Art For The NYTimes-Nomadic Twentysomethings

I got a call from an old friend (an email, actually) who was designing a page for the New York Times. I'd last worked for Audrey Razgaitis on a spread for Condé Nast Traveler. This was the cover of the Real Estate section of the Times. The story was about twentysomethings living like nomads in the expensive NY real estate market. The picture that popped into my head was of city hipsters wandering with all their worldly goods on their heads. It worked out beautifully I think.

City Snowfall

 

I drew this picture of an imaginary New York during a real snowstorm here in Minneapolis, probably 30 years ago. I worked exclusively in pen in those days, a style suited to the black and white world of a snowstorm. I loved snow more then than I do now.

A Window in the City

I painted this for a calendar back in the '90s, one of several I did for a Japanese cellphone company. It's fun to imagine what it's like to look out at a city scene like this, each window framing another private life. My window looks out on treetops, kids on the sidewalk, the cottages across the street and the lake two blocks away.

City Maps II

I did this map in black line for Robert Valentine. It was Robert who did the colors and had it so beautifully letterpressed. The client was an important literary agent who was moving from the upper east side to midtown. In other words it was a moving announcement, but rather more glorified than such items usually are. Surprisingly enough it was singled out as one of the best printed pieces of the year by ID, the international design magazine. There was cleverness in the drawing, but it was the elegance of the execution that made it memorable. I like how I magnified the street grid slightly inside the magnifying glass. The glass was also my idea, as were the little jokes inserted around it. But it needed to be clear and eye-catching, and that was Robert's doing.

This map is a enormous departure, but does the same basic things. Just a map of a well known New York neighborhood, but with less persiflage. I drew it as someone would draw on a cocktail napkin. Rough, blunt, offhand. Pencil line has more candor to begin with and deserves to be used more. I did a San Francisco map for Random House once, for a book about the Beats. It was careful and clear, and I wish I'd done it carelessly and roughly, more like this. It would have contained the same information but would have suited the milieu it depicted.