tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-296601752008-09-25T08:08:27.402-06:00The personal & commissioned illustrations of N.J. LeeNickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00508197216243580343noreply@blogger.comBlogger462125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29660175.post-24043050974730839842008-09-25T07:58:00.004-06:002008-09-25T08:08:27.415-06:00

I've been reading War and Peace for what seems like an eternity. One of the things I've noticed (because it'd be impossible not to) is Tolstoy's insistence that "great men" of history haven't really controlled the course of history. He says it's the collective spirit of many that controls things. And while I think he may go a little overboard with his historic fatalism, it's interesting to view

Nickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00508197216243580343noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29660175.post-5509631450727843312008-09-24T07:18:00.002-06:002008-09-24T07:22:33.881-06:00

This Saturday is my 10-year high school reunion, which I will not attend. But it did get me thinking about ten years ago. In September 1998: 1. I was just starting college. 2. I had an 8-o'clock anthropology class. 3. I thought I would be a statistician. 4. I was seeing Amanda every weekend. 5. I watched Sifl & Olly religiously. 6. I was on the bowling team. 7. I discovered mp3's. 8. I was

Nickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00508197216243580343noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29660175.post-36148485211298164682008-09-23T14:06:00.003-06:002008-09-23T14:18:53.395-06:00

From this week's Tuesday Morning Quarterback: "It took the United States 209 years, from the founding of the republic till 1998, to compile the first $5 trillion in national debt. In the decade since, $6 trillion in debt has been added. This means the United States has borrowed more money in the past decade than in all our previous history combined. Almost all the borrowing has been under the

Nickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00508197216243580343noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29660175.post-71031666512009011542008-09-22T07:12:00.001-06:002008-09-22T07:13:51.219-06:00

The CEO of United Healthcare makes more in an hour than most Americans make in a year. Think about that. Do you think this comes into consideration when they ponder whether or not to raise premiums? The CEOs of major investment banks get millions on top of their ludicrous salaries when their company gets bought out by taxpayers. Somewhere to the tune of several hundred years' worth of my salary

Nickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00508197216243580343noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29660175.post-78916705806991122802008-09-18T07:39:00.002-06:002008-09-18T07:41:00.402-06:00

Adrift, suspended in a primordial soup of stylistic globules. Forced by my own ambition to strain away what disappoints and unwaveringly accept what remains. Running dangerously low on coffee. ---------------- Now playing: Mogwai - Kids Will Be Skeletons

Nickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00508197216243580343noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29660175.post-7569757857957756082008-09-16T13:28:00.002-06:002008-09-16T13:29:25.171-06:00

I anticipate winter unlike anyone I know. At the first sign of fall I rejoice. Even this week, in the midst of summer-like weather, I sun myself in the glorious light from the newborn football season. All is magnificence for the next few months. I also feel like I should start doing things from imagination if I'm ever going to get anywhere as an illustrator. This is a lot less terrible than I

Nickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00508197216243580343noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29660175.post-44141094942451448502008-09-12T07:35:00.005-06:002008-09-12T07:39:49.927-06:00

What I may or may not have resembled on the day I turned twenty. The photograph has the right date on it, only some of the details don't line up with my memory. To be fair, though, my memory wasn't in top gear in those days. I remember it was also Easter Sunday, and I skipped out of family stuff early to catch "The Matrix" for a second time before I drove back to St. Cloud in the Geo. I had just

Nickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00508197216243580343noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29660175.post-88142529210581461992008-09-11T08:24:00.003-06:002008-09-11T08:25:56.181-06:00

The thing about living in Colorado is that the leaves don't quite gain the same spectrum of colors in the fall here. I miss seeing oranges, reds, and browns. Here, it's all yellow. Darn aspens. Last year I raked the leaves in my lawn for the first time since I was a little kid. I wanted to jump into the pile, but my neighbor was watching from across the street. I should've done it anyway. Maybe

Nickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00508197216243580343noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29660175.post-62670904259792651592008-09-10T14:00:00.004-06:002008-09-10T14:08:31.070-06:00

To the members of mainstream American media, including but not limited to: NBC, CBS, ABC, MSNBC, CNN, Fox News, their local affiliate stations, and to the presidential candidates of both major parties and all members of their respective staffs, every concerned citizen who finds it necessary to pass on hateful email forwards to everyone they can, Focus on the Family, political bloggers, and

Nickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00508197216243580343noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29660175.post-1611596805884875862008-09-09T13:22:00.002-06:002008-09-09T13:25:10.963-06:00

From this week's Tuesday Morning Quarterback: For cars, SUVs and light trucks, there are two forces at play in oil-addiction trends, but only one is generally recognized. Everybody knows the fad of big vehicles increases petroleum needs -- according to the EPA, the average weight of passenger vehicles has risen 30 percent since 1988, while average MPG is down. The other factor, little

Nickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00508197216243580343noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29660175.post-680369705775010842008-09-08T09:18:00.002-06:002008-09-08T09:21:24.290-06:00

I was about to ask for the check when suddenly my coffee exploded!!! Whoa! Otherwise it was a pleasant meal. Everything is pleasant in the fall. I even love the warm days, when they have that undertone of the coming coolness. I love doing laundry on Sundays in front of a non-stop barrage of football. Soon it will all be falling leaves and pumpkin pie and fires in the fireplace. Summer can suck

Nickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00508197216243580343noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29660175.post-77341514843081217502008-09-05T06:59:00.003-06:002008-09-05T09:47:22.717-06:00

Another Rion photo turned into something else.

Nickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00508197216243580343noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29660175.post-21998218997829291822008-09-03T07:13:00.002-06:002008-09-03T07:14:22.179-06:00

Rion Nakaya is a fantastic photographer. You really need to check her stuff out. I've never wanted to live in Paris more, and that's really saying something. Also, Sigur Rós is unbelievable painting music.

Nickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00508197216243580343noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29660175.post-61979977156032996792008-09-02T14:29:00.002-06:002008-09-02T14:31:10.837-06:00

From this week's Tuesday Morning Quarterback: It is Congress, after all, that from 1988 to 2007 repeatedly refused to raise fuel economy standards for cars, trucks and SUVs, thus guaranteeing U.S. oil imports would rise, and helping push up global oil demand, increase the price of oil and channel more dollars, euros and yen to the Persian Gulf dictatorships that support anti-Western and

Nickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00508197216243580343noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29660175.post-25459304029684298602008-08-29T10:30:00.001-06:002008-08-29T10:32:55.551-06:00

Kung fu yells lose a lot in translation.

Nickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00508197216243580343noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29660175.post-73362665359009394532008-08-26T09:23:00.001-06:002008-08-26T09:25:26.805-06:00

There's nothing about 1910s baseball that has anything to do with ABBA. Nonetheless, "Take a Chance on Me" will forever be linked in my mind with this picture. It's been in my head for days. I can't get it out. I keep walking around with a really cheesy grin on my face, talking with a vaguely European accent. It's terrible. These pictures, however, not so terrible. Part of my "do it again until

Nickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00508197216243580343noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29660175.post-33565577164551345552008-08-25T07:29:00.002-06:002008-08-25T07:30:02.324-06:00

I'm going to keep at this one picture until I get it to the style I'm happy with. Maybe I won't do the next one so late at night. Sepia and crimson inks with watercolor.

Nickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00508197216243580343noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29660175.post-87323513298134877662008-08-22T07:05:00.000-06:002008-08-22T07:07:31.998-06:00

More old baseball photos turned illo. Of somebody very sad. Maybe I'm working out a subconscious fear of blindness. Who knows.

Nickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00508197216243580343noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29660175.post-9595350409047368852008-08-21T07:19:00.002-06:002008-08-21T07:20:15.729-06:00

This time with a twig. I found a workaround to get (lesser quality) scans of my stuff, so I'm going to ration out maybe one a day until the big scanner at work gets back up and running. I've been plenty busy, too.

Nickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00508197216243580343noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29660175.post-10029060506005704352008-08-08T15:16:00.003-06:002008-08-08T15:19:09.615-06:00

Here's a wallpaper I invented for use on my futuristic new Apple Cinema Display monitor. Shiny.

Nickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00508197216243580343noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29660175.post-13076306806368245182008-08-08T07:07:00.003-06:002008-08-08T07:12:57.105-06:00

The bad news is that our scanner at work has no lightbulb. Yikes. So until I come up with a feasible workaround, there will be no viewing my most recent painting of a Russian guy in a very expressionistic state. It's good, too. Furthermore, no yet-to-be-invented paintings will be shown either. I'll try to remedy this as soon as possible so as to spare you from my words. The good news is that I

Nickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00508197216243580343noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29660175.post-8745440721970132332008-08-07T12:40:00.001-06:002008-08-07T12:42:43.456-06:00

That's it, I'm enhancing my illos in Photoshop from now on.

Nickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00508197216243580343noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29660175.post-87881218359732383442008-08-06T07:30:00.000-06:002008-08-06T07:31:45.049-06:00

In the course of creating, there was a sudden downpour outside followed by a steady rain. This hasn't happened in many moons, and thus I declared it the end of our record dry season. The timing of this work coincided with the beginning of the school year here. Being married to a teacher, I declare this time as the beginning of another dry season of a different kind. Thus I stood at a crossroads,

Nickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00508197216243580343noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29660175.post-32047153786152665432008-08-04T07:28:00.002-06:002008-08-04T07:30:39.851-06:00

1. I confess to you that I've done most of my work on Moleskines because I like the ego stroking that comes with extra views, comments, and favorites on flickr. 2. Baseball as a subject pulls me into itself. I can't and won't stop with baseball illos. 3. It's about time for Ashton Kutcher to stop popping up on my screen all the time. 4. I'm so done with record heat and driest months on record

Nickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00508197216243580343noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29660175.post-6016575278382168332008-07-31T07:04:00.003-06:002008-07-31T07:05:55.987-06:00

Let's hear it for platitudes! As the good book says, who needs originality when you've got a puppy? This is the third of three. Happy end of July! Let's all just survive the next 31 days. ---------------- Now playing: Clem Snide - Exercise

Nickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00508197216243580343noreply@blogger.com