From paint to pixel


Decades ago, I’d finish an illustration, tape it between two sheets of 18 x 24 cardboard, and trust a bicycle courier to weave through traffic between my studio and the The Washington Post. If the weather was inclement, I’d wrap the cardboard in a Hefty bag. This practice never failed to deliver the goods by deadline, and since I’d likely worked through the night to complete the assignment, I was too sleepy to worry about tempting fate.

Now I just hit send. I don’t miss the days of ink and paint and fine paper as much as I like the computer’s undo function. The vast array of digital tools and efficiency of delivery notwithstanding, it’s Command-Z that won my heart. These undo keystrokes grant freedom from the consequence of a mistake. Is my sky too blue? Just undo.

If the gateway to creativity is an indifference to the humiliation of failure, then surely the undo function gives room to experiment without fear—to unbind from error the decisions that build an image. We must still own the blunders we fail to see, but not the ones we know instantly to be wrong. That is the way of Command Zen.

So the images on this website are all digital, many of them made to only ever appear on a monitor screen. They were assigned by talented editors and art directors at publications, associations, institutions, and nonprofit organizations throughout the world. Some are images that were never published but which I nonetheless thought should be displayed. I hope you find them worthy of your attention, and if you need an illustration with similar qualities, I’d be delighted to help.

CLIENTS INCLUDE:
National Geographic Society
The Washington Post
Educause
USAID (through various sponsored NGOs)
Save the Children / Cambodia
Daedalus Books
National Education Association
Security Management magazine
US Postal Service / Stamps Division
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Georgetown University
National Public Radio

SOME THINGS I'VE DONE:
Won multiple awards from the Society of Newspaper design
Work included in The Society of illustrators Annual
Served as a juror for the Society of Illustrators Annual
Served as a juror for Reading Is Fundamental annual poster contest
Taught illustration at the Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington, DC
Contributed over 2,000 illustrations published by The Washington Post
Produced multiple stamps for the US Postal Service