http://dalestephanos.com Wed, 04 Jan 2012 10:46:35 FeedCreator 1.7.2 http://drawger.com/dalestephanos/index.php?section=articles&article_id=12945

When Texas Monthly art director TJ Tucker called last month to ask if I was available to illustrate the cover for their annual “Bumsteers” issue, I felt as though I had received an early Christmas gift. I’m a bit of an obsessive magazine fiend, and Texas Monthly has long been on my radar as one of the great regional magazines in the country from a design perspective. With a slew of all star art directors through recent years including D.J. Stout, Scott Dadich, and now T.J. Tucker, it was both intimidating and really exciting to get the gig.  The Bumsteers edition is basically the Texas Monthly version of the Darwin awards – the “winners” being those who rode the horse over the cliff so to speak. T.J. presented an idea that I loved – basically hammering home Rick Perry’s signature moment in his campaign thus far, the “oops” debate.   The subject matter, venue and T.J.’s relaxed direction made this one of my favorite assignments of 2011. I was determined not to make this an “oops” moment.









This was a nice way to end 2011. Maybe not for Rick Perry though. Maybe he'll be too busy campaigning and prepping for debates to notice this boot in the rear.

]]> Tue, 20 Dec 2011 15:18:32 http://drawger.com/dalestephanos/index.php?section=articles&article_id=12928

Tim Luddy from Mother Jones called last month in the nick of time. I was just finishing up a series of small, complicated illustrations that were taking on a guest who won’t leave position in the small pile of deadlines that were accumulating. Tim said that they were doing a story on Wall Street, the Occupy movement, and the idea of “Dark Money”. That phrase alone could launch an entire illustration show, and it gave me an idea for a short story that I’ve begun writing. My preference is always a simple strong image rather than a scattershot Cecile B. DeMille production, so this solution was a relief.



Here are some ideas that were tossed around. The concept of course is the monied power class selling out America and Americans.











]]> Tue, 13 Dec 2011 14:56:24 http://drawger.com/dalestephanos/index.php?section=articles&article_id=12837

Here's a fun, quick turn around job I did this week for Lauren Draper at The New York Observer. The story is about Cain's varied fund raising streams in New York. So what does a bone dry topic like that need? That's right, pizza. I've found that pizza can make almost anything interesting. Someone wants an illustration on mortgage backed derivatives? Throw a classic Pepe's pizza in there. Oh, you want a picture that explains stem cell research ethics? How about a nice Regina's pizza? I hope to god I don't get a call for a Penn State illustration, because it will ruin God's Greatest Food for me forever.   Working for the Observer is always fun because it allows the 12 year old me (my natural state) to just do his thing, but with fancier, techier crayons. Guess what's for lunch?



]]> Thu, 17 Nov 2011 14:34:45 http://drawger.com/dalestephanos/index.php?section=articles&article_id=12722

I just heard (on my iPhone) that Steve Jobs has passed away. What a shame.   When I find yet another use for my iPhone I always think to myself, half jokingly, "Thank you Steve". I think this is a huge loss not only for gadget geeks like me, but for business and our economy as well. While it might have appeared that he was leading the race towards the new, what he was really doing was riding herd, cracking the whip, getting others to keep up in the direction he chose.   What Jobs did best was to let people know what they wanted before they knew they did. The ipod, imac, iphone, etc., are all game changers born of one man's vision. He didn't believe in focus groups, instead relying on his own tastes. I can tell you that being involved in a creative field that is a surprisingly rare quality. I wonder what fabulous, useful new technolgies we won't be using because Steve Jobs is no longer driving towards the edge. He was a true giant, the kind of visionary America likes to boast to the world about and I'll miss the magic he brought to what was previously a very dry, gray industry.

]]> Thu, 06 Oct 2011 00:02:21 http://drawger.com/dalestephanos/index.php?section=articles&article_id=12647

My teen years were dominated by hours spent practicing the guitar, bending my ears trying to figure out how on earth all those guys like Hendrix, Beck, Page, Van Halen did what they did on the instrument. Around the same time I found a really strange and wonderful newspaper in the Jr. high school library called Rolling Stone. It was like discovering some mysterious ancient scroll that held the key to entered a world I wanted to inhabit. With typical teenage delusions of granduer I vowed that someday I would be one of the great musicians to occupy the sacred space within those pages. After a while it bacame apparent that music would not deliver me to the promised land. But I did discover there were certain overlaps with music and art. Thank god spandex and hairspray weren't among them. One of the things that carried over from my musical goals was the hope that one day I'd be in Rolling Stone. Just to be in the same pages as Gottfried Helnwein, Ralph Steadman, Phillip Burke, Randy Enos, CF Payne, Anita Kunz, and on and on felt like it would be like standing on the same stage as some of the great musicians. And then the phone rang with an assignment from RS. Then another. And another. As professionals we always to our best for our clients, but there are some for whom you try to stretch past that high mark on the doorway where you were tallest. Then, later you look back and say "Pzt. Could have been better". Anyway, here's my portrait of Pink I did for the RS record review back in 2006. The opening is tonight, hope too see you there.

]]> Fri, 09 Sep 2011 14:48:24 http://drawger.com/dalestephanos/index.php?section=articles&article_id=12628

Back in late June as I was doing my vacation preparation version of the helicopters and sauce scene from Goodfellas, an email from  UTNE Reader's Stephanoe Glaros chimed in asking if I was available to do a cover. The subject would be sex in the 21st century. I loved the idea of having skin mag pioneer and pajama king Hugh Hefner being appalled by what the kids are doing online these days. Hefner's face is to caricaturists what Playboy used to be to 14 year old boys: A gift from God that keeps on giving. Or so I'm told. During my research (I only looked at Playboy for Hefner's wrinkly face) I was struck by how quaint Playboy's aesthetic is. So, after agreeing to the job I dragged along the Cintiq and spent leisurely evenings on the Vineyard working to the sounds of waves beyond the dunes, children laughing in the summer breeze and the tapping of wine glasses. This issue came out a couple of weeks ago. Thanks again to Stephanie for the fun gig.



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