Illustration for Chicago Tribune Printers Row Journal

I was recently approached by Chicago Tribune to create a portrait of Norwegian author, Karl Ove Knausgaard, for the cover of their Sunday book section called the Printers Row Journal. It's always fun to get an assignment like this. I love researching my portrait subjects and I was totally unfamiliar with him. I really studied the reference and even Googled his Wikipedia entry to try to find out more to capture "him" (something that I do a lot).

He's got a great face with an intense look; a weathered cigarette countenance of piercing eyes and a mop of silver blonde hair. I know it sounds silly but he totally looks like what my imagination pictures a writer to be. I'm really happy with the way that it turned out and am honored to have been asked to do this project. Enjoy!

Cover of Chicago Tribune Printers Row Journal

Detail

HAPPY ONE YEAR BIRTHDAY of The Unselfie Project!

Get out your party hats! The Unselfie Project is one year old! It's hard to believe that a whole year has gone by since I stayed up until midnight to press the "live" button on Kickstarter to launch the campaign. What an incredible thrill it has been! A year later, I have a huge online gallery, many happy customers all over the globe and a successful small business - all because of YOU!

To celebrate and to thank you for making this all possible I am having a 15% off SALE on all levels of Unselfies and Gift Cards in the shop all month long! Do you have a wedding, graduation or need a Mother's Day gift? Unselfies make great gifts for ANY occasion so take advantage of the sale and enter the promo code PARTY at checkout.

It means the world to me to be able to have my own business creating art full time. I am eternally grateful to all of you who have helped me achieve this dream by making The Unselfie Project a huge success. Thank you so much for your continued support.
Cheers!

- Michele

Happy Birthday!

Call For Backup.

I'll keep this short.

I love our country but there is something fundamentally broken in our police system. Whatever happened to "Protect and Serve"? Police brutality and the killing of unarmed people, whether suspects of a crime or not, have reached epidemic proportions. We need to fix this problem now for the good of everyone but when and how?

Heavy. The trial of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev.

The federal trial of convicted Boston Marathon bomber, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev began this week. The jury will decide either punishment by death or life in prison. The prosecutors will declare him as an unrepentant killer. The defense will argue that he was a troubled youth, pushed down a dark path and radicalized by his older brother. This illustration is my take on the subject. 

Heavy.

The "Almost" Portrait.

A good amount of my illustration work focuses on portraits. Constantly drawing likenesses for magazines as well as The Unselfie Project has me thinking about something that has really bothered me for a long time - the "almost" portrait. What is an "almost" portrait? It is simply what I describe as a portrait that "almost" looks like who it's supposed to be. 

I am not being a jerk nor am I making fun of anyone's artistic ability. I'm just trying to explain how important it is to do your job well. When you are getting paid to create a likeness of a specific person it really needs to look like who it is supposed to be. If you don't specialize in something why would you offer it in your portfolio? There is a reason why I am not known for drawing automobiles.

As with anything it takes years of practice to master the craft of portraiture and become known for what you do. Study your subject. Get good reference. If the reference you are given is not something that you can work from, ask the client for better reference. Sometimes a client might ask you for something that you do not specialize in. It doesn't happen a lot but it DOES happen once in a while. If this is the case, have the good form to direct them to someone who is more adept at helping them get the result that they need.

Here are some examples of "almost" portraits. And the ones that are permanently tattooed on the client? I rest my case:

Almost Steven Tyler...I think?

Marilyn, is that you?

There is a reason that Ozzy is screaming.