SOCIETY OF ILLUSTRATORS 54
EDITORIAL JURY
ILLUSTRATOR
Wesley Allsbrook was born and raised in North Carolina. She received her BFA with honors from the Rhode Island School of Design, and moved quickly thereafter to Brooklyn, where, in the kitchen of her railroad apartment she works primarily on editorial work. She garnered many accolades and inclusions in prestigious annuals (ADC Young Guns, the Society of Illustrators, AI, 3x3, Communication Arts). While she has been a competition judge in previous years, this is her first time judging for the Society.
ILLUSTRATOR
Barry Blitt is frequently an illustrator. His work has appeared on the cover of The New Yorker and in Vanity Fair, The New York Times, Entertainment Weekly, and Garden & Gun. He is the illustrator of Once Upon a Time, the End (Asleep in 60 Seconds) by Geoffrey Kloske, The Adventures of Mark Twain by Huckleberry Finn by Robert Burleigh, and other picture books.
ILLUSTRATOR
Chris Buzelli was born and raised on the south side of Chicago. When he was young, he painted alongside his grandfather, an early influence. After graduating from Rhode Island School of Design, Chris moved to New York City to start his career as an illustrator. His oil paintings have appeared in many national and international publications, books, and for design/ad agencies projects. Some of his clients include Rolling Stone, TIME, The New York Times, Tor, Macy’s, Sony, Facebook, United Airlines, and MGM Resorts. Chris currently shows his original paintings in various galleries throughout the U.S. and teaches once a week at RISD and the School of Visual Arts. He lives in New York City with his wife, SooJin, and their mini-pinscher, Sota.
ART DIRECTOR,
THE NEW YORK TIMES
Kelly Doe is currently focusing on cross-platform branding at The New York Times. Along with her web, video, and print work there, she recently completed the re-design and re-launch of the International Herald Tribune. Kelly began a collaborative studio in 1995 that has since worked with clients such as the National Archives, the museums of the Smithsonian Institution, and Sotheby’s Institute of Art/London, as well as a wide range of newspapers, book, and print publishers. Her work has been recognized by awards in the worlds of advertising, editorial, and fine art.
ILLUSTRATOR, DESIGNER
Alessandro Gottardo, aka Shout, lives and work in Milan, creates visual art projects for advertising campaigns, design projects, and publishers worldwide. He has received several awards, particularly in the United States, including the David P. Usher Memorial Award, three Gold Medals and three Silver Medals from the Society of Illustrators, as well as the Gold Medal from the Society of Publication Designers Spot Competition. He published a monograph Mono Shout in 2010 with the Italian publisher 27_9.
CREATIVE DIRECTOR, MORE
Debra Bishop currently manages a re-design at More magazine. As design director and a creator of Blueprint magazine for Stewart Living Omni-media, she also created branding for Martha Stewart Baby, Kids: Fun Stuff to do Together, Body&Soul, and Martha’s first catalog: Martha by Mail. She previously worked for House & Garden, Rolling Stone, and Paula Scher. Awards include: the Art Director’s Club, the Type Director’s Club, AIGA, American Photography, and the Society of Illustrators. Kids: Fun Stuff to do Together won an ASME for design in 2005 and was named “Magazine of the Year” by the Society of Publication Designers in 2004 and 2005. Blueprint received the same award in 2008. Her catalog work can be seen in Catalog Design:The Art of Creating Desire, by Dianna Edwards and Robert Valentine.
POINT 5 DESIGN
Alissa is from Cleveland, Ohio, and graduated from the Rhode Island School of Design. She began her career in Los Angeles as the lead designer at the Santa Monica Museum of Art. In 1997, Alissa moved to New York to launch Point Five, a studio specializing in design with an educational or cultural focus. At Point Five, Alissa has designed and art directed a variety of publications and institutions, including Columbia Journalism Review, Harvard Divinity School, Lapham’s Quarterly, Listen magazine, The Paris Review, and Princeton University.
ILLUSTRATOR
A graduate of Pratt Institute, Roberto Parada has created illustrations for the likes of Esquire, Rolling Stone, TIME, Newsweek, Sports Illustrated, and others. His work has appeared in the Society of Illustrators annual books and American Illustration. In his lectures, Roberto also advocates safer studio materials since his successful bone marrow transplantation in 2004. The probable cause of his illness was from extensive exposure to paint thinners. Roberto is now cured and lives with his wife and son in Arlington, Virginia.
CREATIVE DIRECTOR,
BLOOMBERG MARKETS
Before joining Bloomberg Markets magazine, Siung was the Creative Director for ESPN The Magazine, and had been the Deputy Art Director at Rolling Stone. Earlier, he held art director positions at Calvin Klein’s CRK Advertising, as well as at Barneys New York. He has won awards from the Society of Publication Designers, AIGA, The Type Directors Club, Communication Arts, Print, and Folio.
GOLD MEDAL WINNER
MARC BURCKHARDT
Overfishing
This image accompanied a short, humorous essay on the subject of overfishing by the actor and activist Ted Danson, in which he describes both the problem of overharvesting and his personal struggle to avoid ruining other people’s dining experience by lecturing them on the subject. I tried to combine the humor of his writing and the gravity of the problem in a classic Dutch still-life style that evokes the history of abundance.
GOLD MEDAL WINNER
JASON HOLLEY
Animal Man
Art director Peter Morance called me up with my idea of a dream assignment for The New York Times: “It’s about animals, and that’s all we have at the moment,” he said. It was to be the cover of a special section that would include several articles pertaining to animals, and it needed to be an image that could encompass them all. Miraculously, the editors and I had very similar thoughts about what kind of illustration to make, so the sketch sailed through, and Peter brought the whole thing together brilliantly.
GOLD MEDAL WINNER
SAM WEBER
Cleopatra
Cleopatra is one of history’s most alluring and mysterious figures. The original concept behind this painting, one of only a handful of illustrated National Geographic covers, was to express the myth of Cleopatra conceptually while avoiding the constraints inherent in having to be specific. With very little visual evidence to build upon, we wanted to show her strength and character while evoking the mystery that has become synonymous with her legend and name. Although some slight evidence has surfaced over the years to tell us a little of what she may have looked like, there certainly wasn’t enough to recreate an accurate portrait. This was actually quite liberating, in that I was able to paint an image rooted more in an emotional quality than as a factual representation.
SILVER MEDAL WINNER
JOHN CUNEO
Julip
A drawing for the monthly “Good Dog” column, where Southern authors write about their pets. Julip was an independent Mississippi bird dog who loved to hunt—just not with her owner, and not for birds.
SILVER MEDAL WINNER
EDWARD KINSELLA
Beck
Commissioned for Wired magazine’s “Play” section for an article about how Beck Hansen infected the work of other musicians. This image was important for me as it marked the solidifying of a change in my approach to commissioned work.
SILVER MEDAL WINNER
DAVID PLUNKERT
A Snapshot of Human Mating Habits in the Digital Age
A phallocentric headset device allows for sex that’s all in the mind, visually summarizing the article “A Snapshot of Human Mating Habits in the Digital Age.”
Your Ship Has Sailed
The basic premise of the article highlighted the challenges and difficulties of elderly artists and performers to stay relevant in their fields. With symbolic metaphor and a little bit of surrealism, this image tells the emotional story of being past one’s prime.
CEO Transition
This image accompanied an article about company mismanagement and CEO transition in the April 2011 issue of Plansponsor. I wanted not only to capture the concept of transition, but also the inherently empty void when there is a change in leadership. Many thanks to SooJin Buzelli, the wonderful art director.
The Balance of Power
This piece began as an interpretation of the David and Goliath story, showcasing a small, seemingly disadvantaged man giving the giant his due. The idea was inspired by an old tale set in the Dust Bowl era in which a poor farmer seeks revenge on a corrupt, wealthy entrepreneur who stole his house and land. It serves as a fitting story considering the current state of affairs in our country. Must say thank you to Jason Treat for publishing the image.
Biblical Letter
Organ of Change
Newt Gingrich
Sound of Sarah
California’s Realignment Project
Benefitting from Others’ Experience
As many artists have said before, working with SooJin Buzelli is always a treat; she takes complex, often dry material and boils it down to a simple, elegant mission statement, in this case: “Benefitting from the experience of others.” The real story involved the intricacies of investment funds and long-term portfolio balancing—yawn! I tried to tell the story in an intriguing way that pulled the reader in, and paid off on the other side. Looks like it worked.
Strength in Numbers
This painting was for an article about the benefits of employers joining multiple employer plans.
Drawn to Dogs
It’s no secret I’m a dog person. And I’ve always been a fan of Bark magazine. This Pug painting was for an article called “Drawn to Dogs.” It was about a professional cat-sitter and self proclaimed cat-lover who fell in love with a Pug while dog-walking him in New York City.
My Life as a Dog
This drawing was for an article about “Splash,” the late Senator Edward Kennedy’s Portuguese Water Dog, and the intern who had to impersonate him.
Kidnapped and Buried Alive
This painting accompanied a true story about a man named Mike who was kidnapped and buried alive for five days. Ants were biting his hands and eyelids while he was buried in a small box in the ground. He lost 23 pounds, but was eventually rescued by an inquisitive cop.
China’s Arrogance, Power and Consequence
This painting accompanied an article about the growing geopolitical arrogance of China towards other Asian countries, and its growing pride as a rising power in the world.
Another Day at the Office
Camera Phones
This is a typical assignment for me: technology, an article about camera phones. What I love to do when art directors and editors are receptive, is to solve the problem in a way the reader can understand, but also in an unexpected way. Obvious, but not simple. Distilled, not overdone. Austere problem solving.
My Monster, My Self
With our tiny screens and cellphones, we have become prosthetic gods, the whole world in our handhelds. Are we not also monsters?
Staying on the Right Path
Tiger’s Revenge
Scars
Finding the Best Provider
Nutcracker in a Sauna
David Syrek, the art director, asked me to create a cover image based on “winter pleasures,” the theme of the issue—ways to find comfort and joy during Chicago’s frigid winters. One of the articles dealt with saunas, which became the springboard for this idea.
Have You Outgrown Your Golf Course?
Big Fish
Dog Meet Dog
Digging for Dollars
I remember pretty well the process for this project because the first round of sketches was a complete disaster. Everything I’d sent was the exact opposite of what art director Ted Keller was looking for. My pride was wounded, for sure, even though I knew it was only a simple misunderstanding. The second one went a lot better, with three sketches in the target. All three shared a more graphic approach than most of my work at the time, an approach I was to use more and more.
Capitalists Who Fear the Free Market
Threats and Dangers for Retirement
History of LDI
Betty Ford
Martha Stewart
Peace Prize
Gerald Celente, author and publisher of The Trends Journal, is known for his provocative and controversial take on current events. He is a popular voice in the alternative media, boldly speaking truth to power. I tried to re-enforce his concepts by providing visuals that captured the humor, irony, and fearlessness of his work.
Too Big to Fail
The colloquial term used to justify bailing out private banks with public funds provided the inspiration for this painting. I used acrylic paint and Prismacolor pencil on a vintage blackboard to deliver my “lesson” on the subject.
Now About That Oil…
Mad 20 “The Year We Ran Out of Money”
The editor-in-chief of Mad magazine, John Ficcara, wanted to do a parody of Nirvana’s “Nevermind” album cover, featuring the baby underwater—for quite some time. Art director Sam Viviano asked me to illustrate Obama, sans penis, as the baby grasping at the dollar bill. I was directed to convey more of a sense of anxiousness on Obama’s expression, rather than desperation. The dollar represents debt, greed, and loss. Getting the subtlety of the expression of anxiousness was the most difficult part of the art to accomplish.
Humans Have it Bigger
I Love Japan
The Day I Felt the Richest
Resolution
The Assassination of Bin Laden
The Art of Agatha Christie
Child Abuse Within Child Protection Organizations
This is an illustration for a magazine for child protection workers. The art director gave me carte blanche to come up with an image to accompany two combined articles, both dealing with cases of child abuse within child protection organizations. My challenge was to make an illustration that showed both protection and abuse, yet not make it too horrifying, or even worse—dull.
Obesity
This is an editorial illustration for an article on obesity in a magazine for seniors. I was given a fairly open brief. The only restriction the art director gave me was to “make sure it remains tasteful.”
Meeting Toby
Department of Visual Communication
Less is More
Swallowed by the Sea
Bee
Lunch with Father
Mick Jagger
Pandora’s Champion
Commissioned by Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine for a short story about a boxer who loses his confidence.
Spring Spending
Tweet Science: Converting Tweets into Cash Before Its Moment Passes
This drawing has more brush strokes in it than any other image I have ever done for publication. I hope that I never have to do anything like it again. Ever. That said, Mark Alan Stamaty’s Who Needs Donuts puts this doodle to shame.
Urban Woodsman
This painting imagines the urban woodsman finding an actual use for his retro gear in case of an apocalypse. Good luck, hipster.
Children’s Book Writer
It’s a Small World
In Martyrium
Deviant Men
The theme of this illustration is how powerful people take advantage of their position through sexual harassment. This illustration, executed in acrylic, shows the hidden faces of these characters.
Amina
This illustration was created for an article about Amina, the Syrian lesbian blogger, who was revealed to be a married man living in Scotland. To show the deception, I decided to paint an ambigram image in acrylic, showing in the same image the Syrian girl and the Scottish man.
When is Safe Too Safe
The article was about too many regulations and safeguards that get in the way of productivity. I was thinking how silly it would look to have a huge guy with all kinds of floaties on, afraid to go in the water. Sometimes it seems the most absurd ideas just fit.
Under Pressure
It’s always nice to ease back into work with one of SooJin Buzelli’s illustrations. I’d had a great break on holiday at the cottage in Canada. Great to unplug a bit, turn down a few illustration jobs and just get lost. Upon my return, jumping right into the thumbnails was a great way to get back in gear. This article was about the squeeze Euro companies are feeling on their benefits and retirement plans. Sometimes the most obvious directions work the best. SooJin said that the article had been put on hold for some reason. Rarely do you get a chance to look at something again after you’ve finished. I opened up the file and played around with darkening up the backgrounds. I liked the feeling this gave the illustration and thought it might work better with the type as well, so I sent it off to SooJin to get her take on it. Altogether, I think it made for a stronger cover design.
O Basil E Acqui
Art director Maria Cecelia Marr wanted a shocking emotional cover for a story about the terrible rains and flooding in Brazil. Some people were dying inside their cars in Sao Paulo’s usual traffic jams and in Rio due to mudslides. The worst is that heavy summer rains are natural, not a surprise. But the cities are growing too much, too fast, and people either construct in places that are dangerous or just construct too much, leaving insufficient garden areas to absorb the water. A very sad situation.
Resurrection
This drawing started off as an idea to take something disturbing and try to cover it up with something beautiful. Sort of a masking of the harsh reality of death but also a symbol of resurrection as well. I thought this might make for a little series of its own. Taking evil or disturbing images and covering them with flowers.
The Disappointment
Soviet Chimpman
In the Soviet Union during the 1940s and early ’50s, experiments were made to see if a human could be bred with a chimp to create an army of hybrid soldiers. It didn’t work, but the mind wonders what might have come from this messing with nature? For Playboy.
Vampire Economy
This is a collaboration with Tim Luddy of Mother Jones. The idea is that there are structures built into our economy that bleed money from it, the so-called, “Vampire Economy.” The super-rich are sucking us dry.
Gadaffi for TIME
A cover for TIME about the demise of Gaddafi. The idea started as an hourglass, but it just didn’t look like him without his hair and costuming. When I removed the hourglass, the idea just surfaced.
Osama Bin Laden
This TIME cover was commissioned nine years ago by then-art director Arthur Hochstein. Bin Laden was believed to have been killed in Tora Bora, but the wait for confirmation went from hours to days to months and then years. Arthur sent me a text the night Bin Laden was killed. We were both excited that this piece would run (something confirmed by D.W. Pine, the current art director at TIME), but mostly we were all relieved that this long national nightmare was over.
The Bank of Europe Needs Money
The piece was a commission for the Sunday section of the Spanish newpaper La Vanguardia. I was working with a very tight deadline and limited information, having only the title to work from. This was the first idea that came to me, as I felt nothing would have represented the concept of economic crisis better than empty spaces.
Undertow
Francisco Goldman’s Say Her Name is a true story of a husband who loses his wife to an accident at sea. The story isn’t so much a tale of mourning as it is a joyful remembrance by a man in love with a wonderful human being. He describes her in such a way that anybody who has ever experienced the sensation of love can’t help but feel something moving in his or her own chest. For the article in the New York Times Book Review, I joined the image of the bride’s wedding dress with an image of the sea where she lost her life.
Soup Can
Andy Warhol is dead, and so is Postmodernism. The two nuns mourn Warhol’s iconic Campbell’s soup can in a color environment that recalls Warhol’s palette.
Chimney Sweep
A cover for Angie’s List magazine about crooked chimney sweeps. The issue dealt with exposing companies that underperform, push unnecessary products, and treat customers with no regard.
Muammar Gaddafi Cover
Of all the dictators caught up in the Arab Spring, Gaddafi was the first to meet a violent and bloody end. I wanted to get that across in some way, and the idea of his face, bloodied and melting away, seemed fitting. It was published on the cover of Newsweek International.
Tourist Crossing the Delaware
My humble (and silly) homage to the great Emanuel Leutze’s heroic painting, Washington Crossing the Delaware. This piece was done for an article about visiting Revolutionary War sites. It was a fun exercise in repurposing a classic.
Lost Daddy
Lost Daddy by Joyce Carol Oates is the story of a demented father who takes his unwitting son for a walk in the woods. At the ruins of an abandoned amphitheater, the father taunts his cowering son, quoting scripture and Macbeth’s “Oh hell-kite all!” He then threatens the boy with a sharp, pointed tree branch. I photographed the model from a low angle and transformed his eyes and nose into menacing bird-like features.
Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother
Balloon
The Man Who Sailed His House
Junkyard
Jay-Z
Herbert Warren Wind
Art director Tim Carr from Golf World gave me a few reference photos and fewer hours to come up with some sketches for a portrait of the late golfer and writer Herbert Warren Wind. I chose to draw his reflection to suggest the fact that Herbert is no longer with us, but, not having worked for Tim before, I was concerned that it could be seen as an odd response to a portrait commission. Happily, Tim liked it and I got to draw an upside-down picture of the guy that named the treacherous Amen Corner at Augusta National Golf Club.
Japan Tsunami
Insomnia
Because It’s Steep
Washington Post
Golf and Risk
Golf and Risk
Dave and Bull
Question to the “Texanist,” a column in Texas Monthly: “I’m a fifth grade teacher in Houston and recently failed in an attempt to plan a field trip to the Houston Rodeo. Two of my colleagues refused to sign off on the plan because they view the rodeo as being cruel to animals. I disagree. Am I wrong? Is the rodeo really cruel?”
Buddha
Bill’s coping strategy: Take a deep centered breath, shut your eyes and relax your mind. In the mental state created there will arise a miracle. You will be able to put off everything you are supposed to do.
Lizard Lust
“Lizard Lust, my reptilian mind says it’s time to get a new bow.” A story about desire and the lack of logic.
Birds of a Feather
Man on Back
This illustration was one of a series of four figures done for the inside front and back covers of Carrier Pigeon magazine. In this particular illustration, I tried to create a dynamic composition by viewing the figure from an extreme angle and perspective to make it appear larger then life. It was a pleasure to work with Russ Spitkovsky on this assignment, and it was a joint creative effort. This piece is a monoprint.
Rotten Beast
Naming All the New Species on Earth
When Peter Morance called with a story about how there are still many unidentified species that need classification, it seemed a great opportunity to create a new character. Who knows, maybe he will appear again.
Toy Boy
Alberto Notarbartolo from Internazionale magazine asked me to illustrate “The Widow,” a short story written by Hanif Kureishi. The story is about a young man having an affair with an older woman, focusing particularly on oral sex. After a few encounters, the young man reports that his tongue “had become blistered and swollen, as worn and spoiled as a pub carpet,” and he subsequently calls it “my Stradivarius of a tongue.” I thought the element of the tongue was really interesting and fun to play with, so I made a portrait of my boyfriend (who’s actually a young man) and put a long tongue around him almost as if he’s wearing a tie. For a final touch, I added my red glasses as a signature of the piece.