Here’s an artwork on the topic of keeping a watchful eye on the Supreme Court. I went for a literal take on that.

Here are some more b/w whimsical illustrations on a variety of topics ranging from interest groups (people hanging in a tree) and being in love (guy carrying a heart with a picture of his girl), to teachers lecturing on complex issues.

Here’s an intricate collage-style illustration on the history of art. This was for an art book. I liked the idea of taking a different approach to other art encyclopedias, and decided to have some fun. I went ahead and designed a cinema interior, and placed cutouts from famous paintings, mosaics, and vases betweens the seats in such a way so as to suggest a real audience. You’ll recognize the film being shown, I’m sure ;-)

Note how the clippings in the styles of Roy Lichtenstein, Keith Haring, and Piet Mondrian are not taken from these pop artists’ actual works, but instead I created them myself by mimicking their respective drawing styles.

> MORE COLLAGE ART

“Recent polls seem to indicate that 17 people out of 23
feel this is the correct result.”

This editorial art was created on the topic of government spending, and shows a bunch of interconnected paper cut-out figures with numbers and a dollar sign written on them.

The Little Bestiary of Wonders, a book on quirky behavior in the animal kingdom by Dirk Steffens that I illustrated, was featured on a popular German TV late night show on November 12th. TV total, hosted by Stefan Raab, invited the author, also a TV host and a producer of documentaries about wildlife for Arte and ZDF television, to discuss his book, which unravels some of the weirdest and most outlandish mysteries nature has to offer.

Published by Rowohlt, one of Germany’s largest book publishers, my cover illustration shows a great many wild animals against a pitch dark background, while my one hundred black and white interior visuals in whimsical cartoon style, many in full-size, illustrate the individual chapters. The jacket cover was shown a number of times during the interview, and Raab himself recommended the book, yay :-)

(All screenshots (c) by ProSieben/TV Total)

Here’s an excerpt from the chapter on bonobos. I have worked with bonobos in the past BTW – this was in another life, of course (thank you for the happy memories, Gottfried Hohmann and Irenäus Eibl-Eibesfeldt!) – , and so it’s been great fun getting to draw them after all these years.

Bonobo. Populärname: Zwergschimpanse, Bonobo. Wissenschaftlicher Name: Pan paniscus. Lebensraum: Kongo. Größe: Gut 80 Zentimeter. Kuriosum: Sexmonster.

Die Bonobos gleichen uns aufs Haar. 99 Prozent unserer Gene sind identisch, biologisch betrachtet gehören wir also wirklich zur selben Familie. Es scheint jedoch – leider! – ausgerechnet dieses kleine eine Prozent zu sein, welches völlig unterschiedliche Strategien der Konfliktlösung determiniert. Die Zwergschimpansen sind deutlich friedlicher als andere Primaten, und wenn sie doch mal aneinandergeraten, dann endet das meistens mit Sex. Unabhängig von Alter, Geschlecht und sozialer Stellung lösen die schlauen Tiere ihre Konflikte mit Zärtlichkeit.

Read an excerpt from the book in the original layout as a PDF file.

>MORE ANIMALS

OK, here’s a real treat – I just bought this 16th century hand-colored print! It shows a crocodile,  two chameleons, and what I believe is an armadillo. The exact labels on this 352 year old page (!) are as follows: “Chamæleon Cinereus Verus; Chamæleon; Crocodilus, Crocodÿll; Laudiuerba.”

This is a hand-colored copper engraved page on delicate wove paper from Historiae naturalis de quadrupetibus libri, an animal encyclopedia published in Amsterdam in 1657. Based on art by Polish natural scientist, Joannes Jonstonus (John Jonston, 1603-1675), the engraving was done by notable Swiss engraver, Matthäus Merian (1593-1650). I have no data on who did the watercoloring, and when. The size of the sheet is 36.6 x 22.3 cm (14.3 by 8.7 inches). If my research is accurate, this is actually from the first edition of what became a standard 17th-century encyclopedia of natural history.

And here’s my favorite – the “crocodÿll.” Isn’t it simply *outrageously* magnificent? Click on the images for larger versions.

>MORE ANIMALS

I created this crossword puzzle illustration to highlight some of the financial problems involved with Afghanistan these days. Words like budget, benefit, people, revenue, tax, Western, develop etc. all help in finding the hidden phrase, AID.

I have just acquired a bunch of really lovely vintage sewing patterns for ladies’ and children’s apparel. Printed in Germany between 1911 and 1930, they are HUGE when unfolded, and look simply stunning.

I am hoping to use some of them for upcoming mixed-media artwork. But then again, maybe I’ll get them framed? Aren’t they really exquisite works of art in themselves – so complex and mysterious and daunting?

This mixed-media illustration was on restaurants, and eating out. It arranges haute-cuisine food like sushi, chopsticks, oysters, spaghetti, and a t-bone steak in such a way so as to suggest the word “gourmet.”

Different illustration motifs on high-gloss printed cards – 8 cards for 12$! This is a reminder to anyone on the lookout for whimsical Christmas cards ;-)
http://www.oweiss.com/shop/postcards.htm

All postcards are A6 size (105 x 148 mm or 4.1 x 5.8 in.) – this is the regular postcard size in Europe. They come as high-quality cards printed on heavy coated paper (300 g). The back side is uncoated and can be used for personal notes.

>MORE ANIMALS

Here’s an image on protecting people in need.

The paperback edition of a book on religion is now out from cbj, the juvenile literature publishing house within Random House, Germany. Entitled, “Was glaubst denn du?” (”So what do you believe in?”), the book addresses key issues of the five world religions, christianity, judaism, islam, buddhism, and hinduism.

The author, Andrea Fischer, is a former secretary of health under Chancellor Gerhard Schröder. As with the hardcover edition, apart from the cover, I have also created 76 black and white interior illustrations in whimsical style.

Fischer’s book has already been published in another paperback edition for Goldmann Verlag (also Random House) a few months ago.

Here are some samples from my b/w interior illustrations:

This black and white art was created on the topic of thawing glaciers in a climate of global warming. It shows a mountain scene with one mountain top transforming into a huge wave of water (I quoted the famous Great Wave off Kanagawa image by Japanese artist Hokusai here).

Did this mixed-media linoprint-style image here as a visual on the topic of gun control.