Illustrations for a Readers Digest real life drama about Sam Dutcher who’s Honda Pilot SUV controls stopped responding on the highway leading to a high-speed pursuit and rescue. I tried to evoke as cinematic a feel as possible with the sketch exploration and final lighting.
Full issue should be on newsstands now in the July 2025 issue. Thanks again to AD Jessie Sharon.
A fun poster project from earlier this month with Tim Simons for Friends of LAHSA’s Third Annual Benefit night. The concept emerged from the Highschool of the Performing Arts current location on the former site of the historic Ambassador Hotel, which was home to the Coconut Grove Nightclub, and how that might be a source for visual inspiration for a gala poster.
In researching the history and design of the buildings I also became enamored with the venue for the event, the Wilshire Ebell Theater which is owned and operated by the Los Angeles Women's Organization (founded in 1894) with the current campus designed by architect Sumner Hunt and built in 1927. The Ebell has an incredible history of speakers and events, including but not limited to the final public appearance of Amelia Earhart.
Our brainstorming became an exploration of how the history and presence of the Coconut Grove, the Ebell and the nights performers, Jamie Lee and Luke Null might overlap. The comedians were amazing to research, the spaces were all larger than life, and there was also this statue in the courtyard that stuck in my head as timeless and epic.
The three sketch concepts were variations on the themes of scale and history. The palm tree statue sketch had the quickest read, so that became the goal of trying to develop it into something that felt grounded and believable as a little historic artifact but also would hold up for promoting the event over the next few weeks. Also three large format prints were made as commemorations of the night, which was fun to see come together.
A few alternates and process experiment variation here as well. Overall super fun, would recommend. Thanks to Tim, Annie, Jamie Lee, Luke Null and everyone involved.
Illustrations for a fascinating story by Patricia Wen in the Boston Globe Magazine about a Massachusetts state social worker posing as a student in three public schools.
The series of illustrations began as rough sketches exploring a narrative diverging portrait drawing for the cover and key story moments based on the article for the spreads.
An unexpectedly tricky drawing detail was approaching the portrait/likenesses in a way that they were representational of person as well as distinctly different personas. Thanks to AD Maura Intemann
Illustrations for the June 2023 issue of National Geographic feature on Meteoric Iron in ancient civilizations. The project was a fun challenge to anchor the artifacts in scenes that were both grounded in the historical research and also referencing the iron’s intangible cultural mythology.
AD Jason Treat
Some recent figure studies and sketchbook pages. Mostly brush pen on paper and procreate on the iPad pro.
A dark and stormy research outpost.
Just completed a fun assignment illustrating a Halloween comic for BMW.
The process began as black and white sketches adapting Marcus Loblein’s story across the six pages, and then developing the research, drawings and lettering from there.
To check out the full story visit https://www.bmw.com/en/magazine/automotive-life/halloween-comic-when-fear-turns-into-joy.html
Thanks for Franzika Goppold, Shin Miura and everyone at Looping Group for the opportunity!
Bicycle thieves Illustration for a 5280 Magazine piece with some of the alternate development sketches below. AD Sean Parsons
I’ve been doing weekly virtual figure drawing meetups with friends the last year and a half and it’s been really helpful practice. We started with the New Masters Academy timed figure videos and more recently Croquis Cafe videos,
Illustration for the April AARP Bulletin on the types of online fraud and the shady characters behind them. Sketches exploring visualization for different personas and arrangements, along with the final color version. Thanks to CD Scott Davis.
This was a demo I did for my last Workshop Academy Narrative Illustration class, breaking down thumbnails, sketches and reference approaches I’ve found helpful in building story driven illustrations.
It was a fun to build a piece from scratch on camera, and I look forward to doing a new one for the fall workshop starting in just two weeks (Oct.5th 🎃)
There are a couple seats open if you are interested in building up your narrative portfolio. Sign up at www.theworkshopacademy.net
A fun assignment for This American Life illustrating the archived episode “Show Me the Way” about a 15-year-old running away from home to ask fantasy author Piers Anthony, a person he’s never met or spoken to, if he can live with him.
The sketches were designed to be a visual blur between the world of Anthony’s paperback fantasy novels and the young Logan Hill’s1987 journey from North Carolina to Florida.
AD Julie Whitaker
Happy to have work included in the 2021 Communication Arts Illustration Annual along with so many great illustrators and the beautiful cover by Ryo Takemasa.
The piece was for the ESPN 30for30 Michael Vick documentary and art directed by Eric Paul. The goal was to include a portrait with some narrative nod to the film's arc. I've included the time-lapse process of early thumbnail idea sketches done in Procreate on my iPad, essentially trial-and-error experimentation with possible designs.
Thanks again Eric and all the judges.
“Cendrillon” poster development studies, sketches watching different past productions.
This was a super interesting project, illustrating the entirety of the February 2021 issue of WIRED. I received a call from Design Director Roger Gurbani and Creative Director Maili Holiman about this special issue containing four chapters of the upcoming novel “2034” by Elliot Ackerman and Admiral James Stavridis.
The novel bristled with locations and details, so sketching thumbnails as I read it became the natural strategy. Building up rough ideas for story beats as they evolved also helped to build connections that could potentially link the six spreads. The cover sketches also began to develop in the margins, eventually landing on four ideas.
We then went over the roughs to discuss mood and pacing and how to best group the illustrations in sequence. Once the final series was selected it became a research and reference crunch to pull together the six scenes as authentically as possible. One of the highlights of this project was the rare chance to speak with authors as a part of my research, gathering technical details I usually can only guess at.
One aspect of my development process I enjoy is the opportunity to study how other artists interpret and design the world. In this case the understated reportage of Martin Lewis was very much on my mind, the gravity of documentary photography by Jacques Lowe as the story developed, and the beautiful atmosphere of Christian Alzmann (among many others) on The Mandalorian art department.
Martin Lewis
Jacques Lowe
Christian Alzmann
The issue is on stands now and is being released online weekly at WIRED.com
“Dream of Mercury” poster for one of my favorite films Humphrey Bogart never made from the #FilmNotFound series. Below are early development sketches as well as a short timelapse of the painting in-progress.
Thumbnail idea sketches, landing on a combination of 1 & 7.
Illustration for a fascinating mystery by Benjamin Wallace for New York Magazine about the search for the treasure of Forrest Fenn. “The Great 21st-Century Treasure Hunt” documents the grand, cryptic, deadly search by hundreds of treasure hunters until the unexpected discovery earlier this year.
Above are some of the early development sketches and a sketch for the final composition set in Southern Yosemite National Park.
AD Aaron Garza
Illustrations for an AARP feature story on the last days of Stan Lee. The goal was to hint at shadowy elements of his life with a nod to the poster feel of the Marvel cinematic universe. Sketches and early process ideas attached below. AD Todd Albertson.
