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!
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.”
Apparently Pearson has been publishing this book for quite some time and was looking to update the cover. From what I was told they always use illustrated covers for this series, so I was thrilled when my work was selected for the ninth edition.
Public speaking has never been my favorite activity, but it was a fun cover to do! And I hope it helps me warm to the idea of speaking in front of large crowds.
Thanks to Maria, Carolyn and Mika for thinking of me for the illustration.
Sometimes I’m amazed at just how fitting a job is for me…as if the client knew me in advance. When I was asked to illustrate a feature for DRAFT magazine, I was thrilled. For those that know me, I’m a HUGE fan of craft beer and DRAFT asked me to illustrate a beer release party! Needless to say this was a fun piece to do…I even used a few friends as models…and oh yeah, my beautiful wife Despina. She’s a beer lover too so playing this role wasn’t too much of a stretch for her.
As many of you know, I designed and illustrated the animated commercial for the 2014 NHL Stadium Series. Yesterday I was fortunate enough to witness the action first-hand. I thought it would be great to draw from the actual event…so I did. I have to say it wasn’t the easiest event to capture, with temperatures in the low 20s to high teens, my hands didn’t always do what I had ‘instructed’ them to do (I think they were partially frozen). But all in all I’m happy with the small reportage that came out of the day. There were more than 50,000 fans in attendance and with the absurd amount of clothes they were wearing, it was packed tight in that stadium. And I’m happy to report, the cold did not temper the ‘creative’ language common to most hockey fans. And with the added tension of the NJ Devils hosting the NY Rangers, in New York, the love affair between the two states was on display, constantly!
It was a GREAT event, and thank you to Let’s Talk Tickets for getting me great seats.
There is another game Wednesday evening at Yankee Stadium and for those of you in the mid-west, the final game of the Stadium Series will take place in Chicago on March 1. I highly recommend it.
Happy New Year everyone! I couldn’t be more excited to share my latest commission with you…an animation for the inaugural games of the National Hockey League’s Stadium Series! It will air for the first time on New Year’s Day during the Winter Classic on NBC.
From the time I became interested in illustration as a career I have wanted to work in film and motion. I used to experiment with video and animation and I’ve worked as a storyboard artist and concept designer, but I had yet to put my stamp on a project until this opportunity came my way late last year.
When I received the call from NBC Sports naturally I was excited, but when I found out it was for ice hockey, I could not believe it. I have been a life long fan of hockey…I even play (street hockey) every Sunday.
I’d like to thank Lorin and Lindsay and the whole team at NBC Sports for having the creative vision to do something DIFFERENT on national television, and for allowing the creative vision to come to life. I would also like to thank the members of Studio 1482 for their support, and fellow Studio 1482 member Despina Georgiadis for her brilliant work with the art direction and storyboards.
Last but not least, a special thanks to J.J. Sedelmaier, who worked as the animator on the project. His professionalism, experience, and sense of humor made the process seamless and enjoyable from the first frame to the last.
Below are some shots of the process and the animation. You can also view the animation on YouTube and Vimeo.
NHL Stadium Series Animation from greg betza on Vimeo.
Daunting!
Early storyboard frames of action
Early storyboard frame
From table to wall to floor. Repeat.
Coming together!
Key frame color exploration
Key frame color exploration
Working on a Wacom Cintiq 22HD
The “PERFECT” sequence
Yankee Stadium key frame
Dodger Stadium key frame
Drop em’ in!
Rangers vs. Devils key frame
The other day in Mystic Seaport, there was a ceremony to mark the “stepping” of the foremast of the Morgan. That’s when the mast of a ship is erected onto the ship. The Morgan of course is the last wooden whaling ship in the US, and it has been through a massive restoration and will soon be on it’s 38th voyage.
I was so pleased and honored to be at the event, along with friends from Dalvero Academy. And even more pleased to don a hardhat and draw the action from the front line. The hard hats did give a the scene a sort of battle feel, especially when the crew worked and shouted out commands and codes and jokes.
I had a ball. I started drawing from land and followed the mast onto the ship where I continued the reportage from the deck. Next time I hope to do the opposite- start on the boat- so that I can get a glimpse of the coin being place at the bottom of the mast for luck. The second mast will be stepped in November. I can’t wait to go back.
First, here is a drawing I made of the overall scene. There is the Morgan in the background, waiting for her foremast. The crane, that was towering over me at one point, and I have to say, it made me nervous. And of course the massive mast in the foreground with the crew.
The crew had not much to do as they waited for the green light to begin the work. They were itching to get started and were in good spirits.
Next, the go ahead was given and the ropes were the first to get attention. In fact, most of the action revolved around the ropes.
With the ropes secured onto the mast, it was time for the crane to lower the hook to be secured to the ropes.
They took a while making sure that the hook was perfectly secured. I don’t blame them! And overseeing the whole process was Quentin Snediker, the white bearded director of the restoration of the Morgan.
As the mast began it’s slow rise into the sky, onlookers were a mix of joy and nerves. It was exciting.
The crane let go which meant that the crew on the ship had the mast in their hands. It was time for me to leave my post and hit the deck.
The first thing I noticed was the hugging. I thought it was cute how the only way to steady the mast was to hug it.
Through this portal, I saw some of the crew below as they watched.
And from this view I could only see hands gently guiding the mast into position. I was told the bottom fits like a key into the keel. Another reason to draw from down there next time!
This is Alex, and he seemed to have an integral role in the process.
Next, a head popped up from below deck to announce that the mast was in place.
The bell on deck was rung and the next phase was swiftly underway.
The ropes from the top of the mast were then attached to the sides of the boat. Every rope has a name on a boat, hence the term “learning the ropes”. Because it takes a while to learn the name of what looks like a thousand ropes!
And the work was winding down the same way it began, with a lot of rope work.
I was pleased to see a woman on deck. It was once considered the worst of luck to have a female aboard.
Below is who I thought to be the director of the crew. The captain? Not sure, but this guy did most of the shouting of the commands and the pointing, so I’m pretty sure he was in charge.
At last, the mast was in it’s place and the sun made a brief appearance in approval.
You can click on this link to see more about that day.
Last week, Studio 1482 illustrator Dominick Santise and I attended the Workbook Creative Carnival in Chicago. We then spent the next 2 days creating reportage drawings around the city. Now I love NY, but Chicago is like a friendly, clean, slightly more relaxed version…which frankly is nice from time to time. We navigated the city by foot, walking from landmark to landmark, checking out the wonderful public art all along the way, Picasso, Chagall, Dubuffet, etc. It was an inspiring few days and I’m excited to share of few of my drawings with you.
Here is a piece I worked on last month for The Robb Report’s Private Aviation Sourcebook. The piece was about how to “retrofit” your aircraft, basically a plane “make-over”. It was fun to do and a chance to play around with a relatively straight forward piece. I’d love to hear what you think.
I really enjoyed this series of illustrations. They were challenging as the content was rather foreign to me, but I always feel fortunate when I get to learn something while illustrating. I’d love to hear what you think.
Happy New Year everyone! I’m excited to share a great commission I received late last year. I was asked to create 13 illustrations (12 months, 1 cover) for the Indonesian real estate firm, Intiland’s, 2013 calendar. Each illustration had to feature an Intiland property and have a lifestyle concept based on the property. It was challenging, and I actually did the job twice in 2 slightly varying styles (I’ll post some of those illustrations at another time), but in the end, the client was very happy and I’m really proud to have been asked to create this body of work for them. I’d love to hear your thoughts.
I recently received my printed copy of the Premier Sotheby’s Privileged Access brochure. I was commissioned to illustrate the brochure late last year, and while it took a long time to get to production, I think the final piece looks great. The team at Strada were great to work with and I love what they did with the design and layout.
Happy 4th of July! In the spirit of the day, I’d like to share a job I worked on for BP’s (Beyond Petroleum) Team USA campaign. Late last year I was called to do work on some storyboards for a film production house out in Brooklyn. When you do this type of job, you never really know if what you draw will see the light of day. So you can imagine how thrilling it was to see my drawings come to life on TV this past week. The commercials for the BP Team USA campaign have begun airing as the 2012 London Olympics approach. I’ve spent some time today watching the videos and profiles of the athletes, and their compelling stories made me a proud supporter of their goals. I wish them and Team USA all the best this summer.
If you’d like to see more of my storyboard work, click here the storyboard studio.
Here are a few drawings and their corresponding live action shots:
I was pleased to be asked to contribute my reportage drawings to VAROOM! magazine. The publisher Derek was looking to feature illustrators that reportage live music and he was a fan of the drawings I made of Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks last year. Here is a post about that show.
VAROOM! is a great illustration based magazine so check out their website and support the cause!
My cover has been accepted by American Illustration! Thanks to the judges and everyone at AI-AP for the recognition!
I’m very excited to share my latest book cover, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. It is a classic and one of my favorites, so it was really a dream job to receive the commission from Random House. I love creating lino-cut prints and I thought it was a perfect way to handle this.
Check out this and more in my book jacket portfolio on the new Studio 1482 website.