I was fortunate enough to land a great gig with Twoseven Inc. They had a design job. The client, Hermes, wanted a comic book style for their store windows on Madison and 62nd St. Some people still remember me as a comic book artist… from the early 1990’s! Comics aren’t something you really ever forget how to do. So I gave it a shot and they really liked it.

An establishing shot. There was no story really. They just wanted the feeling there was. I tried to suggest more story and began to take some risks by injecting some critters in the panels.

Some panels were pretty large. Painted with latex paint using a range of different brushes. Sandpaper was my eraser!

I just mailed a crap load of post cards out. I had 4 different cards in this mailing. Info is the same, the images where the only change. So if you are here because of my card, please drop me a line to say it worked! Or even better, lets make some art together!

Here are the cards I mailed, plus one image to look out for in the future.

Self Promo inspired by “Machete” trailer.

Detail

Dylan 2007

Dylan 1965-66

GW Bush recreating his image. Cover for The Week Magazine.

Obama as he was about to take office. Cover for The Week Magazine. Yes, it’s cropped. If you have my card, you have my e-mail and my number, so please use it frequently! Of course you aren’t waking me! I always sound like this… um, yeah.Thanks for staring!

A letter by a person from my past.

Fred Harper is a New York City illustrator who’s wielded his pen for the New York Times, The Wall Street Journal Sports Illustrated, … and soon enough, you.

Born in the wilds of Western PA, Fred began his career drawing caricatures in the carnival (traumatizing many a teenage girl in the process.)  A few years later, he was drawing Spiderman, Conan and Dr. Strange for Marvel and DC Comics.

Fred now does caricatures and editorial illustrations for places like The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Village Voice, and Sports Illustrated. He also paints three out of four covers for The Week Magazine.  Fred’s art has been published from Hong Kong to Honolulu.  He’s visually mocked everything from pug dogs to motorcycles, landscapes to Angelina Jolie’s lips.  Fred mostly works in gouache and Bristol (good for a fast turnaround!), but he’s also happy with oil paints, pencils, and Photoshop.

Sick of stock photography?  Fred is too.  So use the magic of his illustration to punch up annual reports, bedazzle your corporate communications, and polish your marketing brochures to a high sheen.  Fred can even do a portrait of that special executive someone.  And boy will investor relations improve when you give them something swank to look at!

So, use your sales collateral and hire Fred.

I moved to Manhattan from Brooklyn last month. Still feeling like I was fresh out of college and grossly underestimating how much crap I had accumulated, it was a colossal pain in the arse. My friends came by and really helped out. In less than a month, I went to California twice. Opening at Copro Nason Gallery in LA where I had a piece in a group show. fharper.com for the type of work I show in galleries. (warning: it’s not work safe!) Spent a week in New York finishing the packing and doing a deadline. Then to San Diego for the Comic Con. Came back to NYC and finished moving what I couldn’t fit the previous week! Plus more deadlines. Not every piece I did fits what I focus on, but here is a few…

Cover for The Week Mag. Obama tries to bail out the sinking healthcare reform.

See, not what I usually do, but fun and challenging any way! Cover for The Week Mag.

My portrait. It’s under the Jan. 25th entry.

Clayton Cubitt came to my studio to do a long portrait of my girl, Molly Crabapple, and asked if he could do mine. He called it stealing 5 minutes of your soul. Not feeling that I had one to steal, I told him to have at it. He sets up a shot and clicks start on the video button of his camera. My job was to hold still and stare at the camera for 5 minutes. This is me holding still. I apparently can’t do this simple task.

I was going to post this tomorrow, but I guess it’s already out.

This was for Crains NY. Last week. Lloyd Blankfein and John Mack. CEO’s who now have to watch their budget. In other news…

I’m having an art show at Manhattan Classic Car Club. 250 Hudson Street at the corner of Hudson and Broome. It is my fine art stuff which involves some nudity that would never be seen on my illustration website. It would be banned by every spam/firewall/scary work filter crap around. Not good if you want an art director at work to visit your site! My fine art site  (fharper)is a little more personal and not so worried about work sensors. Probably why I don’t make a living as a fine artist! Anyway, if you’re in NYC next week, (Oct. 28th 7-10pm) please stop by!… That’s a ‘67 Chevelle SS 396 big block V8. and it purrs like a pissed off dragon.

Sports Illustrated took the week off, so I think I have a bit of leisure time coming, nope. Wall Street Journal called me up Fri about 2 hours before I was to attend a party for my art director at The Week. Brett is moving on from The Week and taking a new position as editor-in-chief/creative director for Islanders Hockey magazine. I think his codename for it is paradise. He’s a huge Mets and Islanders fan, which is good since they both use the same garrish orange and blue colors. This is where I wish Brett the best and say what a pleasure it’s been working with him for the last 7 years at the magazine. Hopefully he doesn’t somehow lose my number while moving to his new digs! So with that I post a WSJ illustration done for Dan, another art director whom I’ve worked with for at least 10 years now.

“Loaded for Bear” of Ben Bernanke and Henry Paulson for Wall Street Journal (Mon. July 14th)

My next door neighbor is an artist. In 3 years we’ve barely spoke. Today while coming in the door of my building, he sees me approaching and opens the door for me. I didn’t expect that! As I fumble with the pause on my I-pod, he asks how I’ll react to the Orphan Works bill presently getting rammed through congress if it passes. I haven’t talked with the guy in at least a year and this is his opener! He asks if I’ll be taking down all my images on my website. I hadn’t really given it much thought considering I have so much stuff out on the web already. I guess I might. Then I’ll have to get really good at describing each illustration I do instead of just showing it to people. Then I can embellish and come off sounding like the Rembrandt of caricatures! Maybe this won’t be the nightmare it most definitely will be for EVERY artist.

Until congress FUCKS the freelancers like me, I’m the new guy on the “Players” article for Sports Illustrated every week. Here is the first of probably about 50 illustrations for them.