Sketching at the Society

I've been to the Society of Illustrators quite a bit in the past month-- to go see a lecture with Kim, to represent with the FIT crowd at my friend Ed's opening in the Member's Gallery, and, last night, I made it back for sketch night with Chad, Steve, and Ang. The Society is always a place that makes me feel good right when I hit that red door, which I think is due to the good mix of creativity and inspiration that's always present and shared in the company of good friends. Here are some of my ink sketches from last night...

Thanksgiving in Oklahoma

Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays. It sounds like an Oklahoma cliche, but my extended family (many of whom still ranch or farm) gathers in droves out in the country, where we eat and tell stories. Afterwards, we regroup into a smaller family unit with my Aunt Donna, my cousins, and my two favorite ankle-biters, and go out to see my parents' horses. It's a day for relishing simple pleasures and something I always look forward to. I took some pictures with my phone, and they just seemed to sum up the day.

A couple of overnight jobs...

I tried a few new things on this one, so this was a fun project. The show has come and gone now, but it was a really nice one. I've been a big fan of Amy Cutler and Kiki Smith for a while now, and their work did not disappoint. I also love David Rathman's cowboys.

Speaking of cowboys...

This was a western theme portait I did about a week ago for David Claytor at 50,000feet. Thanks, David!

Antlers

Just finished a new scratchboard illustration about lobbying for Alaskan drilling. I also updated the portfolio section of my site with quite a few pieces earlier this month, in case anyone missed it. This new discovery of drippy ink combined with scratchboard has been satisfying the two sensibilities that used to pull me in opposite directions. There are a few more in the works.

ICON5

A crummy cellphone pic of my Roadshow table with books, buttons, cards, and a little bit of Hell.

This week, I attended the 5th Illustration Conference, and it was such a good time. It kicked off on Wednesday with the Roadshow. In addition to meeting art directors, I shared a table with one of my all-time favorite illustrators, John Hendrix. I had e-mailed him a few years back before I moved to NY to pick his brain, so it was a real treat to meet him face to face. My row was full of nice folks, including the great Christoph Hitz (and his magic chocolate bars), the very kind Matt Hebermehl, and Heekyung Hur, who was one class behind me in the FIT Master's Program.

The conference itself started the following day, and brought forth 3 great days of presentations. The standouts for me were the video by fellow Ponca Citian James Yang and fellow scratchboarder Greg Nemec, Danny Pelavin's self promotion presentation, Ross MacDonald, and the amazing Gary Panter (especially considering my obsession with Pee-Wee's Playhouse as a child).

I got to know some really nice people as well. I befriended Rhonda Mulder after registration despite us both being shy. It was also really great talking with Kim Rosen, whose work I've been following for a while now. It is sort of amazing when people you admire turn out to be really cool people. But that seemed to happen left and right at ICON.

Early on in the conference, thanks to the ever-incredible Melanie Reim, I was taken under the wing by a great group of women, including Licensing Queen Cheryl Phelps, the hilarious Teresa Roberts Logan, and Jean Tuttle, another long-time favorite of mine.

In short, ICON was a fantastic experience. I feel energized and look forward to where all the inspiration will lead me.

Eustace Tilley

This is my entry for the New Yorker's Eustace Tilley contest, based on the Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde.

Go here to see the other entries.