gyro and a frappe?

On Friday my mans and I are going to NYC. We are packing the weekend full of stuff. Awesomely weather-dependent stuff. But no matter, if there's rain, we'll deal. I get the impression that the East Coast is experiencing some nicer spring-ish weather these days so I'll be happy to see the sun and shed my winter coat.

#1. Mariners-Yankees game with my sister, Dave's friend and my parents on Saturday. This is more Dave's gig but I'm happy to go to ballgames to sit in the aforementioned sun (fingies crossed!), drink beer and eat hot dogs. Dave and his buddy, who is taking a train up from DC, are planning a full-out Yankee Stadium educational series, complete with pre-game tours and such. I think I'll pass on the exhaustive ballpark analysis but I'll be a good sport and cheer for the Mariners with him once the game starts.

#2. 5-Boro Bike Tour. I did this once before before I moved to Seattle, in '06, and it was great. 30,000 people ride 42 miles on main arteries of the boroughs, which are only open to bikers, over the course of a day. It's a tour, not a race, and stopping to eat and drink is encouraged. I'm defs gonna bring a Snickers or two in my fanny pack. Dave and I rode about 40 miles on a paved trail to a brewery last weekend. It was a beautiful day and we were both toast by the evening, but we needed to make sure we could hack it.

#3. Cinco de Mayo, Astoria-style. Matt still lives in my old apartment in Queens, and I'd like to hang on the porch like old times with Leigh and the rest of my crew. I wouldn't mind scouting out some delicious Greek food and a frappe.

#4. My people. Above all, I'm psyched to spend a little time with my family and friends, and to see Ashley's new pad in Prospect Park. I'm happy to walk Dave around my life that used to be.

Peace, Seattle, at least for the weekend.

be my baby always

A good friend of mine asked me to do some sketches for his band's upcoming CD. I did lots of show fliers for the Greg Mayo Band while in NYC. Their music has a lot of soul and r&b influences. They are really fun to see live, especially because Matt is so nasty on the horn! I did these sketches and will develop the one of the guy walking across two cities. The band is producing the CD next weekend and needs the artwork ASAP so that will be my biggest challenge. Check it!

from start to finish

I was contracted to create a t-shirt design based on an interview with an Iraqi orphan for the organization Take Pride. My idea was to show her optimism among the seemingly hopeless chaos. Here's my first sketch:
They thought the scene was too war-torn (well...?). They asked me to dull down the conflict and make her look younger (they were right on that, she looks like a teenager. The one way I know how to make people look younger is to draw their eyes and head bigger). This is my revised sketch:
The final is limited to four colors. It is way more inoffensive than my initial sketch. Here it is: