This is a job for Euroman!

all images, Kevin Sprouls

Lately, I’ve had the good fun of working with a very talented Art Director from Denmark named Sune Ehlers. Sune puts it all together for a beautiful magazine called “Euroman”. I love this magazine… I only wish I could read it! It’s one of the most visually tasteful periodicals I’ve seen.

Portrait of Jorgen Leth, author

So, my first assignment was do create a wall street journal hedcut style image for an article on a featured literary light. It was enjoyable, as the image was strong.

A couple of weeks went by, and I contacted Sune to say he might consider trying me again. He did.

Sune engaged my services for a full-page illustration featuring the Vancouver team’s favorite Dane, Jannik Hansen. Very Exciting for me. It printed up really well in the magazine, too, I am relieved to tell!

Over the years, I’ve been experimenting with digital files of my art and trying to arrive at the peak outcome in print (and on the web, of course). I think I’m getting there…

Another Hansen, this one a Handball player practicing his craft in Barcelona. I haven’t seen this in print yet. I believe it’s “on the newstands” now. Again in full-page format.

An additional kick that came with this gig is I got profiled at the front of the magazine.

If you get a chance to view this ‘zine, I think you’ll agree it will be worth your while, even if you’re Danish-impaired, as I am!

Further on Wine…

I’m looking very smug here, but, really, I am not much of a wine expert!

While at home, I confess that I enjoy sipping a gin martini. In Italy, one drinks wine, England, beer, etc.; however, very recently I had the sublime pleasure of imbibing Shiraz at mid-afternoon.

The occasion resulted from my Wife’s being engaged as the Wedding Harpist at the Alba Vineyard, a well-respected winery in an idyllic corner of Western New Jersey. The Nuptials took place up on a hillock in the middle of the vineyard… a spectacular stage for the august event.

The weather was incredible, with sunlight streaming down brazenly in the high mountain altitude. I puttered around down below, and did some yoga deep-breathing to while away time and revivify my aging frame, on a boulder across from the marital action.

When the ceremony wrapped up, I brought the car around, picked up the harpist and harp, and beat a trail down to the winery. We entered the visitors reception and received the lay of the land from our hosts. Soon, we were making our purchases, and took a bottle out to the quaint, sun-lit terrace to share a couple of glasses in the brilliant, crackling October air. That Shiraz was sweet and syrupy… an unexpected pleasure so early in the day! And, for its bold precociousness, the experience was of singular memory.

The Alba Winery

But, of mundane things…

Another Red of the Season, “Priorat” from the abovementioned (previous blog) Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board ad campaign. The books hanging over on the left were drawn on the same art board as the main illustration, the campaign requiring a main, and a spot image in the adverts.

Salute!

The image above is from a series I created for the Reynolds Vineyard in Australia. I have yet to sample this selection, but look forward to it. Some mid-afternoon, perhaps!

Sante, Mes Amis… til next we meet.

Wine blog

all images, c. kevin sprouls

‘Tis Autumn, and that means that, in the old country, trucks are rolling into the towns, burgs and cities carrying great barrels of Vino Rosso to the trade. I remember well my student days in Rome attending Temple Abroad (the University), in the Fall of ‘76!

The school is much the same today as it was then, as I can attest to from my visit in 2007. October is a wonderful time of year to visit Rome, I can tell you.

Now, the Romans enjoy cool, white wines in Spring/Summer, and red wine in Fall and Winter, generally speaking.

When I was a student, one could go down to almost any restaurant with an empty litro bottle and get it filled for little more than a dollar! The “house” wine would be dispensed from a large barrel, one of those that were trucked in, as afore-mentioned. I’m told this traditional means of buying vino is gradually receding into a storied past –more’s the pity!

So, here’s to a celebration of Reds. Images are from a campaign I was commissioned for last summer by the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board: a curious name for an agency tasked with promoting wine! These were used in newspaper ads and in the PLCB shops. Cabernet Sauvignon is captured above. Below, the Merlot…

Finally, a seductive Shiraz accompanied by a rather creepy-looking shady character. Like your uncle having an illicit affair. Wow, scary!

After all, though, it is coming up on Halloween…

Richard McGraw, artist

Well, Summer 2009 is now officially history.

I know, Dear Reader, that I have been sorely remiss in being a faithful, steady blogger.

C’est-la Guerre! This season past has, I confess, been a bit of a bear! Nothing to fret over, just the usual struggle that I’m confident will give way to easier times.

While saying a fond farewell to my favorite season, I received a gift to welcome my 2nd-favorite, in my mailbox: A shiny mylar envelope containing a newly-released CD.

Let me explain:

Many moons ago, I was retained for illustration services by one Richard McGraw, whose 1st CD release, “Song and Void, Vol. 1″, I had previously illustrated. This time, Richard wanted an illustration of a Risen Christ to be drawn from an image I was well-familiar with, a Detail of the Isenhein Altarpiece by Grunewald, ca. 1515. I had always been an admirer of this image– it strikes me as so forward-thinking for the time. Seems like that was ancient history— doing that job for Richard, I mean!

Here is the illo, as inked by me…

And here is the CD cover, as produced by Richard…

Note the metallic ink printing.

A nice touch as well is the enlarged detail on the liner insert which holds the disk…

It’s always rewarding to see one’s work in published format (providing the job’s not BOTCHED in the process!). Aside from the strong song writing/performing on this disk, Richard is also in charge of the Graphic Design duties for the album, which I think he’s handled quite well here.

I hope you’ll check Richard out— he’s got a distinctive voice as an artist that’s worthy of your attention!

Meantime, it’s Ciao to Summer. I will, it is hoped, be somewhat more regular with this communication in future…  Adieu!

Vacation post

  all images, c. kevin sprouls

Surf’s Up, Dude! I’ve been spending time out in Studio B, in North Wildwood, NJ, since March 16th (off and on). The snapshot above is from a month ago, early May, and the water was still pretty cold. This relocation may partly explain why these posts have dropped a bit in frequency. My workload is also pretty heavy right now. Lucky for me I can steal off to the sea once in a while.

In this posting, I’m bringing out some “conceptual” illustrations. Most were produced while I was at The Wall Street Journal. The telephone illustration was done after my tenure at The Journal was up. It was created for one of the telephone companies of the day… maybe Sprint or MCI.

Produced for a full-page newspaper ad. circa 1990.

The one below won me a gold medal from one of the newspaper organizations. For some reason, a big fuss was made out of it.

 

While I was at The Wall Street Journal, the paper went from a one-section broadsheet to two sections. We illustrators on staff (as well as an increasing number of freelance artists from outside our stable) would be called on to create larger format artwork for the new section. The image above would be introducing a story about the enormous amounts of paper generated by an office building. circa. mid-80’s.

From the same time, also for the expanded newspaper format that The Journal had adopted. This image had to do with the developing practice of global wireless banking transactions.

That will have to suffice for now, dear reader. It’s off to the drawing table once again for me. Don’t worry, though. I’ll be heading to the beach before you know it…

the Wall Street Journal, Human Interest

 

At The New Yorker, final chapter

  all images, c. Kevin Sprouls

  As I said, my output for the New Yorker magazine was produced between 1989 and 1991. The following images, all as they appeared (only larger) in the original black & white “Goings On About  Town” format:

A scene from the 1949 film, “All the King’s Men”. Broderick Crawford, Joanne Dru played leading roles. A great hash was apparently made over this drawing, as someone requested the pre-press office to make the coat over Crawford’s arm “darker”. I struggled for many years trying to get various and sundry production people to print my work very dark. They rarely seemed to get it. The “coat darkening” was totally unnecessary as long as the drawing as a whole was adequately under-exposed, as you see here.

From the 1936 Japanese War Noir film, “Osaka Elegy” of Kenji Mizoguchi. I incorporated a lot of tightly controlled linear technique here, as I felt it would strengthen the already powerful image. Once again, seeking to get my name out there, bottom left!

A portrayal of American Conceptual/Minimalist artist Sol LeWitt. I took a piece of his art (the grid element here), and carefully inserted marks into it, building up his likeness. My good friend at the Journal, Hai Knafo, especially liked this piece.

A vibrant Kathleen Turner, circa her days working with Michael Douglas and Danny DeVito. I remember getting this assignment just before a trip to North Carolina with my wife and two kids. As I have done pretty frequently in ensuing years, I set up at the dining room table and went to work at my in-laws’ place. With the New Yorker, you only got a couple of days to turn in a job!

Another instance of artwork created “on the hoof”, I produced this one while visiting a close friend on the outskirts of New York. I recall sitting at a basement table, cool and dark, to perform my services. I don’t know anything about this image, except for the title “Enemies” that someone at the New Yorker scrawled on the back of the artwork. So, this bizarre and (to me) rather off-putting image also contains a mystery— for now!

At the New Yorker, part 3

 all images, c. Kevin Sprouls

 

   During my brief spell of association with the New Yorker, as I mentioned, all of the      illustration work in the Goings-On-About-Town section were created for black+white  reproduction. I thought this a distinctive attribute, and that it set the “calendar of events”  department nicely apart. As an exercise, I thought it would be useful to try colorizing some of my more interesting illustrations from this body of work.

 A still from the 30’s or 40’s. My good friend, Mark Lonergan, describes the credits this way: “The women…are Ruth Chatterton and Mary Astor, who appeared together in William Wyler’s 1936 ‘Dodsworth.’    …I think.” I’m sure he’s nailed it. Note the condescending haughtiness of the society elite vs. the desperate social aspirant who’s pining for an out-of-reach object of desire. Am I reading too much into this?

This is the original used in the G.O.A.T. section. Back in those days (early-90’s), I had an Agfa production camera which came in very handy for assembling images for mechanical boards, reproducing images for my portfolios, and even scaling photos for producing illustrations. I developed a technique using transparency film, whereby I would take the black + white artwork, make a film overlay from it, and then create a color backdrop on board. The end-result tended to be graphic and effective, when successful– but it was a ton of work!

This image was perhaps the first time I utilized the process. The art was not produced for the New Yorker, but as a self-promotional piece for my young, thin portfolio (ca.1987). In the days before google images, a good place to dig for source materials was the New York City public library’s picture collection. One could spend hours combing through old photographs there! I found a still photo from the movie “Beckett”, of this brilliant Peter O’Toole moment, and took it back to my studio to spend a weekend with it. The result, above, is probably the piece I get the biggest response from, even today. Below, you can view the original, black + white artwork.

Another New Yorker assignment announced the screening of one of my favorite cinema works, Cocteau’s 1946 film (though it seems much more archaic!) “Le Belle et La Bete”. I thought it was a good candidate for the color process. Below you’ll see the colorized art, and then as the image was originally produced for the New Yorker.

On a technical note, the colored backdrop boards were typically cold press (slightly toothy surface), upon which I applied watercolor washes, building up the colors. Because this medium is somewhat challenging to control, I worked up a further stage using colored pencils to sharpen and define the color fields, then whatever corrective gouache paint that became necessary.

Yes, this was commissioned by the New Yorker. I never considered putting this through the coloring process, as the image is somewhat bizarre, to put it mildly. Announcing the Copeland, Clarke, Holland pop-fusion ensemble “Animal Logic” of 1989. My apologies to the band— it wasn’t my idea!

The New Yorker years, part 2

 

  all images, c. kevin sprouls

   Going back through the vaults of my original art boards, I am struck by the relative consistency of the works I produced under the art direction of Chris Curry, at the New Yorker magazine in the early 1990’s. I’m a trifle disappointed the relationship didn’t continue longer than the 2-3 brief years it did, as I consider most of my pieces produced for the magazine fairly effective. During the years of my retainership, all of the G.O.A.T. art was in black and white. This was a design consideration, certainly. There may have been a change at the top that brought a close to my participation in the weekly publishing endeavor. I recall that this “Goings On About Town” section began using full color art spots concurrent with my departure from those pages.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles! ca. 1990

The very first installment— David Strathairn and Jean Stapleton playing Pinter, 1989.

Rock ‘n Roll! ’80’s Rocker Sylvain Sylvain. A fun piece to draw. Gotta love that outfit…

Now here’s a musician for you. The fabulous bluesman, Robert Cray. I once heard this great guitar hero interviewed on radio. He told an interesting story about how the band made sure club owners would actually pay for gigs… By sending Cray into the back office at the end of the night with a bad-ass act. According to Cray, he was effective, though in truth he was just another sensitive musician type. I am sorry, dear reader, to delve into such lurid detail on this blog, but,… that’s Show Biz.

Antonio Tapies, expressionist painter. For this piece, I incorporated the painter’s strokes into my portrait.

Announcing the IBM sponsored exhibit, “Pompeii”. It was a real labor of love to be drawing all those individual tiles!

Although the hours were long, the notice was (indeed) short, and the pay unprincely, I must confess that these images, produced for the New Yorker, remain some of my favorite children.

The New Yorker Years, part 1

 all images, Kevin Sprouls

 

  In the years from 1989 to 1991, I enjoyed a regular (if rigorous) retainership from the New Yorker magazine. It didn’t pay a princely sum, but I was glad to have the coveted, prestigious exposure in this high profile weekly. Rigorous, in that I would receive a request for an illustration on a Tuesday afternoon, and be expected to ship art overnight on Thursday. Meaning, I had to drop everything else I was working on and devote myself entirely to the magazine for a day or two. I still enjoy magazine work today, and sometimes accept less than optimum terms for the pleasure of being published. Here, then, are a collection of my images that were printed in the New Yorker, for the “Goings On About Town”, or GOAT pages. Mainly, these were to publicize dramatic or cinematic events, concerts, etc.

For an Australian film, as I recall…

Publicizing the film, “Gremlins”

from a 1940’s flick… note the garter. Most de rigeur!

Fabulous African musician, Youssou N’Dour.

Bing Crosby and Mary Martin.

This was the “nail in the coffin” for me with the new Yorker. I thought, given the circumstances, this wasn’t such a bad image, but one of the A/D’s didn’t like MM’s visage in the 1st draft. What you see here is the original art, with a paper patch carrying a substitution of the starlet’s face. Sometimes relationships break off without apparent reason or warning!