Seattle Weekly Dining Guide

I got a really great assignment a couple of weeks ago to do the illustrations for the Seattle Weekly 2008 Dining Guide. They picked 100 restaurants and divided them into categories like Art Gallery, Circus, Gazebo and Farmhouse (to name only a few) to describe the mood or type of food at the restaurants.

I had 6 themes to illustrate as well as an illustration of a Dagwood style sandwich for the cover. I added some architectural details on the sides of the sandwich since the art director was designing the cover to look like an issue of Architectural Digest magazine (and changing the title to Architectural Digesting).

I really enjoyed painting the cover. I set up all the food in front of me and was hoping to eat it when I finished but by the time I was done painting, the lettuce had wilted, the bread was stale and the cheese was hard.

They were all a lot of fun to paint. If you're in the Seattle area you can pick up the issue this week before Wednesday, or visit their online guide to read the reviews and see all of the illustrations.

You can see all these illustrations larger on the Portfolio page.

NBA Friday: Allen Iverson

For a long time I rarely drew pictures of basketball players not named Jordan, Pippen or Rodman. In my last year of college I had a portraiture assignment and for the first time I decided to paint a basketball player from a team other than the Bulls (or Wizards). I chose to draw Allen Iverson and came up with the illustration below (from 2003).

That was the first time I painted him, so with the Denver Nuggets up for this week's NBA Friday I decided to paint him again.

One of the first words that comes to mind when describing Iverson is heart. He's always been undersized in stature but made up for it with the energy and passion in which he plays the game.

You can often see Iverson on the court, hunched over and tugging at his shorts for a quick breather, his heart pounding. I wanted to portray a moment like that where he's in the middle of a tough game, facing players who are bigger and stronger than him, and he stops to gather himself before heading back into battle. He's also an emotional player, so I put some hearts on his sleeve.

You can see this piece larger on the Portraiture page or on SLAMonline in the Links by Lang Whitaker.

sub-Terrain Magazine Illustration

This is an illustration I did recently for a short story in sub-Terrain Magazine, a literary magazine based out of Vancouver.

The story is called 'The Day Neil Armstrong Walked on the Moon' and was written by Norma DePledge.

This piece illustrates a moment described at the beginning and the end of the story in which the main character walks into a service station bar where the patrons are watching the moon landing on TV.

You can see this piece larger on the Black & White page.

NBA Friday: Dirk Nowitzki

This week's NBA Friday team is the Dallas Mavericks. I'd like to consider this Part 1 of the Dallas Mavericks for NBA Friday. I only had time to make this quick sketch of Dirk Nowitzki last night. I've been painting up a storm all week for other projects, so when I get the chance there will be a more involved painting of Dirk or someone else from the Mavs.


I did this drawing with ballpoint pen, pencil and ink. I prefer drawing Dirk with hair. When I drew him last year he had the short hair look going on and it wasn't nearly as much fun to draw as the long, wavy hair.

I'm looking forward to seeing what Dirk does in the playoffs this year. Last year his number one seeded team lost to an eight seed in the first round, so I can imagine he's looking to redeem himself.

Lemons in a Cigar Box

A couple weeks ago I decided to paint a few lemons in a cigar box. I started to paint them in a bowl, but then decided I'd try this approach instead. I think it's a bit more unique. I have a few cigar boxes lying around, most of them are holding my paints and watercolor mediums, inks and other art supplies. I find they just look better than plastic containers.

This box was pretty stinky when I started this painting, but now it smells lemony fresh!

You can see this piece larger on the Portfolio page!

[Note: NBA Friday is on hold for this week as I am in the midst of a few other projects. Come back next week!]

NBA Friday: Chris Bosh

I knew I wanted to paint Chris Bosh of the Toronto Raptors since the beginning of the NBA Friday project. I like how he plays and he consistently surprises me with his ability.

Bosh was picked fourth in the 2003 NBA Draft behind two current superstars, Carmelo Anthony and LeBron James.

Bosh has taken over as the franchise player of the Raptors since Vince Carter left a few years ago.

I wanted to show Bosh in a prehistoric setting, with some pterosaurs flying overhead and volcanoes erupting in the background. Then I designed the illustration to look like a page from an educational picture-book about dinosaurs, and added a few facts and tidbits about Bosh.

For example, the text box on his shirt reads: "Long Neck. A long, flexible neck allows Bosh to see over opponents and helps him to appear more intimidating."I also included a height scale comparing Chris Bosh to a Tyrannosaurus and a map of Bosh's current location.

This piece is best viewed larger on the Portraiture page. You can also see it on SLAMonline in the Links by Lang Whitaker.