The Horse Problem for the Weekly Alibi

Are horses livestock or pets? What should be done with the growing population of abandoned horses, as the economy has made it more and more difficult for families to feed them? Should the ban on slaughtering horses for human consumption have been lifted in the States?

There are lots of things to consider. Is it more humane to kill the horses in slaughterhouses or let them starve to death on their own, or ship them overseas to have them killed there? Is horse meat fit for human consumption, as so many horses are injected with drugs during their lives that may remain intact in their flesh after slaughter? Is it ethical to sell that meat to other countries for low prices, even though there may be health and safety issues?

I don't have any idea how it'll all work out so that's what I illustrated. One path to the slaughterhouse, one to abandonment, and one to an animal shelter. Whatever happens, it'll be humans leading the way.

Here's the original sketch. I didn't know what the dimensions of the illustration were so I started horizontally (most of my jobs for the Alibi have been either square or horizontal): 

After I got the dimensions, it was pretty easy to resize and shuffle around the elements to work in a vertical composition. To me, it's better to get started with the sketch and not just be sitting on my hands!

-- Julia
Portfolio site

Many Shades of Grey for the Weekly Alibi

One of the reasons I love editorial illustration so much is that I get to learn about all sorts of things I wouldn't think to look into otherwise. Last week I got to learn about the cultural roots of the banjo. I had no idea that black slaves brought the instrument and its music to America. Here's a link to the article. 

I wanted to show the luxurious plantation houses of the sweltering south and the crystal-clear lakes and humbly built cottages of the Appalachian mountains. Banjos have been in many different hands. Minstrel shows are a rather awkward bit of American history but an important bit nonetheless. I knew I wanted to include it but I definitely didn't want it to look offensive. 

The art director got back to me later to say that the article's title was "Many Shades of Grey", just at the time I was trying to decide how to colour the illustration. So I went with it!

Sketch:

--Julia
Portfolio site

Grunge for the Weekly Alibi

A fun grungy music piece for the Weekly Alibi for an article titled "Seattle Wall of Sound". Apparently Converse sneakers are super 90s, but for me the 90s shoe/boot has got to be Dr. Marten's. I actually have these somewhere back home!

I draw the same speakers in everything ~.~'  :

 Sketch:

-- Julia
Portfolio site

A Liver's Tale for the Weekly Alibi

Here's a fun one I did to accompany a short fictional tale in the Weekly Alibi about black market livers. The story is written in a trippy, fragmented way, so I wanted to make this one a little surreal. Here's another dreamy illustration I did for the Alibi. 

The liver is a bit of a tricky one to draw. It's not as iconic as the heart, kidneys, or even stomach! Just kinda a mass of meat, really.

I'm having a hard time resisting doing rising suns in my work lately. I did one in my Agar Lady piece and I'm trying not to do one in my current work in progress, which is all about pectin. The sun and its rays is just such a nice framing device! Grr. 

Sketch!

-- Julia

Portfolio site

The God of Gelatin on the cover of the Weekly Alibi

Now that this illustration's been published, I suppose that means I ought to stop futzing with it :P. For some reason I get a real kick out of drawing food. This is a self-directed piece I did that showcases that wobbly wonder called gelatin, its origins, and its many uses. 

Here's some text I wrote to accompany the illustration: 

Gelatin is a translucent, colourless, flavour-

less solid substance created when collagen is

hydrolysed. Its most common forms are 

sheets, granules, or powder.

One of the oldest forms of gelatin is hartshorn jelly, 

derived from the antlers of stags. Another ancient

source of gelatin is isinglass, made from the swim 

bladders of sturgeon. Isinglass is used to this day 

in the clarification of beer and wine. Gelatin is 

derived from animal by-products although veg-

etarian alternatives do exist. In modern times the 

majority of the gelatin is extracted from pig skin.

Gelatin is a versatile substance with a multitude 

of uses. It is used most commonly as an addi-

tive to foodstuffs, where it can act as a thickener, 

texturizer, or stabilizer. Gelatin is essential in the 

manufacture of film stock and is used extensively 

as a substrate for cell cultivation, as ballistics 

gelatin, and in pill casings, glue, and confect-

ionery.

             

Here's some more of the process work for the piece. And the preliminary work!  

And here's my Umami: The Fifth Taste piece I did last year, in the same "I love drawing food" vein:

It seems like every year I get a hankering for doing a "food, glorious food!" illustration. Here was 2011's:

-- Julia

Portfolio site

Social Gifting for the Weekly Alibi

Facebook, Pinterest, Tumblr, and other social networking sites can help gifters suss out what giftees may desire! Perhaps a little benign cyber-stalking is in order this holiday season :). Link to the Weekly Alibi article. 

And here's some more hand-drawn type I did for the same issue:

-- Julia

Portfolio site

Sad Republican Elephant for the Weekly Alibi

The 2012 US Elections are long over (well, a long time in this super-fast modern world we inhabit) and the results are in. The GOP's wept some tears and nursed a few glasses of chocolate milk. I've heard that phoenixes (phoenices?) rise from the ashes and I wonder if the same applies to pachyderms :P. 

The Weekly Alibi wanted an illustration of the aftermath and suggested the idea of a sad elephant at a bar, but wondered if it would be too cheesy. No way, I thought! Let's make this happen!

Sketch:

Best wishes to my American friends -- Hope the next four years are good to you. 

-- Julia

Portfolio site

Booksellers Fight the Good Fight: For the Weekly Alibi

A fun one for the Weekly Alibi (here's the article). It's about the battle that independent booksellers have been fighting since the creation of e-book technology -- How to be relevant and appeal to customers who in large part have turned to Kindles and Kobos to satisfy their literary needs. 

In a way, it's a companion piece to this illustration I did for Alternatives Journal. That article discussed how the new technologies are innovating the publishing industry. This latest article for the Alibi recounts how booksellers are fighting to retain a piece of that publishing pie. 

 Sketch:

-- Julia 

Portfolio site

Band Lottery for the Weekly Alibi

Here's one for the Weekly Alibi, for a band lottery (link to the article) in Albuquerque, in which bands are randomly constructed from individual musicians and play in a concert together. Sounds like a blast!

Aside from a brief stint as a flautist (flutist, flute player, etc.) in elementary and middle school and some choir stuff in high school I'm not very musical at all. Even when I'm working or working out, I prefer podcasts over music. 

I listen to many hours of podcasts during the week, including: The Indoor Kids, Stuff You Should Know, Stuff You Missed in History Class, WoW Insider, WTF with Marc Maron, The Joe Rogan Experience, Talkin' Toons with Rob Paulsen, and Mike and Tom Eat Snacks. There was a time when I'd listen to the old XFM Podcasts with Ricky Gervais, Stephen Merchant, and Karl Pilkington repeatedly, pretty much all the series and seasons. Those are golden!

Any podcast recommendations?

-- Julia

Portfolio site

The Weekly Alibi's 2012 Haiku Contest

It's that time again! September means Alibi's Haiku contest has come around, and happily I was asked to provide art for the occasion. Last year I did a cover for the contest, this time it was an interior page. This year presented a particularly interesting challenge, as most of the page was taken up by the winning haiku poems. 

I decided to go with a couple of arrangements of spot illustrations along the top and bottom of the page, each spot inspired by the eclectic nature of the poems. There were entries about Mars, singing cicadas, polka-dot underwear, baked beans, homeless Muppets, and Mitt Romney. Plenty to draw from (pun?)!

I'm not much of a poetry person, but haiku is one of the forms I can really get behind. 5-7-5 syllable structure. You work within that restriction, and presto! You've got yourself a haiku. 

Sketch with the page layout:

Haikus aren't that hard.

Five syllables, seven, five.

Do that and you're set!

-- Julia

Portfolio site

New Mexico refuses a cash infusion to health care -- For the Weekly Alibi

The art director wanted a Zia sun symbol incorporated somewhere, to indicate that the state of New Mexico (the state's symbol) was the main character here. I decided to go with a belt buckle because it would make the symbol larger and easier to see, and something a politician might wear!

Sometimes I get a full article to work and sometimes it's just a few words. That's how the fast-paced editorial illustration works, particularly with a weekly publication! This time it was "IV bag of money", "a hand about to cut the line" and "Zia symbol". 

I wanted to pose the man with the scissors the same way you'd see a politician or celebrity pose for a ribbon-cutting ceremony. And I wanted to colour of his suit to be on the warm side because when I think New Mexico, I think of suits of this colour. Maybe it's all the Breaking Bad I've been watching -- I'm pretty sure I've seen Hank Schrader wearing this suit and shirt combo!

I've done a number of illustrations for the Weekly Alibi, so this wasn't the first time I've used a Zia symbol. Here's an example. And another! I try to avoid overusing symbols, but they will crop up from time to time. I've drawn way more guitars than anything else, though (that first link will lead you to a bunch my illustrations that have guitars in them).

 Sketch!

-- Julia

Portfolio site

Bank Transfer Day for the Weekly Alibi

Here's a recent one I did for the Weekly Alibi for an article on Bank Transfer Day. Bank Transfer Day encourages people to take their money out of the Big Banks and switch to credit unions. 

"Unlike banks, credit unions are not-for-profits owned by their members. Instead of siphoning earnings up the pipeline to shareholders and CEOs, they can invest them as they see fit. This can take the form of lower interest rates and fees, or member-directed donations to local charities and community groups. Perhaps most crucially, they can respond to local economic conditions and offer loans to people who might not qualify at a big institution." (For the rest of the Alibi article, click here.)

The art director requested a portrait of Guy Fawkes on a bank note that had a number of references to Bank Transfer Day (the date, "99%", ninety-nine percents) so I did two versions, one of Fawkes' actual face and one of the iconic Fawkes masks. I was wondering which one they'd use -- they ended up using both! The article describes the historic origins of credit unions and the anti-Big Bank sentiment that is a form of protest today. Using versions became part of the concept, which was a fun surprise.

Sketch:

-- Julia

Portfolio site

My art on Breaking Bad!

Over the years I've done a lot of work for the Weekly Alibi, which happens to be based in Albuquerque, New Mexico. January 2011 I did a cover for them, the only cover I did for them that year. January 2011 is when season four, episode 1 of Breaking Bad was filming! Talk about the right place at the right time.

The episode aired in July 2011 -- more than a year ago and I only watched it now!

Here's the link to my original post of the illustration.

In the last shot of the episode, the camera lingers for a few glorious seconds on this:

Eeeeeeee! EeeeEEE! What's even cooler is that as you can see from cover I posted, the headline was "The 2011 Issue". In the shot it says "20th". So they even had to do some post-production magic there! And even, even cooler is that in the next few episodes they do "previously on..." montages that include the same shot. 

And nerdiest of all, I can now daydream that I'm a freelance illustrator in the Breaking Bad universe. Like, if I travelled to Albuquerque I could conceivably run into Walt or Jesse or good ol' Saul :P. 

-- Julia

Portfolio site

Who watches the watchmen part 2, for the Weekly Alibi

Ongoing troubles for the Albuquerque Police Department -- They need an independent review officer who investigates the public's complaints about the police but are having trouble filling the position. Maybe it's because the job has no teeth! 

If the independent review officer feels that there is a legitimate complaint he takes it to the Police Oversight Commission, which is staffed by volunteers. The commission can decide not to pass the complaint on to the Police Chief. And even if they decide to forward the complaint to the Police Chief, the Police Chief ultimately decides what actions will be taken. Or not taken. Seems like a pretty thankless job to me.

The Albuquerque Police Department has had more than its fair share of troubles. Here's another illustration I did for the Weekly Alibi dealing with ABQ police troubles. And here's another one!

Sketch: 

-- Julia

Portfolio site

Dick Clark Dance-off!

A fun one for the Weekly Alibi! This one features a dance-off between a 60s-era Dick Clark and Alan Freed. Clark was the squeaky clean square and Freed was the swingin' cool daddio! I based the colour palette around Freed's trademark patterned suit jacket and went from there. 

Here's just the inked version:

 And the rough sketch!

-- Julia

Portfolio site

Happy Belated Canada Day

I did this piece for the Weekly Alibi for Fourth of July, figured it could work for Canada Day for my blog! The article was about how New Mexicans want fireworks banned when there's a severe danger of fires, but lobbyists and some politicians are opposing this fairly commen-sensical idea. Who would've thought that the fireworks industry would have so much clout?

I decided to have some of the indigenous wildlife fleeing the conflagration (there's a subtle skull in the smoke!), with a startled pronghorn antelope standing in for Bambi.

Be careful out there, folks!

-- Julia

Portfolio site

The Scorpions for the Weekly Alibi

Rockin'! Here's a fun illustration for the Weekly Alibi that pays tribute to the German hair metal band The Scorpions. They are embarking on their farewell tour, after more than 40 years of kicking, jumping, and rad pyrotechnics!

A while back I did another heavy metal-inspired illustration, this one for Curve magazine -- Kind of funny to see the similarities between the two. Flames in the background, orange/yellow/blue colour scheme, microphones and more guitars! I like taking a look back at my old stuff to see how things have evolved.

DIY Music and Underground Creative Culture, for the Weekly Alibi

There's always been a culture of resourceful musicians, hobbyists, and crafty people -- but thanks to the internet and all sorts of other technology, sharing knowledge and projects and getting together has never been easier. Long live DIY!

The colours of this illustration are a little bit different from what I usually do. Often there's a punchy contrasting colour but not here. I wanted to capture a bit of a vintage basement feel (shag carpet, wood-panelled speakers, dumpy couch!). 

I had no idea how much knitting has been championed by craftivism. In fact, I didn't much know what craftivism was. I love doing research and finding out about all sorts of interesting stuff :). 

And yeah, yet another illo with a guitar in it. This blog post provides a bunch of helpful links that'll direct you to some of my other depictions of guitars!

 Sketch:

--Julia

portfolio site

Summer Guide 2012 for the Weekly Alibi

Here's my latest for the Weekly Alibi! Four spot illustrations for their 2012 Summer Guide. I did the same job last year except that time I did a whopping twelve illos instead of four! The art director provided me with four paragraphs chock-full of content that I really enjoyed picking through. The more info the better, I say!

This time, each illustration includes a drink of some sort. I made sure to stick 'em in opposing corners so they all balance out. I also used my trusty Wacom Intuos2 tablet for the sketches this year, instead of pencil. 

The surface of my tablet is all pitted and scratched up so on the advice of a Wacom customer service rep I stuck a piece of mylar on top that I cut to size. The surface is nice and smooth now and works like a charm! Unfortunately my nibs are wearing down just as fast and I honestly don't know what I'm going to do once I run out of replacements. The Wacom site sells replacement surfaces and nibs, but not for Intuos2 :(. I poked around the internet and I didn't find any great suggestions. If anyone has an idea of what I can use for nibs, please let me know!

Last year I did Alibi's Annual Haiku contest cover, which was another repeat job for me. I must be doing something right!

Sketches for this one:

--Julia

portfolio site

Rock the 9 for the Weekly Alibi

Rock the 9 is a Native rock music festival in Albuquerque, New Mexico. I thought it would be fun to combine elements of a classic rock n' roll drum set with some awesome native drums! 

Like the Al Hurricane illustration (another music-themed illustration) I did for a few weeks back, I feel like this could almost be album art because of the square composition. I even put hand-lettering in this one!

The drum on the bottom left is decorated with the birdy that's on the Albuquerque flag. The same bird appears in this other Albuquerque illo I did. The Albuqueque and New Mexico flags both have a sun symbol on them so I incorporated that, too. I've used it before (albeit much smaller) in another illo for the Weekly Alibi.

My favourite thing about this piece is the colours. I am a sucker for killer colour combos.

Sketch:

Hope you like it!

-- Julia

porfolio site