2013 Writing Contest

Here's some work I did recently for the Philadelphia City Paper, who I always enjoy working with. This time, AD Reseca Peskin contacted me to do the cover as well as an illustration inside the issue for their annual Writing Contest issue. The winning fiction story, which you can read here, is about a woman who works as a casino card dealer. When her child dies, she and her husband take a trip to New Orleans to help get their mind off of their loss.
Reseca had the idea for the cover of a black voodoo pin, which is used to relieve pain, pushed through the suicide king playing card. As for the illustration inside the issue, she had the idea of an airplane made out of playing cards.
When I began sketching, I went through several variations just to push the ideas.

Cover sketches

Plane sketches

We wound up combining the normal king face and my more gruesome skull king into one and going with the plane covered in the elements from the card rather than made out of cards.
I had a great time working on both pieces in all of their great detail.

Final

Final

Thanks again to Reseca for a great gig!

--CKL--

Singles vs. Baker Boys

Here's a cover I did for Seattle Weekly for a story by Mike Seely (read here) that argues that Steve Kloves' The Fabulous Baker Boys, starring Jeff Bridges and Michelle Pfeiffer, is the more quintessential Seattle movie than Cameron Crowe's Singles, starring Matt Dillon and Bridget Fonda.
AD Jane Sherman (who is now over at Seattle Met) contacted me with the idea of putting Bridges and Pfeiffer in the iconic pose from the Singles poster, having apparently ousted Dillon and Fonda.

 I sketched out several variations to find the right combination of the two sets of characters.

Thanks again to Jane for such a fun gig!

--CKL--

QFEST

I was contacted recently by AD Reseca Peskin to do another cover for the Philadelphia City Paper. The last two covers I did for the City Paper, the People Who Died 2011 and the Urban Farmer's Almanac, were a blast so I jumped at the chance to do another.
QFEST is Philadelphia's annual GLBT film festival with over 100 GLBT films from around the world. For the cover about the festival, Reseca wanted an old fashioned movie theater with a big drag queen in the ticket booth. I worked up a few variations on the idea with my favorite image being the one with the drag queen (named Divine in homage to John Waters) right front and center welcoming the viewer to the festival.
I had a great time researching and finding reference for the theater facade and drawing everything on Divine from the sequins to the wig to the chest hair. And I even ended up giving lettering a shot!

Sketches

Marquee Lettering

Final

Thanks again Reseca and City Paper for a fun, fabulous gig!

--CKL--

Urban Farmer's Almanac

 
I got a call earlier this month from AD Reseca Peskin of the Philadelphia City Paper, who was a blast to work with on the People Who Died issue, asking me to do the cover of their upcoming Home and Garden issue as well as a logo to be used with corresponding articles.
Reseca and Editorial Designer Matt Egger essentially wanted me to replicate the Old Farmer's Almanac cover with some specific new vignettes.

While it was nice to have an idea in place from the beginning, it still presented a challenge in mimicking a specific look while still allowing me room creatively.
Inking this piece was a lot of fun because of the loads of small, detailed work. I always enjoy the chance to break out the smallest brushes I've got.

As for the logo, they wanted something that reflected the ribbons from the top of the Old Farmer's Almanac. I went with something badge-like, almost like a 4H winner's ribbon with some simple flourishes around the text.

Thanks again to Reseca and Matt for an uber-fun gig.

--CKL--

Dog Daze

I recently did a cover of the Dallas Observer with Village Voice Media Design Director Tom Carlson. It was a cover story about the stray dog problem in Dallas and the animal rescuers taking them in. Alhough they have good intentions in getting the dogs off of the streets, these people may actually be hoarding the dogs and potentially still putting them in poor conditions.
Even though I'm definitely a cat person, I had a great time working on this piece

--CKL--