FUZZYTOWN

SNORING EXPRESS

2012-02-07T10:50:00.000-05:00

Spent two very rewarding nights in Greg Pizzoli's studio and the end result of our labor was this poster. The official PA ONE BOOK SNORING EXPRESS 2012 TOUR poster modeled by Oskar.

Hand silk screened in four colors, this is the Miami Vice Edition. (Pretty sure I had a pair of JAMS in 8th grade that were this exact color palette and definitely got me noticed at Canobie Lake Park.) 12.5" X19" Limited to 150 copies.
I'll be giving these to Libraries and Schools that are hosting me during the Tour and probably put up a few for sale on my site. Below are a couple process shots.

Huge thanks to the Doctor for all his expertise, blood, sweat and tears.

BALTIMORE MAGAZINE

2012-02-01T15:08:00.000-05:00

Some spots for Baltimore Magazine an article on the Best jobs and careers to have in this crappy economy.
(L to R)
Hair Stylist, Advertising Exec, Personal Trainer, Programmer, Lawyer, and CEO

Not exactly surprising is it?

Wait a minnit?! I'm none of these!

FUZZYTINES 2K12 EDITION

2012-01-27T14:59:00.000-05:00

Do you like cute animals? How about bad puns? Of course you do!
Well, you can have both by going here and clicking on the FUZZYTINES link up top.
The Valentines will download to your desktop.

Print them out
Cut them out
Hand them out.

Valentines Day is coming so spread the love.

Happy Day from Fuzzytown!

100 $HOW

2012-01-17T21:07:00.000-05:00

I have a few pieces that will be up at the 100 $HOW at Wieden + Kennedy in Portland

on February 2nd. The show is an all drawing showcase and every piece of art is $100.

The best part is that 50% of the price goes to Mercy Corps

If you are in Portland you should go. If you aren't you can buy the on eBay. When I have the link to that I'll post it. For more info you and to preview the art you can check the Facebook page here.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

2012-01-06T11:00:00.000-05:00

I've posted this piece before, it is for the 2012 NPR calendar and now I have a huge pile of them sitting in my studio. My piece is "Mr. January"

so I would like to get them out of here before the end of the month.

Help me out!

Email me at:

zach@zohora.com

with your name and address and I'll send you one.

PA ONE BOOK GOODIES

2011-11-28T10:15:00.000-05:00

I've been working on some fun activities for the PA One Book Guide. Here's a peek at a Zoo Maze and some sticker ideas.

"Start Fishing, Bernard!" a fishing game with magnets and paperclips, where kids learn what otters eat. Bonus if you know that the rock is something they don't eat but use as a tool to open up shellfish and peel abalone from rocks.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!

2011-11-22T18:00:00.000-05:00

THANKFULNESS

2011-11-22T11:18:00.000-05:00

As Thanksgiving is fast approaching, I have lots to be thankful for, two cute little boys and an amazing wife. I'm also thankful for a holiday that promotes naps. I LOVE naps, so does Bernard and apparently Arianna Huffington loves both. Check this article from New York Magazine.

So this holiday, after you have hugged your family and are on the sofa, turn off football and indulge in a nap.

LOVE-A-RAMA

2011-11-02T11:15:00.001-04:00

This is a piece for Oxford American Magazine. Leon Bass is a Rockabilly performer who had a couple hits in the 60's and is from Alabama. He stopped performing in the 70's and worked a factory job.
In the late 90's producers from Hollywood contacted him about using one of his songs in a movie and with the renewed interest in his work, he began to perform again.
This is one of his more famous tunes.

NEW WORK IN THIS MONTHS PHILLY MAG

2011-11-01T11:13:00.000-04:00

What?! Your kid doesn't speak Mandarin?! New piece for the Nov ish of Philly Mag. Check out the article here. First person to correctly guess/translate what this little girls is asking gets a prize...yeah I know, another contest.

HALLOWEEN IN FUZZYTOWN

2011-10-24T22:05:00.001-04:00

It's almost Halloween here in Fuzzytown, can't wait for Trick or Treating but even better is the Halloween Parade the night before, and we will be Boogalooing all down the Avenue.

In the spirit of the season, six people will be chosen at random to win a treat!
Email me at zach@zohora.com with the phrase Trick or Treat in the subject line to enter.

WORLD'S FUNKIEST COVERS LP

2011-09-30T10:42:00.000-04:00

Just finished a fun project for Cultures of Soul Records a LP and CD cover for a comp called World's Funkiest Covers. Pretty dope selection of covers in a slew of styles. I can't wait to get a copy on wax. Pre-order and listen here.

And a couple of rough sketches and different directions below.

STROLLER SET

2011-09-23T11:56:00.000-04:00

This has nothing to do with illustration but I'm posting it anyway. Fake models working for a real magazine. Yep, that's me, Oskar and Teddy bringing up the rear. You can't tell from this angle, but Teddy's pants are full and he's eating Skittles left over from his birthday. And I fudged Oskar's model release because he said he didn't want to be in a magazine. Good parenting in action!
Click on the picture to see it bigger.
Photo by Ryan Donnell in the current issue of Philadelphia Magazine, superb design by J Southerland.

SOMETHING SPECIAL

2011-09-20T21:23:00.001-04:00

A couple weeks ago I had tweeted asking for a couple new followers for this blog. In order to entice new people to sign up, I promised something special in the mail. Well, I finally got around to sending those little "something specials" in the mail.

Congratulations and thank you's go to Andy Smith and Chris Silas Neal both awesome illustrators in their own right. Check out their work when you have a chance.

The prizes were; an accordion man painting on a vintage medical book page. (Pictured here) that went to Andy Smith. And a portrait of John Bonham also painted on a vintage medical book page went to Chris.
The one that went with the Led Zeppelin set that I blogged about last month.
(Full disclosure-Chris is a friend and also a drummer who loves John Bonham so that was an easy one)

Hope you guys enjoy your something specials and I'll do it again soon, keep an eye on Twitter.

NOT JUST DUST BUNNIES

2011-09-08T16:11:00.000-04:00

I went on a cleaning rampage last night and finally cleaned out the studio supply closet. At the back, behind the shelf and on the floor I found this drawing of a Blue Footed Booby and a picture of me in second grade with a missing tooth. This was my favorite flannel shirt as evidenced by the fact that I wore it to picture day for first, second AND third grade.

GETTIN' THE LED OUT

2011-08-31T10:13:00.000-04:00

Click on the picture to see it larger.

When I was 14 I had my first great love affair with Rock and Roll. And it was with Led Zeppelin.
Aside from the occasional Neil Young record or The Who, I listened to Zeppelin exclusively from my freshman year in high school through my junior year or whenever Nirvana's Nevermind came out.

Growing up in a religious fundamentalist, strict household, I was grounded to my room quite a bit and I spent endless hours drawing with Zep on my Walkman headphones. Of course that was illegal too, as Page had made a deal with **Satan (which was a bonus for me) but the plain fact was, they rocked!
** Jimmy Page lived in alleged Satanist Aleister Crowley's house, whose autobiography I relished, hidden inside my school text books, better to get busted for reading that at school than at home!

In fact, Rock and Roll in general was forbidden, being the devil's tool and all. I spent large portions of my meager paper route money replacing cassette tapes that had been confiscated and thrown out by my mom.
Looking back 20 odd years now, I realized two things, John Paul Jones was probably the coolest thing about that group and despite the overtly sexist, borderline racist tones, they still rock!

ROCK BLOCK

2011-08-27T21:13:00.000-04:00

As the winds are picking up and Hurricane Irene is bearing down on us, I finished a little image for our block party announcement. We have a great bunch of folks on our block and the party is lots of fun.
The event acts as a marker for the official end of summer so, its also a bittersweet one.

SMELLS LIKE FALL TODAY

2011-08-22T14:07:00.000-04:00

Fall is my favorite time of year, and this one is gearing up to be a good one. A detail of a book project due this Fall. Hope to show more soon.

YOU KNOW WHEN YOU ABSENTMINDEDLY DOODLE WHILE ON THE PHONE

2011-08-16T13:25:00.000-04:00

Oskar turned 4 last week, and we are still recovering from his superhero birthday bash. And he got his first tattoo. Guess what it says? I LOVE MOMMY

STOP SNORING BERNARD AT THE SOCIETY OF ILLUSTRATORS

2011-08-11T14:36:00.000-04:00

Found out yesterday that not only did Bernard get into the 2011 Original Art Show at the Society of Illustrators, he won the Founders Award to boot. Not bad for a little guy who naps and snores all day!

In all seriousness it is an honor to be listed among so many great people including Lane Smith (who received a Silver Medal) who inspired me way back in high school with the True Story of the Three Little Pigs.

POPSICLE BROTHERS

2011-08-03T09:54:00.000-04:00

It's so hot this summer, my little guys have developed a 3 to 4 popsicles a day habit. Gonna be a intervention here before school starts.

INSPIRATION

2011-07-27T15:10:00.000-04:00

Was in South Philly yesterday and found these little gems at Molly's in the Italian Market.
I only learned about Roger Duvoisin a couple years ago, incredible illustrator! Just a beautiful line and gorgeous composition. I wish these old books had every page in color instead of every other spread.

One of my favorite Richard Scarry books of all time, Rabbit and Friends, I scored two for a $1.25 each!

Another oldie but goodie.

And last but not least, I've never seen this one before, but its pretty much a perfect book and subtly teaches good manners.

THE BUNKER

2011-07-11T14:27:00.000-04:00

I've been slowly carving a little space in our basement for a bunker/man-cave area along with my tools and the random bicycle pump. Yes, I'm afraid I've reached that age where a small staking of territory is necessary and beneficial to the entire household.
Anyway, found some little wood scraps and made a little puzzle/gift for someone. One mans junk is another....

BANG IT'S THE 4TH

2011-07-05T15:44:00.000-04:00

Can't believe how fast the summer is going by. Independence Day was great, lots of good food, friends and family. Oskar had his first fireworks experience and discovered the joys of sparklers too. Picked this cake up at Genuardi's, it was the only one, not sure if it's because they only made one or it was so awesome I luckily got that last one?

YOUR KIDS ARE ANIMALS!

2011-07-05T15:33:00.000-04:00

A recent piece in this month's Philadelphia Magazine. Two best friends have kids. One kid is wild the other is not. Because of this, the friendship begins to crumble, a touchy subject is handled deftly via excellent art direction from Jesse Southerland and liberal use of animal stand-ins.

TIN HOUSE TEE

2011-06-23T11:03:00.000-04:00

Sneak Peek of a limited edition Tee Shirt for the folks at Tin House. Looking forward to rocking one of these myself later on this summer. Yes Virgina, that is a martini drinking gorilla on top of the house!

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY

2011-06-16T21:08:00.001-04:00

I was making a card for my Dad today, trying to get it done before the mailman stopped by.
Yeah, I know, kinda last minute, but that's the old man's style too.
I was thinking about a moment in my childhood when I felt completely safe and loved, and it was when my Dad would tuck our feet in on a cold New Hampshire night.
There was something soothing about having you feet bundled up in your blankets, even though you would move two minutes later and free them.
I find myself tucking Oskar's feet in at night, even when its not that cold.
I have a lot to be thankful as a Dad myself. Two beautiful little boys and an amazing wife. Or maybe its the other way around...

How did I get to be so lucky?

MISTER JANUARY

2011-06-07T12:31:00.001-04:00

Even though we are half way through 2011 I still feel like it just started. But 2012 is coming, as evidenced by the fact that I just finished a piece for the NPR calendar for 2012.
The assignment was pretty wide open and I sent these two sketches.

To my delight, they chose the burnt eggs one. This is sort of based on my personal NPR "driveway moment". In the morning I make eggs sometimes for Teddy and Oskar. While I'm sipping my first coffee I'll tune into NPR and I've burned a lot of eggs because I was so engrossed. This happens a lot. And it doesn't help that I don't eat eggs myself (yuck!) and I only learned how to cook them properly a couple years ago.

For various reasons we decided to make the gorillas into bears and I came up with this.

They thought the smoke was a bit heavy so I added a little texture to it.

And lastly, it was decided that the bear could look like he is enjoying himself a little more, so I added extra enjoyment.

They chose it for January which seems fitting. I was super psyched to work with everyone at NPR, everyone I had contact with had a great sense of humor and good suggestions to turn this into a fun piece.

And with all the flack that NPR has been getting from the Republicans, I was extra happy to contribute to their fund raising efforts.

For the record, ALL the funding that NPR receives from the Government would pay for 44 seconds of the Iraq war. But I digress....

Nilsson & Ameila

2011-06-03T14:42:00.000-04:00

I was in New York a couple weeks ago and I am super pumped to announce that a new book deal was struck with Nancy Conescu over at Penguin Books. Meet Nilsson and Ameila!
Nilsson is a sweet, well meaning gorilla with a propensity for gorilla sized fits.
Amelia is a little girl with the panache to help Nilsson control his more wild animal-like urges.
Or is it the other way around?
Find out in Summer 2013!

BOOK REPORT

2011-05-31T15:03:00.000-04:00

This is Luke, he's in the third grade, rides crazy scooter/skateboard hybrids and lives on our block.
He also has great taste in books.
He made this awesome diorama based on Stop Snoring, Bernard!
Seeing it took me back to making those projects in school, the shoebox diorama! So much fun!
Actually, its kind of what I do now come to think of it. Lucky me!

READING AT MOOMAH THURSDAY MAY 19TH

2011-05-13T13:20:00.000-04:00

Super excited about doing this reading at Moomah. They invited me to sit in their animation class for 6-9 year olds. In addition to reading the book I'll be giving a demo on how to draw Bernard. The kids are then going to take their drawings and make stop action animations with them. If you are in New York check it out!

CUPCAKES AND CAB RIDES

2011-05-09T12:15:00.000-04:00

Had a great time signing books at Books of Wonder on Saturday. Special thanks to Peter and the staff, who were gracious hosts. Oskar had a great time passing out stickers to every person who came in the store.

Had the pleasure of meeting legendary kids book illustrators Leo and Diane Dillon.

We also were blown away by Matthew Reinhart and his incredible pop-up books.
We snagged a super hero one and got it signed before we left.
To top it all off we got to hang with some good friends and Oskar had his first New York street hot dog, Mr Softie and a carousel ride in Bryant Park.

Asked what was his favorite part of the day?

The cab rides.

BOOKSIGNING THIS SATURDAY AT BOOKS OF WONDER

2011-05-03T10:46:00.000-04:00

First off, thanks to everyone who came out on Friday and made the reading at Character Development a success and lots of fun. This coming Saturday I've been invited by the amazing book store Books of Wonder in Manhattan to participate in Pop-ups and Picture Books. A bookreading, signing, and Q&A from 12-2. Come down and say hello and check out the work by two time Caldecott winners Leo & Diane Dillon, Amazing pop-up books by Matthew Reinhart and collage by Javaka Steptoe.

I'm especially excited to be bringing my son Oskar along, his first return to his birthplace and our first Father/Son adventure to New York.

100 Euro Show in Amsterdam

2011-04-27T21:12:00.000-04:00

I just sent off these little paintings to be included in the 100 € SHOW (the site currently has the old show info up) at Wieden + Kennedy Amsterdam. 50% of the proceeds will be donated to the Red Cross.
A great space and a great cause, I only wish I could jump on a plane to go to Amsterdam next month for the opening, but alas, I will eagerly await someone's Flickr set or Facebook set of the show.

These two are titled:

A Textbook case of Gorilla Hand
and
Oh Yeah?! You and what Army?!

These other two are titled:

Puddle Jumpers
and
Wolfie preps for an Apology

All of them are little paint studies on pages ripped from an old medical book. You can follow the developing content for the show here.

BOOKSIGNING THIS FRIDAY IN THE NARB

2011-04-26T21:03:00.000-04:00

Booksigning this Friday and some pics of the window installation. Hope to see you there.

BATHROOM NIGHTMARE

2011-04-15T16:31:00.000-04:00

I recently illustrated a hilarious story about a DIY bathroom renovation gone horribly wrong. Unfortunately, I have some experience in this area so it was easy to call upon memory to help come up with images.

First they needed a full page illustration with a disaster feel. The final is above and below are the sketch ideas.

The Psycho, inspired by the film of the same name. Although looking at it now, it reminds me more of the chain saw/bathroom scene in Scarface. A Flood and The Mole

They really liked the Flood and the Mole so I tossed out the ideas I had for the spot and used the Mole as basis for the spot. Here's the Spot final.

If you want to read the whole story, check it out here.

BERNARD HITS THE SHELVES

2011-04-12T14:05:00.000-04:00

Almost 3 years + 2 editors + 6 new spreads + 2 kids + 1 new house and - 1 cat = A book I'm pretty proud of. Here he is nestled on a shelf of that place that recently filed chapter 11. Snore on, Bernard, Snore on.

MOOMAH LOVES BERNARD

2011-04-08T14:40:00.002-04:00

Bernard continues to make a splash! I'm thrilled and honored to be loved by the folks at Moomah. An amazing place that is my fantasy hangout with my kids come to life.
Where else can you go where your kids can do art projects, and eat good organic food, all while you sip a carefully selected beer, wine or espresso?
Exactly.
They just launched an online Journal/Magazine and there's a feature on Bernard, check it out here.
Can't wait to visit and hopefully bring Oskar and Teddy too.

Special thanks to owner Tracey Stewart and super talented Lisel Jane for making me a part of the Moomah family. If you are in New York, and with your kids, bring them to Moomah, and tell them Bernard sent you.

TIME OUT NEW YORK REVIEWS BERNARD!

2011-04-07T14:32:00.001-04:00

Time Out New York Kids picks Bernard! Check it out on their site here.

READING AT CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT

2011-03-30T15:24:00.001-04:00

Announcing the first Book Reading and Signing Event for Spring. Friday April 29th at 4pm. At Character Development, a super cool kid's toy store in downtown Narberth. If you live in Narberth come by a get a free Bernard! sticker.

R.I.P. FAT FRANKIE

2011-03-23T15:51:00.000-04:00

Frankie was hit by a car yesterday and went on to, well, where ever it is cats go. He was a good cat and he went out the way he chose to live, outside, free and without borders.

Some called him fat, I preferred to think of him as big-boned.

If he wore clothes, he would of shopped at Men's Big & Tall.

He was so big he would drink water from his bowl lying down.

When he jumped over the kids safety gate, we would all jump up

thinking a shelf of books had fallen over.

But that didn't stop him from being a good hunter.

He kept many a mole and mouse out of our garden in the past few summers.

We'll miss you Frankie.

HEAD BANDS AND SNACKCYCLES

2011-03-18T14:12:00.000-04:00

Finished a sweet assignment for BYU's McKay Today. For an article on keeping kids fit through their lives as told by a PE teacher/life coach. The AD wanted something fun and light with healthy foods and exercise.

They needed three images and I sketched out three loose concepts. Above is a kids based one with fruits and even a grapefruit slice bicycle.

The next series was more directly a concept the AD had of using fruits and veggies as excercise equipment, my fav here is the bicycle driven snack machine. Seems like a good idea to patent.

And lastly the idea of a life coach who is over the top and training people in places that are not the gym. Like dinner while doing push-ups and chair pose at your desk without a chair.

Ultimately they ended up picking my three favorite illustrations of the bunch. The Bi-cep fruit boy at the top, the vending machine, and the grapefruit bike. He just asked that there be a range in age.

Here are the other two finals. Seems like I'm doing a lot of bikes lately? Weird.

Some Green Trees on St Patty's

2011-03-17T14:40:00.000-04:00

I don't call myself a designer, but occasionally I do illustrate/make some logos for folks. And I can never do it without serious consultation from Lydia who is a for real designer.
Here's a couple recent ones.

ARCADIA AND CO

2011-03-14T14:31:00.000-04:00

Thanks to everyone who came out to the show on Friday, it was a blast. Thanks Arcadia Peeps for all the press, great food and drinks. A fantastic night topped off with a few tacos from the Jose Garces taco truck, AMAZING! Here are a couple photos from the show courtesy of Mallory Anita Lawson and more of her pics on the Arcadia Blog here
And I'll post a FLickr set soon.

BONGO FURY!

2011-03-10T19:58:00.000-05:00

Just got back from hanging the show at Arcadia. Lots of love from Philly today. The show got mentioned in Daily Candy, highlighted as the visual arts thing to do for friday the 11th in City Paper, and some love on PW's blog too! Phew!
Hope to see you tomorrow night, it looks to be a fun time!

STAY FUZZY YA'LL!

2011-03-03T09:43:00.000-05:00

Wow. Super nice interview with the Arcadia Boutique peeps in support of the show next Friday.
Thank you Ali and Mallory for the great questions and insight.

WHAT THE DOG SAW

2011-03-02T11:57:00.001-05:00

Just finished a new piece for Canada's Cottage Life Magazine. An illustration for a Q&A page about wood bugs. Apparently a common problem in cottages in Ontario. They are roaches, but they eat wood, not food. Harmless but gross looking. They wanted a humorous piece that would show the bugs vacationing like the human occupants. Here's the final and sketches below.

Working on this piece reminded me of our apartment in Brooklyn. We had GIANT "water bugs" same thing as the wood bugs but they hung out around water. Going to the bathroom in the middle of the night, there might be a giant scary friend in the toilet waiting to greet you. Aggghhhh!!

CRITICAL MASS

2011-02-28T10:27:00.000-05:00

Details from a piece in this weeks BusinessWeek Magazine.
Hi tech gizmos for all kinds of bike riders.
Like HD helmet cams that also track you by gps.
If you make that sweet jump, you're gonna want all your friends on Facebook to see it and know the exact place on earth it happened.

Children's Review: Stop Snoring, Bernard!

2011-02-23T16:02:00.000-05:00

Really Nice review for Bernard at Shelf Awareness! Yeayy!! A quote and the whole review at the link below.

"This is a crowd-pleaser sure to send youngsters clamoring for more from snoring Bernard".--Jennifer M. Brown

Children's Review: Stop Snoring, Bernard!

DENTAL FLOSS TYCOON

2011-02-18T11:51:00.000-05:00

Another Zappa inspired piece for the show in March. This is probably one of Zappa's more known songs, it's like the gateway to Conceptual Continuity.

HAPPY NEW YEAR REPOST

2011-02-17T15:48:00.000-05:00

Just got these great pop-up New Years cards in the mail. I posted some of the art for this earlier but I'm just so excited about how these came out, I had to post the real thing well, crappy iphone shots of the real thing. Awesome design from Introduction!

BILLY THE MOUNTAIN

2011-02-16T16:24:00.000-05:00

Another fun piece for the Arcadia Show. Billy the Mountain from the "Just another Band from LA" album.

THE RAVIES

2011-02-15T15:07:00.000-05:00

In the messy aftermath of Valentines day, here is a little bit of order and clarity. This is 4 year old Raven La's ratings of the Fuzzytown Valentines cards. And I think I would vote much the same way, although "medium-cute" for that little platypus seems a little harsh. What do you think?

HAPPY VALENTINES DAY

2011-02-14T09:43:00.000-05:00

Its that time of year again. Don't worry, if you forgot to bring Valentines to work or you didn't receive as many as you should have, Fuzzytown has you covered.

Go to Fuzzytown click the Fuzzytines link on the menu and a full sheet of Fuzzytown Valentines will be delivered to your desktop.

Print them out. (preferably at work to save on ink)

Cut along the dotted lines. (even better have your intern do it)

Give them to loved ones

Or keep them for yourself. (You cubicle will be the envy of all, really!)

Stay Fuzzy!

THIS IS IT, WHAT CAN YOU DO THAT'S WORSE THAN THIS?

2011-02-11T09:48:00.001-05:00

I have a show next month at Arcadia Boutique in NoLibs and I've decided to do a series of paintings inspired by Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention. If they lived in FuzzyTown of course.
This is a reinterpretation of one of my favorite albums of his, Weasels Ripped My Flesh.
The original art is mind blowingly amazing, probably something I shouldn't touch, but I did anyway.

Here's the original artwork, so disturbing and amazing.

When Frank Zappa approached the artist Neon Park to create a cover, he showed him this cover of Man's Life, and said "This is it, what can you do that's worse than this?"

Terrifying image but strangely hilarious at the same time. So Weird. I wonder if this inspired the scene in the Big Lebowski when the Nihilists threw the ferret/weasel in the tub to torture The Dude.

YESSSSS!!!!!

2011-02-08T15:13:00.000-05:00

SOUTHERN FRIED HIP HOP U HEAR ME?

2011-02-07T15:33:00.000-05:00

I had the pleasure to do a quick turnaround piece for the Oxford American this past week. It's a portrait of the Southern hip-hop artist Ms. Peachez. "She" is a controversial cross dressing man from Louisiana who uses stereotypes of poor southern blacks to poke fun at hip-hop hits and the perception of the South in general. Or, at least thats what I think she's doing. Decide for yourself here and my favorite here.

I love doing pieces for Oxford American because they basically leave it up to you to deliver. No sketch approval phase, nothing, just straight for it. But with this freedom you can drift, I did an almost finished piece before scrapping it and starting over.

After thumbnailing a bunch of different directions, including some really bad ideas like a Ms. Peachez brand tub of fried chicken ala KFC. I decided this image below would be the one.

It was too busy, so I cropped it and started dropping in some flat color areas to see if it would level out a bit.

Something still wasn't right. It was a little too detailed and looked like some weirdo coloring book uh, boring. So it was back to the drawing board.

And the final piece. I thought a more traditional, almost, formal portrait would balance the zaniness and of the subject. Well, that and some cute flowered stretch pants.

GO BERNARD!

2011-02-07T14:54:00.000-05:00

Found out that "Stop Snoring, Bernard!" received it's first review today and it was from Publishers Weekly no less. They called it "A promising debut" among other things. Full review over at the Stop Snoring, Bernard! blog.

HAPPY YEAR OF THE RABBIT

2011-02-03T10:11:00.002-05:00

You may have noticed there have been a lot of bunnies on the blog, its like they keep multiplying like, well er, uh, ahem.... plus its the Year of the Rabbit. But mostly it's because they are cute and fuzzy.
This illustration is for a pop up Chinese New Year card for Oscar Printing Company also known as OPP. (You down with OPP? Yeah, you know me.)
Not reflected here, but the card is beautifully designed by Sara and Lydia at Introduction Design.

WHAT HAPPENS IN VEGAS

2011-02-01T14:36:00.000-05:00

This morning, Oskar and I were playing with the vintage Fisher Price sets that he got from Santa.
Santa is an amateur when it comes to eBaying but hes pretty damn sure that all those other people out there bidding astronomical figures for old Fisher Price toys are PROBABLY not buying them for kids to play with. Anyway, the train pulled into Vegas in time to catch a show and what a show it was, btw for you "collectors" out there, I'm aware that those square guys are Playskool, so chill.

DEAD IN THE WATER

2011-02-01T14:22:00.000-05:00

Sometimes even when the client likes your illustration its not right for the clients brand.
This is some packaging I illustrated that got killed. I've removed the company and product name that was in the steam cloud because the product is still in development. Too bad, it was still fun to work on and I'm happy with the result. Especially as there were a lot of parameters with the packaging I had to keep in mind for the design. For example, the white space over the creatures face is a cutout that reveals the products great googly eyes.

PACK IT UP, PACK IT IN, LET US BEGIN

2011-01-31T12:04:00.000-05:00

The Stop Snoring, Bernard! blog has moved.

Don't worry, we aren't going to try to lure you with a pizza and a six pack to help us, its all done.

Bernard! was hosted on Tumblr and I didn't post much, as I couldn't get into their interface.

So I moved it over to Blogger. The url is the same, stopsnoringbernard.com so that makes it easy, and anyone following this blog, who wants to follow Bernard can do so easily.

I promise to try not have overlapping content. See you over there!

FUZZYTOWN SNOW BLOWER

2011-01-29T21:10:00.000-05:00

MIX TAPE

2011-01-14T22:01:00.000-05:00

Made a little mixtape for a good friend in L.A. Something that reminded me of him and evoked a sunny lazy day in L.A. It will be up on my ftp for a few days, get it here, if you are so inclined.

TIN HOUSE BLOG

2011-01-12T16:14:00.001-05:00

This is sort of a repost. At least as far as the image is concerned. The nice people of Tin House publishing wanted to use this artwork as the main heading for their new blog. (The people part, I didn't do the stacked books logo, but I think they work well together. )
It was an image I did for fun and its rare, but really great, when someone wants to pay for something you already did. Here's to 2k11 being all about that!

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERY BUNNY

2011-01-07T10:19:00.000-05:00

Happy Year of the Rabbit! er....BUNNY! We are going bunny crazy, you know how they do!

Another year has sped by and here in Fuzzytown we are wearing lots of hats, shedding baggage and looking forward to lots of new stuff this year, Stop Snoring, Bernard! will be out just before Tax Day, take advantage of those prolonged tax cuts and get yourself and a loved one a copy.

In other news, I'm getting ready for a show in March with Jesse Southerland, more info on that as we get closer, and rumors of a group show in Amsterdam with the Pencil Factory Mob. Also some special giveaways coming up. Stay tuned!

THE SOCIAL NETWORK

2011-01-05T10:03:00.000-05:00

WOLFPACK

2010-12-22T10:21:00.000-05:00

Holiday Parties bring them together.

JUST LIKE BULLIT

2010-12-16T14:29:00.000-05:00

All this freezing, grey weather is getting me down. I keep thinking about that Stones song "Winter" from Goats Head Soup, "I wish I was out in California, when all the lights on the Christmas trees are out."

And I've been staring at this, little bit of the Bay Area on a balmy afternoon.

THE BLUE TOBOGGAN

2010-12-08T12:24:00.000-05:00

Growing up in New Hampshire, sledding was serious business. One year my sister got a blue toboggan for Christmas and it was the fastest sled this side of the White Mountains. When my youngest sister was little, all three of us could ride it. It was unbeatable! Except when conditions were right, we might get overtaken by a surprise saucer attack.

POST TURKEY WARM UP

2010-11-30T15:04:00.000-05:00

A little placard for the infamous Conversation Mobile now up at Arcadia Boutique in picturesque NoLibs.

Some New Friends Just Showed up in the Studio

2010-11-17T13:03:00.000-05:00

PROCESS

2010-11-15T23:13:00.000-05:00

Bringing the Heat

2010-11-10T09:33:00.000-05:00

New piece for Oxford American's music ish. A portrait of The Black Haze Express. This was a perfect assignment for me. Illustrating a super rare almost non-existent funk group. They released only two 45's in low pressing numbers. They are most famous for Won't Nobody Listen which was included on the "What it is?! Comp from a couple years ago.

Black Haze Express is really one man Sam Dees. Who has written and recorded tons of hits, mostly for other people. Like One in a Million by Larry Graham. Needless to say there are like, two lo-res photos in existence of these guys and that's where we illustrators come in.

Illustration Week

2010-11-08T15:58:00.000-05:00

Apparently it's been deemed illustration week in New Yawk by Mayor Bloomberg. As it happens, I will be up there this Thursday to attend the American Illustration Party and to rock this party on the ones and twos with none other than Ted McGrath. Hope to see you there.
More info here. Amazing flyer by Jennifer Daniel. Can't wait!

Hats can Muffle your Thoughts

2010-11-02T09:49:00.000-04:00

It's Not you, it's Me.

2010-10-26T10:29:00.000-04:00

Above our kitchen table we have framed pictures, mostly family. But there is one that is a drawing I did when I was like four or so. And its one of my clearest early drawing memories. I drew this cook, cooking hotdogs, with blue pen. I was so proud of drawing it without pencil first, its seemed so bold, then to my horror I realized I had given him three legs.

Flying high off a double espresso and my second bowl of rice krispies, I decided to do an adult take on the drawing.

It seemed everyone had a friend but him, he didn't even have an umbrella

2010-10-26T09:33:00.000-04:00

Treats

2010-10-16T10:42:00.000-04:00

Just in time for Halloween. Grrrrilla Hands Tees in Pink Eraser and Mello Yellow Stereo version or Mono Black. Be the envy of parents handing out candy everywhere.

Get it in Stereo here.

Get it in Mono here.

STOOL SAMPLE

2010-10-14T18:21:00.002-04:00

We have had this little step stool kickin around. Maybe its a little milking stool? I don't know, but Lydia has hated it since the day I trash picked it in Brooklyn. Finally got around to painting it. Hopefully this will change her opinion.

Stop Snoring, Bernard! Blog

2010-10-12T14:29:00.002-04:00

Getting a separate Stop Snoring Bernard! blog off the ground in anticipation of the book release in the Spring. Its going to be all things Bernard, behind the scenes, sneak peeks of upcoming Bernard projects and any other relevant news. Check it out here. Updates to come soon.

DESIGN PHILLY WINDOW PROJECT

2010-10-05T10:45:00.001-04:00

My mobile is up in Old City. Its titled "The Conversation" and its in a competition as part of a Design Philly event that is happening for the month of October. If you are in Philly, stop by and see the window, its at 126 N Third Street in Olde City Investments.

Vote for me by Text or online here. And come down to the opening reception this Friday.

October 8
Dane Decor
315 Arch Street
6-9pm

Here are some bad photos that I took the day of installation, its alot more fun in person, have to get back at night and take a proper one.

BACK TO SCHOOL

2010-09-30T16:42:00.000-04:00

Cover of this weeks Stranger. This almost never happens, but I had posted the B+W sketch of this piece for fun some time ago. And somebody calls and wants to use it. Hooray! Getting paid for something you already did for fun is, well, pretty fun. Thanks Stranger!

I KNOW, I KNOW ITS WAYYYY EARLY

2010-09-30T11:35:00.000-04:00

To even think about anything holiday related. But I had to post this poster that I illustrated, and Lydia Ricci did an amazing design job on. Oh! and Happy 100th posting to me.

FOUR TWENTY

2010-09-29T08:32:00.002-04:00

Just finished a few illustrations for the lovely UK magazine Amelia's. A sampling of people and things that one might find at the Seattle Hempfest. These were partly based on photos of the Festival that they provided. Probably half of the people at Hempfest slept on my stoop or left garbage behind when I lived on Haight Street. I miss SF and the Haight some days, doing this job reminded me that I don't miss wanker trust fund babies from Connecticut, slumming it for a while, on my front steps. They always had the cutest puppies though.

TALKING HEADS

2010-09-24T12:21:00.000-04:00

A couple of shots of the beginning of a mobile thats going to be on display next week as part of DESIGN PHILLY. Its really fun to work with Balsa wood, its like butta. I know this looks nothing like a mobile a this point, more pics to come when its assembled...(the hard part!)

I Didn't Know it was Going to be THAT kind of Party

2010-09-21T21:37:00.000-04:00

Autumn Returns

2010-09-17T11:41:00.000-04:00

Its feeling like fall. My favorite time of year. Its still warm in the daytime, dry, and cools off at night for good sleeping. The smell of fireplaces and the return of clothing. In a word, Crispness. Love it.

Thought it was time for a new banner to reflect that a bit.
Some new things I'm finishing up to post soon.

LABOR DAY

2010-08-31T13:54:00.000-04:00

Summer is fading fast. Get out there and grill before its too late.

The Twins Always get nervous crossing Checkpoint Charlie.

2010-08-27T09:10:00.000-04:00

This reminds me of Berlin, which reminded me that its going on almost ten years since I lived there. Time flies no matter what. For at least five years after, I had intense dreams of being lost, even in my old neighborhood of Kreuzberg. I knew the streets like the proverbial back of my hand but they were always changing in the dream. Intense anxiety trying to get home or get to the airport.
I still have the same dream every once in a while.

Clipboard People

2010-08-25T20:28:00.001-04:00

A spot for Philadelphia Magazine for an article about those annoying hordes of clipboard people who shame you into donating to charity on your way to work. Turns out they are paid, and work for a for-profit company that collects money for non-profits.

Quick Studies

2010-08-25T14:41:00.000-04:00

Summertime Part Two

2010-08-02T21:45:00.000-04:00

NARBERTH SURROUNDED

2010-07-29T21:24:00.001-04:00

Democracy at its finest. The people spoke and now The Narberth poster is available in two print sizes and as a Tee shirt at Society 6.
Get yours here.

Narberth

2010-07-27T11:20:00.000-04:00

Found this in the attic. Think I'll get it framed.

Future Shock!

2010-07-19T09:05:00.000-04:00

A piece for the Oxford American. They asked a few illustrators to illustrate what they thought buildings would be like in 2050.
I was thinking about this and went forward with a theory about structures being made of living tissue from animals. Very traditional in a way, but the fact that the skin is kept alive and not dead is where it gets interesting.

Stop Snoring, Bernard!

2010-07-16T14:14:00.000-04:00

Well, the F& G's are finally here. Pub date is officially 4/12/11. Here are a few sneak peeks. I'm extremely happy with the printing job and the paper.

Super Dad

2010-07-15T09:25:00.000-04:00

Another couple pieces for the Improper Bostonian. A dad to be, decides to learn as much as possible before his child arrives. His quest brings him to a whale spotting class, instructions on driving a city bus and more practical ones like infant cpr. The article wasn't completed at the time of the assignment but there were plenty of visuals with the little info I got.

AN ISLAND DIVIDED

2010-06-21T13:23:00.000-04:00

Just finished up a couple pieces for the Improper Bostonian. An essay on the two sides of Martha's Vineyard and the types of folks who identify with either group. The AD went with this concept of well known lighthouses from either island getting ready to tussle. I learned a couple things too, that Islanders refer to UP and DOWN island even though it runs East to West. And everywhere that is not Martha's Island is just called OFF ISLAND. Hilarious.
Plus a couple little details that I added for my own amusement.

WORK IN PROGRESS

2010-06-16T16:42:00.000-04:00

And you thought those were just carrots.