Hey Tough Guise...

Welcome back to the wonderful word of McBlahg.  Today I am going to post an Illustration I have on the current issue of Utne Reader.

I was contacted by the wonderful Editor of the mag, Christian Williams, who gave me another opportunity to create a cover for their next issue.  They were knocking around ideas for the March/April ish which had a feature about masculinity.  Basically its about how the old image of a tough guy/men who don't deal with their emotions, can be damaging or dangerous.

To convey this image, Christian proposed "Mad Men" character and symbol of a cool tough guy, Don Draper in his office reading the landmark book on feminism "The Feminine Mystique" with tears runing down his face.

Jon Hamm who plays Draper has such a great face to draw.  The man has a gift for expression.

There is a ton of reference for Mad Men out there, I tried to nail his office as best I could.

This was another great job, I had a lot of fun working on.  Thank you once again to Christian and the good folks over at the Utne Reader.

OOHHH YEEAAAA!!

   Bout time I got around to updating the McBlahg.  I've decided that whenever I get a little bit of free time , I will post something, whether it is new, old or random.

Today I am posting an illustration I did for a friend who harassed me for over a year to come up with a tribute to his favorite fallen wrestler. Yes indeed, I'm talking about the great Randy "Macho Man" Savage.

Now my friend was quite shaken by the death of his childhood idol.  I think he may have actually shed a tear when he snapped it to a Slim Jim that sad day.  He asked me to come up with a tribute painting, something that would immortalize the only man who could get away with wearing day glow, cheetah print spandex and still kick the crap out of you.

After a year of "thinking it over" I was finally prepared to take on the challenge.  My wife and I laughed about a couple ideas as I sketched them on a scrap piece of paper.  his way I could tell my friend I had actually started on his masterpiece.  

Initially the idea was to have Macho Man riding a rocket propelled Slim Jim up to Heaven while playing a  Harp which has Slim Jim's for strings.  That idea was nixed for being too "jerky."

Instead I simplified it, added some Angel wings and a WWF championship belt.  I couldn't make a mockery of this enigmatic gentleman.

Macho Man Goes to Heaven.

Utne Reader and Climate Change

I was contacted by Christian Williams from The Unte Reader to illustrate a cover for the Nov/ Dec issue, and the topic at hand was Climate change.

Right from the start, Christian provided me with a detailed description of what they were looking for.  It was a great idea and jumped at the opportunity.

The idea was to have a more or less horrified/sad Statue of Liberty with water rising to he knees, still holding the torch but pulling up her dress out of the water with her other hand.  Also there was to be a ferry tour circling her, with tourists taking photos, as if nothing was wrong.  A nod the the fact many people fail to recognize the issue of climate change and the effect is is having on the world.
Another detail was to have her holding Al Gore's "An Inconvenient Truth" under her arm as well.

Here are the initial, then refined sketches.

The sketch on the left was sent in for approval and the next was a refined drawing based on the approved sketch.

After some disscussion it was pointed out that Lady Liberty was not lifting her dress in a ladylike manner...it was looking more like the  "The Pee Pee dance."

Now that's more ladylike.

And here is the final product.

This was a fun, great cover to illustrate, and it was a pleasure to work for Christian and the great people at The Utne Reader.

I was also just informed that this cover was featured on an international blog that celebrates innovative and creative covers. You can check out the site coverjunkie.com here http://www.coverjunkie.com/new-covers/10880

Mitt Romney and Barack Obama Illustrations

I did a couple of illustrations of the big two I'd like to share with you...awwww,  that's a special rhyme.

 First off is is Mitt Romney and his proposed Presidential seal...if he won that is.

The initial sketch of a chuckling Mitt, with Big Bird basically crucified on the Presidential seal.

 I tweaked the layout so it didn't look as if Mitt was wearing Big Birds butt on his head. I think that was the first time I ever drew a Muppet...BB is a Muppet right?...technically?

 During the power outage as a result of Hurricane Sandy, I drew this quick Obama sketch, in hopes that my power would come back on so I could get this illustration finished in time for the Election.

I consider myself an equal opportunity satirist...and this Illustration works in a number of ways.

The famous "Change" slogan from the last Elections, and well now..."Change" has an entirely different meaning...from a certain point of view.

Dogs Against Romney

It happened way back in the Summer of 1983, but dogs across America will never forget.

Seamus the Romney's family pooch was strapped, in a carrier to the roof of the "Mitt Mobile," (a Chevy Caprice station wagon) for a 12 hour road trip from Massachusetts to Beach O'Pine's, Ontario.

But don't worry Romney built a custom windshield for the carrier to make Seamus more "comfy."

Needless to say this literally scared the crap out of poor Seamus and made looking out of the windows of the "Mitt Mobile" quite difficult.  Yes he pooped and it ran all down the windows...gross.

This in fact was " The Poop Heard Around the Dog World."

So for the last 29 years dogs around America and the World have banded together and formed a movement called "Dogs Against Romney."  

Who's watching the Community Watch?

Hello out there.  I know, but I don't know if you know that I haven't posted anything in quite some time.  Well that reason is because my wife and I just moved into a house.  Needless to say it gets hectic, and I might have even temporarily lost my mind along with some other things that haven't quite turned up yet.  


Well I did this piece right before the move and hadn't had a chance to post it until now.


The content and context of this piece follow the Trayvon Martin tragic story that has been unfolding the last few months.


I don't want to get into the story too much, but will let the images do the talking.  


Here are the first sketches I played around with.

 A more defined drawing. This showed more of what I was looking for in terms of a light and or target being cast.

I felt this wasn't quite there yet, I needed to incorporate Zimmerman, along with the whole concept of the community watch, and more importantly, "Who is watching the Community Watch?"  

Who's watching the Community Watch?

Well here is the final piece, I'm pretty happy with the way it came out. This whole story is just so screwed up.

Until next time...adios.

Rx Drug Abuse

Hi Diddly Ho Neighbors.  

I've been meaning to create some more editorial and topical pieces for my portfolio.

All one has to do is flip through a newspaper or magazine and something is bound to smack you in the face.

Lately, I think we all know prescription drug abuse is running wild in the streets.  Its easily accessible, just about everyone has a medicine cabinet and its something that is in the news just about every day.

Basically I wanted to create a piece that was relevant to this topic.

Here is a sketch.

I wanted to show the trappings of abuse, so why not trap someone in the pill jar.

 

A few work in progresseseses.... I pretty much drew the entire piece straight into Photoshop.  It's something I've been trying to do more and more, I can't get away from pencil drawings though.

There you have it...