Top Turkeys of 2007

for the last three years i have illustrated the Fort Worth Star Telegram's Top Turkeys feature.

it's pretty much what it sounds like. they feature the boneheads of the year previous.

on average it's 9-11 illustrations, most of them caricatures, and with a short time, a couple of days to turn them around.

here's a few of 2007's Top Turkeys.

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Britney Spears


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she was the Top Turkey of the year, taking the grand prize.

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Michael Vick


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Larry Craig


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you remember this guy. the senator who got busted in the bathroom for solicitation.

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Fifty Cent


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Fitty was pretty sore when Kanye beat his record sales. didn't quit like he said he was gonna.

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Miss Lohan


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...and while this mostly looks like Lindsey, this illo illustrates the perils of caricature. sometimes it's nailed in the rough comp stage, but loses something in color.

Youth Tube

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here's a recently completed editorial illustration.

apparently there are "kid friendly" video websites where kids create all the content.*

in the roughs stage i provided them with an option for the kid diving out of the computer.



this is another one of those illo on the fringes of my "normal" style. (like the steampunk helicopter.)

*i loathe the death of the CRT. flat panel monitors aren't as fun to draw and because of their thinness don't offer as much interactivity opportunities.

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also, i've just completed illustrations for my first international client (i have one in Canada, but, you know, that's still in the Americas), and my first card game.

Haim Shafir is an Israeli game designer. he's been at it for a while and has notoriety in Europe, in his home country, and among the boardgame community.

he loves what he's doing. that's the best kind of client. it made him a pleasure to work with.

(like most of what i am working on, this one's under an NDA, so i can't show you my work just yet. though you might run into him if you're at this month's Toy Fair in NYC. here's his website. here's an interview with him.)

Animal Band arrives

shortly after i got home tonight the UPS truck pulled up and with a knock and a thump roared off.

"a box?"

there's no more story needed.

my first (and currently, only, copy) of Animal Band showed up


here's the cover, with the jacket on it. larger : click image


the jacket pulled back. the jacket is die-cut and glossy. the case (the physical outside of the book) is matte with UV on the title to make it shiny. this scene wraps around the back. larger : click image


here's an inside spread, the action of the book heating up. larger : click image

then there is Sterling Publishing's spring guide. they told me Animal Band was going to be featured prominently... this is kind of silly. (i'm not complaining.)


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- the top image is Animal Band's spread in the catalogue.
- the bottom left image is the cover of the catalogue
- the bottom right shows one of the section pages. Animal Band images are the illustration for these spreads.

i am honored. there are some BEAUTIFUL books being released by Sterling in the spring. Animal Band's place in the catalogue is crazy and humbling.

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again, the book won't be available until March, but you can pre-order it.

Animal Band is available for pre-order on Amazon.

...and Barnes and Noble.

Boo-yah!

Animal Band is available for pre-order on Amazon.

...and Barnes and Noble.

...and Borders. (which is linked through Amazon, but who cares.)

(i just found this out from a friend of mine. doing a little dance right now.)

now, go and buy it! let's flood it with pre-orders!

Oprah Winfrey and James Frey

every year for the last three i've done a series of caricature illustrations for the Fort Worth Star Telegram.

they're their "Top Turkey" awards. they award them to the noteworthy boneheads of the year.

i just got this year's batch, and while i can't post them before they publish, i'm going to spend the next two weeks posting some of my caricature work-- something most folks haven't seen. then i'll post a few from this year's "Turkey" batch.

to begin.

james frey was a big faker, apparently.

he was honored in 2006.


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Deep Sea Bear in Deep

FROM THE SKETCHBOOK


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yep. it's a bear in a deep sea diver's suit.

'cept, he has no helmet.

it's why bears don't deep sea dive.

they always forget their helmets.

TUB SQUID!!!

FROM THE SKETCHBOOK

a recent show i put together had me trying to find a theme.

i landed on

scenes from late twentieth century childhood.

the idea was to depict the world before the Playstation and the X-box.

i did several sketches. in the end i decided i'd do something with it another time.

here's a sketch from the series.


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we had some serious plumbing problems back in the day.