Jon Keegan's Blog

Interview in Risen Magazine

Sat, 16 Dec 2006 17:44:45 -0500

The kind folks at Risen Magazine came across my work, and were nice enough to interview me about my work a few months ago for their November / December Issue. You can check out a PDF of the interview and spread below.

LINK: Jon Keegan Interview in Risen Magazine (PDF 1.2mb)

You can see more of my work at jonkeegan.com.

Update on the next-gen console battles

Sun, 19 Nov 2006 12:41:49 -0500

So here we are at the official beginning of the next-gen console war. The Xbox 360 is having its first birthday this week, today Ninetndo has unleashed the Wii on the masses, and those who survived drive-bys, armed heists and the slim inventory on Friday may have a PS3 in their hands.

I just want to put down my thoughts as to where I think the major players stand as of today.

New silkscreen design

Sat, 09 Sep 2006 13:54:35 -0500

Here's a new sillkscreen based on a drawing from an old sketchbook...

See the original sketch on this montage: jonkeegan.com/illo.php?id=48

I regret having to print two base colors on this (white, then transparent yellow)...I think ill just stick to a tinted color for the face color next time, to keep it to two passes. More shirts to come!

Tennis Magazine: Game, Set, Friendship

Tue, 08 Aug 2006 22:52:28 -0500

This illustration for Tennis Magazine's "The Complete Player" column continues the story of the author of this piece which I illustrated for them back in August of 2005. Recalling the tennis-filled days of his youth, the author describes how he ultimately lost a cherished friendship, thanks to his hubris and his gossiping about winning a friendly practice match. This of course, is totally based on Norman Rockwell's classic "Gossips" Saturday Evening Post cover from 1948. Apologies to Mr. Rockwell!

I was reading a good Rockwell book while researching this illo, and I'm convinced that he would have embraced the advent of the computer and digital photography with open arms.

NYT Illo: Parents as Matchmakers

Wed, 26 Jul 2006 23:44:42 -0500

This ran in the Thursday Styles section of The New York Times. The story is about how today's young singles are finding frustration in their endless searches for a mate online, and turning to the age-old tradition of letting their parents help find them a match. You can view some of my other illustrations for The New York Times here on my site.

Electric Cowboy

Wed, 19 Jul 2006 10:34:23 -0500

I just completed two illustrations for The American Society for Engineering Education which will be running in their flagship magazine PRISM. Above are details of the cover image (left) and the accompanying interior full-page illo. The story is about how Texas is using an innovative partnership between the state and the high tech industry to lure (and better retain) college students into engineering studies. Continue reading to see the full drawings....

Caught in the Scribble Swarm

Sat, 08 Jul 2006 02:36:05 -0500

Illustration Friday: Skyline

Fri, 07 Jul 2006 16:17:30 -0500

I've been meaning to contribute to Illustration Friday since I heard about it, and this week I couldn't help but submit the one skyline I've looked at over and over again, the hazy summer header I created in Flash for our collaborative art site Invisibleman. Click to see a super-large version.

Piercing Gaze / Art Highlights

Sun, 25 Jun 2006 23:57:52 -0500

I had a nice art-filled weekend, despite the torrential rains. I logged some serious time welded to my drafting table just playing around with some different materials that I don't often work with in my normal course of business. Really felt a nice loose freedom with a super-fat graphite pencil on vellum, which produced the above image, among many, many others...

Also, I saw some amazing art...

Full Moon on Dean Street

Mon, 12 Jun 2006 03:13:28 -0500

Amazing full moon tonight...While out walking the dog very late, I was inspired to record a rough little nocturnal cityscape...this is (very) loosely based on my view looking out over Dean Street onto Bergen. I have been wanting to do some paintings of the city at night...this has whet my appetite.

Illo for The New York Times

Wed, 07 Jun 2006 21:27:42 -0500

(Click above to see the full image)

Just finished this drawing for The New York Times' Thursday Styles Section (June 8, 2006). The story was about how younger workers in their 20's and 30's are often passing on the standard two week vacations, in favor of longer vacations, in-between their frequent job-hopping.

Read on to see my sketch and my reference photo.

Memorial Day in Prospect Park

Mon, 29 May 2006 15:08:19 -0500

Today was a perfect steamy summer day to take a stroll in Prospect Park. The pooch and I went for a nice long walk, with a few stops for some sketching. You first walk out onto the open lawn, and the wave of moist grassy air laced with sweet barbecue washes over you. EVERYONE is out enjoying the best spot in Brooklyn. I am still finding cool little paths to walk through. You can actually get lost in there. Since I am still obsessed with Google Earth ( Click here to download ), here are the placemarks of exactly where these sketches were drawn:

Top Sketch: ProsParkSketch1.kmz - Google Earth Placemark
Bottom Sketch: ProsParkSketch2.kmz - Google Earth Placemark

Select Faces

Fri, 19 May 2006 19:52:20 -0500

Here's a few faces from my latest sketchbook...been slacking on the posts.

Texture Library

Fri, 19 May 2006 03:49:37 -0500

One of the items on my to-do list recently has been to expand my 'texture library'. Since I have moved over to doing all of my color on the computer, texture is more important than ever. If there is a large area of flat color, and it is just 'paint-bucketed' in Photoshop, the flatness screams "Computer!". The look I am trying to achieve is one that is more hand-made. I try to use custom brushes with my Wacom tablet as much as possible, but sometimes an area needs a bit of real-world texture to break the flatness...

The swatches above are from a few of the textures I worked up this week. They will be much more subtle when included in my work, sometimes only a tiny corner of one, but having a variety on hand is a valuable part of the illustrator's tool-belt.

Animated Illo

Wed, 19 Apr 2006 17:00:33 -0500

I just completed this illustration for The New York Times (Thurs. April 20th, Style section), dealing with women and A.C.L. (anterior cruciate ligament) knee injuries.

The reference came from Eadweard Muybridge's classic "The Human Figure in Motion", which is an invaluable resource for how the body moves.

I couldn't resist whipping up a quick animation of these nine frames from the illo.