Cloud Becomes Your Hand illustration, 2016

I was delighted to see my friend Stephe Cooper's band Cloud Becomes Your Hand on a short trip to NYC recently. I love their music & their live show is truly something to behold. I was pleasantly surprised to see everyone actually DANCING! Not moshing, not sitting around, but boogying! It was a sight for sore eyes. Their finale was a monumental display of synchronized dancing, it was smile educing.
Triple Threat Lives! Stephe gave a huge shout out to Triple Threat before their set started. It was dope. I attended with my good, good friend and incredible artist Jade Kuei. A good night out!

2008, 2009, 2010 A Favorite Piece per Year

Collyer Brothers, 2008

I've chosen 3 of my favorite watercolor pieces from 2008-2010, all done for fun. I read the book Ghosty Men and was fascinated with the Collyer Brothers. I found their story quite touching, I won't go into it in detail here but you should look into it.

Life of Pi, 2009

My favorite section of the book Life of Pi was when the bolt of lightning strikes the water and he describes how it looked like a white tree with roots.

Imaginarium of Dr Parnassus, 2010

Terry Gilliam's Imaginarium of Dr Parnassus was definitely not his finest hour, but it inspired this painting which I love to this day. I like the patterns and the composition.

I created these in-between freelance jobs and around my full-time day job. It's very important to do personal work, it's a way to build up a portfolio of the kind of work you'd LIKE to be getting. It's a hoot looking at this stuff now, it seems like someone else created them- it's so weird.

2007-2009 Political Illustration

From 2007-2009, I did a lot of illustrations for Manhattan Media. They owned a bunch of free weekly newspapers: NY Press, The Capitol, City Hall, West Side Spirit & Our Town. These were the lowest paying jobs with the quickest turnaround times, mostly political subjects, it was very depressing but I had to pay my bills. Part of me wanted to hide these forever, but the thing I like about this site is that you get to see a progression and another side of my work. So... here we go!

Some illustrators make a career out of drawing people they dislike, but it's not for me. I dislike the corruption, greed and blatant illegal practices of politicians. I must have drawn Bloomberg 20 times, it was torture.

Sptizer is another one I've draw too many times, he was a big deal during this time because he was caught being a patron of escort services. I think this country has its priorities mixed up. What we choose to be outraged by vs bigger issues we don't really care about.

Never have I had to draw a more horrific site! The art director told me where to place each politician on the tower based on how they were doing in the race at the time. I guess Obama laughed last.

Another cover I drew, I really liked this one because it did not feature a politician!

This was funny because the art director told me to draw him peering into the piggy bank. Esther exclaimed, "But he's BLIND!" She suggested I have him shake it next to his ear, I'm so glad I did that! How insensitive that would have seemed.

This one is one of my favorites for a very odd reason. I used frisket film to mask out the words on the chalk board, to really get the texture/feel of chalk. When I pulled it up, it did exactly what I wanted.

 

Don't get me wrong, I vote every chance I get. I'll never give up trying to make this country better, even against such corruption which is consistently rewarded.

2007-2008 Creative Intuition

Where Calgary Nov/Dec 2007

The nature of freelance illustration is you end up working with many different types of art directors (if you're lucky). Some give you a detailed "grocery list" of everything they'd like to see in the image, and others leave you to your own devices and trust your creative intuition. I much prefer the latter and I believe it makes for better images. In 2007, I illustrated an article for Where Calgary magazine about these First Thursday art events. The composition was interesting because it was so thin and tall, I let my imagination run wild! Where Calgary was one of my favorite clients, the whole experience was always first rate!

Where Calgary Nov/Dec 2007

The accordion the girl is playing is a Titano "Ladies" accordion, it was a lemon that I bought in Nassau county. I foolishly bought it without playing it first, it had many sticky keys and the bellows wheezed. It looked very pretty tho. This was also one of the first illustrations I made with my set of Schmincke watercolors, which I still use to this day.

Where Calgary Jan/Feb 2009

Late next year in 2008, I was contacted by them again to create four illustrations about upcoming theatre productions involving food. These are some of my favorite (if not my favorite) commissions I have ever done as a freelance illustrator. 1) Frankenstein 2) Berlin 3) Gilgamesh 4) Circus

Where Calgary Jan/Feb 2009

These ran in their Feb 2009 issue, article written by Sally MacKinnon. I wish I could have attended the productions, they sound incredible!

Tapping the Essence of Box Wine the Rambler Jan/Feb 2008

The Rambler was another favorite client of mine. I really loved their magazine, not just the fact that I was in it- but the content itself. Jan 2008, I illustrated this short story called "Tapping Into the Essence of Box Wine" written by Eva Danielle Wolfberg. I painted the journalist flowing out of the box wine spout interviewing a "Bacchus" type man. One of the things I remember about this piece was that I painted a tiny Caravaggio in a frame in the background that is completely indistinguishable.

Summer of Skin the Rambler May/June 2008

In the May/June 2008 issue of the Rambler, I was sent a very emotional short story written by Chad Simpson called "Summer of Skin". It was about the estranged relationship of a father and son, permanence, tattoos. The characters remark about a tattoo of a flower that is done so well it looks like it is growing out of the woman it is on. I drew the child coming out of that trying to connect with the father, and the father holding his arm which had the beginnings of a tattoo on it.

Before both of these, my first illustration job for the Rambler was for a short story called "Of Mice and Man", alas I lost the painting and the tear sheet. I wish I could find a copy of it. More than that, I wish I could remember the names of the art directors I worked with on these projects. It was about 10 years ago, with all the moves I've done I've lost some lists of clients, illustrations, tear sheets etc. That's another reason I'm archiving all of my work here. Enjoy!
  

2009-2011 Screamin' Jay Hawkins

Screamin' Jay Hawkins Ol' Man River by Silent James 2009

Screamin' Jay Hawkins is one of my favorite musicians. I first saw him in the movie American Hot Wax in Vincent Di Fate's illustration class. Screamin' was outrageous! I dove into his music and loved pretty much all of it. I was mesmerized by any live clips I could find, the above illustration was based on his performance of Ol' Man River (with a homage to Ashes at the end!). At the time, this piece was a breakthrough for me. It was the first piece I had done in years that was actually fun to create.

Screamin' Jay Hawkins by Silent James 2011

I created this next one during my next phase of illustration, which I still use to this day. His singing ability was truly special. Jim Jarmusch said it best, "He's a national treasure." I loved him in JJ's film Mystery Train, I wish he had acted more- he was great!

Screamin' Jay Hawkins by Silent James 2011

I eventually saw the documentary "I Put a Spell on Me", which was fascinating. I especially loved the clips from the original "I Put a Spell on You" music video. Screamin' said that everyone thought he was a joke dressed like that, but he believed he was dressed like a warrior; an African warrior.

Screamin' Jay Hawkins by Silent James 2012

The last one I painted was in 2012, I really like the colors I used. I also got to paint a spell like in my books Three and Dee. I loved his entrances in the casket, he said the scream he would bust out from the coffin would cause half the audience to faint!

My favorite songs of his besides ones mentioned above are: Voodoo, Poor Folks, I Hear Voices, Shattered, Monkberry Moon Delight, Whistlin' Past the Graveyard, Portrait of a Man, Frenzy... sheesh, there's too many to list.

2007 Pan's Labyrinth

Pan's Labyrinth "Hermano" by Silent James 2007

I saw Pan's Labyrinth for free before it was released, we won some kind of giveaway. I didn't know anything about it, I found it very exciting and scary. Shortly after its release, the director held an art contest on the movie site, the prize was the 10 winner's work would appear on the dvd menu of the film. I quickly created 10 pieces and submitted them. The winners were chosen by popular vote from people that came to the site. I don't like that system, the director should have chosen, I've never been popular, haha.

I wanted this above piece to be half nice and half evil, summing up the whole film. I liked Ivana Baquero as Ofelia, she's a great actor!

Pan's Labyrinth "Bug" by Silent James 2007

This next one is usually a favorite with people. It's the most normal, nice looking piece in the bunch.

Pan's Labyrinth "Mama" by Silent James 2007

This one is gruesome, I like the watercolor effect on the belly. My friend Morgan saw the sketch, then saw the finish and exclaimed, "I didn't expect all that blood!"

Pan's Labyrinth "Trio" by Silent James 2007

I like the composition because all the shoulders flow into the arch. Esther loved Maribel Verdú in Y Tu Mama Tambien.

Pan's Labyrinth "Root" by Silent James 2007

I tried to draw most of these from memory, showing different perspectives etc. Morgan remarked about this one that it reminded her of the Rankin/Bass production of the Hobbit, which is one of my favorite movies of all time.

Pan's Labyrinth "Frog" by Silent James 2007

I like the hazy background in this one, I think I missed the mark with the characters in the foreground.

Pan's Labyrinth "Pale" by Silent James 2007

The Pale Man scene was my favorite in the movie, I loved the set up, the paintings on the wall, the creature, it all worked. I do not like his long fingers here or his red belly, but I like the doorway.

Pan's Labyrinth "Fathers" by Silent James 2007

I love the technique on the faun and the simple coloring of her face. I like this one.

Pan's Labyrinth "Final Task" by Silent James 2007

Pan's Labyrinth "End" by Silent James 2007

I have to be honest, I can't watch this movie anymore. I tried to watch it again years later and it was too violent, I don't think it's old age but who knows. I like Guillermo del Toro's sketchbooks. I can never keep my own because if I do one bad drawing, I toss the book aside because I can't bare to look at it every time I open it. I know it's insane, I'm working on that.

I look back on these images with delight. I do not work in this method anymore (I'm much happier not to) but I think these look pretty good.

2006 Xbox Magazine

Dead Rising Save Point Illustration by Silent James 2006

I learned the most valuable lesson as an illustrator because of this early job for Xbox Magazine. The art director asked me how much I would charge for a full page illustration, I told her, then she told me "it's your lucky day" because their budget was pretty much double what I quoted. From then on, I would ask on calls with art directors how much their budget was. 75% of the time, it was higher than what I thought I could make doing the work. Do not sell yourself short & show no fear!

The idea was to highlight things in games that are frustrating for players. The above image was of the game Dead Rising and how annoying it was to find save points (which were in bathrooms), so the hero is shown doing a pee pee dance. I've never been crazy about zombies, but this was fun.

This image was about how some games had really bright flashes.

Originally, I was asked to create the Dead Rising one as a full page, the other as a quarter, but for some reason they ran them vice versa. I was not happy about that, since they blew up the bright image (they should have asked me for a bigger file, which I had), they also cropped the Dead Rising one. They did send me multiple copies, which was nice, and this was the first major publication I was printed in. I could go to any drug store and they'd have the issue. I remember they took a REALLY long time to pay me, we're talking months, telling me something about they didn't get the invoice. I finally got paid and they sent me this humongous Xbox shirt with it as a "thanks for waiting gift". Unfortunately, this same exact scenario happened to a friend of mine and they were given the same excuse (but no shirt!).

2006 Illustration for 11211 Magazine, Let's Grow Art Show

Another early job I got was to illustrate Roni from Laila Lounge in Williamsburg for 11211 magazine. There was no direction or images sent to me, so I went down and interviewed him/sketched him in person. This was not typical in 2006 and is practically unheard of today, but it was a really great experience. Roni was a very funny and interesting person, he told me all about the place and himself and I was able to add some details into the image. I really like the way the spray came out in the background; the gradient and textures. They only ended up using the image as a quarter page, which meant my already tiny compensation would be even less. I never got to see the image printed, and I also had to fight for months with the owner of the magazine to get paid. But, Roni loved the image and wanted me to show my work in his place.

Flyer designed by Esther Westwood, art by artists in show

I organized Let's Grow! Art Show on Aug 17, 2006 with some of my friends including: Fumiko Yoshioka, Jason Raish, Rob Harrigan, Stephanie Buscema, Esther Westwood and Magie Serpica. We had about 5 or 6 pieces up each and there was a pretty good turnout. My childhood friend Lucas came, and my friends Matt and Morgan, Molly Crabapple etc. It was a really nice night and all came about from one tiny job.

2010 Lecture at FIT on How I Got My First Illustration Job

On December 8, 2010 I joined artists Hope Gangloff and Kim Rosen to speak at the Fashion Institute of Technology about "How I Got My First Job". Heidi Younger contacted me and it was all very exciting. My lovely friends Esther, Matt, Woo, Luis, Monica, and Lavon showed up and Woo was nice enough to record it for me. Check out the above video clip, and here is the original flyer...

I talked about my first job which was an illustration of golfer Michelle Wie for NY Press in the summer of 2006. Here is the image:

Michelle Wie Illustration by Silent James

And here is the clipping from the newspaper:

I remember I was so excited, I told all of my friends to pick up a copy.

My favorite part of the lecture was getting to meet Hope Gangloff and Kim Rosen, they were such delightful people and we felt like a team. After performing in immersive theatre for 3 years and being a graphic recorder, I have definitely gotten better at public speaking since this video was shot, but I think I did a pretty good job. Years later I ran into SASHALYNILLO at a gallery show and she recognized me from the lecture and told me it was pretty entertaining. I would like to do more of these talks in the future!

There's more to the video where I discuss other projects, I'll share those in future posts.

2003-2014 Hunter S Thompson, Dan Valle, Ralph Steadman, Death Positive

Dan Valle and Silent James, Halloween 2003

In 1998, I saw Terry Gilliam's Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas film. It had a big effect on me, I used to run up and down the halls in high school quoting Raoul Duke. I read the book, I especially loved the artwork by the great Ralph Steadman. In 2002, I met a punk kid at FIT named Dan Valle. He became one of my best friends. It turned out he loved Fear and Loathing as well, and we both dressed up for Halloween in 2003.

Silent James attending Ralph Steadman's show at AIB, Feb 2006

Hunter S. Thompson died in 2005. I remember my sisters and I were visiting our Mum, and we were so sad when we heard the news. We were crying in the snow. In 2006, I piled into a car with my sister, her husband, and Esther and headed up to Art Institute of Boston for Drawing Breath: A Retrospective Whisper, which was a huge Ralph Steadman show.

The postcard flyer for the show

Silent James w/ Cardinal Zin

The show was a comprehensive collection of his school work, ink illustrations for books in the 60's (my favorite of his work), the Big I Am images which were stunning, as well as new work including beverage packaging.

Soon after, Ralph Steadman's book The Joke's Over came out, about his relationship with his friend Hunter S Thompson. He came to the Barnes and Noble bookstore on 6th ave and 22nd st for... not quite a signing, since we all got pre signed book plates... but he did have give a talk and even dressed up as Hunter (cigarette holder and all!). I remember hearing someone banging on the window of the bookstore at one point, but I didn't pay it much attention because I was so mesmerized by seeing Mr. Steadman.

Illustration of Ralph Steadman by Silent James, 2006

I painted this huge watercolor of Ralph Steadman, in the style of one of his favorite artists Goya, and gave it to him. His friend laughed, "He's got more hair than that!" I got to ask Ralph a question during the Q+A, "Hunter always told you not to write, that it would bring shame upon you and your family, and now you've written a book. I'm curious, did Hunter ever draw?"
The room kind of went dead, as is usually the case when I'm given a microphone, and Ralph just said that "Hunter couldn't draw."
He was rushed out by his wife, as people were trying desperately to get him to sign their stuff, and I yelled a big "Thank You!", he stopped in his tracks, turned right to me and yelled, "You're welcome!" It was amazing.

Illustration of my friend Dan Valle, 2014

Dec 2008, I met Dan at Kenka near Saint Marks and we had a great night catching up. He told me all about his new band Hollow Jones. Obama just became president. He asked me if I'd like to create some illustrations for him. He was happy and excited. We talked Ralph Steadman and I mentioned I saw him at B+N over a year ago and he told me it was him banging on the window. He said he saw something was going on but had to run.

A few days after Valentine's Day 2009, I received an email out of the blue from my friend Sasha that Dan Valle died in a bike accident on the Williamsburg Bridge.

Ghost Bike for Dan Valle at South 5th between Driggs and Roebling

A kind artist made a Ghost Bike for Dan. I went to the funeral in Howell, NJ. At first I was crippled by this devastation, but I began painting his picture every year, which I found very therapeutic. I learned to accept death and become death positive years later thanks to mortician Caitlin Doughty and the Order of the Good Death. Dan's birthday is on April 6th, this year I spent it listening to Tragedy (one of Dan's favorite bands) and flying home from the east coast.

2006 She Dwelt Among the Untrodden Ways

In 2005, my professor Eric Velasquez sent me an inquiry from an art director he knew about illustrating a series of love poems in graphic novel format. I immediately got to work illustrating "She Dwelt Among the Untrodden Ways" by William Wordsworth, a poem I first read in high school and was very fond of. The job was on spec, and didn't go anywhere, but I created some pretty cool pieces.

"SHE dwelt among the untrodden ways

Beside the springs of Dove,

A Maid whom there were none to praise

And very few to love:

A violet by a mossy stone

Half hidden from the eye!

--Fair as a star, when only one

Is shining in the sky.

She lived unknown,

and few could know

When Lucy ceased to be;

But she is in her grave, and, oh,

The difference to me!"

Normally, I can't stand when characters look alike (if they aren't related). Some artists just draw all their people the same way. Wordsworth wrote a series of "Lucy" poems, but never discussed her true identity. Scholars speculate it was his sister and that he was infatuated with her, so it's OK they look similar here :)

I brought these samples around to book companies, another very competitive market. The style I used is a little too similar to Nightmare Before Xmas, but I still like them.