Christmas Newsletter Illustration, 2024

Deciding on what exactly to do this year proved a difficult decision for me. In years gone by the imagery flowed with greater ease, or I already had an image waiting in the wings. Starting around Thanksgiving, after mulling it over for a couple weeks, or so, I finally decided on sharing something that goes well beyond the Christian mainstream. A concept that is alluded to briefly in the Bible, that has an expanded meaning due in no small part to the Book of Mormon and modern prophetic revelation. This Christ centered idea of the Tree of Life is deeply meaningful to me and my family. Every Christmas, not only do I share the story of the nativity, but I also include Nephi's vision of the Tree of Life and its meaning. The ideas engendered in his vision of our Lord and the Tree have become inseparably welded into my heart and mind whenever I see a Christmas tree. For me the Christmas tree is a symbolic representation of the Tree of Life pointing us to God through the living Messiah, even Jesus Christ.

The first part of this post will be about the process and tools I used to create the illustration. If you are willing to stick around, the second half will be a more in-depth explanation of the meaning behind the illustration.

Cranking out the News in Education pages

Following are 3 one-page Classroom Connection pages I did for the Deseret News. All were published in the Newspaper.

Invasion of Poland

With all the craziness going on in our world it's easy to forget the catastrophes of long ago. I was asked to do this one-page on the invasion of Poland. I hope what I chose to focus on really helps anyone see a snippet of history on this hugely key event in our worlds history.

Detail of the headline

Hard-hitting graphic on the human cost of war

Especially prod of this one. Did a bunch of research to put this one together. Hope I got it right

All about Humpback Whales

Love whales, their grace, uniqueness and size. Decided to do an NIE on Humpbacks. Found out these creatures are born weighing about a ton, and reach maturity in only 10 years! For how large they are, I find that amazing.

Detail of 2 of the graphics

Detail showing the cutout work made with photoshop, then laid out in InDesign

Hurricanes

I did this quickly and on the spur of the moment, thinking it would be timely with all the hurricanes hitting islands and U.S. coasts. Most of the graphics are direct re-makes. The graphic in the lower left, with its small illustrations are of my devising. The 3D illustration in the bottom right graphic was created using Illustrator and Blender 3D.

Detail of graphic with original illustrations depicting the devastation of different hurricane intensities

March 2016, graphics in review

Here are the graphics for March.

'The Nones' Illustration

Created this for the cover of Deseret News National Edition. The article, written by Chandra Johnson, focuses on what the reality is of people who are unaffiliated with any religion.Though their may be many of these, so called "Nones"; the fact that many of these people still have faith in a higher power should not be discounted.. In short the polling numbers are far from being simple in regard to people and their faith.

The process

So they wanted an illustration that showed a lot of graphical imagery combined with someone appearing to worship or pray. I selected 4 or 5 from our archives, opened them in Illustrator and changed all to white, with an outline appearance. Then I copied and pasted them one at a time into Photoshop.

Then, using an image mask I composited the graphics with the Shutterstock image. I used a gradient

March Deseret News graphics in review

Here, again, is my top 10 picks for graphics done for the Deseret News for the month of March. Enjoy!

1. Big business verses local business

This graphic shows starkly how local chains stack up against national chains in how much money is recycled back into local economies. Couldnt find this story online, which leads me to believe it was only published in print. Sorry 

2. Timeline on depictions of Christ in media

I found this interesting for how many different ways in which the Master is depicted in our culture. Obviously some more accurate than others. Her is link to the story by Deseret news writer Mark A. Kelner.

3. Orthodox Jews are stalwarts

This is one of those rare times in which I was able to incorporate a visual element of the story into a graphic in a practical and pleasing way. This is a great faith-promoting story by Kelsey Dallas for the Deseret News

4. We still want better and bigger things

This really shouldn't come as a surprise to any of us. Who doesn't want to improve their quality of life? I certainly do. But where does too much become too much, and too big become too big? This is a Great story on Money and happiness by Lane Anderson for the Deseret News

5. Print! Its Alive, Alive!

Had fun with this graphic. Though perhaps a little cluttered. This is perhaps proof that books, you know, those dead tree sheets you can hold in your hands and read from, might be around for a very long time.

6. Fun Layout

Yes, I know it promotes Disney, but I had fun doing a small cutout of this air surfing whelp from Disney's Treasure planet. This is still one of my favorite Disney films from the early 2000s. Overall I think the layout turned out quite well.

7. Low pay in Salt Lake for sitters

I am not terribly surprised by this. Freelance work in general, is lower in Utah than the national average. Is this a result of savvy business dealings or just plain cheapness? I have no idea. Here is the link to the story by Matthew Jelalian for the Deseret News.

8. Death for those who deserve it, still favored in America

This graphic was published in an article that focuses on the 6th commandment. This and other articles are part of a series on the Ten commandments and what they mean to us in modern society. This article was written by Eric Schulzke.

9. Single parenting

One of the greatest indicators, in my opinion, of a failing society is how many children grow up in a single-parent household. I have personally seen how much more difficult it was for children to grow up without a father in the home. At best many turned out OK, at worst many go off to prison or worse. While  father is no guarantee that a child will make all the right choices, fathers are an undeniable stabilizing force for boys and girls. This transfers into the greater society. This is the link to the story by Lois M. Collins

10. Making babies better through genetics

Is it morally right to genetically alter babies? As medical technology and processes advance this question will need to be answered. Being a Star Trek fan I can't help but wonder if genetic manipulation could be used to create super-humans (Star Trek II, Star Trek: Into Darkness). Would said super-humans seek to eliminate who they deem unsuitable to continue the human race. Who knows. Here is the article by Kelsey Dallas.

Here is the rest of March Graphics. Enjoy!

February Graphics in review

Following is the top 10 graphics I created for the Deseret News in February. Also included are pretty much the rest of the graphics I did in the month of February.

So without further adieu, here is my top 10 for February 2015:

1. Battleship Bismarck News in Education page

Top graphic for February goes to this charticle on the battleship Bismarck. I created all the graphics for this, and wrote all the text. Was a ton of work, but well worth the effort. I absolutely enjoyed learning more about this vessel and the conflict it was a part of. Click on the image to the image in more detail. 

2. Religious persection increasing

This is a tremendously important topic of our day. Recent violence against Jews and Christians is growing stronger. I highly recommend reading this article, by Mark Kelner, at the following link.

3. Extremely dry in the state of Utah

While everything East of the Rockies has been getting blasted by record snow, Utah, and most of the west, has had record dryness. Crazy weather to say the least. Is it global warming? Cooling? Man-made or part of the Earth's natural cycle? You be the Judge. Here is the link to the story by Emilee Bench

4. Depression among the youth

Simple graphic with tips for helping youth with depression. Not a bad read by Leslie Corbly at this link