James Madison

This portrait of James Madison appears in today’s edition of The Wall Street Journal. This story looks at the debate our founders had about how much federal representation individual states should have. Madison argued that representation should be proportionate to the population of each state, which would have been more reflective of a true democracy. Unfortunately, the author of the Constitution lost this debate. Regardless of enormous disparities in population, each state has two senators. Thanks to art director, Alice Cheung, for this fascinating assignment!

(Map: David Rumsey Historical Map Collection. Convention scene: Alamy Stock)

Krista Weaver CD Design

I had the pleasure of designing and illustrating this CD packaging for a fantastic signer-songwriter, Krista Weaver. Here whimsical songs evoke a wonderful sense of place, hence, the integration of maps into the design.

This was my first endeavor into CD design, and I learned so much from the experience. Enormous thanks to Krista for including me in this project. 

Please check out and order Krista's amazing new album here, or you can order the CD here.

Thanks for visiting!

The Road to Literacy

This piece  for American Educator accompanies a story about this magazine’s history of supporting literacy research. It was fun to work with a straight-forward  concept, On the Road to Literacy. This is the publication of the AFT, the largest teacher’s union in the Untied States. I have many friends who are public school teachers, including my girlfriend of 8 years. It is nice to know this magazine will be delivered to their mailboxes, and that I can connect with them through my artwork.  Given that we have been living through a pandemic, this has been a very challenging year for educators. Living with a teacher, I see firsthand how dedicated they are, and how hard they work. To all my teacher friends, I salute you. and wish you a relaxing and peaceful summer. You deserve it!

Special thanks to art director, Jennifer Berney, for this super-fun assignment!

Below are sketches I submitted for this assignment:

Riverdale Country School

For four years running, I've been creating a new years image for the prestigious Riverdale Country School, in the Bronx, NY. For 2020, this progressive institution wanted to portray a strong environmental theme. The idea of this community planting a wide array of trees out in the world won the day. In the spirit of Greta Thunberg's campaign to address climate change, this is a wonderful theme for 2020! A special thanks to Lila Locksley for this fun assignment. Below are sketches I submitted for this project.

Trust Your Fastball

This illustration for Harvard Magazine accompanies an essay by Chad Oldfather. In 1987, he moved from his small town in Minnesota to attend this hallowed ivy-league institution. Overwhelmed by this daunting new setting, he had to learn how to overcome his feelings of intimidation. As a fan of the Minnesota Twins, Chad found inspiration in an unlikely source: an article about a new pitcher on the team, Willie Banks. He identified with the struggles of this player, and learned (metaphorically speaking) that he just needed to trust throwing his fastball again. In other words, he needed to take chances, let it rip, and let the chips fall where they may. This approach helped propel Chad through a solid college experience, law school, and a successful career in legal academia.

My own daughter, who just graduated from college, is about to embark on her first big job opportunity in Cambridge, MA, and will live a few blocks from Harvard. I will share this essay with her, as a reminder to throw her fastball when need be!

A special thanks to art director, Jennifer Carling, for this inspiring assignment.

Below are ideas I submitted for this illustration:

Meadowbrook Moose

Here’s a fun project for the Meadowbrook School in Weston, Massachusetts. I was asked to create a cut-out doll for a brochure which promotes this excellent K-8 institution’s annual fund drive. It depicts their mascot, the Meadowbrook Moose, along with cut-out accessories which he/she/they can be outfitted with - showing school pride. As a moose lover, I had a blast designing this character, along with the little dress-up elements. Special thanks to fantastic designer and longtime collaborator, Dan Beard, for this fantastic assignment.

Naked moose with cut-out lines

Meadow brook School dress-up accessories

Sketch # 1 was approved

Sketch # 2 was a more cartoonish moose

Sketch # 3 was a more cartoonish moose in motion…

Tiger Confessions

Here's a new piece for Princeton Alumni Weekly. It accompanies a story about a private Facebook group for Princeton students,  Tiger Confessions. In this group, students can anonymously express thoughts they're uncomfortable  expressing in person to others. These confessions can run the spectrum from happy, sad, embarrassing, to just plain humorous. In a recent post, a student discussed committing suicide, which caught the attention of the school administration. They reinforced the idea that, while it is worthy to have forum such as this, there are mental health professionals available, who can help address difficult issues and emotions which students confront.  

A special thanks to art director, Marianne Nelson, for this fascinating assignment. 

NY Federal Reserve Map

I had the pleasure of collaborating with an amazing designer, Megan Mardiney, in creating this ambitious 8 ft by 10 ft map installation. It’s located in the museum at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, on Liberty St. in Manhattan.

The NY Fed helps implement US monetary policy (regarding interest rates, inflation, treasury bonds, etc). This map represents the region they encompass,: NY State, Puerto Rico. the Virgin Islands, as well as parts of CT and NJ. The NY Fed maintains a healthy dialogue with the people, businesses and local governments throughout this territory. They promote sound economic decision-making.

This museum educates people about the role of the Federal Reserve, as well as how our economy works. The vignettes on this map represent various industries, landmarks and animals of the region. Enormous thanks to Megan and Kerwin Adduru for including me in this amazing project. You can visit their website here!

This design was inspired by a vintage postcard map of NY State

A closeup detail. The little town where I live is located on the upper right, just above Poughkeepsie.

Megan Mardiney and her design teams added wonderful details to this map

An example of one of the vignette illustrations on the map, a gorge in Watkins Glen, NY

An example of one of the vignette illustrations on the map, City Hall in Buffalo, NY

a montage of dry-brush drawings before I colored them.

Here is one of three layout ideas I submitted for this project.

I started this project by submitting dozens and dozens of vignette=ideas for this map.

Thank you so much for visiting. More about this project to come soon!

Riverdale Country School

Here’s a piece for my friends at Riverdale Country School, who wished to sing their community into 2019 on a high note!

Lux Vidal

Here's a portrait for a new client, Sarah Lawrence College, in Bronxville, NY. It depicts alumna, Lux Vidal, a noted anthropologist. She devoted her life to studying indigenous tribes in the Amazon region of Brazil. She became a forceful advocate for supporting the rights and culture of the Xikran tribe.  Not only was this a fascinating assignment to collaborate on, it gave me an opportunity to incorporate one of my favorite elements into the artwork, maps! A special thanks to designer, Hannah Fichandler, and editor, Jean Smith, for this fantastic assignment.

Below are sketches I submitted for this project: 

Interactive Community Poster

These characters appear on an interactive poster which is up at the Eileen Fisher Lifeworks Center (in Irvington, NY). The poster asks the question,  What quality do I want to express more of in my life and community? Visitors are encouraged to write their answers directly in the speech bubbles on the poster. 

Special thanks to art director, Elena Erber, for this very community-oriented assignment!

Strange Brains

This recent piece for The Wall Street Journal accompanies a story called Strange stories of extraordinary brains and what we can learn from them.  By studying people with unusual mental conditions, scientists are further able to unravel mysteries of the mind. This assignment had a super tight deadline, so I pulled an all-nighter to get it done. Thanks to art director Manuel Velez for a super fun assignment. You can read the article here. Below are sketches I submitted.

American Educator

This piece for American Educator accompanies a story called Community Schools - A Promising Foundation for Progress. These schools are strategically integrated with their local communities in order to support economically-challenged families. They work with local community centers, health organizations, civic and business leaders to provide families with a safety net beyond the ABC’s of education. These institutions are super valuable in communities which are confronted with poverty. Thanks to art director, Jennifer Berney, for this fantastic project! A big shout out to all my public school teacher friends. Your dedication makes this world a better place!

Needy families are the focus of community schools

Through community schools, many resources are available to needy families.

Princeton Eating Club

This piece for Princeton Alumni Weekly accompanies a story about the university’s famed eating clubs. Change is in the air as 9 of 11 of these clubs now have elected female presidents. Their goal is to make these unique meeting places more diverse, inclusive and safe. A special thanks to art director, Marianne Nelson for this tasty assignment!

Sivananda BahamasYoga

I had the pleasure of illustrating yoga poses for SivinandaBahamas.org. The assignment included illustrating 12 central postures of this practice, as well as the sun salutation. It felt surreal to be illustrating warm beach scenes while sitting in the frigid Hudson Valley! You can follow these poses on their blog. Thanks to art director Elena Erber for this enlightening assignment.  

Examples of various poses I illustrated

Triangle pose...

This a segment of the sun salutation progression...

Savasana pose...

Invisible Caregivers

This drawing for WebMD accompanies a story called Invisible caregivers. Taking care of a sick or elderly loved one can save Americans millions in health expenses. But it also can take a great  toll on the family caregiver. The isolated nature of this task can cause depression, financial stress, poor health and guilt (from lack of attention to other family members and careers). Thanks to art director Brittany Long for this vital assignment. Below are some spots which accompanied family caregiving statistics:

Math Versus Politics

This piece for Princeton accompanies a story called Math Versus Politics. It explains how utilization of activism and mathematics can end a true threat to our democracy, partisan gerrymandering. Thanks to art director Marianne Nelson for this fascinating assignment. 

Summer into Autumn

This piece for Rutgers Magazine celebrates the transition from summer into autumn. It accompanies two articles about how alumni volunteers help students transition from their communities into a new school year on campus. Thanks to editor Scott Fognall for this colorful assignment!

Chasing Talent

I had a blast collaborating with my first-ever client in Indiana, Purdue University. These illustrations accompany a story called Chasing Talent - all about the process of recruiting elite student-athletes to attend the school.  Thanks to art director, Virginia K Reynolds, of a perfect back-to-school assignment!

A Powerful Network

These illustrations for Rutgers Magazine accompany a story about the school's powerful network of industry mentors. Students and graduates get direct experience learning from executives on Wall Street, the publishing media, and many other fields. Thanks to Lara De Meo Hoyt for a super fun assignment!