Spent the better part of this September travelling. Just got back into my studio. I looked online to see if an assignment I did a couple of months ago ran. Happy to see it did, seems to have just come out. It's an illustration for the Columbia Law School magazine. The article is about corporate law on the international stage. Art Director was John Goryl at B&G Design Studios. John & I approached the subject fairly directly. I executed the image with vector software.

I've worked with Nick Jehlen at the The Progressive a number of times over the years. Quite often regarding the subject of workers, and the struggles of laborers.

Spots, icons, ding bats, secondaries, less than half a page or smaller, while working on smaller assignments I've heard them called many things. The do present their own set of unique demands, and are usually swimming in type. Here's some of my recent efforts. The illustrations below printed less than half a page;

Above - Icons for article about jobs with a future in Germany. For the magazine; Wirtschafts Woche, art director; Holger Windfuhr. Vector - artwork

A subject I dealt with before leaving for a winter break from work, was somewhat timely. The subject of violence in the workplace. The art director for the assignment was the every open, and insightful, Roy Comiskey. The signs for possible violent events seem to be there, yet can happen without warning. I can say that the subject was interesting, and as someone who works alone, it's a curiousity. An employer it would seem has to maintain a vigilence. I wanted a darker tone, offset by a more banal setting. The cubicles I've seen in office spaces always leave me with an odd feeling. I enjoyed the subject manner as it delves into the struggles of contemporary life & work. Working with Roy is a pleasure. My winter break is over, and it's back to it in a none violent manner.

Over the last few years the symbolism of a hand has stood in for that of a figure in my work. In quite a few of my recent assignments the need to indicate an individual can be fraught with questions of nationality, race, and others. For many years I developed a figure with a generic structure purposefully. There was, and have been questions when I worked of making sure that the figure was not too "scary". Use of shadows, and usually requested powerful figures made some clients uncomfortable even though it was that very quality that had them calling on me. After working through many sketches, the simplicity of the hand as a representation of a group with the fingers, or just a lone individual, and many of the nagging questions went away. I do enjoy working with the figure still, but … well in many cases it's ended up being a hand. This last week it was a hand for the Wall Street Journal. An article on investing in power & utilities, and the editors wanted POWER. It was the art director, Orlie Kraus who called. Hell we even talked on the phone! Not just email, and text. Well Orlie & I worked hard to offer the editors(word people) solid choices. The first round of my sketches were sent, and well so it went. The Hand was the editor's pick. Next was the request for "Show Me The Money", dollar sign, and dollars added. With the second round, Orlie tried to offer our favourite of the utility towers for reconsideration. Nope, it was POWER that was wanted, and the hand was waved through. I went at the hand to make it as powerful as requested!

Another recently published hand based illustration done for the National Federation of Labor. Subject; Organize The Unorganized!

Illustration for Research News 2010 summer issue. The idea for this illustration was to simply indicate the piercing of a cell membrane. In an article about taking apart an infectious disease, the subject of Dr. Stefan Pukatzki, who has uncovered a new method that bacteria use to cause disease. The art director for this assignment was Lara Minja, of Lime Design inc. Lara, and I aimed for a simple graphic. I worked in a vector based approach as it lent itself to a clean image with rich colours. The precision of piercing a cell, and injecting material is the work of a labratory, and medical research. I enjoyed the opportunity to explore a somewhat abstracted way of designing the image in my sketches. There is space in the upper area for type as well. I enjoyed working with Lara.

Well it's been awhile since I've done a TIME cover. D.W. Pine emailed asking if I was available over the Memorial Day weekend. No one phones anymore, and maybe D.W. needed someone who wasn't going anywhere for the weekend, Ha! He thought a very strong graphic, poster-type cover with a player and ball would be cool in my style. Very straight forward, and to the point. Fine with me, as I enjoy the opportunity to really explore a object in it's structure. One of the bigger choices for me was whether to portray the traditional black & white soccer ball. I went with a more contemporary looking ball as it describes more appropriately the feeling to the event held in South Africa. As with any current cover work, there is the need for providing space for the necessary text, and masthead while maintaining the energy. Originally the text was to be on the left, but after an Editor review it was now on the right.  The Editor wanted a single player making a kick from the back, as I had done with another sports image of a baseball player. Not highlighting any one player was the goal.

Roy Comiskey coined a great description about the last assignment we did. It's in the June issue of Security Management magazine. After seeing some of my gallery pieces, Roy thought my approach would be great for the cargo security topic of an upcoming article. Roy has been one of the most open Art Directors I've worked with. He's allowed me the space to explore my approach in many different ways over the years. Being one of the first A.D.'s to embrace my digital work back in the mid 90's. He described some of my newer pieces as Pop-Realism. I quite liked the term. It's a vector based approach, done in Adobe Illustrator. In my gallery work, I usual work up the color, and structure in a vector based study for the final paint. The gallery work is done in oils, but for publishing purposes the digital works best.

This month's Cycle Canada has an article that rings so true for me. Yes, it's my illustration that accompanies the article, and I'm honored. I was asked by Neil Graham, the editor, to contribute to another finely written article by Ted Bishop. Ted's done some award winning writing. The idea being put forth; Tempo Giusto: In Praise of the Slow Ride. I worked with the very talented, Chris Knowles. He's the art director that keep's up-righting the magazine when it's visually gone off.

An excerpt of the article gives the feel;

Coming out of the concert hall up on the mountain in Banff, where young musicians had been performing Beethoven’s 7th, I thought – Maybe a long ride should be like a symphony. If it’s all allegro it becomes like those crazy bluegrass sessions where the picking starts fast and just gets faster. An andante movement defines the fast; you feel how much pleasure can be wrung from a single note, a single turn. At the end both movements resonate within you. I presented this theory to my partner Hsing, a classical musician, thinking she’d be impressed. She said, “This is just an excuse to buy another motorcycle. I know you.” I feigned aggrieved innocence. Did she know that before the concert I’d heard the throb of an old Guzzi Eldorado coming up the hill? I dropped the topic, but this winter I’m going to be scanning the classifieds for an old thumper, a mile-muncher, not a road-burner. There’s a new breed of rebel out there, and they’re riding any damn speed they like. I’m going to tattoo “Born to Burble” across my chest and join them.

Ted Bishop.

Tomorrow's April 1st, well although another month away is May 1st. One of recent assignments was on the history of May Day, the international day for the recogonition of the workers of the world. The article I illustrated was about International Worker’s Day and Canada’s contribution. "While May 1st, International Workers’ Day, is commemorated as Labour Day in most countries around the world, in Canada and the United States, Labour Day is the workers’ holiday celebrated at the beginning of September. Both, however, celebrate the achievements of the labour movement in securing workers’ rights". Well Sisters, and Brothers, here's wishing you well on March 31st.
• On a very happy secondary note, I've followed Richard Down's example, and moved my home website. After tens years my site was getting old and clunky. Mr. Zimm dialed the performance back up. I'm happy to have my website resources connected & working together now.

http://www.fraserart.com

As a follow-up to a previous assignment from Motor Trend magazine, about an evolutionary process, I was asked to do another one about the popular sedan. From a '49 Chev, '55 Chev, '66 Impala(Chev), '76 Cutlass(Olds), '82 Escort(Ford), to a '89 Taurus(Ford). The art director Andy Foster thought keeping the feel of the previous evo illustration was the way to go. It's kind of like playing with little metal cars as when I was a kid. Definite nostalgia. Well it's in the March issue, on newsstands now.

In December I worked with Don Besom at BusinessWeek . It was interesting talking with Don, now that the magazine is owned by Bloomberg it remains to be seen what's next. There was a sense of melancholy recalling all the people I met while working on BusinessWeek assignments. I can remember walking into the McGraw Hill building to drop off my portfolio back in 1985. I've contributed illustrations on & off over the years. The latest was a book review on the subject of the contemporary CEO as seen by a couple of French academics. The book title is; From Predator to Icons.

 Also below is the very first assignment I ever did for BusinessWeek. It was about the farming crisis in the midwest. The Art Director was Sharon Bystrek. Well, farming is not creating the same headlines these days. It's forward into 2010.

• Below is the thumb sketch I did for my first ever BusinessWeek assignment in 1985.

An illustration I did recently for UU World magazine. The magazine is published by the Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations. As religious entities go, the Unitarians seem reality inclusive, and liberal. Religion for me is a very prickly subject, and more so with a life lived. I belong to no particular faith. The subject of the Religious Left was the basis for the article for which I was to do a full page illustration. Being bombarded daily with the news of America, here in Canada, it seems as though our close neighbors to the south are becoming more & more a theocracy. Against the current backdrop of today, the longer tradition of a more inclusive mindset in the religious life of America was outlined in this article. The socialist aspects of Christian doctrine are usually bulldozed by the contemporary materialist culture. Through the struggle to remove barriers, and broaden the general well being of the many over the few, the Religious Left has a long history. The idea of light/liberty for the commoner, and many facets of the struggle coming together into a stronger collective. I'd chosen a hand drawn quality with a graphic application for a more fresh feel, over the traditional oils on canvas.

Okay yes, it's another Motor Trend, but I'm having fun. This one's about the myth of heavy footed motor freaks. Also an opportunity to pay homage to the memory of Big Daddy. My apologies, but it was fun. From a time when counter culture still was. Thank you Andy Foster!

I've been kinda crazy busy the last while. Most of the work I've done has not printed yet. Here's some more Motor Trend art which is always fun for me. After reading Harry's post I looked at the my old Swamp Thing copies. Bernie Wrightson made my head rock.

Recently I worked with Joseph Heroun at The New Republic magazine. We worked on the cover art. We've worked together before, and he was one of the first art directors to encourage me to work with a my more simple direct approach. Joe had an idea in mind which he described to me. I liked the idea as well, and after a few rough sketches, final art was under way. We wanted to keep the colors somber, and dark. The sketches have their own quality which I liked. I began to wonder if executing the piece in an alternative approach might be better. I was waffling, but Joe's direction was a real support. I've found that "sketching" roughs for a looser direct brush mark can get tricky. The direct graphic brush approach in the final is difficult to indicate with a pencil. The rough sketches tend to veer towards another approach. I am proud of the final cover, and the Art Director played a very helpful role in this situation. I'm not always thrilled with concepts floated at me, but when it's working in my opinion....well it's working.

Another automotive Technologue Illustration from Motor Trend. There are many engineers trying to harness energy from many of the mechanical processes going on in a moving car. Well what about the energy generated in shock absorbers? Well it's being developed now. The energy & heat in the shock absorbers of a car can feed power into the electrical system. This means that a bumpier road just might just be the better one. The details are on the newsstand now.

Recently finished assignment with the art director, Roy Comiskey, at Security Management magazine. Working with Roy is a pleasure. He's a real fan of illustration and painting. Talking over the assignment with him is a mix professionalism, and fun. The subject is about the ongoing struggle to stop converted vessels loaded with illegal drugs from entering U.S. waters. The converted vessels are sub-like in their final form. Very low to the waterline as to make them almost undetectable.

I'm still grinding gears with Andy Foster at Motor Trend magazine, and lovin' it. The Technologue column is at the front of the magazine, and highlights mechanical topics within the automotive world. My Father was a civil engineer who impressed upon me an armchair appreciation of machines. Doing illustrations of the workings in engines is an interesting challenge. My images are definitely not the noble diagrams of engine manuals, but a playful riff on the subjects.

Recent illustration for the National Labor Federation. Subject is the disaster in disaster relief. Katrina, and other major events have exposed the failure of the Government's ability to address these crises. The stock market rallied yesterday, but that crisis was manmade. The other events/crises quite often end up going begging, and relying on charity. In some ways I felt the image kinda describes the landscape on a couple of levels.

Aviva Michaelov phoned with an assignment for the week in review section of the New York Times. The art was for the weekend of the Super Bowl, and subject being on America's number one pastime. I guess in a number of survey's it's been football that has come out on top. Although more people actually play baseball. Basketball's placement varied from survey to survey. The art was going to appear in color, and black & white. I shuffled the colors for the different applications.

Just hitting the newsstand in Alberta, Canada is the most recent issue of Alberta Views Magazine. Alberta, for those that don't know is north of Montana, on the east side of the Rockies. Oil, and ranching are big in this Canadian Province. There is a ironic issue being pounded out in Alberta surrounding the question of nuclear power. Alberta is home to one of the largest oil deposits in the world, yet is being pressured by the nuclear industry to build a reactor in the north part of the province. The article I did illustrations for seemed well written and detailed. The Nuclear industry will always frame the question in an either-or manner, to achieve the prescribed answer. The discussion of Renewables, and their future development, and growing strength is quickly dismissed by the Nuclear factions. Also real bottom line numbers on the cost of Nuclear is never shown in the light of day. The term "Bullshit" is in the text, and backed up. The opening illustration is obvious in subject, with the half page image follow-up being the Renewables, wind & solar. So I've now painted crap, to the affirmation of some.