Kids Stuff - Part 3

Here are some scans of the original art I created for Gallery Ghost (see previous post). I did small portraits of twenty-four artists whose work is in The National Gallery. I have sketches of a few others I did (like Albrecht Durer) who didn't make the final cut for one reason or another. As I mentioned in the previous post, I enjoyed drawing these portraits -- I hadn't really done anything like that before. I always tell clients I don't "do" likenesses -- I mean, I've done them, but it's just not my forte. "A man has to know his limitations" and all that. Nevertheless, I really enjoyed trying to capture the artists in a way that might appeal to kids (i.e. as friendly-looking & cheerful rather than as tormented, desperate or unhinged -- although I may have enjoyed drawing them that way even more!).

Kids Stuff - Part 2

I mentioned this project I illustrated - Gallery Ghost - in a previous post. It was a 9" x 12" hardcover book, but also a clever game, designed to get kids interested in looking at art. It was done in conjunction with the National Gallery and was sold there, I believe, as well as in other museum bookstores around the country. As I say, it was an illustration job and I pretty much just followed the instructions of the designer and publisher. I did enjoy drawing all the portraits of the artists, though. Here is a look at some of the interior pages.

Drawn & Quarterly

Here is a drawing I did for the cover of Drawn & Quarterly back in 1991, when it was known more for being a magazine - and not the quality publisher it has grown into. I don't know why that hard-edged box with the logo had to crop off the top of the drawing -- there was maybe another inch of art up there. I suppose I may have gotten the dimensions wrong. (Yet another of those annoying glitches that became a thing of the past once everyone started designing on computers). They did do a nice job of matching the color of the logo to the art.

Teen Stuff

Does Seventeen Magazine still publish fiction? Anyway, they did back in the 1990s when I did this full-page illustration (top) for a (what else?) coming-of-age story about a girl dealing with her divorced mom (who was romancing a shoe salesman) and her brother (who was benefitting financially from sucking up to their mom's new boyfriend). (See -- now it makes sense... right??).

I actually did a bunch of illustrations for Seventeen back in those days. Articles about embarrassing moms, articles about embarrassing dads, articles about getting busted by the cops (!). I also did work for Seventeen's then-big-rival Sassy. The one shown here is for a story about a Summer Camp romance.

The last picture in this group was for The Washington Post's Sunday Magazine. It was for an article following teens who were learning to drive. I thought it kind of fit the theme here...

Kids Stuff - Part 1

From top to bottom: Original Art for the cover of the comic book section of Nickelodeon Magazine.

Artwork for the packaging of a battery operated toy Hammer Head Shark. (There was also a regular shark with the same packaging.) This was done for the chain of Discovery Stores (aka The Nature Company), which were owned by The Discovery Channel or something.

The front and back of the finished packages, as they were sold in the stores. The designer was Thaddeus Homan (who went to bat for me when the company sneakily tried to use a badly copied version of my illustration for other products; they still did it, but he got me a tiny bit more money for it). Anyway, the toys were great - perfect for use by little kids in the bath tub.

NIGHT GALLERY 2

Presented for your inspection -- Three more pictures from the vault...

From top to bottom:

- Art for cover of "Evil Eye" #11

- Art for two-page spread from Steve Nile's DRACULA (Jonathan Harker freaks out)

- "The Pirate's Treasure" featuring the pirate girls from MAD NIGHT, which appeared on the back cover of an issue of "Evil Eye"

EVEREAD on Cat Burglar Black

Thanks to Everead for the kind words! --

Everead: Honorable Mention