This was published in the very last issue of Omni magazine and also a version of the Creative Handbook in San Francisco, so it was not a commission and was produced for my own pleasure. The printing was done by Dai Nippon in Japan and my scan here is taken from that. I should add that Omni published the illustration without my knowledge, although the original artwork was bought by someone in San Francisco the copyright was not discussed. Also I always fancied getting in Omni, especially on a cover although this was used inside and I only found out last year while exploring the archive. It is also possible that Omni reprinted from my Creative Handbook page. Either way the funny thing is that Omni used my artwork for an editorial about Alien abductions, thus totally missing the point of it. You could say that the artwork itself was abducted and interfered with.

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All the pieces on this page are my own creations and were not commissioned. The artwork above was used in AI Expert magazine in December 1987. The article was called Gnat Robots by Anita M Flynn. I will expand the commentary concerning the thinking behind these pieces later.

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Machines to Save the World is the working title for this strange piece. Created around 1983 it was published in the San Francisco Society of Illustrators book.

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I owned a vintage Robot just like this and decided to illustrate him with the tools of my trade to advertise my services. It inadvertently commented on my state of mind at the time, concerning work, and I thought later it might possibly be a bit of a miscalculation with regards to how possible clients would view my attitude. It was on my page in the American Showcase and used by my agent Janice Sefanski.

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The Two Ronnies

 Ronnie 1

Ronnie 2

A tale of two Ronnies. Ronnie number one is unpublished. Ronnie number two was published on the cover of the East Bay Express around 1989. I gave the art director Steve Abel the choice and he plumped for the more conservative caricature, it’s daft and friendly. Ronnie number one is darker and more of the style of New York magazines at the time. They would use more ironic and darker illustrators like Brad Holland or Sue Coe, the post punk style. I got the idea for Ronnie 1 after watching ‘Bride of Frankenstein’ on late night TV and  it was also around the time that the actual Ronnie announced the ‘Star Wars’ program. The idea for Ronnie 2 was based on the idea that Nancy Reagan was into Astrology and would advise Ron on stuff based on readings. I would have liked Steve to have used Ronnie 1 and it would have bolstered my post punk credentials especially amongst my musician friends. But since I was never a punk I could never cut it as a post punk. Besides, I’m a nice person.

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This collage was created in my studio in Emeryville around 1988. I lived there for about two years and my own work became more experimental. I will expand this later.

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The artwork above was created around 1987 and use with other self promotional material. Many years later it was used (half of it anyway) in 2010 by the producer Geoff Searle on the CD cover for Sonicphonics Six.