May 2013
1 post
April 2013
1 post
March 2013
10 posts
July 2012
1 post
At Believe Inn, starting Friday July 6
Sharing a dozen or so works on paper in a group show at Believe Inn in Chicago, opening this Friday July 6 from 6–10pm, and running through August 4th by appointment.
In this showcard is a detail of a piece from a set of six there stemming from these, along with one of these. Also including some small walnut ink & mixed media studies, and a couple of city sketches.
Believe Inn is an alternative exhibition space and friendly, vibrant creative hub hosted in the studio of artists Chris Silva and Lauren Feece. The artists assembled for Now Is the Time come from far & wide and seem like great company — included are:
Chad Davis
Christopher Allman
Damion Silver
Emmett Kerrigan
Frog
Gabe Lanza
Geoffry Smalley
Hao Ni
Kane One
Luke Pelletier
Rob Funderburk
Uriel Correa
Please be my guest!
Believe Inn
2043 N Winchester, Chicago
Group Exhibit: Now Is The TimeOpening Friday July 6, 6–10pm
Addtl. by appointment through August 4, 2012
believeinn.org
facebook.com/believeinn
May 2012
1 post
Farmer Market sketch 5/11/12
March 2012
1 post
Chicago Stories
Some sketch portraits from among 28 or so I did for the new Chicago Stories by Michael Czyzniejewski, 40 short & punchy fictions in the voices of famous Chicagoans, just released from publisher Curbside Splendor — get yours here, paperback (best) or electronic. 
Get Chicago Stories here, paperback or electronic.
* Chicago Stories Release Party
featuring author Michael Czyzniejewski & Guests
Saturday, April 21
7–10pmCole’s Bar, 2338 N. Milwaukee Avenue, Chicago
FREE
November 2011
2 posts
Portrait batch for Czyniejewski's Chicago Stories
Chicago Stories by Michael Czyzniejewski
Spring 2012 from Curbside Splendor
Pre-order now: http://goo.gl/1nWII
Chicago Stories by Czyzniejewski
Cover has just been approved, and I’m working diligently now on a whole slew of portraits for Chicago Stories by Michael Czyzniejewski, forthcoming this spring from Curbside Splendor. I’ll share some in-progress sneak-peeks as we proceed!
Really exciting project — great folks to work with, and a delight reading Mr. Czyzniejewski’s sophisticated renderings of imaginary monologues from a range of notable Chicagoans, some near the surface of the city’s consciousness and others a bit deeper down, all implicit in the ethos and mythology of place here, sometimes hilarious, typically brilliant — a job well done by Czy I’ll hope to serve well with attendant art.
More soon, and check it out: curbsidesplendor.com/curbside/books/chicago-stories
Chicago Stories by Michael Czyzniejewski
Spring 2012 from Curbside Splendor
Pre-order now: http://goo.gl/1nWII
September 2011
1 post
AV-Aerie sketches
Component renderings from project for Chicago Opera Vanguard at AV-Aerie (RIP), 2009. Turned these up the other day moving some rolls of paper, just though I’d share. Click them to see them bigger.
August 2011
2 posts
Visual Reportage from China, c1890
D.B. Dowd, an illustrator, visual journalist and teacher in St. Louis, Missouri, is at work on an exhibition project called Drawing Conclusions: The Illustrator as Reporter, projected for 2014 and including historical examples of illustrated press from China. I stumbled Dowd’s posts about these today and am very excited to see more.
In 1872, a Chinese daily newspaper called Shenbao was launched by a British publishing interest that employed Chinese reporters, editors, illustrators and printers. After initial success and some format experiments, the group introduced illustrated supplements called huabao (“pictorials”), beginning in 1884 with Dianshizhai Huabao and later Feiyingge Huabao. Below is a spread from the first issue of Dianshizhai Huabao describing a battle of the Sino-French War.
And here is another characteristic huabao news image, describing a trainwreck reported from America in 1890.
Along with a lot of great information about visual reportage more broadly, Mr. Dowd assures he’ll write more these pictorials in coming posts on his blog: ulcercity.blogspot.com
Best of luck, Mr. Dowd, and thanks for sharing.
Chicago Tribune Cartoonists, 1931
Excerpt from the silent 1931 promotional documentary “From Trees to Tribunes,” featuring the Chicago Tribune company’s stable of cartoonists at that time:
- John T. McCutcheon
- Gaar Williams
- Carey Orr
- Sidney Smith of “The Gumps”
- Frank King of “Gasoline Alley”
- Frank Willard of “Moon Mullins”
- Carl Ed of “Harold Teen”
- Martin Branner of “Winnie Winkle”
- Walter Berndt of “Smitty”
- Harold Gray of “Little Orphan Annie”
This video edit is courtesy of Hugo Sleestak on YouTube. All three parts of the original film can be downloaded at archive.org.
