Drybrushing With Sumi Ink Led To Some Nice & Creepy Skulls.

Some months ago I illustrated and hand-lettered materials at Spur Design for the Maryland Humanities Council's One Maryland One Book program. Every year a book is chosen for state-wide reading and discussion, with materials distributed to schools and libraries, and the 2012 selection was The Cellist of Sarajevo by Steven Galloway. It's a story based on true events about a musician during the seige of Sarajevo who honors the memory of his friends and neighbors by playing his cello everyday in the square where they were killed, a day for each victim.

It was a thrill to work on this at Spur, and lovely to work with the hardworking people at MD Humanities. You can find out more about the One Maryland One Book program here. Art & design direction by David Plunkert and Joyce Hesselberth.

Hey, I'm a sophomore at MICA and I'll hopefully be taking your digital illustration class next semester. I thought your name sounded familiar and when I looked you up I saw that I've already been following you on tumblr, which was a really weird small-world moment. I just wanted to say hi, I love your work, and that I hope I can get into your class before it fills up!

Thanks! I hope you can too, but I think it HAS filled up already (my gosh!).

have some? ask some.

The trashcan droid from Star Wars, whose name is apparently Gonk? (dumb) Jimmy and I had a moment when we discovered that, growing up, we each felt sorry for this lame little droid stuffed in the corner of that sand crawler because he was so ugly and all the other droids were probably mean to him.  That never stopped me from making fun of him either though.

A flower for Aisha.

My friends Rebecca Bradley and Janna Morton run the project Blooms of Nigeria, a blog whose goal is to present nearly 200 illustrated flowers, each for a different girl who was taken in the April kidnapping in Nigeria, and to keep the discussion and awareness of their plight alive. It's a terrible crisis, and recently, there have been new kidnappings of almost 100 girls and boys as well. There isn't much many of us reading about it from our computers can do to help directly with this situation, but at the very least, we can all keep talking about the problem, express our sadness and eagerness for a resolution. There is also an Amnesty International petition you can sign to help appeal to the Nigerian government for action.

Let's not forget about these girls. Let's all keep loudly hoping for their rescue.

Not a question, but... beautiful work, keep it up!

thanks very much! I shall!

2015 LOOT bags are in your near future...lavender ink on black 100% recycled cotton totes. Available this weekend! #spx2015

Ultramen

This is my contribution to Vend, Send, Mend, another fundraiser for Japan.  Many really talented artists are taking part, and donating excellent, original work to a great cause. You can see more of the work that will be available to buy on the Vend, Send, Mend blog.  Check it out!

Oh, and I love Ultraman. 

When are you guys going to be putting out the second zine? I'd like to contribute to something!

It's more a question of "if" than "when" really. "Damn Fine Coffee!" is the first large anthology-type zine I've made, and I'm undecided about whether I want to put out another issue or to move on! As I've told many other interested folks, if I make another one, it will be an open-call for submissions. I'll definitely spread the word about it if that happens, so keep your eyes open!

Also, I might add, the excitement for the zine and the interest everyone's expressed has been truly thrilling, but all I'm focusing on right now is getting this current issue out. 

<3

"LOOT" tote bags! Get them for $15 from me at SPX!

They're perfect for holding your zines, your sketchbooks, magazines, or LP's. These were screen-printed by the great fellows at Pizza Party Printing in Baltimore.