Jillian

This drawing was commissioned by Halle Butler, intended to become the cover for her first novel, Jillian. The finished copy was to be printed in B&W with gold overlay, filling in the monster spots and pupils, in homage to this cover illustration for Grendel. Here's a digital mockup of the complete design. Imagine the book's spine meeting the right elbow of the crouching monster.

Halle and I met over a year ago to discuss themes and generate ideas. Halle is a good friend; she performed one of the funniest Brain Frame readings ever and we've worked on several films together. She co-wrote Crimes Against Humanity, the feature in which I recently starred. Her work is deceptively mundane, cruel, and hilarious. Jillian is about two miserable female coworkers. As described online:

Halle Butler's debut explores how two people use self-deception and hostility to deal with their lives. Megan, a bitter young medical secretary, takes a break from her overwhelming feelings of social rejection by keeping track of the disgusting habits of her co-worker, Jillian. Meanwhile, Jillian's misguided "go for it!" attitude leads her towards a series of unadvisable decisions.

We settled on two monsters, one lactating and wailing in pain, the other defensive and furious. I sketched several options, carefully considering what should be most visible on the book's spine.

After settling on a composition, I invited Robin Hustle over to model with me. We had a good time contorting our faces and bodies for the camera. Hilarious nude photo shoots are a favorite pastime.

Defining musculature through imagined fur is difficult! It took a long time just to get the poses right. (That crouching pose? Actually impossible.) Once I had the bodies plotted and spots blocked in I began shaping their sub-structures, including genitalia.

I used five different pencils. A 2B mechanical and four wooden pencils, 3-6B. These are the same pencils I use to draw Possession Scenes. When I showed the drawing in progress to Jeremy he said, "Is that your face?"

The completed cover, while treasured by Halle and myself, has proven problematic. The original distributor, Love Symbol Press, dissolved while plans for the book were in progress. Halle pushed her successive distributer, Cubside Splendor, hard to publish this cover, but they declined. Maybe someday, my monsters will see the light. If you saw this book on the shelf, would you scream, or buy it, or both?

Pizzaccoutrement

I work at a pizza place. Whenever I work anywhere, I get asked to draw the signs. That's me with the new chalkboard we got at work (no one else is allowed to draw on the chalkboard now, according to my boss).

Whenever it's slow my mind goes hyperactive and I have to occupy myself. I could get a lot of work done, in this time, except I'm not usually allowed to sit down. This uncomfortable limbo yields a lot of quick sketches on Guest Checks.

Halloween is also a very special time of year for me. I love making Halloween costumes. This year, if I get my idea together in time (I'm going to be a shaman priest slaughtering a goat) it'll be awesome. Halloween, or Samhein, is also... THE WITCHES' NEW YEAR!! which is really exciting.

This is what happens when I get into the spirit while I'm bored at work:

The pictures above are ordered in the sequence I drew the pumpkin. I think each consecutive one is better. I used a Sharpie (actually several).

And, of course, more chalk. These two drawings are on either side of the sandwich board right now. Spot this sign in Chicago; you'll find me inside! I won't give you free pizza.

Final Crit: Figure Drawing

Figure Drawing 2007 is complete. Above is the wall section allocated to me for the best drawings of the semester. There were more on the wall before I took this picture, but I've already posted them/they suck. (We had to put up our best and worst.) These are all india ink, and the one in the lower right corner is charcoal.

Figure Drawing

Here are three out of the four figure drawings I've done so far this semester in class. (The fourth one was collaborative and sucked.) The first is from the second week of class, and the second two are from the week before last. I'll try to put up my drawings as I make them, and you all can tell me if I get any better. I wasn't supposed to shade any of these, but I got bored after shaping the form with lines. My teacher yelled at me a lot.

Old Drawings

These are all drawings from last year that were part of my portfolio to get into school.


My old roommate Joe. I started doing portraiture a while ago - it really was the gateway drug for the rest of my figure drawing facinations.


This drawing was for a Cooper Union prompt: "In a series of images, define the boundary between subject and object".


Another Cooper prompt: "Make a self-portrait defined by markings of experiences or events". I didn't get into Cooper Union, probably because these two drawings were really the only good ones I sent in (they had 6 prompts) but these were two of my favorite pieces from the year.


This is the original of the Spiral Dance poster I was commissioned for in 2005. After I drew this some hack colored it in. I hate them.


When I worked at Peet's last year I spent a lot of time drawing on pastry bags with sharpies. This was my favorite production (those are pastry tongs).