Mail!

I don't know about the rest of you out there in blog-land, but email just doesn't cut it for me. I like big yellow envelopes and brightly colored stamps and packages that arrive unexpectedly on your doorstep.

Recently an out-of-town friend and I agreed to start sending one another a piece of mail each week. I've been using my weekly letters as an excuse to do a little doodling and goofing around with my art. I started working on my first letter on the train and turned a subway doodle into a little four page book with a pop up letter. (Just a quick note... I didn't want to post any of the art from the letters until N had received my packages, so I made this particular piece about three weeks ago.)

Front page (note the purple tab at the top)

Interior pages (the purple tab is actually the letter!)

Back cover

Subway doodle

Just a quick post of a recent silly subway scribble-doodle I sent my sister about my day -

The Book Cover Club - Murakami

Hey there everyone.

I'm still trucking along on Coco & Oscar sketches, thumbnails, and preliminary book dummy, but in the meantime, I took on a few additional projects. (Do I smell a freelance job? Maaaybe! But I shall save that project for another day.) Today I wanted to share another book cover.

This month, Nowness.com hosted a competition for Murakami inspired artwork in honor of the release of his latest title, 1Q84. The Book Cover Club saw this as an excellent opportunity. Alas I missed the deadline, so my piece is not on the Nowness. It is, however, posted on the Book Cover Club blog. But do head over and check out all of the fab submissions (especially those by the inimitable Ryan Hartley, Philip Cheaney, Kristy Caldwell, and Jess Worby) and cast your vote.

In the meantime, here's a look at my cover for Haruki Murakami's The Wind-up Bird Chronicles.

Coco & Oscar

Hey there blog-readers,

It's autumn in Brooklyn, and what better way to celebrate the best of all seasons than with a post full of new characters?

Meet Coco. She's cute and silly and in desperate need of a best friend, someone to be the Selma to her Louise, the Laurel to her Hardy, the Robin to her Batman.

And then there's Oscar. He just wants someone to appreciate his love of checkers, tango, and the fine art of muffin-making.

Hilarity ensues.

And a few final images. A preliminary spread for the book -

Finally, in honor of the changing season, a few autumn related images of Coco & Oscar fun.