The only catch was… they needed to translate my text from the original English version to French. This is not a major problem except there were some English idioms in the Economist version that I am not sure translated well to French (Thatcher’s Iron Fist, for example). For any of you French speakers out there, I would be interested in hearing how well you think the artwork translated!

I drew the cover for this week’s edition of The Economist. I worked closely with the cover designer in London on this one. We decided to pursue a more “graphic” version than the normally painterly style from the past. You can see the original concept drawing I submitted below. I like the simplicity an starkness of this one. I hope you do, too.

I was asked to create the cover for The Economist this week. It was a fun topic to illustrate (taxing the rich). I also had fun creating an autumnal scene… makes me want to paint more landscapes! Also this week… I drew the cartoon (below) on the current crisis in Israeli/Palestinian relations. The next day I flew to Taipei, Taiwan to address the World Congress of the International Press Institute. More on that event to come!

I recently discovered this old photo which conjured a fun memory.

Flash back to July 1986, The Economist commissioned me to do a cover for the magazine featuring the new and, by Soviet standards, modern new leader of the USSR Michael Gorbachev.

At the time a new television show was also the rage: Miami Vice.

I opted to create Gorby in the likeness of the hip star of the show Sonny Crockett.  But in 1986 there was no Internet and photos of Miami Vice were not readily available in Brighton, England where I lived.

So to create a good reference photo for the cover my wife and I went shopping. I picked up the outfit in the picture and posed while my wife took a Polaroid (remember those?) snapshot.

You can see the final results below of the cover I created for that week’s edition of The Economist.

No, I didn’t also buy the car.

I had a rather busy Wednesday last week. On that day I created two covers for The Economist.

Both are on the newsstand now. One is about guns and politics in America appearing as the cover for the US edition of the magazine, the second is on the Euro Crisis appearing on the front of the magazine in the rest of the world.

Having one artist create 2 covers in the same week may be a first for The Economist,. Just to complicate the matter, I was in Rome at the time attending an Economist related event for the international sales staff of the magazine. Members of The Economist team graciously found me a room at the hotel with some natural light for me to work (see below). You can see the finished products above.

I have had the great honor to be the Artist-in-Residence at the University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC) since 2006. My experience has been enriching and extraordinary. I have worked along side talented and generous colleagues and with energetic and engaged students. Now my rewarding experience has been captured in words by writer and editor Richard Byrne. The inaugural UMBC magazine profiled me in their recent cover story.  You can read it here: UMBC story

My students describe me a demanding creative force. I guess that is a charge I will not deny… as I am very demanding of myself!  

I had a second idea of having the creature hidden in a different way which you can see below. Maybe we’ll use it another time!