On the right path {illustration}

Here is a recent illustration that ran in our Passages section - see story here. It was about the retirement of the director of operations at the San Diego Zoo. Paths are always a great way to show people moving on or going in a different direction, but turning the path into an elephant made this illustration sing for me. Hope you enjoy it too.

Brain Series {illustration}

Brain Games - illustration by Cristina Byvik

Imagination - illustration by Cristina Byvik

Brain Injuries - illustration by Cristina Byvik

Brain Studies - illustration by Cristina Byvik

This was a series of four illustrations I did for our special "Wonders of the Brain" section. The package was a big group effort by many talented staffers at U-T San Diego. Check it out here. The section was designed by Gloria Orbegozo.

Graceful Aging {illustration}

I very recently did a freelance job for the Washington Post. Here is a little bit of my process, the final illustrations and how they looked on the front of the Health & Science section. The challenge for the main art was combining two stories into one image. In the end, we decided on using two main illustrations that complimented each other. My favorite concept of them all was the man doing Tai Chi in the middle of a banana peel mine field. I think I may have had extra caffeine when I came up with that one. Designed and art directed by Heather Barber.

Rough sketches for the main story and two spots

The final spot illustration for a story on falling and how to avoid it as we age.

 

One part of the cover illustration about improving your running technique as you age.

Second spot illustration for a story on keeping your eyes healthy.

The second part of the cover illustration focusing on how to do yoga safely as you age.

The page as it appeared in the Washington Post - design by Heather Barber.

Winning! {illustration}

It is unbelievable, but I have won an SND (Society of News Design) Award of Excellence in the category of Illustration Portfolio, a very hard category to win. The portfolio above is what we entered. The "Twist of Fate" and "A Different Direction" illustrations also won on their own for single illustrations and again for page design - they were both designed by Gloria Orbegozo. The U-T San Diego won a total of 15 awards this year. First of all, I would like to thank the cast and crew...just kidding, but, in truth, I could not have won without the awesome crew of designers, art directors and co-workers that help me brainstorm and fine-tune my work. You know who you are! As a newspaper illustrator, this was the highest award I could have reached for. My work is done! My bragging session is over too!

Oh, and Happy Valentine's Day to you all!

California Flora and Fauna {illustration}

Happy New Year! Sorry to bombard you with all these illustrations at once, but I think they look so good all together. This was a huge project I worked on last year for a local design firm. They were going to use them to brand 11 different builders working on a community in Rancho Mission Viejo. I have to admit, I never saw the final products or what they ended up doing with these images, but I made them into a calendar for my friends and family. That's why I waited so long to post these. They are all plants and animals you will find in southern California and more specifically the preserve at Rancho Mission Viejo. Anyway, I am off to Paper Camp this weekend to get my butt in gear! Hope you enjoy the illustrations!

August Work {illustration}

designed by Ani Arambula

designed by Greg Schmidt

designed by Greg Schmidt

designed by Greg Schmidt

designed by Ani Arambula

August was a really colorful month. I especially loved working on the watercolor greens. I must have painted 20 different leaves, but we only needed three of them. Who knew lettuce was so interesting!

July Work {illustration}

designed by Ani Arambula

designed by Gloria Orbegozo

designed by Greg Schmidt

designed by Greg Schmidt

designed by Gloria Orbegozo

designed by Greg Schmidt

 Better late than never - my work from July! From worm composting to gourmet camping, it was a busy month. August work coming soon!

For the Washington Post

{designed by Heather Barber}

{designed by Heather Barber}

With all the news around the sale of the Washington Post this week to the founder of Amazon.com, Jeff Bezos, I thought is was nice timing to share the illustrations I did that ran today in the Post. The display illustration was on diet books and the inside spot was for science books. This was very fun job! Thanks, Heather!

June Work {illustration}

 I know June is way over, but here is a look at what I was up to during June Gloom. Not that I was gloomy—June Gloom is what San Diegans call the cloud covered month along the coast here. You really think it is summer and inland it is sunny, then you drive to the beach and have to wear a sweater because the clouds sitting off the coast just won't go away! Anyway, June Gloom is over and I am over it too! Have a great weekend!

May Work {illustration}

(designed by Rebecca Metta)

(designed by Rebecca Metta)

(designed by Greg Schmidt)

(designed by Ani Arambula)

(designed by Gloria Orbegozo)

 Here are all my illustrations from May! The watercolor peppers were such a fun experiment—so unpredictable and carefree. I must say that my favorite one is the Arts cover for the Shakespeare Festival. I loved the clever movie, Rosencrantz & Guildenstern are Dead, by Tom Stoppard. The Old Globe included it in their line-up this year. The challenge here was to combine the concepts of relationships and Shakespeare with a hint of humor. I know I wanted to have the "hamlet" skull, but it seemed so dreary. At last, I left it to the quirky hands and the color palette to get the humor across. It worked for me! Happy Weekend to you all!

April Work {illustration}

(designed by Ani Arambula)

(designed by Rebecca Metta)

(designed by Rebecca Metta)

(designed by Greg Schmidt)

(designed by Greg Schmidt)

(designed by Rebecca Metta)

(designed by Rebecca Metta)

 Here are all the illustrations I did in April. My favorite ones are the container gardening one and the apartment building cigarette. The other ones were, what I call, quick and dirty! Thanks for looking.