Art Opening: Artists Against the War

This one is for those who'll be in NYC tomorrow night:

The Society of Illustrators in NYC is having a killer art opening tomorrow night: Artists Against the War, featuring art work by such great artists as Peter Kuper, Steve Brodner and Lynne Foster. You can also pick up a copy of their awesome book.

The History of a Dream, The Indypendent #160

This illustration accompanied Nick Power's alternate take on the last ten years, which appeared in the latest issue of The Indypendent.

Cover for The Indypendent #160, All We Need is Hate

Here's the original illustration I did for the latest issue of The Indypendent.




And here's the version that hit the streets. The feature article by Arun Gupta shows how violence is an integral part of the right wing's rhetoric.

Cartoons with a punch

Cartoon by Zunar.

A buddy sent me this link. Cartoon Movement is a really cool site that collects political cartoons and is open for submission.

Islamophobia Illustration

I did this illustration for an upcoming story on in The Indypendent. The article is on how the right wing use Islamophobia to unify people and fleece them of their money. I'll post a link to the article once it's online.

© Frank Reynoso, Sept. 2010, All Rights Reserved

Media Spin on Flotilla

Did this illo for Arun Gupta's story "The Victim that is Israel" which appeared in the latest issue of The Indypendent. This dramatic story gave me an opportunity to use a more expressionistic style. (I was definitely was looking to Ashley Wood and Brett Weldele for this one.)

© Frank Reynoso, July 2010

Latest Issue of The Indypendent

The latest issue of The Indypendent is out now. With cover art by Lynne Foster and illustrations by Christine Hale, Tim Durning, Leo Garcia, Louis Joe Comeau IV, Brian Ponto, and Jaume Guerra aka Guerruntz.

Some stories that you might be interested in:

American Dreams: Obama Harnesses the Seductive Appeal of an Abstract Ideology by Cyril Ghosh

Obama's Choice: President or King by Ann Schneider

A Stalled Debate on Economy by Arun Gupta

Post-Palin Feminism by Abby Scher

And the feature article Who You Gonna Call? Expectations of Obama's Presidency by John Tarleton

And so much more.

NACLA Cover

This is an illo I did for North American Congress for Latin America (NACLA). Needless to say, the magazine deals with the US's relations with Latin America. It's a solid magazine with great, intelligent writing.

The issue should hit the stands in January. Pick up a copy. And read their articles, too.









© Frank Reynoso, Dec. 2008, All Rights Reserved

Christmas at the Palin Household

This is a hi-res file that you can download and print out.

Forward to friends and foes.

Happy Holidays!!











© Frank Reynoso, Dec. 2008, All Rights Reserved

How To Create a Bloomzilla

For those of you who are curious about my working methods, here's a walk-through of my recent illustration for The Indypendent.

Keep in mind that I don't have a "fixed" system. Every assignment's different - eg. full-color versus black and white, hand-painted versus digital, etc etc. But below is an example of my general process.

1. I read the text and got a sense of the messages conveyed in the story. (Sometimes the full text isn't ready so an outline or synopsis is all I have to work from.)

With those ideas in mind, I sketched this little dinger. Usually I'll do a series of sketches - four to five or more if I can't "get it right." But considering I only had a couple of days to do this illo, I went with the first idea. (I strongly suggest doing multiple sketches before moving onto the final.)

Most of my "thinking" is done at this point. I look for strong composition and draftsmanship.

2. I plunged into pencils. I went online and used five reference pictures of Bloomberg to make sure I got his likeness. (Note: use multiple references to avoid legal troubles.)

I changed the head's angle so the reader can see his face more.

Though I did most of my thinking at the sketch phase, I still modify things as I move along the process. Surprises can be cool but too many of them can make your final look like a hot mess.

3. Using a couple of brushes, acrylic ink and a micron pen, I inked the bugger.

Any modifications at this point are nominal. Eg, extra hatching in various spots.



4. I scanned it in, cleaned up any blemishes, erased a stray line at the bottom and bumped up the contrast.

With the illo clean, I digitally added grays and sent the final to the designers.




And here it is.

Again, I don't have a "regular system" for doing illustrations. (Recently I've incorporated tracing paper into my illustrations. More on that some other time.)

But I always use the a) think and sketch, b) pencil and modify, and c) ink and finish process for my illustrations.

Hope you had as much fun placating my ego as I did. :)

Rock on,
Frank


© Frank Reynoso, Nov. 2008, All Rights Reserved

Bloomzilla

Here's an illo I did for the upcoming issue of The Indypendent.

Needless to say I had fun drawing our wacky mayor, who's running for a third term. And obviously he did it "legally."






© Frank Reynoso, Nov. 2008, All Rights Reserved

"Sock the Vote" Comic

Here's my one-page comic response to voting.

Forward far and wide. :)















© Frank Reynoso, Oct. 2008, All Rights Reserved

Obamania Cover of The Indypendent

Back in August, I illustrated this cover of The Indypendent.















© Frank Reynoso, Oct. 2008, All Rights Reserved

"Adding Fuel to the Fire" Cover of The Indypendent

Looking through The Indypendent's online archives, I came across this cover I illustrated in May 2007.














© Frank Reynoso, Oct. 2008, All Rights Reserved

Masheka Wood's "So, You've Been Laid Off?!"

If you're suffering from economic distress as most people are, do yourself a favor and grab a copy of Masheka Wood's new mini-comic So, You've Been Laid Off?! What more can I say but "Delaware."

And while you're at it, grab a copy of Deep Doodle. Funny shit.

© Frank Reynoso, Oct. 2008, All Rights Reserved

Economic Crisis Illustrated Essay

Don't forget to check out the illustrated essay that explains how we arrived at the current crisis. The essay's the current top story on The Indypendent site.

© Frank Reynoso, Oct. 2008, All Rights Reserved

New issue of The Indypendent and copies at Small Press Expo

I'll have copies of he latest issue of The Indypendent, with the economic illustrated essay by Arun Gupta and myself, at this year's Small Press Expo (SPX).

The raging cover is by the undeniably talented Gino Barzizza.

"How to Wreck the Economy" Illustrated essay up on Indypendent site

Everything you ever wanted to know about the biggest economic meltown since the Great Depression but were afraid to ask.

You can see a decent version of the illustrated essay at The Indypendent site. But I think it's better in actual print.

I'll have copies of the latest issue with the illustrated essay at this weekend's Small Press Expo.


© Frank Reynoso, Oct. 2008

Samples from upcoming illustrated on the economy

Below are some samples of my illustrations for Arun Gupta's essay on the econonmy. The full-colored, essay will appear in the next issue of The Indypendent. Grab a copy.

© Frank Reynoso, Oct. 2, 2008

Illustrated essay on the current Economic Crisis

Arun Gupta of The Indypendent and I, along with the help of numerous people, created an illustrated essay on the current economic crisis. The essay will appear in the upcoming issue of the paper. Keep an eye out for samples and links.

PS. I'm planning to turn this essay into a comic. Though it might not be ready in time for Small Press Expo (SPX).