape floating in the sky, buzzing and alive with fantastic structures and transportation, exactly the kind of scene that I love to draw.  Sadly the art wasn’t used, though this disappointment doesn’t take away from the fact that I like this illustration a lot and had a great experience working on it with Kelly.



#6 – Greeting card for a law firm in San Francisco. The art features a Kirin, which, according to the firm’s website, is “a mythical chimerical creature known throughout various East Asian cultures, and is said to appear in the presence of a wise person. It is a good omen that brings serenity or prosperity to those it visits”. Working on this project was such a pleasure that I’ve started my own series devoted to such mythical beats and monsters.





#5 – Weekly Assignment for The Washington Post. I started working on the Green Lantern column in September. The column deals with environmental topics, something that interests me greatly. The art prints at a nice 7” x 8” size. Working with Brad Walters at the Post is always a pleasure, and having a weekly assignment these days feels very reassuring.



#4 – The Zen of Professor Nimbus on tor.com. Tor.com, the website for news and discussion of science fiction and fantasy, commissioned a new series of ten strips that appeared on their site through the summer. This represents my first substantial paying project featuring Professor Nimbus. Thanks to Irene Gallo, and to Pablo Defendini for giving me complete freedom and for being so enthusiastic and great to work with. Thanks also to Zimm and Drawger for helping to make “Zen” possible in the first place by supplying the vehicle and encouragement to publish the original series here on my blog in 2007-08.



#3 - Silver medal from The Society of Illustrators 52nd annual. What a great surprise when Anelle Miller and Kate Feirtag from the Society called me on a gloomy day last month to tell me about winning this award. I continued my “Travels of Professor Nimbus” series of limited edition prints with five new drawings in 2009. They all show Nimbus in unusual locations - often places where I have visited or lived – and give me a chance to stretch my imagination and brush & ink technique. This image, “The Happy Valley Trolley”, was awarded a silver medal in the uncomissioned category. Two other prints were also accepted into the annual.  You can see more work from this series here on Drawger.



#2 – Prolific outdoor sketching. A family trip to Scandinavia in August and my daughter’s skating classes provided me with a lot of opportunities to get out of my studio and sketch. You can read an article about my Finland sketchbook here on Drawger. My daughter’s skating lessons take place in the local rink, a recently restored architectural landmark designed by architect Eero Saarinen, and you can see more sketches like the one below here. My resolution to sketch as much as possible was inspired by a terrific post on painting outdoors and staying productive in between illustration assignments by fellow Drawger artist Robert Hunt. You can see his post here.





#1 – Assignment on hedge funds for Barron’s. Here’s an example of a seemingly dry topic (starting hedge funds in difficult economic times) producing an illustration that works for the client and expresses something very meaningful about me. I knew I had a chance to create an illustration that could be immensely satisfying when the art director Pam Budz suggested during the initial phone conversation that I show something growing out of a desolate landscape. This is right up my alley, since I like working with images that show a combination of desolation, longing and hope. By the end of the phone conversation the composition was fully formed in my mind.  After I finished this watercolor painting I began to wonder what it would look like as an oil painting. I started work in oils in October and am almost finished.



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Every Sunday afternoon I bring my daughter to her figure skating class.

The children wear large, brightly colored helmets that make their heads look very big. Some wear heavily cushioned pants and coats to cushion their falls, courtesy of their cautious parents.



    The instructor cuts a dashing figure on the rink.



She exhorts her pupils to stand straight and assume the proper form.

Progress is slow, and sometimes there are tears.

Sometimes my daughter likes to watch Lily, an older girl who has achieved some mastery and grace on the ice.

We always look forward to the next class.



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Here's my latest graphic novel in its complete form:









































To be continued...Meanwhile, you can buy this and other Professor Nimbus books here at my online store. Each title is a limited edition of 1000, and I sign and number each one.



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