Wednesday, July 09, 2008
slate: the nose that never knows
loss of seeing and hearing are situations that we are familiar with and have attempted to comprehend, but what of the loss of smell. elizabeth zierah tells the painful story of her own life and of her anosmia, the absence of the ability to smell. this was a tough assignment, as my illustrations don't generally go towards the realm of somber and serious, but i went for mood with this piece (albeit with a big-glaring-lack-of-nose concept) and the work of rené magritte popped into my head as reference. anyway, don't forget to appreciate your sense of smell. slate: the nose that never knows, by elizabeth zierah  cover:  Labels: illustration, slate.com
eben | 6:43 PM
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Thursday, July 03, 2008
basics: smart gadgets acting dumb, as an upgrade goes awry
a piece about the average joe attempting to upgrade to the biggest and baddest tv, only to find out that his components and cables no longer work together, the expenses rise, and in the end, the best upgrade is a return to the original setup. nytimes.com: basics, by alan schwarz 
while working on this piece, i mucked around with silhouetting. this wasn't used for the final piece, but turned into an interesting experiment. mayhaps there will be more of this in the future.  Labels: basics, circuits, illustration, new york times
eben | 11:43 AM
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Monday, June 30, 2008
slate: my day at reality-tv school
eben | 11:24 AM
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Saturday, June 28, 2008
what's online: why some succeed wildly
malcolm gladwell has a new book coming out called, outliers: why some people succeed and some don't, and the internet is already a-tizzle about it. more important than mr. gladwell's book, however, is that this is the final what's online column. it's been a great run, 3 years, 140 illustrations, and a whole lot of good times. i would like to take a moment to thank dan mitchell for his great writing over the years, also mickey, nick, james, phyllis and the rest of new york times bizday team for all their stellar work editing, art directing and general upstandingness. fear not, i will still be working with the times, just this column is ending. stayed tuned to this blog for a best of (possibly a worst of as well). and to answer the question that hasn't been asked, this week's what's online is NOT a self portrait, malcolm gladwell also has curly hair. once again, not a self portrait. nytimes.com: what's online, by dan mitchell  Labels: illustration, malcolm gladwell, new york times, outliers, what's online
eben | 10:46 AM
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Saturday, June 21, 2008
what's online: fake gems, genuine appeal
science is now capable of producing a diamond that is indistinguishable from one pulled from the ground. diamonds in fact aren't that rare, but exceedingly tightly controlled, which gives them their value. the article talks about the various possibilities technologically, economically, and politically that could occur due to manufactured diamonds. nytimes.com: what's online, by dan mitchell  Labels: illustration, new york times, what's online
eben | 11:45 AM
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Saturday, June 14, 2008
what's online: filling up for a bit less
if you're an american, likely you're struggling at the pump. me? i don't have a car. screw that! anyway, you aren't going to be able to buy cheap gas, but some gas stations will be cheaper! good hunting: But the most helpful tips come in the form of links to sites that track gasoline prices. At GasPriceWatch.com and GasBuddy.com, users act as volunteer price spotters, reporting the lowest and highest prices in cities across the country. On Wednesday and Thursday this week, prices for regular gas in Oakland, Calif., ranged from $4.30 to $4.79 a gallon, according to spotters on GasBuddy. In New York City, they ranged from $4.15 to $4.70. The lowest prices were in Wichita, Kan., according to the site, ranging from $3.68 at a Kum & Go station to $3.89 at a Phillips 66 outlet. nytimes.com: what's online, by dan mitchell  Labels: illustration, new york times, what's online
eben | 3:14 PM
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Saturday, June 07, 2008
what's online: keep it short, make it instant
instant messaging, normally viewed as a distraction, is now seen as more efficient than face to face meetings, email, and phonecalls. want to chat with someone in the office? look at im, see if they are available, and get that answer! this may function in a large office, but here at eben illustration worldwide global incorporated, instant messaging is still used the way it should be, as a procrastination device. nytimes.com: what's online, by dan mitchell  Labels: illustration, new york times, what's online
eben | 1:48 PM
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Saturday, May 31, 2008
what's online: legitimizing marijuana
medical marijuana, california, and federal law have some nice fuzziness going on: Medical marijuana is legal in California, but federal law still bans sales. Amid the uncertainty that this creates — including the occasional raid by federal agents — a full-fledged industry has blossomed, taking in about $2 billion a year and generating $100 million in state sales taxes, CNBC reported. nytimes.com: what's online, by dan mitchell  Labels: illustration, new york times, what's online
eben | 5:18 PM
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2 comments
Saturday, May 24, 2008
what's online: shoe seller's secret of success
zappos is so obsessed with getting the right people to work for them, that they offer new hires a thousand dollars to quit after training. yes, they pay people to quit. The theory, according to Mr. Taylor, is that the people who take the money “obviously don’t have the sense of commitment” Zappos requires from its employees. The company says about 10 percent of its trainees take the offer. nytimes.com: what's online, by dan mitchell  Labels: illustration, new york times, what's online
eben | 11:01 AM
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Saturday, May 17, 2008
what's online: frustrating the pirates
anders bylund of ars technica writes about how big media can combat piracy by offering better versions of what piracy offers: Media piracy will always be with us. But the pirates, Mr. Bylund writes, “can be beaten - it happens all the time - but not primarily by means of legal threats and lawsuits.” Rather, he says: “You subjugate these rebels with the tools of free enterprise. Piracy is just another business model, and the pirates will lose and go away when you come up with a better model.”
nytimes.com: what's online, by dan mitchell  Labels: illustration, new york times, pirates, what's online
eben | 10:04 AM
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Thursday, May 15, 2008
slate: procrastination
i got to do a whole series of illustrations for a slate special issue on procrastination. i hemmed, i hawed, i put them off . . . actually, i screwed up and got these illustrations done nice and quick!? i blame the studio environment. you may notice that the 'caveman procrastinating', isn't on the slate site. the description i had of the article didn't quite jive with the final story, don't tell the t-rex. - just don't do it: a special issue on procrastination- lollygagging through life: i'm joining procrastinators anonymous-can i get past step one?, by emily yoffee- pro·cras·ti·na·tion: how we got a word for "putting things off", by ben zimmer- procrasti-nation: workers of the world, slack off!- solitaire-y confinement: why we can't stop playing a computerized card game, by josh levin- tuesday cover / thursday cover      Labels: illustration, procrastination, slate.com
eben | 2:40 PM
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4 comments
Saturday, May 10, 2008
what's online: blogging against barbie
let the greenwashing of kids begin, or maybe just continue. the blog eco child's play rails again mattel for releasing an environmentally minded barbie clothing collection. all in all, brainwashing kids to get excited about toys is nothing new, just newly green. nytimes.com: what's online, by dan mitchell  Labels: illustration, new york times, what's online
eben | 2:21 PM
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Saturday, May 03, 2008
what's online: the no-tasting taste test
the eben fanbase has spoken, sure that fanbase happens to be made up of three year old girls, rather, one three year old girl, but she has spoken: SUPER illustration today! Django and I spotted it in the Business Section at a table where we were sharing bagels. I asked her what it was since mermaids are one of her favorite things - next to Mats Sundin. The laptop isn't too far behind so she looked at it and said, i quote,'una ninfa marina!!! con una computadora! en una taza de té!' it made her day and she now has it in her wallet. thanks to bb for raising her daughter on a diet of bagels, the the new york times business section, and plenty of eben illustrations, i owe you a tim horton donut. as the illustration itself, it's one of those ones that doesn't quite jive with the story (in my mind at least), which can happen with short deadlines. the crux of the story is a new starbucks website where you can experience and learn about their coffee, all from the comfort of your own home.. nytimes.com: what's online, by dan mitchell  Labels: illustration, new york times, what's online
eben | 5:57 PM
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2 comments
Friday, May 02, 2008
slate: why doesn't anybody go to the horse races?
the kentucky derby is upon us, and slate has a couple of stories about horse racing. the one i illustrated is how betting away from the track via the internet is cheaper, easier, and even pays better. this benefit to the bettor, however, comes at the expense of smaller tracks and betting lifestyle: As a writer, I also have to mourn the decline of the racetrack culture. The track and its characters—misfits, losers, and dreamers every one of us—provided the casts for Charles Bukowski's Longshot Pomes for Broke Players, Damon Runyon's Guys and Dolls, and Jay Cronley's Good Vibes, which became the movie Let It Ride. slate: why doesn't anybody go to the horse races?, by ted mcclelland ( cover)  Labels: illustration, slate.com
eben | 2:59 PM
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Wednesday, April 30, 2008
lowbrow reader
eben | 1:21 PM
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Saturday, April 26, 2008
what's online: when the smoke cleared
employers who pay healthcare are getting more concerned about their employees personal activities, particularly smoking. while a healthier lifestyle can benefit both the employer and employee, does a company have a right to mandate, or account for actions outside of the workplace? nytimes.com: what's online, by dan mitchell  Labels: illustration, new york times, what's online
eben | 6:11 PM
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Saturday, April 19, 2008
what's online: trading on testosterone
eben | 5:33 PM
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Saturday, April 12, 2008
what's online: cubicles make poor nurseries
some writers for the guardian tested out bringing their kids to work based on more and more u.s. companies allowing parents to have their children in the office. this of course originates from the u.s. not requiring paid maternity leave. needless to say, this experiment went woefully bad, although the participants tried this out for all of a day at most. not nearly enough to prove that it's bad in the long term, however, i have little doubt that it would be. nytimes.com: what's online, by dan mitchell  Labels: illustration, new york times, what's online
eben | 1:33 PM
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Thursday, April 10, 2008
slate: tiny tyrants
slate reports on ways to actually control your child's behavior! okay, that's a slight overstatement. yelling or even explaining when a child does something wrong doesn't really help as the attention rewards bad behavior, instead put the effort into reinforcing good behavior. the new studio helped with this illustration as there is fusebox across the room that was in my line of sight while sketching. and yes, i am sure that kids have dip switches on their backs that control their behavior. slate: tiny tyrants, by alan e. kazdin ( cover)  Labels: illustration, slate.com
eben | 1:45 PM
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Tuesday, April 08, 2008
slate: how to apologize to your girlfriend
slate investigates a more green way of giving flowers in response to this email: My girlfriend is on the verge of kicking me to the curb, so I'd like to smooth things over with my standard apology gift: a dozen long-stemmed roses. But she's on the crunchy side, and I'm worried that cut flowers have become a major environmental no-no among such eco-minded folks. Should I find a greener way to say I'm sorry? personally, i think the guy sounds like a dick, "standard apology gift", how often is this guy screwing up? maybe the relationship is just plain doomed. however, the email appears in the green lantern section which deals with environmental concerns and not dear prudence, who would be quick to question this relationship's validity, or possibly not even bother. anyway, put in your cfc flowers, every little bit helps! slate: how to apologize to your girlfriend … without destroying the earth, by brendan i. koerner  Labels: illustration, slate.com
eben | 2:08 PM
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Saturday, March 29, 2008
what's online: rethinking real estate
a recent report came out saying that inclusionary zoning (ie, affordable housing in new construction) rarely if at all, affects housing prices and production. seeing these new condo buildings with apartments going for ridiculous prices, mixed housing at the very least, is welcome in these developments. i have little sympathy for developers as i imagine them complaining about affordable housing ruining their profit margins, while cutting as many corners as possible on their way to homogenizing these neighborhoods. nytimes.com: what's online, by dan mitchell  Labels: illustration, new york times, what's online
eben | 10:00 PM
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Thursday, March 27, 2008
times sketching
some rough sketches for a what's online illustration. these are not the cleaned up sketches that i send to art directors, but sometimes i like the mess that comes from the early thought process. one of the early ones even turned nicely into the final.   Labels: illustration, sketchbook, what's online
eben | 6:35 PM
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Saturday, March 22, 2008
what's online: the thin skin of apple fans
this week's what's online is about perceived bias in the media, specifically technology, more specificially still, when it come to apple fans and their beloved apple products. feel free to write a pro-apple article, but beware the backlash should you mention anything disparaging about lord job's creations. this illustration required hair accuracy, so i contacted tony-c of aisleone to inquire out the current trends in apple fanboy hair. he obligingly snapped a self-portrait of his fauxhawk with his iphone and emailed it to me. thanks tony-c, and yes, i know your hair isn't red. nytimes.com: what's online, by dan mitchell  Labels: illustration, new york times, what's online
eben | 9:52 PM
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Wednesday, March 19, 2008
slate: teams we hate
it's late march, and that means the ncaa basketball tournament, an event so large, there have even been religions founded upon its holy brackets. i was asked to do an illustration for slate's annual teams we hate article. using all the fury, hate and phildelphia-ness in me, this assignment wasn't difficult at all, honestly, if you aren't in the big 5 (plus drexel) you won't be getting any love from this illustrator. i am always happy to cheer against teams, so in the spirit of competition, GO FU! slate: teams we hate, by tommy craggs, bryan curtis, mike debonis, sam eifling, josh levin, chris park, john swansburg, and robert weintraub.  i've noticed around the illustrator sketchblog-o-sphere that people have been showing some of their ideas and sketches along with final work, so here's a sample of my sketching, or at least what i sent to the client. for full disclosure, i was pretty excited about doing a nadshot illustration (possibly NSFW, illustrated crotch-knee violence), but everyone really liked the 'GO FU' foam middle finger, which i couldn't argue with.  Labels: illustration, slate.com
eben | 12:35 PM
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Saturday, March 15, 2008
what's online: free music? only with a fight
a sxsw panel about advertising supported music where the discussion quickly turned into a heated argument. i just love drawing the big cloud of dust-fight harking back to my love of saturday morning cartoons. it's basically a big cloud and a bunch of extremities, wristbands, and badges. nytimes.com: what's online, by dan mitchell  Labels: illustration, new york times, what's online
eben | 11:02 AM
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Thursday, March 13, 2008
slatev: dr syd's house call
dr. syd's house call is a new video feature on slatev, featuring their medical expert talking with a slate editor about kids, parenting and health. in the video feature, dr. syd doesn't actually jump out from your computer screen, but i must say that it would be cool if he did. c'mon syd, jump! slatev: dr. syd's house call (video)  Labels: illustration, slate.com
eben | 11:19 AM
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Saturday, March 08, 2008
what's online: manage money like a star
mainstreet.com is a personal-finance site who's articles start with celebrity gossip and quickly come around to becoming a financial lesson, suggestion, something. so we have the joys of celeb gossip mixed with the scintillating writing of personal finance, it's a win-win! personally, i think it's a train wreck of an idea, however, i did find myself clicking through a few of the stories just to see how the gossip/finance would connect. lastly, i must give credit that 'jack nicholson hocking an oscar' was dan's idea, and an entertaining one at that. next week, dan will be drawing and i'll be writing! nytimes.com: what's online, by dan mitchell  Labels: illustration, new york times, what's online
eben | 4:23 PM
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Saturday, March 01, 2008
what's online: aloof from recession
as we fret more and more about being in a recession, people around the blogosphere have noticed a few industries that seem to be recession-proof. these range from vice (highlighted by organized crime) and entertainment, but also basic needs supplied by companies such as wal-mart. i think i will just call this illustration, tony's big box boat. nytimes.com: what's online, by dan mitchell  Labels: illustration, new york times, what's online
eben | 3:08 PM
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Saturday, February 23, 2008
what's online: suburbia's march to oblivion
the mortgage crisis has struck the suburbs, and combined with renewed popularity in city living, mcmansion sprawl is turning into a suburban slum. did these cookie cutter houses and environments ever seem like a good idea? nytimes.com: what's online, by dan mitchell  Labels: illustration, new york times, what's online
eben | 12:19 PM
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Friday, February 22, 2008
slate: the oscars
this time of year always breeds heated oscar conversation. that said, i am not much of a movie person, but i do enjoy drawing a naked golden statue or two, holding a sword and drinking coffee (yes, coffee in front of a watercooler, use your imagination, the coffee maker is around the corner). so go read about the oscars. slate: oscars, 2008, an email dialogue between dana stevens, kim masters and troy patterson  Labels: illustration, slate.com
eben | 11:37 AM
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Saturday, February 16, 2008
what's online: worries on the vine
this weekend is the international conference on climate change & wine. shifting temperatures are affecting the quality of wine production both positively and negatively globally, and the wine world is discussing it. nytimes.com: what's online, by dan mitchell  Labels: illustration, new york times, what's online
eben | 12:43 PM
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Saturday, February 09, 2008
what's online: the greener side of recession
bloggers argue over the pros and cons of a recession's effects upon the environment. positively, lower consumption leading to less materials, waste, fuel, etc. negatively, less money for green initiatives, research and products. nytimes.com: what's online, by dan mitchell  Labels: illustration, new york times, what's online
eben | 5:01 PM
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1 comments
Monday, February 04, 2008
slate: the toddler economy
slate's moneybox column suggest the state of the global economy is due to being run by insolent toddlers, children and teens. an entertaining take on the situation, if so many of the comparisons didn't ring so true, and that the market protects them. There's a final, telling way in which the markets are childlike. Children typically display an unwillingness to reckon with the consequences of their own actions. They look to parents to pick them up when they fall, and spare them from responsibility for their misbehavior. And parents will go to great lengths to insulate their offspring from the jolts the world can deliver. slate: the toddler economy, by daniel gross  Labels: illustration, slate.com
eben | 1:06 PM
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Saturday, February 02, 2008
what's online: bullish about the web
jpmorgan chase's annual (quarterly? monthly? weekly? daily? . . . oh who knows) report on the state of the web revenue is positive, and particularly that ad rates will rise in 2008. on an illustration note, i am always happy to draw meat, i am not exactly sure why, but steaks are entertaining to me (my apologies to non-meat eaters) and works well the title and bullishness of the report (i shouldn't admit to this, but actually a happy accident. shhhh, quiet you!). nytimes.com: what's online, by dan mitchell  Labels: illustration, new york times, what's online
eben | 12:27 PM
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Saturday, January 19, 2008
what's online: s-q-u-a-b-b-l-e
it was bound to happen... Another example is also one of the most popular, Scrabulous, which is clearly a knockoff of the board game Scrabble. It is a wonder that Hasbro, which owns Scrabble in the United States and Canada, and Mattel, which holds the rights for the rest of the world, took so long to take action. But this week, they finally sent a letter to Facebook asking that Scrabulous be removed from the site. and of course, the facebook masses aren't pleased. nytimes.com: what's online, by dan mitchell  Labels: illustration, new york times, what's online
eben | 6:00 PM
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Wednesday, January 02, 2008
slate: the year in illustrations
happy new year everyone. i have plans to do a year in review, list of favorite illustrations, goals for 2008, etc, etc. but of course, i instead plan to get bogged down, forget about it, or just plain not do it. thankfully, slate did a a year end round up of illustrations, and having done a bunch of work for them this year, i will just post that! (many thanks to slate art staff, writers, editors and fellow illustrators.) slate: the year in illustrationsLabels: illustration, slate.com
eben | 11:32 AM
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Saturday, December 22, 2007
what's online: do-it-yourself music stardom
last what's online illustration of the year, last illustration of year, most likely. so here it is, david byrne and he's got six arms and he's floating. (note: david byrne does in fact have six arms and can in fact float. don't let anyone tell you otherwise.) THE former Talking Head, David Byrne, interviewed Thom Yorke of Radiohead for Wired about Radiohead's online-album experiment. Interestingly, though, a companion piece by Mr. Byrne, about how artists should navigate the troubled and chaotic music industry, is getting the most attention (wired.com). nytimes.com: what's online, by dan mitchell  Labels: illustration, new york times, what's online
eben | 12:06 PM
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Saturday, December 15, 2007
what's online: the mac crowd mourns
compusa, one of the larger mac retailers just went out of business. macfanboys are mildly upset, but seriously, did anyone shop at compusa? my guess is that the answer is no, seeing as they are going out of business. nytimes.com: what's online, by dan mitchell  Labels: illustration, new york times, what's online
eben | 1:05 PM
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2 comments
Monday, December 10, 2007
slate: the gaming club
an email discussion about the year in video games. the conversation spans all sorts of games and systems, hence a gang of controllers. that atari 2600 joystick can still kick all your asses! (apologies to nintendo ds, psp, others, if you didn't make it into the illustration.) slate: the gaming club, by stephen totilo, n'gai croal, seth schiesel, and chris suellentrop. ( cover art)  Labels: illustration, slate.com
eben | 4:15 PM
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Wednesday, December 05, 2007
high line with feet: part 2
the new yorker's passport to the arts event went off great. all the new yorker folk were fantastic, the art for auctioning was lovely, and i had myself a great time. at the event, i finished off the painting and then went upstairs to enjoy the drinks and snacks with a few friends. in a last piece of good information, all four sections of high line with feet sold in the auction (i won't say the bidding was fierce, but hey, i'm pleased all the same). an official eben thank you to everyone involved. i hope to eventually get some official photos from the event, but for the time being, here are some links and selected shots from my personal paparazzi. event photos: ao's flickr set / mr. fleck's picasa set
the painting was set up outside, so people could view it (and a land rover) before heading into the party.  ao forced me to be photographed with the piece.  i was quite pleased with getting my own sign.  on the way out, i got around to actually signing the artwork, and since land rover was also a sponsor, i thought i'd sign a car as well. i am sure this specific one's value has now doubled.  Labels: illustration, new yorker
eben | 2:38 PM
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Tuesday, December 04, 2007
high line with feet: part 1
if you were unfortunate enough to chat with me during the month of november, i probably started yabbering on about a project that i was working on, but until now, i had spared the teeming masses who follow this sketchblog (hi mom)...until now! i was commissioned by the new yorker to do a large scale onsite painting for their annual passport to the arts. the event is a self-guided tour of selected chelsea galleries, culminating in a cocktail reception and auction with proceeds going to friends of the high line. the high line being a "1.5-mile-long historic elevated rail structure on the West Side of Manhattan," with plans to turn it into a public promenade, and to that end, the subject of my painting (plus feet). the piece measured 8'x8', but was broken down into four 4'x4' sections, which took up quite a large section of the living room as i spread them out to work on the floor. conveniently, ao was away for the weekend, allowing me plenty of time and space to make a mess. the painting was finished onsite, but most of the work was done in a week in my makeshift painting studio...the living room. high line with feet in-progress (flickr set) 
 Labels: illustration, new yorker
eben | 6:15 PM
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slate: in defense of audiophiles
slate defends audiophiles and their desire (obsession) for the highest quality of musical recording available. the author understands the desire to pack a thousand songs in your pocket, but looks forward to the day of music compression with the least compromise of quality. me? i drew a big ear, i couldn't be happier. slate: in defense of audiophiles, by fred kaplan  Labels: illustration, slate.com
eben | 3:09 PM
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Saturday, December 01, 2007
what's online: as always, an unequal pie
the world is full of wealth inequality, and while the divide has never seemed greater, in fact the level of inequality has remained relatively consistant over the last 2000 years. nytimes.com: what's online, by dan mitchell  Labels: illustration, new york times, what's online
eben | 2:26 PM
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Wednesday, November 21, 2007
slate: yes, this is your grandfather's ford
carmakers have fallen in love with geographic car names, hoping to connect the feelings of a location with their car (think suv + outer-mongolian-rain-forest-dessert, now that's tough). to this end, slate makes some suggestions of more apt geographic names and automobiles. slate: yes, this is your grandfather's ford, by aaron kremer  Labels: illustration, slate.com
eben | 12:18 PM
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Monday, November 19 |
