Middle East Unrest

Here are few recent Illustrations on the historic uprisings in North Africa

Tikkun Magazine Cover

An Illustration of mine is on the cover of Tikkun Magazine. Coupled with a Noam Chomsky piece no less!

Send in the Drones

Pakistan is criticizing the U.S. over the recent increase in 'suspected' drone attacks within it's borders.

In this Illustration I have depicted the drone plane as a bird of prey and Uncle Sam as the falconer. It's a pen and ink drawing that was colorized on the computer using Adobe Photoshop CS3.

I rather enjoyed doing this one.

Phelps and the Fallen

Yesterday's Illustration is on the subject of the case before the Supreme Court involving the family of a fallen soldier and the Pastor Fred Phelps and his church.

This is a very interesting case that pits free speech against common decency. Unfortunately I think Pastor Phelps and his followers will walk out with their freedom to picket funerals of fallen soldiers, murdered gay folks, victims of terrorism and everyone else he feels God hates completely intact.

Families who are going through unimaginable pain will have to continue to be put further trough the wringer by pastor Phelps and his followers.

Bullying

These are couple Illustrations I did on the subject of bullying. Unfortunately the topic has tragically reared it's ugly head in the headlines lately.

The first Illustration deals specifically with the use of computers and technology that bullies employ to harass and torment their targets.

The second piece of artwork focuses more on the intolerance of difference. In the case of a couple tragic stories over the last couple of weeks that difference was the fact that the young victims were gay.

These stories are nothing new and I wish I knew the answer on how to end it. I can only pray for the day when these particular Illustrations will no longer be relevant.

All We Are Saying...

One can only cross ones fingers as Israeli and Palestinian leaders sit down once again for peace talks. The fact that they are sitting down at all is a not so tiny victory.

This Illustration can be interpreted in a couple of different ways I suppose. The flags blowing in opposite directions is pretty obvious. The U.S flag in the middle can bee seen a couple different ways. The fact that it is blowing in neither direction can be seen as representing the Americans as impartial mediators. It can also been seen as showing the Obama administration as ineffectual in this instance- as not having the political clout to pull off any real progress.

I remain optimistic that some progress can be made despite efforts by extremists to derail the process. We can only cross our collective fingers and hope.

High Country News Cover

I recently completed an assignment with an excellent publication called High Country News.

HCN is a bi-weekly publication based in Paonia, Colorado. According the their Mission they are "a nonprofit media organization that covers the important issues and stories that define the American West. Its mission is to inform and inspire people - through in-depth journalism - to act on behalf of the West's diverse natural and human communities."

The story I Illustrated a fascinating and very well written feature about an arson wildfire in southern California that killed 5 Forest Service crew members.

The story was written by respected journalist and author John N. Maclean. The story was adapted from a forthcoming book of his on the tragic Esperanza Fire.

This assignment involved a cover, 2 full spread Illustrations and a spot Illustration.

I've worked on several occasions with the folks at HCN and we always seem to click. In fact one of our collaborations resulted in an "Award of Excellence" from the Society of Newspaper Design for a story entitled "The Yuck Factor".

This is one of the spreads I did for this story.

The spot Illustration accompanying this piece.

Lightnin' Hopkins CD Release

On Monday August 16th Future Noise Music will be releasing a 3 CD compilation of the works of Texas blues great Lightnin' Hopkins.

The cover will feature a scratch-board painting of Hopkins I did in 2009. I'm simply busting.

I'm always a little nervous when someone requests some artwork of mine and I know they're going to crop it and/or add text. In this case the worry was unwarranted as I think they did a ripping job.

Yes!

Tea For Two?

Accusations that Tea Party leaders tolerate racism within their ranks has surfaced once again in the news. If you do a quick Google search of Tea Party gatherings it's pretty clear to see that there is a racist fringe attending some of these rallies. Denying it only serves to bring more scrutiny.

Although I disagree with many of their ideas- I'm not of the opinion that the majority of Tea Party members are nut jobs and/or racists. But- if the Tea Party is to be taken seriously as a political force that speaks to mainstream America, they'll first need to recognize the problem and address it. Otherwise they promulgate it.

This is the Illustration I did on this subject. I have the teacup split in the middle with a black and white face. I really enjoyed doing this because I thought the design was pretty original and eye catching.

NYC Mosque Project: Location, Location, Location!

Today I did an illustration on a proposed Mosque project located just 2 blocks from ground zero in New York City. It's a very simple design done with silhouetted buildings on a textured background. Simple and powerful is my hope.

I really don't know how I feel about this project. Like most, the events of 9/11 had a profound effect on my life. I can't even imagine the effects this horrific event had on regular New Yorkers let alone the family members of the victims.

The mosque is a project of the American Society for Muslim Advancement and the Cordoba Institute, which promotes cross-cultural understanding between Islam and the west. That's a very noble and important undertaking and they should be recognized and commended for their efforts.

It seems to me that if cross cultural understanding is their objective, then they might want to start by finding a less distressing location perhaps.

Mama It's Hot Out There!

'Nuff said.

"WTF?" at the RNC

Poor Michael Steele. He's certainly had a rough ride at the helm of the RNC. He's at the helm when Rush is doing his radio show anyway but hey, riding shotgun ain't so bad Mikey.

The latest bump in the road to leave his tush a little tender was self inflicted unfortunately when he suggested to a crowd that the war in Afghanistan was "Obama's war". This comment has drawn criticism from all fronts, left, right and everywhere in between. A bit of bipartisanship from the head honcho at the GOP- he's pissed everyone off.

This Illustration shows Mikey's somewhat wobbly status as the Chairman. The GOP knives are out-stay tuned.

Oh yes- If you do get sacked Mikey pray they don't send Arizona's Congressional Candidate Pamela Goreman to do the deed. Yikes!