While sitting next to the bar inside the Society of Illustrators in New York, (i still get humbled and awed by the history of that place) i happened to be chatting with Greg Manchess, yeah, the Greg Manchess. The fella i have looked up to since i first met him in Ohio when i was an awkward student. The only difference now is that i am older but still just as awkward. Greg is involved with a fundraiser for the Society of Illustrators Student Scholarship. its a benefit auction called MicroVisions. When Greg asked if i would consider participating in it again (i had a piece in the 2007 MicroVisions) i said yes before i considered how busy the schedule was. But being in that place (the Society) makes you feel like you have to step it up if you want to stay in the game for any length of time.

when digging through my sketchbooks looking for a character to build for the auction i stumbled across a crusty post-it note, at least 4 years old,  that simply said SHACKLETON CREW – dark figures on white.

the Shackleton story has many layers and mysteries, but one thing that is clear to me is the stunning imagery of the adventure captured by Frank Hurley. Specifically the figures of the crew whose clothing  and features had turned black because of the seal oil that they burned for heat.

after spending a weekend revisiting all the sites and references i had bookmarked for years i had my subject:  

i will be sure to post a link to  the auction when it is announced.

for now you can see the other works in the exhibit here: http://www.tor.com/blogs/2013/04/microvisions-auction-happy-hour

When i was asked by the chair of the Society of Illustrators competitions (John Hendrix) this spring, if i would consider illustrating the poster for the 55th annual competition my first reaction, was ‘How many people had to turn you down before you decided to call me?’

I was taken back a bit, never would have figured that i would be asked to the poster. (although, i remember staring at Tim Bower’s image for the 44th annual call for entries poster (the 19th image in his portfolio) and dreamily trying to imagine what i would create if i were in his shoes)

John told me that i would be able to pick the designer i wanted to collaborate on the poster. and i quickly jotted down 2 names on the corner of whatever sketch i was working on at the time. As the next few days passed, i was digging up names from projects in the past, people i hadn’t worked with but always wanted to, designers and art directors from a variety of fun jobs. i found myself scared to ask anyone to collaborate on the poster with me, what if i really screwed it up, who would be willing to go down with me?

ultimately it came down to those first two names i jotted down. i knew both of them were extremely busy and if i was going to ask i would have to do it so they just couldn’t say no.

i drew up this clumsy but honest note to ask my top pick, SooJin Buzelli to collaborate with me on the poster and sent it in the mail. knowing it would take at least a week to hear back if i was lucky.

Within a few days i received a call from SooJin saying that she hardly ever looks through her mail and she wasn’t even sure when the note was sent to her. THANKFULLY she said yes.

We talked about possible themes and John mentioned that he wanted to see something humorous, not to0 self-serving and not too topically specific.

Here is a selection of sketches i sent off.

Some of the sketches were favorites from my then current sketchbook and some where more directed to the spirit of competition.

It came down to the pencil sharpener and buffalo concepts. I am still not sure what the origin of the buffalo in relation to the Society of Illustrators is, but we were trying to find a way to play off the idea of the double buffalo and the number 55.

In the end we chose the pencil sharpener concept and when discussing how to address the back of the poster we thought something like this might be fun.

when i initially created the sketch i hadn’t put much thought into the type of pencil sharpener that would work best.

here is a test with the studio sharpener and a paper figure to determine the scale and general format of the image.

i quickly discovered that all pencil sharpeners are generally 4″ tall which meant my puppet would need to be roughly half the scale of what i normally build.

after asking all the older folks in the neighborhood,  if they had any old, crusty pencil sharpeners in their garages and barns, i turned to Etsy and Ebay, eventually finding a nice yellow one in Idaho and a red one in Chicagoland. I went with the red one from the 1920′s from Chicago off Ebay.

here is the colorstudy.

here is a bit of progress on the backside of the poster.

After many phone calls and wonderful sequential folding systems by SooJin, we eventually came to a solution on how to best make the information flow.

it was up to me to give SooJin images that would make her job as easy as possible.

here is a final view of the front and back. it is a real treat to see it at 36″x24″

Thanks to John Hendrix and the Society of Illustrators for having the confidence in my work and especially for SooJin for taking this journey with me!!

The largest east coast showing of my work is currently on display at The Art Institute of Boston through Dec. 18th.

the last time i visited Boston was for the 2008 HOW design conference, and i have to admit that i am growing quite fond of Boston.

i was asked to give a talk about my creative process and my career path on the opening night of the show, and this lovely group of folks were kind enough to sit through 60 minutes of my talking and 220+ slides.

a HUGE thanks to AIB for being such a welcoming institution. I immediately felt right at home.

i apparently am inept at using a camera outside of the studio, but fortunately the school has a nice set of photos of the show and my visit on their illustration and animation blog.

here are a few pages from my sketchbook during my brief trip to Boston.

Not long after Bob Hunt of the Hancock County Arts and Cultural Council asked me to consider creating an image for a downtown mural on our humble Main Street, I recalled the historical recollections and photos of the Interurban Rail that used to run right by that location. Starting up in 1899 the Interurban Rail Line ran right down the center of Main Street and was the ‘rapid transit’ compared to the common horse and buggy of the day. With the wide horizontal format of the space, it seemed like a perfect fit to be able to see an almost full scale interurban car on Main Street 70 years after the last one ran in Indiana.

My goal was to have the mural honor the innovative past of Indiana and Greenfield, encouraging the community to ‘tip their hat’ to the past but also look forward to the future and the possibilities of where Greenfield can go.

There will be a public dedication at 2 West Main St on Saturday November 12, at 10am where the model used in the mural image will also be on display.

Special thanks to Nathan Bilger for his knowledge and guidance in gathering historical and pictorial reference for this mural.

here are some behind the scenes images of the project:

proposal:

references:

the build:

chipboard, wood, old bearings, old screen door hinges:

more wood, old springs, wire:

first coat of paint:

final coat of paint, patina, grime, chrome railings, bits of found objects for details

on set:

the final:

on location: 36′ wide!

i am delighted to announce a talk with a behind-the-scenes look into my creative process, for the Louisville Graphic Design Association.

the talk will coincide with an exhibit of work at The Green Building.

if you are in the Louisville area, you can register for the event here:  LGDA presents Chris Sickels of Red Nose Studio – Eventbrite

thanks to Matt Dobson for the promotional materials.

i am pleased to note that one of my illustrations will be in the upcoming 53rd annual Book and Editorial exhibit at the Society of Illustrators in NYC today Feb 4th at 6pm.
it was a cover for Angie’s List magazine on the topic of car restoration. i liked the idea of this fella sitting in his barn fresh Shelby Cobra and seeing himself racing thru the turns of the curvy back roads.
It is always an honor to be on the walls of the society. special thanks to the art director Tanja Pohl for the fun project.

i will blame this delayed post on all the ice on top of my little world right now. Nevertheless i am happy post about the recent annual SILA exhibit at Gallery Nucleus just outside sunny Los Angeles. i was fortunate to have four pieces accepted into the annual. with 2 of those being gold medal winners, a first for rednose!!

Playing Croquet was awarded the Gold in the Advertising category

creative director: Jim Root

Attention Seeker was awarded the Gold in the Personal Work category

The Blasted Church Vineyards labels received and Honorable Mention

special thanks to Bernie and Laurie at Brandever

and last but not least Clutch was also chosen for the annual as well.

i was happy to hear that the Blasted Church Vineyard wine labels that i worked on earlier this year with BrandEver are part of the current exhibit at SFMOMA

HOW WINE BECAME MODERN

Design + Wine 1976 to Now

which is touted … as the first exhibition to explore modern, global wine culture as a cultural phenomenon . …

sounds pretty fancy for my humble little characters. if you find yourself in the bay area, stop by the museum and drop in and see if you can find them.

from what i have read, they dont have any wine tasting in the exhibit, but there is a wine ‘smelling’ wall (probably not enough to get a red nose from, but hey, the holidays are upon us and red noses are everywhere)

here is a selection of the labels:

last week i was fortunate enough to be in NYC during the recently proclaimed  ’illustration week’

it started off with a delightful lunch with Lee Wade, Anne Schwartz and Emily Seife, where i learned the children’s book industry mantra “It’s a bunny eat bunny world”

here is a shot of their building

i was asked to make a mark on the sketch wall they have on their floor, i wasnt very prepared  but being the topic of motorcycles came up at lunch, i thought this guy could be a fun one to do. also on the wall J Otto Seibold, Elisha Cooper, among many others!

here is shot of the current titles wall at Random House

the sweet view of central park from my hotel before the ceremony/party at the NYTimes for the best illustrated books of the year. Thanks to Random House for treating me so well.

MOMA is always a favorite of mine, but this time i seemed to be drawn to the coat check tags, which are the same design that are used on dairy cattle tags from my childhood. oh and yeah Rodin rocks.

after MOMA i stopped by the Society of Illustrators for the 30th annual Original Art Show which showcases original art from recent children’s books.

here is the view from the Larchmont Hotel where i spent the rest of my week.

i had a wonderful Italian lunch with Chrystal, Paolo and Sophia at Le Zie on 7th Ave.

stopped by a few galleries in Chelsea, but was a bit more impressed with the sunset stroll on the HighLine.

was invited to the unofficial pre-party of  the American Illustration book launch, the Buzelli’s are very gracious hosts! The American Illustration American Photography book launch party was a good time as well, got to catch up with lots of artists and friends i hadnt seen recently.

i didnt bring wine to the party, instead i brought their delightful dog ‘Sota’ a little something.

thanks to Chris Buzelli for those last two images.

this is sure to be one heck of a group exhibit with a whopping 50 illustrators. it co-insides with ICON6 the 6th Illustration Conference, which starts this thursday July 15th in Pasadena.

here is a link to more information on the show from fine folks at Gallery Nucleus.

the piece i have for sale in the show is called ForeArm. there will be a signed, framed print on display along with the original sculpture/puppet.