What's the deal?

As some of you know, I haven't been the most ardent keeper of my blog. There's a number of explanations (excuses) I could pilfer from to explain my abscence-the biggest being my involvement in some book illustration projects i've been entreched in for the past year. A couple of them I can share with you, some I can't...

Last year I was approached by Quirk Books with an offer to illustrate a new addition to their Secret Lives series, The Secret Lives of the Supreme Court. It was easily the most extensive project I've ever been involved in; 35 two color illustrations + cover art. With some luck, and some patience from my enduring wife, I was able to meet the deadlines and come out of it all unscathed.

Here's a sample of some of my favorites from the series:


Antony Scalia


Clarence Thomas


Frank Murphy


Harold Blackmun


John Roberts


Louis Brandeis


Sandra Day O'connor


Thurgood Marshall


William Howard Taft


William Rehnquist


William Brennan

The process was pen and ink colored in Photoshop. Looking at the work now I have mixed feelings about it. I'm proud of some of the illustrations, and embarrassed by some of the others. All in all that's not a bad thing...it's good in some ways to feel a little unsatisfied, only because it can push you to get better in the long run.

Many thanks to Doogie Horner at Quirk Books, for guiding me through the whole process and pushing me creatively, as well as campaigning on my behalf for the project. And also many thanks to my wife Mary, who put up with my long nights and my fuzzy sleep deprived brain for so many months.

Next up; a peak at the cool Sherlock Holmes project I had the great fortune of working on!