Wednesday, December 3, 2008

Philadelphia wants Poe

Over Thanksgiving break I completed my third assignment for Baltimore Magazine. It was for the "up front metro" section which is the same section I have done twice before, so I was familiar with the specifications. The illustrations for that page are always small, so that wasn't a surprise. The article was about Edgar Allen Poe and how Philadelphia feels he should be dug up and reburied in their city because he has more of a legacy there than in Baltimore. Actually, it was a Poe scholar who was arguing this, not necessarily the whole city of Philadelphia. The Poe scholar here in Baltimore who runs the Poe House is going to be having a debate with this scholar next month to argue his point. So the illustration had to show the struggle between these two men/cities wanting to have Poe. The idea I ending up doing was a variation on the one the art director had supplied me with, and I was fairly happy with the result. I had done a portrait of Poe before and I really wanted to draw him again, but the final illustration didn't really require that, so it was more focused on his grave, which is actually pretty ornate in itself. I did however get to sneak in a very tiny portrait of him on the gravestone, so I found some satisfaction in that.

The issue comes out in January so I will post it after Christmas.

Also, there will be a picture and blurb about me on the contributors page of the issue.

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