I know this isn’t an illustration per se, but I thought this photograph might be timely and better suited to the topic than anything I could come up with. I made this picture during an assignment to photograph the traveling Viet Nam Memorial. A group of Navy vets happened to pause to look up the name of one of their relatives who died in the war.

This illustration is based in a quote from a wise old comedian named Sam Levinson. Some of our elected leaders should take heed. Click on the image to enlarge.

Two offerings on this theme.

This theme hits close to home. I’ve been dealing with my parents’ aging and all it involves, over the past few years. My dad died of a stroke a year ago after a 3-year battle. This image may be a little “dark” because of that. Then again, I see some hope in it, you tell me. Nevertheless I’m determined to contribute something positive to the dialog, thus I’d refer

A bit of a cynical take on a popular western perception that we are the center of the universe. The thing with the mosquito really happened. Guess I should enjoy my life as a designer, I may come back as slime mold.

A digital painting from a photo I made of a Russian women descending into the Moscow metro in 2002. Couldn’t help but be conscious of the current suffering in London while making this. Moscow too, has been wracked with acts of pseudo-religious/political violence in recent years. It breaks my heart. So much pain in the world.

Okay, so it’s a somewhat cynical tangent. But a cultural icon nonetheless and very much an integral part of the sports landscape in suburban America. Notice the abbreviation for “Illustration” in my title? I now feel I truly belong to the wider community of illos. And a happy Interdependence Day to all of my fellow ‘murkins.

This idea started with some vintage portraits I’ve been collecting and ended up as a comment on the heroic trait of keeping true to one’s self. That’s different than black and white thinking by the way (see last week). It’s one thing to “keep your eye on the prize” in spite of all distractions, quite another to drown out the voices of reason in the name of “resoluteness”. My

More archeological excavation into the photojournalism portfolio. Not making a comment on who I think qualifies as a hero–just seems to be an element of heroism in these images.