Bartalos Illustration

The San Francisco Center for the Book recently asked me to design their 2015 inaugural and exclusive Thanksgiving Thank You keepsake. Designed in two colors, it consists of a set of ten notecards with matching envelopes and a cover card expressing appreciation to the Center’s generous supporters. The project was printed by SFCB Studio Manager / Resident Instructor Chad Johnson on a Chandler & Price platen press.

Visit the Center online at sfcb.org and check out their incredible space and programs at 375 Rhode Island Street in Potrero Hill.

I’m pleased to be one of the selected artists for the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission’s (PUC) Storm Drain Murals Program. The PUC has partnered with the San Francisco Arts Commission to administer a series of temporary pavement murals to raise awareness of Mission Bay storm drains that lead directly into the Bay’s waters.

My proposal, titled Wildlife Gems, uses a fish, crab, and heron as shown in these visualizations. The ‘everyfish’ is representative of the many fish varieties found in the Bay’s waters. The crab is also an amalgam of the species found along our shoreline. The heron, shown here in white, strikes a stance typical of these charismatic birds that dot our region.

In the final project, six animals readily identified with San Francisco Bay will be distributed among six drain sites. Each mural will be customized to its surroundings, taking parking meters and other permanent fixtures into consideration. The artwork proposal is viewable on the SFAC website.

I’m one of the shortlisted artists for a new public art opportunity as part of the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission’s (PUC) Storm Drain Murals Program. Under the pilot program, the PUC and the San Francisco Arts Commission will implement a series of temporary murals on sidewalks and pavements adjacent to six storm drains in the Mission Bay neighborhood.

The goal of the program is for visually impactful graphics to promote awareness of storm drains that are separate from the sewer system and lead directly into the Bay’s waters. Making these drains publicly recognizable is key to reducing the amount of pollutants that reach the Bay via these conduits.

Click the image above for a look at my artwork proposal. The presentation board is also on display at the Mission Bay Branch Library through September 16 as well as on the SFAC website.

My children’s book Shadowville is currently featured in an exhibition at London Print Studio, an artist-run non-profit organization that offers professional printmaking resources and runs projects in London and beyond. The show, titled The Enchanted Page: An Exhibition of Children’s Illustration, features framed book spreads and large-scale image excerpts on the wall. At the same time, the gallery offers visitors the opportunity to read, draw, play and explore a selection of picture books.

Curated and designed by children’s book illustrator Frann Preston-Gannon and LPS Director John Phillips, the exhibition features work by fifteen children’s book authors and illustrators including Julie Morstad, one of my personal favorites. According to Mr. Phillips, the show has been well received and may likely be booked for display in several art spaces outside London. The LPS will also be running workshops with local schools early next year in conjunction with Enchanted Page artists.

The exhibition runs through the end of January 2015 during which artist’s talks, guided tours, and workshops are available for visitors. London Print Studio is located at 425 Harrow Road, London W10 4RE / tel 020 8969 3247. Their gallery page is here.

I’m pleased to announce that powerHouse Books is working with KIZM Education Group in Seoul to create a Korean edition of my children’s book Shadowville. KIZM, a noted publisher of picture books in South Korea, plans to issue Shadowville in 2015.

My Ninja Tune logo appears on mugs released today as part of the seminal British record label’s product line. Available online at the NinjaShop. More about the logo here.

My graphics for Lowe’s Fall seasonal campaign are now on display in their home improvement stores across the country. The campaign, titled “All for Fall,” will also be visible in broadcast spots, circulars, on the Internet, and other external campaign elements.

Much thanks to Mike Schacherer and Tim Schumann at Little & Company in Minneapolis for commissioning me for this project!

My latest graphics for the California Academy of Sciences announce SuperNatural Halloween, an annual event at San Francisco’s natural history museum. Many thanks to CalAcademy Creative Director Rhonda Rubinstein who commissioned this piece (and many others preceding it).

I’m happy to announce the re-issue of my children’s book Shadowville by POW!, an imprint of powerHouse Books in New York. Originally published by Viking in 1995, the new release features illustrated endpapers and a re-designed cover. This is Shadowville‘s second English edition; its French edition was published by Éditions du Rouergue in 1997.

An online preview of the powerHouse re-issue is here.

The California Academy of Sciences’ Earthquake exhibit and the graphics I created for it are now on view. The main illustration, shown above, appears primarily on merchandise for sale at the museum’s three retail stores.

A related series of display signage icons for the exhibition space serve to identify the show’s four thematic areas: Life Drifts, San Francisco Shakes, Earth Quakes, and People Prepare.

The Life Drifts section explains how the prehistoric break-up of landmasses affected the evolution and spread of life forms across the planet. My illustrated kiwi bird is an example of species whose closest relatives are scattered in continents thousands of miles apart, having evolved from a common ancestor that lived when all the southern continents were connected. There are live baby ostriches in this exhibit area that also illustrate the shared legacy of India, Antarctica, Australia, South America, and Africa, which were once joined as Gondwana.

The San Francisco Shakes section features an earthquake simulator designed to look like an old Victorian home in San Francisco. Inside, guests experience the sustained tremors of the city’s two biggest quakes, the 6.9–magnitude Loma Prieta earthquake of 1989 and the 7.9–magnitude Great San Francisco quake of 1906. My illustration is inspired by this 1906 scene on Howard Street — the street my studio happens to be situated on.

The Earth Quakes area features the ‘Walk-through Earth’ — a 25-foot-diameter model of the planet’s interior that visitors enter through an oversized crack in the globe’s crust. Inside are touchable geology specimens and interactive stations explaining the basics of plate tectonics. My graphic icon references the display’s architecture, fashioned after the Earth’s inner structure.

The People Prepare section addresses what to do before, during, and after an earthquake. The illustration emphasizes the importance of maintaining an emergency kit as part of home preparedness.

The final section of the exhibit includes a resource station offering preparedness advice from the CalAcademy and partner organizations. A set of icons was designed specifically for this space and for free booklets with tips on dealing with the next big quake.

Many thanks for this commission to creative director Rhonda Rubinstein who I also had the pleasure of working with on the original theme illustrations for the Academy’s wall panels and print collateral. I’m thrilled that our previous collaborations continue to be featured on apparel and merchandise in the museum’s retail shops.

The California Academy of Sciences is located in Golden Gate Park, San Francisco. Visitor information can be found here.