SI Newhouse for the NY Observer

Another two day turn around for The New York Observer . . . had me some fun with this one!!!

This was how I originally painted him . . . for the printed edition he needed a procedure. :)

The cover was on the morning news in New York, thank you to my Aunt Nedra for snapping a shot of it for me.

Leo Gatsby for the NY Observer

Sorry for the lack of posts on my blog. I've been going through some serious changes in my life as of late . . . too personal to get into on my blog at this time. The good news is that I have a new studio space now and I will be getting back to work which I am excited about. This is a cover I just did this week for the NY Observer. Another two day deadline. I would have loved more time on it, but it is what it is. I spent most my time on Leo as he is the main focus . . . normally three people in such a short turn around is my limit. I didn't feel like I had time to develop the characters as much as I would have liked? Still, I really enjoyed working on this and it feels so good to be back at it again! Thank you all so much for your support throughout the years, it means so much! -Jase

On the stands.

Shmuley Boteach for the New York Observer.

Here's my latest cover for the NY Observer. Had a lot of fun with this one but as usual, it had it's challenges. One being that I don't draw cars all that often and I found it harder than I thought it was going to be. It was an enjoyable challenge though. The other challenge is of course that I had to finish in two days . . . and over Easter weekend . . . not what I wanted to do but life happened and that's how it worked out.



Of course painting M.J. in there was a lot of fun as well . . . hahaha!



Here are a few of the steps that I saved along the way . . . originally I thought they had said that they wanted both his hands up waving but after I did that I really didn't like it so eventually I got rid of his right arm. During these tight turn arounds the work tends to develop and evolve as I go as I don't have the luxury of time to spend on development . . . just go for it!

Cover for New York Observer

Cover I painted this week for the New York Observer. I spent a day and a half on this one, started Monday morning and finished mid-day Tuesday. I decided to keep it more painterly which I like but had to do because of my time frame . . . and for the background I chose to simplify and suggest.

This one was fun!





Here's a pic my friend Fred Harper took of the paper, somewhere in New York. Thanks Fred!

Wallstreet Bullsh@t.

Cover I painted this week for the New York Observer. This one was a rush.
(painted in a day and a half)

All in all I only had a day and a half to do this cover. "Life" happened, and so I lost a lot of time that I would have normally had. Another challenge with this one was that there isn't very good reference available of the judge. The judge needed a specific expression and in the two pictures I had of him, he was smiling, so I took pictures of myself and my friend Brian for expression reference. I had some fun with the lawyer character and used myself as the model. It was fun messing myself up! :) My favorite part of the whole piece was painting the Bull, the colors were a lot of fun to work on. All in all, I wish I could have had more time to work on everything . . . sometimes these quick turnarounds can really feel like a marathon and this one was no exception. There's not much time to step back and analyze, you have to tuck on and adjust as you go, and when the time is up, it's up.

The Devils and the Deep Blue Sea!

New cover for the NY Observer.

This week I had me some fun! :) As usual, I only had two days so I had to work very fast. The subject is Ray Kelly, Police Commissioner of New York city. I was asked by the Observer to show Kelly as trying to put on a "good" face while corruption and so on continues within the New York Police department. I thought the idea of him as an angel would be funny . . . add a couple demon-cops in hell and there you have it. I'm happy they liked this idea, it was great fun to work on.

And Mr. Ray Kelly, if you happen to see this post, I would just like to say thank you for having such a wonderful face, it's been a while since I've had this much fun. Your face is a true gift, cherish it my brotha, cherish it!






Face detail.





Quick likeness sketch.





Mock up sketch.

Paint it Bleak! NY Observer cover

This week's cover for the New York Observer.
Will a Paywall Help Keep the Lights on at Louise Blouin Media? I don't know, to find out click HERE to read the article.




This was a fun piece to work on. I was asked to paint the "New York Observer guy" (their logo) in a gallery, looking at paintings of Louise Blouin. I was asked to do a "Mona Lisa-type" painting, which is basically just a painting done in my typical style . . . so eat it Leonardo! I was asked to do Warhol and Picasso-like paintings for the other two . . .




Three paintings within a painting!
Gotta love it!



Sketch.

NY Observer cover Full Court Press!

This week's cover for the NY Observer.




This was another two day turnaround. Starting Monday morning, final due end of the day, Tuesday. I spent half of Monday sketching and then spent the rest of my time painting as quickly as I could. I really enjoyed working on the character's of these two guys, especially Dominique Strauss-Kahn.



Detail of Kenneth Thompson's face. I wanted to share these close ups to show how loose and sketchy I worked.



Detail of DSK.



Head sketch.




Head sketch.

Andy's Best Man - NY Observer

Sketched this out on Friday, quick block in of color on Saturday, painted Monday and Tuesday.

Dominique Strauss-Kahn for NY Observer

This weeks NY Observer cover.

My time frame was less than 24 hours, probably closer to 14 hours from start of sketch to the end of final painting . . . so, the drawing and painting was a bit rushed. The important thing to me was to capture the essence and character of this guy, so I did a few sketches of him to warm up and familiarize myself with his look and character. I started late Monday afternoon and painted until late that night, working mostly on DSK's face.




When doing a quick turnaround like this, the important thing for me is to be able to deliver a piece of art of high quality, no matter what the time frame is. So it's up to me to figure out what I can and cannot do in the amount of time given. Sometimes that can be tricky to figure out? The idea for these covers sometimes come from me, but over all, it's ultimately the editor who decides what prints and what doesn't.

Luckily, their current art director Ivy, is great to work with, and together I think we have fun coming up with a solid solution to the problem. And there's always problem solving involved in this kind of work which is not a bad thing, it's just part of the job.

Ivy and I actually had a few different ideas this week that were all cool. One of my favorites was a take on Pepe Le Pew which we thought was hilarious and also straight to the point . . . but in the end it came down to time and a final decision made by the editor.

There's a lot more I would have liked to have done. The drawing is the foundation of each piece I do, and I would have liked to have had more time developing in the drawing stage, but for this kind of a job, I've learned that I need to just lay it down and get painting . . . but over all, it was a lot of fun, and I truly am grateful to be able to draw and paint for a living!

City of Hope

Originally I was commissioned to paint 8 of the top 100 Real Estate CEO's of New York. I had finished most of that painting when the news of Osama's death changed the headlines and covers across all of America. So, I started this cover at 9:00 P.M. Monday night with the final due 5:00 P.M. the following day, it was a challenge but t...he energy I felt from the importance of this week helped me push through. I'm glad we decided to go with a portrait for this cover rather than a caricature and I'm honored to have been able to paint this cover on such a memorable week in our nation's history.



Close up of brush work.

The Incredible Shrinking Budget!

New cover I painted this week. This one was a lot of fun to do, and as usual, these turnarounds are fairly quick. I started sketches and ideas on Friday and the final was due the following Tuesday! I really enjoy doing these covers for the Observer, this is my third cover for them and I hope to do many more!



Close up crop of my final art.



Detail of Bloomie. Because I knew he would be printed quite small on the cover, I didn't bother painting him too large. I always paint larger than the print size . . . but on this one, I decided to keep it fairly loose and simple . . . it's perhaps a bit more cartoony, which I thought was fun to do.





This is my first, very rough thumbnail. This was done in about 5 minutes, just putting down lines quickly, giving birth to the idea . . . it's easier for me to get it out and then develop it more as I go.



The idea begins to form . . .



Still developing the idea and composition . . .



Steps, from initial head sketch to block in of color . . .



Rough head studies . . .

Mama Grizzly, NY Observer

The original idea for this cover was much different and was drawn realistically, meaning that it was not a caricature. The concept and execution of the concept was a bit to controversial and had to be scraped, leaving me with only two days to paint "plan B". I may share the other sketch soon, or I might even paint it and share it then? We'll see?





As mentioned above, I only had two days to paint this, so I kept it more loose and painterly which I love to do anyways. So, I painted fast, but had loads of fun along the way!



Detail to share texture and so on . . . hope you enjoy!