eben

mr. baseball indiana: alex meyer

noreply@blogger.com (eben) — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 19:44:00 +0000

yes, ladies and gentlemen, i have been named mr. baseball for the state of indiana.

(photo via sport illustrated)

in fact this is not the alex meyer of this here website. this alex meyer is 6'7", 200lbs, a right handed pitcher, and was drafted in the 20th round by the boston red sox (but can you draw mr. meyer!?). a highly sought after high school pitcher, he will be attending the university of kentucky in the fall and was recently named the greensburg daily news' male athlete of the year:

In just 51 1/3 innings of work, Meyer notched 108 strike-outs including 17 in the Regional Championship game where he posted a 3-1 decision against New Palestine.

He ended an unbeaten season in which he allowed but 19 hits, with an ERA of 0.95. That gave him a place among the state leaders in all three categories - earned run average, strike-outs, and wins.

congratulations alex, we'll be rooting for you.

milb.com: alex meyer draft report.

guest gallery: grady mcferrin / victor gonzalez

noreply@blogger.com (eben) — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 19:06:00 +0000

it's certainly been much too long since i last added to the guest gallery, but no longer! a big eben welcome to illustrative neighbors, grady and victor. grady is a studio neighbor (downstairs), and victor is an apartment neighbor (other side of the park).

grady mcferrin: guest gallery page / gmillustration.com

victor gonzalez: guest gallery page / hanger43.com

slate: the nose that never knows

noreply@blogger.com (eben) — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 22:43:00 +0000

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:

basics: smart gadgets acting dumb, as an upgrade goes awry

noreply@blogger.com (eben) — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 15:43:00 +0000

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.

slate: my day at reality-tv school

noreply@blogger.com (eben) — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 15:24:00 +0000

slate heads to a reality-tv acting class which teaches how to be a reality-tv star. people most certainly practice to be on these tv shows, so why not have a class to teach you the finer points?

slate: the apprentice: my day at reality-tv school, by troy patterson

cover:

what's online: why some succeed wildly

noreply@blogger.com (eben) — Sat, 28 Jun 2008 14:46:00 +0000

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

silver wants to be a millionaire!

noreply@blogger.com (eben) — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 15:02:00 +0000

my good friend silver recently appeared on who's want to be a millionaire, with meredith viera. taped back in november, i waited patiently as a phone a friend (i wasn't used) and then for the episode to air. well here it is. well done silver. (spoiler, he didn't win a million dollars)

what's online: fake gems, genuine appeal

noreply@blogger.com (eben) — Sat, 21 Jun 2008 15:45:00 +0000

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

pencil factory

noreply@blogger.com (eben) — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 22:00:00 +0000

not exactly coffee shop drawing, more like beer shop drawing. all the same, sitting outside on a lovely day alongside some buildings.

what's online: filling up for a bit less

noreply@blogger.com (eben) — Sat, 14 Jun 2008 19:14:00 +0000

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

what's online: keep it short, make it instant

noreply@blogger.com (eben) — Sat, 07 Jun 2008 17:48:00 +0000

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

speech bubbles (part 2)

noreply@blogger.com (eben) — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 20:14:00 +0000

the speech bubble doodling continued. there's a crappy drawing of a car under there, but i was having a good time with speech bubbles, so they just covered up everything.

speech bubbles (part 1)

noreply@blogger.com (eben) — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 20:06:00 +0000

working on ideas for an article about instant messaging, i really wanted to use speech bubbles, which led to just drawing a bunch of speech bubbles. in the end this just turned into a nice spread of speech bubble ideas.

doodles and server 'splosion

noreply@blogger.com (eben) — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 17:08:00 +0000

some of you may have noticed (uncle wally?), that eben.com was down this weekend and struggling at the beginning of the week. an explosion at my hosting place took down many a server this week. honest, an explosion!

On Saturday, May 31st at 4:55pm CDT in our H1 data center, electrical gear shorted, creating an explosion and fire that knocked down three walls surrounding our electrical equipment room. Thankfully, no one was injured. In addition, no customer servers were damaged or lost.

things are currently back up and running, but keep your fingers crossed. so to honor the fragility of technology, here are some messy sketchbook pages.

what's online: legitimizing marijuana

noreply@blogger.com (eben) — Sat, 31 May 2008 21:18:00 +0000

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

happy birthday, brooklyn bridge!

noreply@blogger.com (eben) — Sat, 24 May 2008 18:06:00 +0000

today is the brooklyn bridge's 125th birthday. brooklyn bridge, you don't look a day over 90.
events / history

art note: my friend silver asked me to make him a graphic he could put on a t-shirt, so i dusted off an old illustration, cleaned it up a bit, dropped some type (before seeing the official logo). if you see silver today in boston walking around wearing a shirt with this graphic on it, please complement him on his nice shirt, he put a LOT more work into it than i did.

what's online: shoe seller's secret of success

noreply@blogger.com (eben) — Sat, 24 May 2008 15:01:00 +0000

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

what's online: frustrating the pirates

noreply@blogger.com (eben) — Sat, 17 May 2008 14:04:00 +0000

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

birthday bbq weather update: sun and 70!

noreply@blogger.com (eben) — Fri, 16 May 2008 15:05:00 +0000

questions have been asked about saturday's weather for the birthday bbq. it's going to be nice. today it is raining, tomorrow, no rain until evening:

(via weather.com)

full bbq info...let the bacon shine! see you tomorrow.

slate: procrastination

noreply@blogger.com (eben) — Thu, 15 May 2008 18:40:00 +0000

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

what's online: blogging against barbie

noreply@blogger.com (eben) — Sat, 10 May 2008 18:21:00 +0000

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

what's online: the no-tasting taste test

noreply@blogger.com (eben) — Sat, 03 May 2008 21:57:00 +0000

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

slate: why doesn't anybody go to the horse races?

noreply@blogger.com (eben) — Fri, 02 May 2008 18:59:00 +0000

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)

lowbrow reader

noreply@blogger.com (eben) — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 17:21:00 +0000

two illustrations for the article, overlooked comedies: 1961-1967, by sam henderson, appearing in the highly anticipated 6th issue of the lowbrow reader. henderson certainly makes me want to throw a bunch of old comedies into the netflix queue, and in case you're curious, here are the movies connected to these illustrations:

oh dad, poor dad, mama's hung you in the closet and i'm feeling so sad (1967)
lord love a duck (1966)

brooklyn label

noreply@blogger.com (eben) — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 18:48:00 +0000

since moving into the studio, i have been busy and forgetful about getting out to draw, however, as i get more settled, coffee shops will again be frequented. i no longer need to get out of the house, just out of the studio.