Tag Archives: illustration

Bloomingdales

December 2, 2015 Greg Betza

I was commissioned by Bloomingdales to ‘live-paint’ portraits of their customers. It was so nice to see their clients’ faces when they saw their likenesses appearing on paper. I don’t often talk about art with people who are not artists and it amazed me how impressed and fascinated they are by the process of creating art. Their observations and opinions are diverse and genuine. I learned a lot.

I went into the day thinking mostly about the job that I had to do and how I would execute it. I came away with so much more…meeting new people, of all ages, and hearing their thoughts on what I was doing and how much they enjoyed the process.

Thank you to Bloomingdales for asking me to live-paint portraits of your patrons. Great day!

New Jersey Monthly Downtowns | Greg Betza

New work, Reportage

Downtowns for NJ Monthly

September 17, 2015 Greg Betza

I was commissioned this summer to work on a reportage assignment for NJ Monthly magazine. Being born and raised in New Jersey it was just that much better to be asked to drive around the state to visit and draw different “landmarks” throughout to help make the case for the best downtowns in New Jersey. I had a great time. Here are the drawings which appeared in the magazine (out now!) and the additional ‘rejected’ pieces that I made as well.

Cape May, NJ

Church Street, Montclair, NJ

Palmer Square, Princeton, NJ

Summit Diner, Summit, NJ

Waterfront, Red Bank, NJ

These below were unpublished:

Downtown Red Bank, NJ

Cape May, NJ

Raymond’s, Montclair, NJ

Summit Train Station, Summit, NJ

Palmer Square, Princeton, NJ

Porta, Jersey City, NJ

New work, Reportage

Bob Dylan Cover

August 31, 2015 Greg Betza

Last year I attended a Bob Dylan concert at the Beacon Theatre in New York. I made a few drawings, and David Gaines, the author of a new book on Bob Dylan, saw one of the drawings which I had posted on One Drawing A Day and asked if he could use it for the cover!

As a fan and admirer of Dylan, I could not be happier that I made those drawings. Here is the book, a display at BookPeople in Austin, TX and a few more drawings from that dark evening in New York. Thank you David and Iowa University Press.

New work, Reportage

Art in Space

August 24, 2015 Greg Betza

I’m excited to share this latest bit of good news with you. I was contacted earlier this year by a company designing a new Chicago office space for a global consulting firm. The company had seen my reportage drawings of Chicago and thought they would make a great addition to the space. I’m truly satisfied when I do work that I love and enjoy doing and someone finds a use for it. Here are a few photos from the new space. You can see the rest of my reportage here.

New work

American Family Insurance

June 22, 2015 Greg Betza

I have been working on a large series of illustrations for American Family Insurance. With Father’s Day just passing I’m happy to post this first illustration because I was able to use my son as my model.

This Shel Silverstein inspired ad is appearing regionally in issues of Sports Illustrated.

New work

Chicago Magazine

April 1, 2015 Greg Betza

Had a chance to do some intricate line drawing for this illustration! It was interesting, and almost therapeutic, drawing all of these buildings and windows and streets and antenna and, and, and… And then I got to loosen up and work on a few lifestyle spots of things happening in front of the architecture. Great layout by the AD too.

New work

Four Seasons Magazine

February 20, 2015 Greg Betza

I was recently asked to create an illustration for Four Seasons Magazine. The story is about how children in Shanghai, a city with very little “green”, are being educated about the environment. I was really inspired by the opportunity to add a cultural feel to the illustration. Here is the final watercolor.

New work

Guy Fieri Grillin’ For Greatness

October 27, 2014 Greg Betza

I’ve always been a fan of Guy Fieri, so I was thrilled to get a call to do some illustrations for his Miller Lite Grillin’ For Greatness campaign. Again, I was asked to draw a stadium! First, NBC Sports calls for the Stadium Series and soon after, Guy. The theme behind the stadium imagery is that his recipes (and Miller Lite) can be used during your tailgating parties this football season. Overall a fun project to work on. Here are the illustrations and the final print ads. #grillwithguy

Australia’s Oaktree Foundation | Greg Betza

New work

Four Seasons

September 30, 2014 Greg Betza

It’s been a few years since I’ve worked for Four Seasons magazine, but I’m happy to have been asked to illustrate for them again. My last illustration for them dealt with Doctors Without Borders and this time I was asked to create an illustration for Australia’s Oaktree Foundation. Oaktree is a youth movement aimed at ending extreme poverty. It was amazing to learn about their foundation and to see how this group of young people turned their beliefs into action.

Art and Science of Wine Tasting | Greg Betza

New work

Wine & Spirits

September 3, 2014 Greg Betza

I was asked to created an extensive series of illustrations for Wine & Spirits magazine for this month’s special issue on the “Art and Science of Wine Tasting”, including the cover! The only downside was I had about 5 days to do it. Sometimes, if I am available, it is my favorite way to work. Job comes in, focus on it and work constantly until it’s finished…and in just a few short days I’m on to something else.

Anyway…my assignment was to create a series of illustrated montages of wine tasting sessions and to combine the tasters with the colors and elements that make up the particular wine they were tasting. Whether it be the region the wine is from, the ‘notes’ in the taste of the wine, or how the wine is aged, etc., etc.,…I had to create harmonious visuals. I was also asked to illustrate portraits of all of the wine tasters. That was especially fun. I’ve included a few of my favorites below.

And lastly, for the cover I was directed to write out different descriptive words to fill a wine glass. I really loved that idea and think it makes a striking cover. Thanks to Mike at W&S for working through this tight deadline with me.

I’d love to hear what you think!

New work

Investment Advisor

July 21, 2014 Greg Betza

I’m really pleased to share this series I illustrated for Investment Advisor magazine. The topic is heavy, depression and suicide among retired men, and I wanted the illustrations to carry that kind of weight as well. I decided to use textured, somewhat “messy” backgrounds with shaky graphic lines, and slightly uncomfortable designs for the figures…hopefully to give a sense of the topic. I love how everything turned out, and I appreciate the client allowing me total creative freedom on this one.

I’d love to hear what you think…

New work

Guitar Aficionado

June 23, 2014 Greg Betza

An amazing illustration commission came to me about a month ago. I was asked to illustrate a story about a 100 foot tall Honduran Mahogany that has become a legend to guitar makers. The tree was found and felled nearly 50 years ago, but it fell in a ravine and could not be extricated. 16 years later it was rediscovered, purchased, and it’s figuring and pattern (in the grain of the wood) were discovered. Long story short, the wood became legend. It’s tone was beautiful, its look, incredible, and people pay top dollar today to find any wood still available from this one tree. Read the article, it’s really interesting…

This illustration is a double-page vertical spread. Can’t wait to see the print version!

New work

Waitrose Kitchen

May 9, 2014 Greg Betza

I had a chance to learn about cricket! Waitrose Kitchen, the magazine of the British luxury supermarket chain Waitrose, asked me to do a series of illustrations to accompany a story about ‘team’ of cricket player chefs, restaurateurs and foodies. Unusual combination, but I always enjoy illustrating a topic I know very little about. Here are the drawings of the cricket pavilion, stumps, ball…and of course, tea and scones!

illustrate a jungle scene for the LA swimsuit designer Palmela G | Despina Georgiadis

New work

Coincidental Illustration

March 31, 2014 Studio 1482

Last year I was commissioned to illustrate a jungle scene for the LA swimsuit designer Palmela G. It was, and still is, being used as the splash page on the company’s website, and looks like this:

Since sketches rarely see the light of day after the job is done, I thought I’d let mine out and share with everyone.

First, I made some line sketches. Followed by the color versions. Sometimes I like to manipulate the sketches in the computer for the thumbnailing/sketching phase. I like the happy accidents that happen, and welcome the change of pace.

I think I like them better than the final. Ssh… Sometimes that happens. ;)

But the craziest thing about this job is what happened a week before I got the call for an illustration of “a jungle scene that HAD TO include vines, a monkey, a bird, a snow leopard and tropical flora”. I was at the Museum of Natural History with my son. We sat in the Rainforest room that’s right next to the room with the whale. So, RAINFOREST and JUNGLE are basically the same thing, right? Anyway, we sat in there for a long time. And we drew, and I made the following drawing:

Crazy right?????

Events/Exhibitions, Press, Reportage

Sketching The Line

March 20, 2014 Greg Betza

I’m honored to be included in the Canadian ART IN TRANSIT show “Sketching The Line”, an exhibition of reportage drawings made while of commuters and subway-goers.
Back in 2007-8 I took advantage of my time on NYC subways by drawing anyone I could. For practice, yes, and because I just love to do it. I find that the older I get, my career and the opportunities presented to me all seem to fall in line with my interests. A lot can be said about continuing to “do what you love”. Do the work that you want to do and that work will continue to find you. If you’d like to see more of my drawings from the commute, click here

Thank you to Sharon for organizing the exhibition.

More about the show from their website:

“An international exhibition of 78 sketches drawn by 13 artists from around the globe, features brief impressions of fellow commuters that document place, time and movement while simultaneously revealing a myriad of personal moments.”