Bloomberg

This was supposed to be a cover for the Village Voice. Apparently it wasn't used. I like it though.

Getting killed is funny for me. I put a lot of time and energy into these pieces and I end up, well, caring about them. When they get killed like this I actually feel sorry for them. Not for me, but for the art. Is that weird or what?

Anyway, there's poor Mayor Bloomberg, underprepared for the effects of global warming on New York City.

Ted and Jack

I've never been a big Kennedy fan. Here in the Boston area, the Kennedy's are like royalty. And like royalty, the public seems to be split into lovers and haters. I've never been either, but if pushed, I'd usually be in the more critical camp.

Last year, though, my wife had the opportunity to interview Teddy at his home in Hyannisport. She's one of the few journalists I've seen who has managed to get him to reveal himself as a real human being instead of the caricature that we're usually presented with (Often by yours truly).

He went through his home with her, showing old photos of the family, telling stories about when he was a kid walking on the beach with his mother, and most interestingly to me, about the small artistic rivalry he had with his brother Jack. At one point he stopped in front of a painting Jack had done when he was young (not bad) and explained that Jack was the better painter of the two, but Ted explained that he always tried to keep up. He seemed choked up. It was a rare moment of vulnerability and he kind of won me over. I've been looking at him as, well, more human since then.

My wife later recounted her story at a family gathering that was full of, let's just say, not Kennedy fans. She felt honored to have been able to sit in a historic home and speak frankly with a true historical figure, and get paid for it. Instead of saying "Wow, what a great experience", there were lots of "I hate that guy" type comments. It got me thinking about how in politics, we easily dehumanize the other side so that it's easier to ignore their point of view.

This piece took a lot of twists and turns. I'm still not sure if I'm done or if it will take another turn, but here it is. I'm also showing a Ted Kennedy that I did years ago. It shows the evolution I've made in a number of ways. Not bettter, but different.

Ted Kennedy sketch

I'm just starting in on this Kennedy piece. I'd like to do an Andrew Wyeth-esque sort of thing. I've been making a conscious effort to try to let the pose and mood of the work say what I used to say with a funny background or situation. We'll see where this ends up.

Have A Nice Day

I heard a report on the radio this morning (while driving my big SUV to Starbucks) that Sydney, Australia, will soon be uninhabitable because of drought and rising temperatures.

Up until a couple of weeks ago, we had the warmest winter on record here in the greater Boston area. In the midst of that time, I had watched Al Gore's "An Inconvenient Truth", which basically says we're fucked.

A couple of my favorite TV shows are 24, in which we are always in danger of terrorist induced annilhilation, Battlestar Galactica (Really!), where the last of the human race is desperately trying to escape being wiped out by it's own technology (the Cylons). Yes, I like some comedies like Larry David, and The Office, but really, they're all about discomfort.

"The Road", by Cormac McCarthy was my "favorite" book that I've read in a while. It's about a doomed father and his love for his son in a doomed world.

There doesn't seem to be a good way out of this #@%*!! war we're in, and frankly, I think all the Democrats are as lame as the Republicans, just in a different way.

My mother had a close call with cancer last year, my father is creeping up there in years, and I'm already into my 40's when I should be kicking ass, but I feel like I'm still thrashing around most of the time.

Generally, things are actually very good with me, it just seems that theres an underlying sense of gloom and doom in the world around us. Maybe I've just awoken to the human condition. I need a new hobby or something. Maybe I'll try to start believing in God.

Maybe it's just January.

Money grubbin'

This was done for a regional magazine. Not my region, but a very nice one just the same. The story is about how the presidential contenders tend to keep coming back to the same area because it's a rich (pardon the pun) area for fund raising.

In case you can't tell, that's Hillary, MCain up top, Rudy Giuliani on the right, and Obama front and center.

Muqtada Al-Sadr

Al-Sadr is an on again, off again, Good Guy/Bad Guy in Iraq. At any given moment, he could be about to fall, or about to take control of everything. He seems to embody our tenuous position there. This was done for an editorial on who would take over in Iraq if we pull out.

Personally, I'm very thankful to him for looking like this.

American Classic

The election had me thinking about my favorite White House story. During the Carter administration Willie Nelson was a guest at the White House for a party, and he took a break from the crowd to get some fresh air up on the roof...and smoke a joint!

Clinton Final!

Oh yeah, the final!

Wrapping up Clinton

I've softened the edges using the same transparent brush described below, andused the "bristle" brush shown below for hair details and skin texture.

I put some violet in the shadows of the face to cool things off, and added some very light blue to the hilights to make them hotter.

Also, I added a tie dye peace tie to break up the somber feel of the piece.

For the background, I created a scattered sponge-like brush with color dynamics. I brought the color of the background down over the jacket to unify the piece a bit and give it all a sense of continuity.

By the way, I experimented with using only 4 layers on this which is unusual for me. For something even as simple as this, I'd usually have over 15 layers.

That's about it for this piece, thanks for coming along for the ride!

Election Day

Here's a little election day music.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F3jBXEF3eAo&mode=related&search=

Here's the first stage of the Clinton portrait I'm working on.

I got a decent sketch together, then scanned it full size. Then in Photoshop I adjusted the levels so that I had a neutral gray background. I made another layer and started painting using a semi tranparent brush with the opacity knocked back to about 40%.

This whole John Kerry joke thing has really pissed me off. If I was still doing editorial cartoons, this issue could keep me going for a week.