Behind Every Great Novelist

This illustration appears in the New York Times Book Review alongside a review by Christopher Benfey of John Sutherland's "Lives of the Novelists." Sutherland's book profiles a long list of notable writers and the personal events that may or may not have influenced their creative output. I tried to distill the typical experience of a literary icon into nine small panels. I'm certain that many of our great writers have worked in a coal mine and owned a small poodle. 

Riff Illustration

I made this small illustration for the Riff column in this week's NY Times Magazine! The topic was the decision to not award a Pulitzer Prize for Fiction this year. I hewed closely (perhaps too closely) to the minimalist style set by Tom Gauld, who regularly draws for the column.

The Conspiracy of Colors

 

While browsing the unwanted books section at a local thrift store, I came across an amazing item: The Elements of Color by Johannes Itten. The book's subtitle is "A treatise on the color system of Johannes Itten based on his book The Art of Color," and the contents are full of beautiful diagrams and fascinating (if a tiny bit overblown) writing on the practice and history of color theory. It was definitely worth the $2.99 spent. I adapted some of the figures within the book for this comic. I loved the way Itten wrote of the colors as if they were living, breathing entities, with the capacity for good - or evil.

Buzz Band

Paths to Success

Get a poster here to guide you on your path.

Architectural Criticism Translated

This comic was inspired in part by this great Opinionator column on architecture writing by Allison Arieff. As always, you can order a print at my poster shop. I sketched these strange and wonderful buildings on a spring afternoon in downtown Denver, Colorado. All four structures - the Denver Public Library, the old and new wings of the Denver Art Museum, and the new Clyfford Still Museum - sit within a convenient two-block radius. 

Animal Advocacy

I do not often use my drawings for political activism, but this comic is an exception. It highlights two issues I feel very strongly about.

The Book of the Future

This drawing appears in The New York Times Sunday Book Review! See it larger in the digital Times or in the print edition on newsstands today (4/1). My vision for the future involves lava lamps, egg chairs, and outfits that would look great in a B-52s music video.

The Creative Process

The creative process is a mess of unrealized ideas, false starts, and revisions. It offers more blood, sweat, and tears than your parents' record collection. Once you experience it, however, it's tough to live without it. 

Synesthetic Crayons

"Synesthesia is an involuntary joining in which the real information of one sense is accompanied by a perception in another sense."

-R. Cytowic, "Synesthesia: A Union of the Senses" 

Tree Climbing

Get a poster here to decorate your treehouse.

The Internal Decathlon

"In the spring a young man's fancy lightly turns to thoughts of track and field."-Alfred, Lord Tennyson

Mapping the Economy

I illustrated this week's "It's the Economy" column for The New York Times Magazine, appearing on newsstands this Sunday. The subject was London's recent dominance over New York as the center of global finance. You can read the full article by Adam Davidson here. Like every good mapmaker, I made sure to include a tapir and a minotaur.

Some of My Best Friends Are Records

Get a poster here.

Draw Like You've Never Been Taught