rough life

heres two of 5 pages of thumbnail roughs for a project im working on - just wanted to show a bit of process. this is pretty much what my sketchbook looks like

here is then 3 of 12 ish roughs i sent in with more refined ideas - unfortunately i was on a bit of a wrong path, the article - which was about bi-polar disorder seems ALOT like post partum - fortunately one of the ideas worked pretty well, which went to final, but we still needed an image for the spot that went with the main. the AD suggested focusing on the mothers feelings of social isolation, which i did here:



here is the final for the spot, i will post the final for the main ...i dunno...soon. the spot is about 2.5 x 2.5, all screened. it was fun!

a good idea goes a long way

This was for an article about how good ideas travel from person to person - in the business world only the best ideas make it from the bottom to the top.
I've been working alot of different ways lately, its weird because although i feel like my style is pretty consistent it does seem to change alot from graphic to less graphic, realistic to more cartoony. I realize this may pose some problems for me, but im finding it impossible to draw one way. i dunno. maybe its not as big of a deal as i think. anyway, thanks for stopping by :)

Screw You Juan...

Recent job for Inside Counsel about Lawyers using social networking sites - I liked the idea of just making a really fun image of a Lawyer on his computer like a school girl, totally pumped about using internet slang. Right? ...Its funny...
Friend, fellow illustrator and Badass MC Juan Solon is also in this issue - so fun to be sharing that with him - check out his blog for when he eventually posts his contribution.
Boo ya.
Oh and thanks Liz - you were one of the funnest AD's I've ever worked with.

He Lives...

Hi guys,
sorry for a few weeks without posting, but like I mentioned I went away to Glastonbury, then I actually needed to make stuff - rest assured, there will be alot of posts this month - and stuff im happy with too. This'll start it off - my second Village Voice cover. The article was about this FBI informant who would..."convince" (with gifts, pestering, promises of money etc) fairly normal people to become part of terrorist plots. In the particular case of the story, bomb planting - then obviously he sicks the Feds on them. Its seems alot like entrappment because these people wouldnt have exactly commited these crimes without his cohersion, yet they DID commit these crimes. The AD and I eventually landed on the idea of a cutaway of a bomb with a rat inside - the wick being the rats tail. Really liked the metaphor and this idea
I also like the way the particular AD seems to push me, I get images Im really happy with.
Thanks Ivy, and thanks everyone for stopping by!!!
Pete

Good-bye cruel world...

At least for 5 days.
Tomorrow I will be arriving at famous "Glastonbury Festival" for 5 days of fun, sun, bands and ...kids? Thats right, turns out my flatmate Ema (sup ema) 's father runs a section of the festival known as the kidz field. this is where parents ditch their kids to go have fun, but also where the kids themselves have fun. In exchange for my days spent painting faces, hanging out and having fun with these little bastards I get to attend this great even for free!!! woooooo!!! saving a cool 160£ . Such a great deal!!! anyway Im very excited to be officially on vacation (auto reply set). I shall return in July with lots of new projects and a few new bits of personal work.
Thanks for reading, have a great rest of the month June.
http://www.glastonburyfestivals.co.uk/line-up-poster/

gamble

for an article about a new casino in Indianapolis. sort of how the casino sucks you in and blinds you from the outside world.

research world + food poisoning

Hey guys - just finished this project for research world - very tough article - one of the hardest ive worked on. Basically the article was about hows theres a growing, emerging middle class, and this middle class tends to have a set of universal shared values - like global freedom and a shared sense of direction. aside from the challenge, I had alot of fun - and really enjoyed working with the AD - Thanks Steve!!
Side bar - i somehow got food poisoning last night and woke up SO SICK. sucks. Hoping it will pass by tomorrow, when roughs are due...FML

this spot one was about the global freedom part...wwoooooo

Seattle Weekly

Sup y'all
Heres a really neat project I was happy to be a part of.
The article was about this guy who's had 112 convictions. amazing right?!?! he's pretty young too!
So, I was fortunate enough to do the cover and a full page inside -
Heres the cover image - I was playing with this guys infinite criminal career...
The inside page was my fav - basically one of my ideas was playing with the inmate, a guy called "Smooth" being behind bars - but the bars are "checks" from when inmates check off days - or in this case prison trips. I loved this idea. Then, the AD had the brilliant idea of tiling the groups of 5 to add up to 110, and then as 2 checks in the type layout. - i'll post that layout asap. so the whole thing adds up to 112. fun huh?! I did 5 different versions of the checks so when they're tiled randomly it'll have some variety. - heres two different ones.Thats it!
I was really happy about this project and the AD Jane - she was great!
Thanks Jane!!!
Ok, more next week - enjoy the weekend

hot off the presses

Heres a cover recently finished for Broward New Times in Florida. The article was really challenging - to give you an overview - Basically the story is on this guy who's company would buy out insurance policies from AIDS patients and then sell them to investors while falsifying the time the client had to live with their own doctors. - a classic Ponzi pyramid scheme. Roughs to final was a bit of a tight deadline so pressure was on. I sent in some of - what i consider - really strong ideas. The solution they picked wasnt my initial favourite, i felt it was a bit too graphic and simple (which ironicly seems to be what im into lately) - but when considering laying out the type and header etc. it really made the most sense. in the end i think it was for sure the right way to go. Because they print on newsprint we really pushed the colours to be nice and bright. I loved working with Miche the AD and hope to again soon. heres some of the 7 roughs i sent in (my favs) as well as the final. sorry the final i posted is a bit pixel-ly - also sorry for using so much blue lately...i'll lay off.
this was my fav idea!...initially

my my my poker face my my poker face...

sorry for the title.
seriously.
ok, heres a piece really recently finish for MacWorld about the feature "time machine" and its "safety net" computer saving abilities (among other things). I was so happy to work with these guys! Rob and Carli were both the greatest AD's and more or less offered alot of freedom and great ideas.
LOTS more to be posted this week - so y'all come on back now - ya' here.

im hungry for your contact...

Heres a look at my "spring" (I know I know ...Im late) 2009 mailer. I'll post the whole shibang when its an actual card you can hold etc. Also loads of jobs to post soon - just waiting for it to be ok to post them - but check back soon. Oh, and sorry for the lack of updates lately - I took a few weeks off while home and was focusing on nonslick. i love painting stuff this graphic.
Ok.
Thats it.
word

when i move you move, just like that

very fast turn around illo for an article about "declining nuns". had a few neat ideas for this, and really liked the idea they chose. the digital file looks a little desaturated, but what else is new

American Illustration

3 Pieces chosen. great news.
new posts coming soon both here and on nonslick.

This is neat

So, when i got home i had all this work that had arrived while i was gone. its so neat to see stuff in real life. cool huh?!?!

yo yo yo

new illo for Seattle Mag. Great art director. the article was about how news papers are being replaced by online news sites. same ol' story - lots of roughs. had fun. love illustration.
will post my new promo this week!!!

new

THE ACTUAL FINAL
so, heres a new post - im still hunting down the cover to timeout new york - but this will have to fill the void. sorry ive been lax on posts lately - ive just be so busy. nonslick is going well - im hoping i can get people to comment more over there - i want it to have a total community feel. takes time i guess. anyway - this was for Go Magazine. we literally went through over 20 roughs - alot of them good ideas - they just wanted the right tone. in the end, they chose an idea alot like one i've done before. this sort of bummed me out, because i wasnt convinced it was the strongest idea i gave, and it was alot like another one of my pieces - but the art director was such a great guy and in the end i really believe this was the right piece for the article. the AD had the idea of keeping it black and white and accentuating one key element. in the end, im really happy with the execution. the article was about gaining profit from giving away free stuff. i LOVED the "tag - arrow" idea - so simple.

Time Out New York

is this ACTUALLY the best version of this cover that i have??? apparently...
heres a version without any of the type placed. basically ive never illustrated just like a group of people - so different from whats natural for me - but i mean a fun experience all in all



just did an overnight cover for time out new york. It was a fast rush project about "the best indie stores". i supplied some ideas but it was pretty heavily directed, and turned out something i wouldnt normally do - but thats cool! heres the roughs and i'll post the final asap. it was the fastest turn around ive done!!
really liked the podium idea...

NONSLICK

I've started an illustration interviewing blog called Nonslick. My goal is to interview and there by learn from every illustrator i love and then share the interviews with peers and the illustration community. I wanted there to be a place that showcases talent, both old and new and finds out who the people behind the images are. This blog will be frequently updated, a few times a week at least, so please keep checking back. Chances are at some point if I've seen your work, i'll want to interview you.
But for now, please head on over and enjoy the words of Alex Nabaum.

http://nonslick.blogspot.com

got sum' new stuff

And i'll be posting more of it soon, however in the mean time heres a new piece! it was for an article about a nagging girlfriend for "2 Magazine" - the magazine for couples. It was fun for me because i had total freedom. I gave alot of ideas, and was a bit surprised when this one was chosen - fun though. The colours always look "greyish, or mega saturated" when posted on my blog, but in real life i think it looks pretty nice. 2 different versions
lots of new stuff up soon!
thanks for coming by.
Pete

50 told me go 'head switch the style up...

n' if they hate then lettem hate and watch the money pile up.
This is an illo i recently did for Profit Magazine.
The AD was a great guy and really cool with feedback - we went through alot of roughs to get to this point and even a few after (the face looked less arrogant in some later versions). Anyway, the illo is for an article about getting more search engine hits for your website.
This illo gave a good chance to further push my style in some new directions - slow steps - i still want to retain "what i do" but keep evolving.
lemmie know your thoughts - i really had fun with this, and like how it turned out.

I AM

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Soooooo, i recently did the Cover of "The Village Voice". The Cover is about Bradley Tusk, the man behind NY's Mayor Bloomberg.
http://blog.silive.com/latest_news/2008/01/01-24-STATEN-ISLAND-MAYOR.jpg
Hes apparently very shady and has had a hand in some crooked deals. The AD (who was wonderful) didnt want a portrait of Tusk, as he's not very well known - but rather have him sort of hiding behind Bloombergs image. She had an interesting idea to have Bloombergs face on a sort of masquerade mask that Tusk was sort of peering out behind. I liked the idea of doing a portrait, and also liked the freedom I received with the drawing. Im in the process of slowly "updating" my style, relying less on lines, and more on shapes - this offered a neat opportunity to pursue that a bit. The RGB jpegs look a bit "grey", but the cmyk verson has a nice contrast and saturation. Anyway, heres the final and a small detail. such a wonderful opportunity.
Im so excited to have done this.
More soon.
Pete

NAFTA

This little spot was for an article about the effects NAFTA is having on the agriculture industry. there is so much undercutting and competition just bellow the surface. pretty grim stuff.
im pretty happy with the solution.
its sunny out today - funny how good that makes everything feel.

heres something...

very recently finished.
I was fortunate enough to work with DREAM client "HOW Magazine". The article was about attract new, inhouse business.
Here is my final.
The AD was amazing and had great feedback - i really wanted to nail this one, as i love their publication and felt so fortunate to be working with them.
Thanks for stopping by - lots of new stuff up soon, plus my new promo is a few weeks.
Pete

birdz and beez

here is my contribution to the "birds and bees" group show coming up Friday, March 6th 7-11pm at Jerome Jenner Gallery in Toronto - the project was open media, ooen everything really. i started off with alot of ideas that seemed pretty abstract - and it eventually boiled down to this. only after completion did i laugh at my apparently bleak view of the birds and bees. i assure you reader that its not a true reflection of any conscious thinking. :)
there might be another post like...today...stay tuned

OBAMA

will cure this recession and fix the economy!!!

hey, so i recently finished this...

it was for an article about carshares. the "prescription" for the car rental industry. super convenient, organized, and accessible. the idea was to show a parking lot (where the cars are available) double as a pill dispenser (for reasons such as its convenience - separation by days of the week, and ease of distribution. am i explaining this clearly ... hard to say - the idea has been swimming in my head for too many days in a row now.
anyway, the AD was a great guy and i found out through researching the mag that Devon Bowman does a monthly for them. He's a big hero of mine, so its neat to share a magazine with him. :)
tried some unusual stuff (for me) with this one including "cut paper" overlayed as lights. neat effect.
onward to other stuff.
thanks for checking up - in other news London is going really well - its cloudy alot - but great!!!

Rough for an article im working on... *now with final*

about using caution when consuming milk. apparently its not as good for you as we all thought. This is the rough of the chosen idea - i will make the yellow light dominant in the final...which i'll post...soon
holler
pete

run run run run, run run run away.

heres a main and spot i recently finished about how what runners think about while running effects their run - the main sort of focused on the "negative" aspects - the spot (and idea i was really happy with) about the positives


href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiq8moI24rwnlX3Euz5fr7atil5c_NAYKaY6Uj2Yo9QNO-1cbPn0k3liaUi4qmKQWDQdfeoje89XNajZj-thgS3-jx_AGDxbcRE2ig_d0mVEQAzhCkQ6WnuBdzIgdfVItyoaC9Q/s1600-h/thought.jpg">



i really liked the idea of the thought bubble being a ball- the AD wanted something Ball and chainy - and i thought it was a perfect solution, but it wasnt chosen, i also really liked the laces brain idea - but they recently did a laces issue, so it was also a no go


heres the spot


heres the main final

the cats in the cradle

heres a piece i recently finished about the underground world of yo-yoing. basically this subculture is heavily related to body moders. The AD and I decided on an image of a cats cradle, which is essentially a game of further challenging levels, which you can only get to by reaching the one before it - sort of like the world of extremists - the further you get in, the further you go.

2009 and I'm feeling fine.

So alot has happened for me in 2008 and thats awesome! I'm building a solid client list, im working really hard and i've been really happy with the way things have been going. But i'm ready for more. I want 2009 to be the most i've ever focused on illustration! I believe in it and love it! Im inspired by so many amazing artists! in no particular order heres a list of artists i love and owe everything to; Brian Cronin, Dan Page (aka like a billion other names), Phillip Nessen, Marco Cibola, Julia Breckenreid, Sandra Dionisi, Jillian Tamaki, Ken Orvidas, Alex Nabaum, Jon Krause, Daniel Bejar, Gary Taxali, Alexei Vella, Mark Cabuena, Josiah Gordon, Vicki Nerino, Nimit Malavia, Jack Dylan, Devon Bowman, Yuta Onoda, and Juan Carlos Solon. These guys (And girls)' beautiful style and ideas blow me away and make me want to make work on par.
I hope to get better and better in 09, and im gonna work like hell to make it happen. Thank you everyone that checks my blog, comments, supports me, hires me, and most importantly - inspires me.
Im off to scotland, new work up SOON!
Best,
Pete