George Tooker (after George Platt Lynes)

I came across a George Tooker book in the library the other day. I picked it up and was fascinated by his art, more specifically, the mood of his work and the facial expressions of his characters. His work is not like mine (soft tones, stocky people, bizarre facial structures, haunting compositions, etc.) but I’m drawn to it nonetheless. This is a portrait of him based off of a photograph. I loved his t-shirt and shorts combination, his expression and the cigarette. He looks a lot like the people he paints, but I guess that’s pretty common with artists, no?

Textile Design: Georgia Rose (Funked Version)

This is the funked up version of my previous post. I think I like it more than the red/blue version.

Textile Design: Georgia Rose

So, this is my first attempt at textile design or pattern making. The name of the design is called Georgia Rose after Georgia Anne Muldrow whose song “Roses” inspired me to start with roses.

City Paper: Meursault and Me

I was asked by Joe Macleod, the art director at City Paper, to do an illustration for City Paper’s Big Books Issue. I didn’t have time to work on a sketch before starting the final because I am in the process of moving out of my house and into my in-laws’ house for the next two years. I have been packing, painting, unpacking, packing, repairing, unpacking my house for a solid month now. I am mentally and physically exhausted. I ended up finishing the illustration at 5:30am on Tuesday morning, after having started it at 9:30pm Monday night.

My original idea for the final piece was to have the silhouette character sort of peeling off of the page, breaking away, but in the end it was going to take more time than I had. I started to execute the idea but I was having trouble making the type covered figure stand out from the type filled page. Instead, I decided to separate the figure from the book, which made for a better composition that I am extremely happy with.

Read the article HERE.

Sean Davidson (Full Color Version)

Hairy Baltimore Portraits: Sean Davidson and Kevin Brown

Here are two portraits that I contributed to Hairy Baltimore, a book illustrating local hairstyles of prominent people in Baltimore. I was assigned Sean Davidson and Kevin Brown and had a lot of fun illustrating both of them. The book is curated by Jim Lucio and Alex Fine and it will be sold at this year’s Baltimore Book Festival. Check out the cover, for the book, illustrated by Alex Fine, HERE!

Baltimore Magazine: Globe Posters’ Final Print

This piece was for my monthly Charm City Chatter column that I illustrate for Baltimore Magazine. It went with a little blurb that talked about the moment that Baltimore’s very own Globe Posters printed it’s final poster. My illustration depicts Bob Cicero holding up the last poster printed for the Lincoln Center Out of Doors Festival.

This week’s inspiration: Rose Royce “Love Don’t Live Here Anymore”

So, I have to admit that I loved this song before I knew it was Rose Royce’s. I grew up with Madonna’s Like A Virgin album and have always loved her version of the song. What I love about Rose Royce’s version is the funky synths. The video is pretty fly as well. Anyway, both versions have been on constant rotation for me this week.

Race to Nowhere

So, earlier this week I created a poster for a Madonna/Lady Gaga/Britney Spears dance party. I used these figures in that piece, but wanted to put them in a composition without all of the type and turn it into something else. This is the end result.

If you like the piece, you can purchase it as a print in my Society6 shop HERE.

Madonna | Gaga | Britney Dance Party Poster

I was asked to illustrate and design the poster for the Ottobar’s third Madonna | Lady Gaga | Britney Spears Dance Party. I was trying to find a common link between the three of them and was able to find many between Madonna and Gaga but was having a hard time with Spears who is very boring compared to the other two. I thought of doing a hand gestures poster but couldn’t think of one for Britney, not one that was instantly recognizable like Madonna’s vogue or Gaga’s now infamous paw gesture. Ultimately, I decided to have three muscular and robust, female-like figures getting ready to race. I felt it was representative of these ladies battle on the charts, airwaves and the dancefloor.

On a technical note, I illustrated the date and the retro-like type for their names.
Click on the image to see it in better detail.