Catching up with STUFF

Here's a bunch of WORD covers and cartoons I haven't had a chance to post.

LOCAL MUSIC and Communism

A design for this year's Local Music Showcase. In the heyday of Soviet propaganda posters, they churned out some amazingly beautiful art. I love the industrial hard edged look of these. So, if it worked in industrial era Russia and China, I thought it might work in post-industrial era Jamestown, NY. Yes, the factory stacks are smokeless. It seems lately, the only thing we are manufacturing locally is some great music.

The WORD cover I forgot to post...

The New WORD cover

Destination... exhaustion.

I will have more time later to write more. Here's a couple of pieces of art from this week.

Sometimes Cliché is Okay

When faced with an illustration assignment in which you have NO source material, sometimes you have to improvise. This cover was for a FALL ART GUIDE, or some crap. I take full responsibility for employing the COMPLETELY cliché artist's palette. Sometimes the challenge with an over-used visual device, is to reinvent it in some way. I love concepts. This one... isn't really a stretch, but I think it gets there safely.

The execution on this was a bit rushed, but it works. I like the way the rake mimics a fan brush.

Sometimes an illustrator is just someone who creates a concept and "LEAVES."

S'more Cover Art and a Cartoon!

Happy Fourth of July! I will mark the passing of this most patriotic holiday, with a cartoon. This is in no way autobiographical. I'm sure someone dropped something at some family picnic in my many years... but this is just generic enough that it will be familiar to most readers. Doesn't everyone have a relative that always brings their "famous" dish-to-pass? Anyway... in regards to flag burning (not the cake kind) I am indifferent. I myself would never burn a flag as a political statement, but removing the right to do so seems a bit hypocritical. It is a form of Freedom of Speech. A flag is a symbol. Instead of creating legislation to keep people from burning symbols, why not use that energy to improve what the symbol represents? I am over simplifying but, whatever. Happy Fourth of July...


Also, here's a couple of Chautauqua Region Word covers I did over the past two weeks. The first is for Lilydale Assembly, a large spiritualist community here in western New York. I have always been fascinated by Ouija boards. I am not saying they are an effective way to converse with the dead, but they are really spooky looking. The woodcut illustrations on the mass produced boards of the 60's are beautiful and some of the handmade "witch-boards" I found online were amazing.

Every year around this time the Chautauqua Region Word runs a "Best of Chautauqua County" issue. The readers vote in an array of different categories, and the results are published. Every year I have used the Muskelunge as a cover device. The Muskie is a TROPHY fish (get it?) and is still caught in Chautauqua Lake. This year, I got on a Japanese tattoo kick for some reason. These huge body tattoos generally picture a KOI fish in various positions across the back. I ran with the fish tattoo concept and came up with this. Hope you like it.

The Japanese Kanji character used in the design is ICHIBON which means "first" or "best"... special shout out to preppygirl for the help in deciding which character 'BEST" suited the message and design. YOU ROCK PGIRL!

Yet Another Cover Again

2 jobs!

First one is this week's Word cover and the second is a Rock Show Benefit Poster for Infinity Performing Arts.

No rest for the wicked...

Yet Another Cover

Yay! Legos! Yay

Ready, Willing and Cable (8)

New cover for this week's Chautauqua Region Word. This is our local newscast team. I love their set. I included a picture for you to see. Small town news has got to be a tough gig. They are my heroes.

Moving on then...

Still in bit of a creative funk... but time waits for no one. This week's cartoon. They can't all be gems.

Also... check out my new MySpace music page. I threw up a couple of songs I wrote. Working on a new one... a Christmas song. More on that later...

http://www.myspace.com/garypetersmusic

Based on an Actual Conversation

For anyone who doesn't know, I do a weekly comic strip for a local publication. The Chautauqua Region WORD has been running this cartoon for many years. It's fun and it's always something different. I have about 4 years worth of weekly strips. I've been toying with the idea of creating a book. It would have a limited appeal but it might be fun to do it and see where it goes. Anyway, people I know always end up in it, sometimes on purpose. This one won't run until Wednesday, put you can get a preview here! Woot!