mike reddy illustration

Altered States of America + Super Heroes

2011-07-21T14:29:00.000-07:00

I'm doing a web series over at Annals of Americus called Altered States of America with Matthew Newton for the month of July. It's been going great, and I think his stories are fantastic. Hoping to collect them in a book eventually, but for now keep up with each day's new installment.

Also: Thanks buddy Len Small for a great super heroes project over at Tablet.

Diner Journal

2010-04-22T16:40:00.000-07:00

New Diner Journal is hot off the press. Check out my chicken drawing and some great recipes and illustration brought to you by Diner and BANOS brother Derick Holt.

The Rise of Frank Capra at Cinefamily in L.A.

2010-04-22T16:33:00.001-07:00

Go check out Frank Capra month at Cinefamily in L.A. I did the cover for the program (which should be out soon) as well as this drawing for the great old Capra flick "It Happened One Night". Catch that one on the 30th of April on the big screen.

Beast Biplane Print: NOW AT PICTUREBOX!

2010-03-24T18:37:00.000-07:00

This gonzo 17x24 3-color silkscreen is now available through PICTUREBOX. Based on a sketch by artist/writer Ted May, it features pilot/wolfman Beast Biplane (who we drew originally for the pages of Ted's Injury #3).

It's a limited edition of 50 and printed on Rives BFK--it's like ART! Only $40!
Many thanks to the generous assistance of master printer M. Carter.

check out ted's sketch above!

What Things Do

2010-03-01T18:00:00.000-08:00

Check out Beast Biplane from Injury #3 and read lots of other great comics by indie all-stars over at Jordan Crane's brilliant new site WhatThingsDo. How do we make money by giving all of our work away for free? Good question. Please buy a print, I have another baby on the way. Oh yeah, and in case you haven't seen it my redesign of the ComicsComics blog is up, thanks to the hard work of the mellow and talented Ray Sohn.

MNDR

2010-03-01T17:54:00.000-08:00

Yo! Just finished up some cool stuff for Peter Wade at WonderSound for his newest artist MNDR. Caught her show last week at Brooklyn Bowl...lots of fun. Get this shirt at SxSW, and check out the C.L.U.B. single on itunes.

Brooklyn Comics and Graphics Festival

2009-10-22T18:26:00.000-07:00

Dan from PictureBox / ComicsComics is putting together this awesome comics show on Dec. 5th in Williamsburg...I'm going to have a table and willing be selling Injury #3 , Blueberry Boat , original art, silkscreened books + posters + an exciting new adaptation of a gothic horror story (if I can pull it off it time...I think I can). I'll also have some versions of the DVD series etc. on hand. Check out all of the cool artists who will be there: www.comicsandgraphicsfest.com

Matthew Friedberger: Back from the Dead

2009-10-07T16:05:00.000-07:00

Rarely do you get a chance to have a second crack at designing a record. I liked my first attempt a the Winter Women / Holy Ghost Lanuage School double album, but this re-release on Thrill Jockey turned out even better (I think) and I got to incorporate some of the same elements from the first design. Get your copy, bonus track and all here.

Charmaine Champagne video

2009-10-06T22:19:00.000-07:00

I've meant to post this for a while, but check out the video I did for the Fiery Furnaces with the brilliant designer/motion dude Phillip Niemeyer.

Ted May's Injury #3: Beast Biplane!

2009-10-06T22:03:00.000-07:00

Finally! You can catch my collaboration with the brilliant Ted May in the new issue of Injury (#3) out now from Buenaventura Press. This is the back cover image inspired by some crazy old Manga Ted found.
Buy it here for cheap!

The Transporter

2009-10-06T21:48:00.000-07:00

I got an email from a guy who came across the DVD series and recommended a few bad movies that inspired me to start working on these pictures again. If anybody has a copy of Raw Force on VHS, I'd love to see it. I started back up with his recommendation of The Transporter...sadly Jason S. doesn't sport the awful fake long hair of Revolver, but it's still pretty awesome. This pic doesn't make much sense unless you've seen the movie, but who cares?

REMNANTS OF A PROGRESSIVE NOW

2008-05-02T15:40:00.000-07:00

I did a series of spots for the May issue of THE BELIEVER. You can check them out (plus some of the pictures they didn't use) at my page for the series called Remants of a Progressive Now, a title dreamed up by artist Harrison Marshall.

Lowenbrau

2008-04-16T21:13:00.000-07:00

I just got copies of the new Lowbrow Reader which has some great stuff including a deliciously disgusting spot gag by cover artist John Mathias on the Table of Contents, a much neglected piece of real estate in most magazines.

Check out my contribution on their website here http://www.lowbrowreader.com/ceos.html

Blueberry Boat: The Book

2007-10-09T10:16:00.000-07:00

I just handed off a couple of copies to Matt and in a matter of days you should be able to pick up your own copy of the book at shows. Very soon it will be available on the Fiery Furnaces website as well.

what else?

2007-08-09T21:01:00.000-07:00

I just noticed that I hadn't posted anything in 3 months! Here's what I've been up to:

New Fiery Furnaces CD & LP & Poster all to debut this October.
Design and some art for ComicsComics 3 (in stores now)
3 page comic for the new Rabid Rabbit to debut at SPX
6 pages of spots for the upcoming Lowbrow Reader

I'll try to keep up the movies here and there, but I have a couple of great new projects in the works, including some comics and a potential masterwork. Stay tuned.

Texas Chainsaw Massacre II

2007-08-09T20:57:00.001-07:00

OK--the summer has been busy with other projects, but I just saw Texas Chainsaw Massacre II on Horror Night, and couldn't pass up the opportunity to draw it.

CHILDREN OF MEN

2007-05-13T08:17:00.000-07:00

Ever since having a baby, we've noticed how kids in movies never seem to cry much except for when required to for dramatic effect. This great movie was no exception.

GRINDHOUSE: Planet Terror

2007-05-10T22:25:00.000-07:00

Not sure if I'm going to do one for Death Proof...got a decent sketch but I'm a little behind (still got to do Children of Men + Fame).

VOLVER

2007-05-06T18:56:00.000-07:00

Trying a more layered approach for this one.

A Scanner Darkly

2007-04-29T21:12:00.000-07:00

Since this movie has such a distinct visual style already, I decided to really just sketch this one quickly without too much reference. I like concept, but I admit my Keanu is a little off (3 times!)

CASINO ROYALE

2007-04-29T21:07:00.000-07:00

OK...I'm back on the project after a break of a few weeks to watch some movies. Saw this new James Bond a few weeks back. I didn't come away with much, but it was pretty fun to watch. Got sketches for a bunch of new stuff, including Grindhouse + Children of Men. Just saw Volver tonight which was great...just got to figure out what to do.

LOUD QUIET LOUD: A FILM ABOUT THE PIXIES

2007-04-07T17:58:00.000-07:00

Took me a little while to get to this one, a movie documenting The Pixies 2004 reunion tour. The whole thing has this pervasive sadness...sad on the bus, quiet before shows, the drummer drinking after his dad dies. The music numbers just aren't fun when they come on. I'm a big fan of The Pixies and saw them on this tour, at what I think was the last show, and it was pretty fun, though we were way in the back up in the 3rd balcony, which isn't really the best way to see a band. Regardless, I felt a lot more joy on the stage than you see throughout this whole film...seems like they edited it to be a more dramatic "film" than a concert movie, at it sucks the life out of it.

RENO 911

2007-04-07T06:51:00.000-07:00

We've been watching the first season of Reno 911. I don't know why I didn't watch it when I had cable a few years back. Is the movie any good? I recorded some vocals and guitars (not the shedding lead, unfortunately) for a Reno 911 tv ad with Eugene "Eucho" Cho a few years back. I couldn't find the video on YouTube or anything, but it's really funny...kids playing with Reno action figures.

GRUDGE 2

2007-04-03T21:17:00.000-07:00

OK, so we watched the GRUDGE 2 over at John's. It was pretty dull, though I enjoyed it OK since I didn't see the first Grudge. That damn dead kid kept popping up to be scary every now and again. The other girl from Travelling Pants was the star I suppose, but she really had about as much screen time as the B-story girls, so I decide to draw one them instead.

I reallize I'm behind on my Pixies illustration (I nearly finished the sketch today). I think I wanted to finish this one first, because it seemed like a more natural transition from Lady Vengeance. Plus, I secretly watched disc 1 of Reno 911 the first season, so I've got to finish THAT illustration as well. Hopefully I'll make some progress tomorrow night.

On a side note, I got to spend some time today researching illustrators for an assignment at work, and came across some old names and some new ones that just blew me away. It's giving me ideas for how I can take this series into much more interesting directions.

daniel Krall http://dkrall.blogspot.com
yuko shimizu http://www.yukoart.com/
james jean http://www.jamesjean.com/
nina chakrabarti http://www.ninachakrabarti.com/
marcus oakley http://www.banjo.dircon.co.uk/mrwerewolf/mrw2.html

LADY VENGEANCE

2007-03-31T17:29:00.000-07:00

I referred to a specific frame in the film for this drawing, in order to force myself to use a different sort of composition. I realize that most of my pictures have a central figure, so for the next few pieces, I want to see how the movies themselves can suggest different approaches to setting up the page. In this case, I think it was a good starting point, but I didn't want to simply illustrate the scene directly. I decided to add the enlarged toys, button and bow to hint at the horrifying turn this movie takes at the end (Stef and I nearly had to turn this one off...)

PURPLE RAIN

2007-03-27T21:19:00.000-07:00

So here's Purple Rain featuring Prince on his modified '83 Honda Silverwing. Apollonia has jumped in the "wrong river" as usual, but so have Wendy, Lisa, Jerome, Morris, and that fat club owner. Sorry Milton, no room for the member of Prince's band inexplicably dressed as a surgeon while the rest rock the New Romantic look. Not so far off from the little sketch from a few days back. Thanks Stef for the idea of throwing in the boys along with the girls.

PIXIES, ASIAN EXTREME, PIRATE SHIRTS

2007-03-25T20:40:00.000-07:00

I managed to watch three movies, but I didn't get a chance to draw the final images yet. Here's a preview of what I've got in mind, and you can compare them to the end product in the next few days.

Loud Quiet Loud (Pixies)

Lady Vengeance

Purple Rain

LOST

2007-03-22T21:24:00.000-07:00

"Lost" has been kinda disappointing this season. Last night's was pretty good, but nothing worth drawing. This scene from earlier in the season was pretty funny, where Sawyer gets it on with Kate while Jack watches on the monitor. What's up with that one with Bai Ling? Note how I used the same highlight that I just did on "The Departed" yesterday. Already running out of ideas?

THE DEPARTED

2007-03-21T12:03:00.000-07:00

Saw "The Departed" the other night.

ROADHOUSE

2007-03-14T20:09:00.000-07:00

Horror night took a turn for the worse on Sunday with Tim's selection of "Roadhouse". This mostly tame fighting movie has a pretty ghastly finale, in which Swayze rips out a guys throat (which I've tried to capture here.)

SPIDERMAN: CRY BABY

2007-03-14T12:43:00.000-07:00

I was asked to do an illustration for Comics Comics #2 for an essay by Peter Bagge on how Spiderman sucks because he's a momma's boy and is always complaining. Here's the selected piece:

These two weren't used but I think they're still funny. Here's Peter Parker wimping out on Mary Jane.
And here he is just kissing up to old Aunt May: