Michael Sloan

The Zen of Professor Nimbus #43

2008-09-25T14:55:05+00:00

The $700 Billion Question

2008-09-24T14:18:24+00:00

Leanne Shapton at The New York Times Op-Ed called with this Letters illustration on the bailout plan for rescuing America's financial institutions. It appeared in yesterday's paper. I don't often use scanned objects in my art, though when I do it tends to be currency. This was my first assignment with Leanne, and I enjoyed working with her very much.

Above are my sketches, done in about two hours. Sketch #2 was used as it appears, slightly cropped and in black and white. In # 1 and 2 I'm using Greek myths in my concepts: Atlas with the weight of the world on his shoulders, and Sisyphus ceaselessly rolling a rock to the top of a mountain. I wanted to use an image of Prometheus chained to a rock with an eagle pecking his liver, but was unable to make it work.

Here's a previous NY Times Op-Ed Letters illustration on tax reform, also using a scanned penny.

The Zen of Professor Nimbus #42

2008-08-14T13:49:35+00:00

The Zen of Professor Nimbus #41

2008-08-07T13:50:08+00:00

The Zen of Professor Nimbus #40

2008-07-31T17:06:29+00:00

My Hong Kong Sketchbook

2008-07-24T17:55:05+00:00

I spent the last two weeks in Hong Kong with my family. Here are some impressions from my sketchbook.

Here are two views from our room at the YMCA. That's the Star Ferry Terminal in the foreground of the painting above. The ferry became an important part of our lives since my three children were thrilled by the ride across the harbor. Naturally the ferry and harbor became the focus of my sketches.

Each day brought wonderful tropical storms with thunder unlike any I have heard before. Umbrellas are an important part of living in Hong Kong in the rainy season, and most stores and restaurants have a place to hang them up to dry by the front door.

I've never seen so many different kinds of boats as in Hong Kong harbor, all going in different directions, day and night. Somehow all the boats seem to know where to go without bumping into each other.

My 15-month old son liked to look out the window at the boats with his babysitter, Clarabel.

Here are sketches of an old woman who swept a nearby beach to keep it clean. I loved the way she moved, and how her huge straw hat completely obscured her face.

One side of The Peak overlooks the city. The other side looks over a sparsely-populated mountainside sloping down to the sea. The port of Hong Kong is so busy that there are always many container ships at anchor waiting for their cargo to be unloaded.

My only regret is that I was unable to sketch some of the incredible food we ate (southern China takes food as seriously as anywhere in Italy or France).

Return to China

2008-06-26T15:10:11+00:00

I’m going back to China in a little over a week. I’ve been there once before with my wife, whose work takes her to southern China usually once a year. That first trip was an incredible experience for me, and I’ve been looking forward to returning ever since. I love to travel and I’m very lucky that my wife’s work makes this possible.

I have many strong memories of my first trip to China. I remember the continuous drama of Hong Kong harbor, with the shipping traffic and the backdrop of ultra-modern skyscrapers marching up the side of a mountain that rises from the sea. I did several paintings of the towering tropical clouds that brought brief, torrential downpours and rainbows in the afternoons. Hong Kong and Guangzhou are cities where food is taken very seriously, and since I’m an adventurous food-lover, I was in my element. I also remember the contrast between the old and new China; traditional architecture and street markets dwarfed by large construction projects, and everyone talking on cell phones long before they became ubiquitous here in the States.

In the mainland city of Guangzhou there were construction projects on a vast scale - half-built skyscrapers wrapped with scaffolding made from bamboo, and elevated superhighways carved through the center of the city. These highways were so new that there weren’t enough cars to use them - they were empty except for an occasional bicyclist. It will be much different now, since the economic boom in China has made cars affordable for many people in the rich southern cities. Ten years ago, the level of human and industrial activity was astonishing, and made NYC feel calm by comparison. I expect this activity will be even greater today, and some of the city scenes that I painted on my first trip might be almost unrecognizable.

This is the first time in China for my three children, a real family adventure (they arrived yesterday, and I join them next week after I perform with the Half-Tones at the ICON opening reception). I’ll bring my sketchbook and watercolors, and hope that I find time to document this trip as I did before. I’ll look forward to posting some new paintings when I get back.

The Zen of Professor Nimbus #39

2008-06-25T14:00:23+00:00

The Further Travels of Professor Nimbus

2008-06-16T21:07:01+00:00

As I continue this series of prints, I've been playing a game with myself: How much of Professor Nimbus's face needs to appear to show that it is clearly him? Can his face be hidden? Is it enough to show his trademark hair style?

The Zen of Professor Nimbus #38

2008-06-12T01:45:06+00:00

The End of the Clinton Campaign

2008-06-10T14:31:22+00:00

Guillermo Nagore is sitting in as art director at the NY Times Op-Ed page this week. Here's a Letters piece which we worked on yesterday, for publication today.

I did two sketches for this assignment, beginning with sketch #2. I liked the concept but felt this sketch was too cluttered and confined by the box. I wanted to do a variation for insurance, something with a more minimal treatment that had no frame around it.

Guillermo liked the more minimal sketch, but asked if I could add something to give the image a little more weight on the page. His suggestion was right on the money. I added a shadow, and experimented with different background treatments. With the clock ticking I ended up with three versions of final art. I think he chose the best version. Thanks, Guillermo.

The Zen of Professor Nimbus #37

2008-06-09T16:13:19+00:00

The Zen of Professor Nimbus #36

2008-05-15T18:29:10+00:00

The Zen of Professor Nimbus #35

2008-05-09T14:09:35+00:00

Ewan MacLeish Gets His First Assignment

2008-05-07T01:58:48+00:00

For several years I’ve been working on a series of paintings and drawings using the pseudonym "Ewan MacLeish". Most of the paintings hang on the walls of my children’s rooms here at home.

Until recently, I’ve done next to nothing to promote this work in the illustration marketplace. I was concerned that having two different portfolios of work might confuse clients and drive them away. My first big step to promote this work was to put a portfolio of it up on illoz.

Thanks to SooJin Buzelli, the creative director at Asset International, Ewan MacLeish is now a published illustrator. SooJIn saw my Ewan Macleish portfolio on illoz. The assignment, for an article in PLANSPONSOR magazine on retirement income, has dispelled the worries that I’ve had about getting commissions with this work.

What I like most about this painting is that it looks like it came right out of the Ewan MacLeish watercolor portfolio. The tearsheets arrived today in the mail, and I feel the excitement that comes from seeing my work published for the first time. It’s a far cry from the stress that I went through with my first illustration assignment, 18 years ago.

Thanks, SooJin! Now I hope I get more Ewan MacLeish commissions.

The Zen of Professor Nimbus #34

2008-05-02T16:03:27+00:00

The New York Times Op-Ed Letters Art Gets Respect!

2008-04-28T19:36:09+00:00

My family and I visited The New York Times in its new headquarters last Thursday for the opening of the exhibit “The Illustrated Letter: Four Decades of Letters to the Editor Spots”. Curated by Times art directors Nicholas Blechman and Brian Rea, this terrific exhibit is a collection of 300 illustrations “culled from over 13,500…produced by a remarkable repertory of national and international artists spanning the past four decades”.

I did my first Letters assignment at the Times for art director Mirko Ilic in 1993. Since then I’ve worked on Letters with Nicholas Blechman, Jerelle Kraus, Peter Buchanan-Smith, Steven Guarnaccia, John Hendrix, Brian Rea, Sam Weber and Kim Bost, and have created about 50 Letters illustrations altogether. These assignments have always been among my favorites, and have had a huge impact on the way that I draw and think about illustration. They are a continuous thread that runs through the fabric of my work over the years. I'm very proud that five of my Letters illustrations are included in this exhibit.

I really enjoyed meeting other Letters artists for the first time. I feel like we have an affinity with each other: we know what we go through to complete these often grueling assignments. We seem to agree that we often do our best work when faced with the tight deadlines and parameters of Letters assignments.

The exhibit gives the art a lot of respect. Some of these illustrations are enlarged to poster size. Many have been reproduced from older print archives, resulting in the texture of the newsprint showing through in solid black areas – a wonderful look that reminds me of woodcut prints.

It meant a lot to me that my family was able to come. My children are growing up seeing my work published in the newspaper that is delivered with a SLAP! onto our doorstep each morning. Now they have a sense of where the newspaper comes from, and who Brian and Kim, my mysterious clients, really are.

The Zen of Professor Nimbus #33

2008-04-24T13:33:58+00:00

The Travels of Professor Nimbus #6

2008-04-22T15:35:36+00:00

Here is Professor Nimbus visiting the gargoyles of Notre Dame cathedral in Paris. I've spent some time in some of the places visited by Nimbus in this series of prints (I worked as a printmaker in Paris before I moved to NYC and became an illustrator). I haven't been back for years, and miss these places very much. This scene in particular brings back a lot of memories to me.

These prints fulfill several purposes. They give Nimbus a break from the pestering telephone in the Zen of Professor Nimbus comic. They allow me to live vicariously through his travels. They also help to clear my head, giving me a mental vacation from my assignments.

The Zen of Professor Nimbus #32

2008-04-17T11:56:56+00:00

My 12th Anniversary with NYC Outward Bound

2008-04-14T14:07:04+00:00

This is the 12th consecutive year that I have illustrated the cover of the invitation for the New York City Outward Bound annual benefit celebration. NYCOB works with the NYC Department of Education to create “a network of schools in the City that are based on the principles and practices of Outward Bound”. I greatly enjoy my relationship with NYCOB. I believe in their mission as they work to improve the public school system in NYC, and I look forward to hearing from them each spring.

There are some exciting aspects to these covers that don’t come into play often with my editorial work. I assume the role of both designer and illustrator. To convey the mission of the organization, there are text and other requirements that need to be integrated into the cover artwork.

This year’s cover is the most satisfying to me so far. As a new twist to the format, I designed the cover with a circular cut-out in the center (the scene of the children and school prints on the inside of the back cover).

Seeing these invitations is a nice way to chart the progress of my work over the last twelve years. I hope I’ll continue working with NYCOB for years to come.

Here are some invitations from previous years:

What Happened to "The Zen of Professor Nimbus"?

2008-04-11T02:20:39+00:00

I haven't posted a "Zen of Professor NImbus" comic since February. I've received some nice e-mails asking why I've stopped working on what had been a weekly comic for several months, and will I be starting up again?

The answer in context with the comic is that Professor Nimbus got fed up with the intruding telephone, and needed a break. He's currently traveling around the world, and I'm working on a series of images (such as the two seen here) that document this journey.

The real answer is that life intruded, I've been busy and I fell behind in the comic, first for one week, then another, and so on. I now have a real appreciation for what it means to do a weekly or even a daily comic. I honestly don't know how Charles Schulz was able to sustain "Peanuts" daily over so many years, with no apparent drop-off in quality (I've been buying the Fantagraphics' Complete Peanuts volumes as they become available, and am reading them with my son).

I'll pick up the "Zen" comics again at some point. They're too much fun not to do.

Allan Edward Sloan

2008-04-07T01:06:00+00:00

Allan Edward Sloan was my grandfather's brother. He was an artist who studied in Paris and New York and lived most of his life in Woodstock NY, where he specialized in drawings and portraits of children, but also did landscapes and still-lifes over a 50 year career. He lived well into his nineties, passing away several years ago.

My greatest memory of him and his work is of the portraits that he created of all the children in his family. These portraits, both pastel drawings and oil paintings, were of his own children (my Uncles Al and Norman), as well as those of his brother, cousins, and many grandchildren, nieces and nephews (including myself). They are a truly unique way of documenting and expressing his love for his family.

I grew up seeing Great Uncle Al's paintings at the homes of my relatives. There was one painting in particular of a depression-era Manhattan skyscraper that I saw every year when visiting my Uncle Al and Aunt Chantal's house for our annual Thanksgiving dinner. In my child's mind, this painting was monumental, exhilarating, and signified some kind of hope and a sense of the world at large. It showed a place where I might travel to or perhaps live when I was a grown-up. I think this painting influenced my Ewan MacLeish paintings of cities. It also planted the seeds of longing in me that led to my eventual move to New York City so that I could fulfill my own skyscraper dreams. Seeing this and other work by my Great Uncle Al when I was a child gave me the courage to think that a career as an artist was indeed possible.

Here are some examples of my great Uncle Al's work that are among my favorites. I hope you enjoy them

Nimbus and the Sarcophagus

2008-02-27T17:00:31+00:00

My "Zen of Professor Nimbus" comics temporarily take a back seat as I continue working on a series of drawings called "The Travels of Professor Nimbus". I had to take photographs of the sarcophagus on exhibit at a nearby museum of natural history to use as reference for this drawing. I think photographs are forbidden at the museum, so I had some anxious moments looking over my shoulder for the guards (I was feeling the sharp tang of guilt). Fortunately I wasn't caught, and was able to capture the reflection of the sarcophagus's face in the display case, just as I had hoped.

You can find out more about my Professor Nimbus work here.

Irv Docktor 1918-2008

2008-02-26T15:37:26+00:00

My friend, the photographer B. Docktor, wrote the following tribute to her father, the artist and illustrator Irv Docktor, who passed away last week. I was so moved by her words and her father’s work that I asked B. if I could post them on Drawger. She has put together an extensive collection of his work on her webpage. Here is her tribute, with her kind permission:

"My dad died last Thursday, and I wanted to let you know, and to share some of what his life was about.

"He was into drawing when he was very young and realized he could get out of assignments by doing chalkboard illustrations in class. He won a four-year scholarship to Philadelphia College of Art, and when he got out, he went into the army during WWII. His talent was used in a map-making division in Australia and the Phillipines from 1940-1945.

"When he came home, he met my mother, who he'd already been corresponding with. His mother had met my mother at my grandparents' restaurant--Himmelstein's in Philadelphia. They were both gorgeous, both ready, got married and moved to Flushing, NY. He said he wore out a lot of shoe leather taking his portfolio around, and then he broke into the illustration world in the late 1940's.

"In 1957 he found the house of his dreams, with a river view in Fort Lee. He continued to do illustration work through the early 60's. In 1960 he got a commission to execute 10-foot-high murals, and he needed a larger space. So he got a studio in the city, and from that point on, the next 15 years were spent mostly in NY, totally immersed in his artwork and teaching part-time at the Newark College of Art.

"In 1975 he moved back to Fort Lee, and then at age 60, he got his first-ever full-time job, teaching at the High School of Art and Design in NYC. He did that for 15 years, getting into school at 7am to run a studio with people modeling for himself and the more dedicated students and teachers.

"After my folks retired, they travelled to Europe several times, and they were the most dedicated museum-goers you could imagine. They also tremendously enjoyed going to the Metropolitan Opera, the Philharmonic, the theatre, American Ballet Theatre, and NYC Ballet. My dad would sketch in the Playbill during the performance, and he has a huge body of work illustrating what he was seeing.

"The week he died, he was working on the illustration he did at the performance of "The 39 Steps," and that is the next to last piece on the webpage.

"In the last 20-25 years, he exhibited extensively at juried shows in NY, NJ, Philadelphia and CT, and won numerous awards. He worked right to the very end--the last piece on the webpage was also completed the week he died.

"He also was teaching art to senior citizens in Fort Lee, and he taught the week he died.

"The work on the webpage is in roughly chronological order, starting with a couple of pieces from during the war. Then you'll see a small representative group of his illustration work from the 50's to early 60's. He did many children's books, as well as classics such as "War and Peace" and "The Brothers Karamazov." You'll also see some record album covers. There are some portraits from the period which I would call between the illustration and "fine art" years. I couldn't resist showing you some of his dog cartoons, which I love.

"He was unbelievably prolific, and eventually, I will put more of his work out there. I had photographed a lot of his work in recent years, but much of this selection was just done this week. My brother Paul had cleared out the house recently so that it could be renovated. It was an arduous process, because my dad was a compulsive hoarder. There are pieces in this set of work that I had never seen before.

"He was just starting to learn how to use the internet, and I wish he could see it presented in this way.

"I look forward to hearing what it evokes for you."

- B. Docktor

The Zen of Professor Nimbus #31

2008-02-13T17:11:07+00:00

Click here for more information about Professor Nimbus.

Nimbus in Paris

2008-02-08T18:58:26+00:00

Here's the latest in the series of black and white drawings I've been working on lately showing Professor Nimbus in unusual places. I've wanted to draw him under the base of the Eiffel Tower for a while; it's one of my favorite buildings.

You can find out more about my Professor Nimbus work here.

The Zen of Professor Nimbus #30

2008-02-07T15:27:15+00:00

The Zen of Professor Nimbus #29

2008-01-30T16:40:19+00:00

The Zen of Professor Nimbus #28

2008-01-22T14:40:59+00:00

Nimbus in Venice

2008-01-21T16:45:57+00:00

Venice, Italy, lives on in my imagination in some new black and white drawings. I was lucky to live in Venice once for a half a year, working as a visiting artist in a printmaking shop. Venice really has a hold on me, and my love for this city often expresses itself in my personal work.

Here's the whole drawing.

Another drawing, a little more fantastical.

Here's a detail of the above image. It's taken me 10 years of working with a brush and ink to discover the joy of rough brushwork for atmospheric effects.

The Zen of Professor Nimbus #27

2008-01-15T15:01:26+00:00

The Zen of Professor Nimbus #26

2008-01-08T14:48:49+00:00

Windfall Sketches

2008-01-07T16:18:29+00:00

Kim Bost is the new assistant art director at The New York Times Op-Ed page. I had the pleasure of working with her for the first time last week on a letters piece that was published under the title “What Happened to Our America?”. The letters described how the policies of the current administration have “destroyed the values” of our nation, distorting democracy, creating an atmosphere of estrangement and alienation, and how our votes in 2008 will hopefully be able to cleanse and restore our government.

It’s always extremely satisfying to me when I’m able to generate several quality sketches, as was the case with this assignment. Can you guess which illustration was chosen?

Why is it that these black and white drawings, modest in size and executed very quickly under the stress of deadlines of a few hours, give me such a thrill? Is it the adrenaline rush that accompanies assignments like this? With so little time I can't do any research, so I need to wring these images right out of my imagination. Afterwards, I feel like I've run the equivalent of a mental marathon, and ache for a glass of wine and a hot bath - not always possible with a family of three children and the clock approaching dinnertime!

The Zen of Professor Nimbus #25

2008-01-02T14:15:41+00:00

The Zen of Professor Nimbus #24

2007-12-18T15:24:08+00:00

Great Design Makes My Art Look Better

2007-12-17T15:48:26+00:00

Caren Rosenblatt, the art director of Networker magazine, commissioned me to make this full-page illustration for the September issue. I've been working with Caren since I started out in the early 1990's, and always look forward to her assignments.

I really love how she designed this spread; the colors work well with the art, and the space that the typeface occupies balances out the car. I was pleased with the way the art turned out, and I think the way Caren handled the design really improves the illustration. Thanks, Caren!

The Zen of Professor Nimbus #23

2007-12-11T15:13:07+00:00

The Zen of Professor Nimbus #22

2007-12-04T19:31:32+00:00

Sam Weber leaves the NY Times Op-Ed

2007-11-28T16:14:05+00:00

This is Sam Weber's last week as assistant art director at The New York Times Op-Ed page. I've had the pleasure to work with him many times over the last few years on the Letters column illustrations. Whenever I get a call from Sam and the art director, Brian Rea, my adrenaline rises and I go into "Op-Ed mode", racing to make the same-day deadlines that lead me to create the kind of assignment work that satisfies my soul the most.

I owe Sam a debt. At one point he suggested that I use my sketches as final art, something that I had not previously done (I lacked the confidence). There's a roughness and spontaneity in my black lines which appears in my sketches, and often gets lost as I "pasteurize" the art when doing finals. Sam's suggestion has had a big impact on all my work, and brought me closer to my personal Grail of the perfect line. Good luck Sam! It's been great working with you. I'm looking forward to seeing more of your illustration work around... hopefully here on Drawger!

Here are some assignments we worked on together:

The Zen of Professor Nimbus #21

2007-11-27T18:34:28+00:00

The Zen of Professor Nimbus #20

2007-11-20T13:59:14+00:00

The Zen of Professor Nimbus #19

2007-10-24T01:33:56+00:00

The Zen of Professor Nimbus #18

2007-10-12T00:21:46+00:00

The Zen of Professor Nimbus #17

2007-08-23T12:21:24+00:00

The Zen of Professor Nimbus #16D

2007-08-16T12:43:01+00:00

The Zen of Professor Nimbus #16C

2007-08-09T02:51:36+00:00

The Zen of Professor Nimbus #16B

2007-08-01T23:27:45+00:00

The Zen of Professor Nimbus #16A

2007-07-26T13:13:32+00:00

The Zen of Professor Nimbus #15

2007-07-19T13:22:26+00:00

Celebrity Sunburns

2007-07-16T21:06:14+00:00

Here are some popular styles of sunburns seen recently at the pool where I go with my family.

The Zen of Professor Nimbus #14A - for Rob Dunlavey

2007-07-14T01:53:27+00:00

The Zen of Professor Nimbus #14

2007-07-12T01:46:33+00:00

My Work At The NY Times Book Review

2007-07-10T13:52:41+00:00

I read Zina Saunders’s great interview with Steve Heller yesterday, and soon afterwards was hunting through boxes in my basement looking for the illustrations I did for Steve at The New York Times Book Review when I was starting out back in the early 1990’s. Here are some of my favorites:

I had memorized Steve Heller’s phone number at the Times (in fact I still remember it today like a tattoo on my brain, although I haven’t dialed the number in over ten years). There was a specific time and day during the week when I called Steve to see if he had any assignments available. The conversations were always short and direct.

If Steve had an assignment, I would go to his office at 9AM on the appointed day to pick it up from him personally, as was the custom. I was also working as a musician at the time, keeping musicians hours, often not going to sleep before 2AM. Although 9AM was early for me, I always felt a thrill walking into the Times lobby and calling Steve’s extension on the phones, telling him I was downstairs, and hearing him say “ok for 9” to the guard. I had a habit of going to the bathroom in the 9th floor hallway first before the appointment; I always had a strange feeling that there might be something wrong with my hair.

Visits to Steve’s office took about 30 seconds. He would hand me the article and that was that. I felt a profound responsibility to create final art (without the benefit of a sketch stage) that would be the equivalent of a home run. I often did two or three versions of final art just to make sure that there would be something that Steve would like.

There have been times with my work when an apparently calamitous mistake has turned into a deeply satisfying victory. Once Steve and I had a misunderstanding. I thought he had asked me to do three drawings for an article on understanding Islam. I came up with the idea of a sequence like an animation storyboard that zoomed in on a gate in an Islamic wall that opens to reveal the world of Islam. I remember not feeling at all confident about the finals.

When I showed Steve the three illustrations he said they didn’t work, and I should try again. I was very upset. As I was walking out the door he asked if I thought he had wanted three images? When I said “yes”, he was apologetic and told me that he had only wanted one. Being released from the self-imposed restriction of making three illustrations that worked together in sequence set me free; I ended up creating this image below - one of my favorite illustrations of all time.

The Zen of Professor Nimbus #13

2007-07-05T13:53:07+00:00

Abortion: A Tough Issue To Illustrate

2007-07-02T14:57:01+00:00

Last week, Wesley Bedrosian called from The New York Times Op-Ed page with a letters assignment that was published under the headline: "Abortion Politics: The Third Rail".

The letters were full of strong language: "zealots forcing their anti-choice views...inflame and scare me", "Democrats abandoning their pro-choice platform", "...failure to engage the issue". There were a lot of possibilities to choose from as far as an illustration was concerned.

It took two rounds of sketches to find a solution. As has become my custom with these Op-Ed assignments, I used sketches as final art to preserve the quality of line that I like when I'm working on these exceedingly fast deadlines.

Can you guess which one was published? (Answer below.)

The Zen of Professor Nimbus #12

2007-06-27T23:42:33+00:00

Homage to a Doorway

2007-06-25T22:07:45+00:00

I'd like to pay my respects to this doorway which I first walked through in 1989. If I hadn't walked through this door, I doubt I'd be working as an illustrator today.

What does this photo make me think of? Mostly anxiety! I remember who I was eighteen years ago, having just moved to NYC, trying to figure out my new home, the crazy subway system, and what I wanted to do with my life. More than anything, I think of the opportunity that presented itself, and the good luck that I had in taking advantage of it.

Now, eighteen years later, I think of the work I've done over the years and how it has led somehow to a life several years removed from NYC, a life with a home, my wife and our three children. I feel proud of the path I chose which began on the other side of this door, and I feel grateful.

Do you recognize this place? As of this past week I don't think it's there anymore (the company has moved to new headquarters a few blocks away). How many of you have walked through this door? What were your experiences like? What does it mean to you?

The Zen of Professor Nimbus #11

2007-06-21T09:44:21+00:00

The Zen of Professor Nimbus #10

2007-06-14T13:14:36+00:00

Tea-Soaked Illustration

2007-06-12T14:01:46+00:00

At the beginning of this assignment for Plansponsor magazine, the art director SooJin Buzelli sent me an e-mail with several samples of my work which appealed to her. One of these images was created in a style that I developed a few years ago. The art looks like an historical document from an old archive (I stain the paper with Darjeeling tea to give it an antique look). I love to work in this style, though I don't get many opportunities to do so. I'm glad that SooJin encouraged me to use this tea-soaked style for this assignment.

This illustration accompanied an article about army personnel negotiating leave time for the holidays. You can see more samples of this tea-soaked style here.

The Zen of Professor Nimbus #9

2007-06-07T14:23:46+00:00

The Zen of Professor Nimbus #8

2007-05-31T13:42:57+00:00

The Zen of Professor Nimbus #7

2007-05-24T13:01:18+00:00

The Zen of Professor Nimbus #6

2007-05-16T13:39:39+00:00

The Zen of Professor Nimbus #1

2007-05-12T01:18:36+00:00

The Zen of Professor Nimbus #5

2007-05-10T13:13:21+00:00

Sketches As Final Art #3

2007-05-08T14:48:41+00:00

Here are the sketches for a New York Times Op-Ed letters column assignment which I did last month for the assistant art director, Sam Weber. The assignment was about the tenor of current political conversations in Washington DC.

I always generate a lot of good ideas whenever I do an assignment for the letters column. I often use sketches as final art, as was the case here (thanks to Sam for originally suggesting this). There's a certain quality to the lines that I really love with these sketches, a spontaneity which I can't replicate if I try to draw them again as "final art". I see in these lines the flying-by-the-seat-of-my-pants thrill which I get with these assignments. These sketches were completed in under 2 1/2 hours.

The sketch that was published was ...

The Half-Tones / upcoming shows in NYC

2007-05-04T15:58:19+00:00

The all-illustrator jazz band The Half-Tones will be performing in NYC at The Society of Illustrators sketch nights on Tuesday, May 8th from 6:30-9:30, and on Tuesday, June 5th from 6:30-9:30. The address is 128 E. 63rd Street. There is a cash bar. Please come!

The Zen of Professor Nimbus #4

2007-05-03T12:48:38+00:00

The Zen of Professor Nimbus #3C

2007-04-27T12:48:14+00:00

The Zen of Professor Nimbus #3B

2007-04-26T12:57:21+00:00

The Zen of Professor Nimbus #3A

2007-04-25T13:09:40+00:00

The Zen of Professor Nimbus #2

2007-04-22T02:53:38+00:00

Music Is My Sketchbook

2007-04-13T15:12:39+00:00

This article is about my work as a musician. You can also listen to songs from two of my latest CD's, 11th Street Summer, and New Heaven.

I've been playing guitar since I was in high school, and became very serious about it as an art student at The Rhode Island School of Design. Later, while living in NYC in the 1990's, I played bass and guitar in several rock bands which played in downtown Manhattan clubs such as Brownie's, The Continental, CBGB's, The Knitting Factory, and The Limelight. In between gigs and illustration assignments I began to write and record instrumental songs in my home recording studio. During this time I discovered my "voice" and began writing lyrics to my songs.

Buying my first computer in 2000 was a revelation both musically and artistically. I began recording songs on my Mac, issuing CD's of original material, a practice which I continue today using GarageBand.

I currently play bass in the all-illustrators jazz and blues band The Half-Tones along with Barry Blitt, Joe Ciardiello, Rich Goldberg, Hal Mayforth, Rob Saunders and James Steinberg. We perform regularly at The Society of Illustrators in New York City. It's a great thrill performing together, something I value highly in my life.

Listen to songs (mp3) from 11th Street Summer:

Crooked Smile

You're So Fine

October

Wildflowers

That's How It Goes

Many of the songs on my latest CD 11th Street Summer (2007) are a look back at my life in NYC during the 1990's. I lived and worked in a one room apartment on a quiet brownstone-lined street in Brooklyn, an oasis where I could get away from the crazy energy of the city. It was in this apartment that I began writing and recording my own songs, and found my "sound". This fourteen-song CD is an appreciation for that apartment, the street where I lived, and that time in my life.

Listen to songs (mp3) from New Heaven:

Lazing Around

Have You Seen My Magic?

Pierre Bonnard Morning

Temple of PInk Trees

Spark of Life

The ten songs on New Heaven (2002) were written after I left NYC. The songs are about being married, people I know, impressions of the places where I've lived, and one of my favorite subjects, the weather. I like to document my life in my songs; they are like sketches in a sketchbook.

One of my favorite songs, "Have You Seen My Magic?", is about the frustration that I feel when I've lost my Mojo (that's what my friend Hal Mayforth calls it), or my inspiration. It's when the ideas for new songs or paintings just aren't coming, the juices aren't flowing. For me, there's a definite ebb and flow to my "magic". It's exasperating when it's not there, sometimes for weeks on end. When it returns, which it always does, it feels like hearing the first birdsong of spring.

Having two passions of equal strength can make life feel like a tug of war. Fortunately I've found ways to strike a balance between art and music so that I've never had to choose one over the other. They both feel very necessary to me; I can't live without either of them. The energy I get from one nourishes the other.

There's a lot of joy in hearing how my songwriting develops, and discovering what song is around the next corner. It constantly amazes me that within the limitations of six strings, I'm always able to find new sounds that lead me into exciting, new musical directions.

You can purchase my CD's here.

CD Liner notes:

"A voice as smooth as love gained, as jagged as love lost. Dreamy choruses
that wind around the whine of strings, sly snaps and claps that catch us by
surprise, the hypnotizing 'oh yeah's' that cajole us into trying out freaks
and whips, night hours and tweezed eyebrows. Fuzztones that drive out the
darkest side of ourselves to expose them to the summer rain. A voice that
carries whispers of bitterness, coated and cured with the bright glimpse of
light at the end of a tunnel. Textured harmonies and insistent strumming
that melt together and drive apart, that evoke golden summer dreams
swooping on a rollercoaster above a sparkling sea. Gleeful melodies that
have the guile to curl wry lyrics around our ears like sardonic whipsmacks,
and that waver in the softness of new found love and new life. A talent to
be heard and experienced. Michael Sloan is here where we want him to be,
singing what we want to hear, saying what we want to say."

-Elizabeth Smith

Farewell to InfoWorld, R.I.P.

2007-04-07T20:36:32+00:00

After 29 years, InfoWorld magazine announced last week that they are closing down the print version of the magazine to concentrate on their online version instead. The formal announcement on InfoWorld.com says: “We are merely embracing a more efficient delivery mechanism - the Web”.

I’ve been working with the former InfoWorld designer Alissa Mathison once a month or so for nearly two years. It was a great gig, and steady work. I’m glad we were able to work together on a cover that was published a month before the print version folded.

What do I make of this? I feel philosophical. To my knowledge this is the first time a client has abandoned print in favor of the web during the time when I’ve been working for them. I’m sorry to lose this client, though hopefully I’ll be able to get editorial assignments for the web version of the magazine.

I read an article last year where Forbes was no longer described as a magazine, but as a web site with a print component. They’ve switched priorities and adapted to a changing market.

As the traditional client base for editorial illustration work continues to shrink, will other newer formats be as illustration-friendly?

Great Design In Two Colors

2007-04-01T01:01:55+00:00

Bruce Sanders, the design director at Education Next, did such a great job with this spread that I have to show the entire layout to give it the credit it deserves. The magazine prints in two colors; I think this actually enhances my art and the look of the spread. I love the way the text relates to the curve of the globe. Nice working with you, Bruce!

Venice Lives In My Dreams

2007-03-14T19:38:27+00:00

This image came to me in a dream. Fortunately I remembered enough of it after I woke up to do a sketch; that doesn't always happen.

It is inspired by two of my favorite things about Venice, Italy: watching the silent progress of ocean liners at night passing through the Giudecca canal out to sea, and the feral cats that live all over the city.

What also excites me about this image is that it reminds me of some of my early Professor Nimbus silkscreen prints. I never expected that those prints would lead me down the path to making graphic novels. Maybe this image will lead me into some unexpected directions too? I hope so!

Song of the Week #8 - Spark of Life

2007-03-06T17:08:51+00:00

Written for Leslie before the birth of our first child. We're expecting another child any day now, and I've been listening to this song again as I marvel at how great she looks when she's pregnant.

Click here to listen to Spark of Life.

Song of the Week #7 - for James Steinberg

2007-02-28T16:19:51+00:00

My friend, fellow illustrator and musician James Steinberg once mentioned that he liked this song. Whenever I listen to it, I think of him, so it's entirely appropriate that I should dedicate it to him. Although I didn't write this song with James in mind, it expresses a viewpoint which he lives and I aspire to.

Click here to listen to "That's How It Goes".

Sketches As Final Art #2

2007-02-13T15:31:44+00:00

Here's a recent assignment for the letters column at The New York Times Op-Ed which provided some extra ideas that I might be able to use in the future. The letters were in response to an article about public financing of presidential elections. Below are the sketches as I submitted them to the art director, Brian Rea. His assistant, Sam Weber, had suggested a few months ago that I consider using my sketches as final art more often, as was the case here. Sometimes there's a roughness and a spontaneity in my sketches that I just can't replicate.

I love working for the Op-Ed page and always feel like I'm illustrating on a very high level with these assignments. The deadlines are so short (this particular assignment was delivered in about three hours), that I end up responding to the text almost intuitively.

Old Work, New Work?

2007-01-21T16:01:19+00:00

About 10 years ago I did this illustration about notorious criminals in Brooklyn's past, for "Brooklyn Bridge" magazine. The style of this piece was unlike anything I'd ever done before. I wanted the art to look like an historical document, as if it were taken from an old crime log. I used tea to stain the paper for an antique look. I was really happy with this image, and still think it's one of my favorite assignments.

I played around with this style a bit. It was fun, something new. I was always happy with the results. I'd never done portraits or caricature before. Wouldn't it be great if I got an assignment to illustrate early stars of Baseball in this style? Or famous bullfighters? There were real possibilities here that seemed endless...

One thing led to another, and as I went in other new directions with my work, I dropped the ball with this style. Now I'm suddenly excited about it again. Maybe I'll do an illustration like this of the leaders of obscure countries that no longer exist - maybe Nowanggur, Wurttemburg, or Thurn and Taxis? Or maybe an illustration of early stars of the Italian opera? I'm looking forward to exploring the possibilities.

Part of me feels like I'm stepping backwards as I look to old work for inspiration. Shouldn't I be developing totally new, unexplored directions, instead of re-hashing something that I've already done? For now, that feeling is losing out to the one that says: "This work really speaks to me. I feel like I didn't give it a chance to flourish".

Sketches As Final Art #1

2007-01-02T20:18:05+00:00

Here are a few recent sketches that weren't chosen for final art. To me they're like the windfall from a fruit tree, perhaps not the nicest apples but with enough going for them that I wanted to keep them anyways.

The inspiration for this "judges" image was my antique cast-iron mechanical clown savings bank. I put a coin in the hand, push a lever on the back, and the arm lifts the coin into the mouth.

The drugs mentioned in the article were anti-psychotics. Using a devil as a concept didn't work.

I like the reptilian quality of the tongue in this sketch; it has just the right amount of the sinister.

Today is election day...

2006-11-07T12:52:10+00:00

...whatever your issue or persuasion, get out and vote!

My Last Visit to 229 W. 43rd Street

2006-10-25T14:27:13+00:00

Yesterday I went to the “4 Under 30” opening on the 9th floor of The New York Times, an art exhibit curated by Steven Guarnaccia and featuring work by Dan James, Aya Kakeda, Nora Krug and Sam Weber. It was the first time I’d been back to the Times since I left NYC eight years ago, and will probably be my last visit before the Times packs up and moves next spring to their new headquarters in a gleaming skyscraper a few blocks away on 8th Avenue. I wanted to pay homage to the building where I got my first job as an illustrator (you can read about that experience here), and have so many great memories.

Back when I lived in NYC before there was e-mail, I loved to deliver my assignments personally just so I could go to the Times. To me, the building had a great energy. I would always get a feeling of nervous anticipation as I turned the corner from Times Square onto 43rd Street and saw the Times clock above the entry. What will become of the building once the Times leaves? Will it become luxury condos, or a hotel? The giant bays at street level where the trucks used to deliver huge rolls of paper from Canada would surely make a great location for a high-end restaurant.

Upon entering the lobby, the first thing I noticed is that the pungent scent of ink that came from the printing presses downstairs is now gone. It was always one of my favorite NYC smells. (Apparently the presses are still hulking in the basement like giant metal fossils. What will become of them? Will they be left to rust in some New Jersey scrapheap?) I used to call art directors from a bank of telephones on the right by the security desk so that I could enter the building; the phones are gone, too.

The art department on the ninth floor looks and sounds nearly the same as ever, spartan and as quiet as a crypt.

Even the two chairs in the lobby where I used to sit as I waited for my appointments with Steven Heller are the same. How many illustrators have sat in those chairs over the years? They should be enshrined in an illustrator’s museum.

It was very nice to talk with some art directors who I'd worked with but had never met before. Here's Richard Weigand, holding up the layout for the cover of the Sunday Regionals section; I'd just delivered the artwork for that cover a few days earlier.

Talking with Brian Rea, I began naming all the Op-Ed art directors I’ve worked for. It turns out I’ve had assignments with every one since my first job in 1989. I can even list them chronologically: Michael Valenti, Jerelle Kraus, Mirko Ilic, Nicholas Blechman, Peter Buchanan-Smith, Steven Guarnaccia and John Hendrix, Brian Rea and Sam Weber.

On the train home, I get my coup-de-grace: the passenger in the next seat up was reading an article on retirement planning that I’d just illustrated for the art director Virginia Cahill. It reminded me how often I used to see my illustrations in the cast-off newspapers that lay strewn on the subway floor, stained with footprints and coffee. Perhaps that would have been a more perfect ending to my pilgrimage to the Times?

CD booklet

2006-10-23T17:14:47+00:00

I'm designing a CD cover / booklet for my latest collection of songs. Since a few of the songs I've written are about my old life in Brooklyn, I wanted the art to show the street where I lived. The hardest part has been getting the blue colors just right to look like twilight and a faded memory. I've been having fun with hand lettering lately.

Song of the Week #6 - October

2006-10-01T01:28:14+00:00

I wrote this instrumental song about one of my favorite months. To me October means apple-picking, the amazing colors of the landscape, and the anniversary of the day when my wife and I met for the first time. Click here to listen to October.

My First Postcard

2006-09-15T15:51:30+00:00

While digitally archiving some old work, I found the very first postcard I ever printed as a self-promo piece. I mailed it in 1990 to perhaps a couple hundred contacts which I gleaned from sitting with piles of newspapers and magazines at a bookstore in Manhattan. The mailing got me a few jobs from the Washington Post and Boston Globe. It's a pen and ink drawing; by this time I'd realized the impossibility of creating detailed engravings and woodcuts under tight deadlines, and was using pen and ink instead. Working in color wasn't even on my radar at that point. I'd just spent a few years working as a printmaker in Venice and Paris; doesn't it show? I love this image, it says to me "farewell to the old, hello to the new" which was very much the way I felt back then after moving to NYC.

A Cover With Some Surprises

2006-09-03T00:26:44+00:00

The work I did on a cover last month made me feel like I was flying by the seat of my pants! It also led me into some unfamiliar territory in Photoshop:

The cover article, for North Shore magazine, was about rescuing a W.P.A. mural from a municipal building in suburban Chicago. I originally planned on painting the mural into my watercolor painting, but changed my mind after I saw a photo of it.

The art director and I agreed that I should graft this photo into my artwork instead (can I really do this?). After some hair-raising moments with the clock ticking, the graft was complete and the art looked great to both of us.

The next day the art director called back to ask if I could replace the "mural as a framed painting" with the more truthful "mural on a chunk of decaying brick wall"? More hair-raising moments with the clock ticking as I figured out how to do another more complicated graft. In the end, I'm happy with the cover and I learned what Photoshop's magic eraser tool is for.

I ask myself: Can I remember how to do this again? Do deadlines have a way of making me perform tricks that I can never repeat?