Ever since the Occupy Wall Street protesters took center stage last fall, America’s growing economic gap has been the subject of heated discussion. Now, as the weather heats up, the protesters look to recapture the nation’s attention, and the upcoming election brings the economy under scrutiny, a sharp visual commentary on the issue (from any political angle) would be well-poised to cut to the heart of the conversation. So put down those cigars, take off your white gloves and top hats and get sketching - can’t wait to see your ideas. [Again, first time submissions very much encouraged]
- Barry Blitt
— Christoph Niemann
— Peter Arno
— Constantin Alajalov
To enter each week’s contest, please send sketches on this week’s theme. Use the submissions page or email jpegs to blowncovers@gmail.com. I prefer sketches to finished work and good ideas to good drawings. The deadline is Thursday at noon (NYC time). The themes on the Blown Covers website closely mirror what I suggest to the New Yorker artists I already work with. This blog and contest are informal and not affiliated with the magazine but I’m always on the lookout for ideas. Please keep submissions confidential in case they are selected for later publication. The winning sketch (according to my own subjective whims) will be posted here on Friday.
Have you called your mother? Don’t worry. It’s not Mother’s Day yet! But it will be soon. The New Yorker often runs a mother themed cover that week, giving you a heads up. Take your inspiration from these wonderful covers below and send me your sketches. If you’ve never submitted before, let this be your week!
— Edward Sorel
— Carter Goodrich
— Ian Falconer
— Bruce McCall
To enter each week’s contest, please send sketches on this week’s theme. Use the submissions page or email jpegs to blowncovers@gmail.com. I prefer sketches to finished work and good ideas to good drawings. The deadline is Thursday at noon (NYC time). The themes on the Blown Covers website closely mirror what I suggest to the New Yorker artists I already work with. This blog and contest are informal and not affiliated with the magazine but I’m always on the lookout for ideas. Please keep submissions confidential in case they are selected for later publication. The winning sketch (according to my own subjective whims) will be posted here on Friday.
The trees are in bloom and it seems everywhere you look in this city there are happy couples walking arm in arm. Love in the big city has its own special quirks. Poke fun at it, celebrate it, feel those butterflies in your stomach, and fall into it — I look forward to your sketches!
Here are some past covers to inspire you:
- Adrian Tomine
- Barry Blitt
- Istvan Banyai
- Sempé
To enter each week’s contest, please send sketches on this week’s theme. Use the submissions page or email jpegs to blowncovers@gmail.com. I prefer sketches to finished work and good ideas to good drawings. The deadline is Thursday at noon (NYC time). The themes on the Blown Covers website closely mirror what I suggest to the New Yorker artists I already work with. This blog and contest are informal and not affiliated with the magazine but I’m always on the lookout for ideas. Please keep submissions confidential in case they are selected for later publication. The winning sketch (according to my own subjective whims) will be posted here on Friday.
This week, I’m giving you the most difficult - and most important - cover assignment I can: the Trayvon Martin shooting. A lot has been written on the subject, but a great image has yet to be created. Images have a unique power; they can convey ideas that could never be put into words. A great image forces readers to complete the loop in their minds, implicating them in its message. If you need background, this New York Times article provides a good overview of the events. Please be thoughtful in your submissions - pointlessly offensive images will not be shown on the site - but please do not be afraid to take risks and stretch the boundaries of what has already been said.
Here are some New Yorker covers that took on difficult issues:
- art spiegelman’s response to the Amadou Diallo shooting
- Barry Blitt’s Martin Luther King day cover after actor Danny Glover charged New York City’s Taxi and Limousine Commission with a discrimination suit.
- art spiegelman’s Valentines day cover following the Crown Heights riot
To enter each week’s contest, please send sketches on this week’s theme. Use the submissions page or email jpegs to blowncovers@gmail.com. I prefer sketches to finished work and good ideas to good drawings. The deadline is Thursday at noon (NYC time). The themes on the Blown Covers website closely mirror what I suggest to the New Yorker artists I already work with. This blog and contest are informal and not affiliated with the magazine but I’m always on the lookout for ideas. Please keep submissions confidential in case they are selected for later publication. The winning sketch (according to my own subjective whims) will be posted here on Friday.
Spring has sprung! After the second warmest winter on record, the weather is getting even warmer. The trees around New York City have burst into early blooms and the streets are filled with bare legs and sandals. Spring is my favorite season - it’s filled with possibilities. So get sketching - I can’t wait to see your ideas.
- Eric Drooker
- Peter De Sève
- Kathy Osborn
- Peter de Sève
- William Joyce
To enter each week’s contest, please send sketches on this week’s theme. Use the submissions page or email jpegs to blowncovers@gmail.com. I prefer sketches to finished work and good ideas to good drawings. The deadline is Thursday at noon (NYC time). The themes on the Blown Covers website closely mirror what I suggest to the New Yorker artists I already work with. This blog and contest are informal and not affiliated with the magazine but I’m always on the lookout for ideas. Please keep submissions confidential in case they are selected for later publication. The winning sketch (according to my own subjective whims) will be posted here on Friday.
Update: Winner and Runners-up are now posted here
Have you finished filing your taxes yet? In America, taxes are due on April 15th (It used to be March 15th, as you’ll see on the older covers below). It’s a moment when the entire country is brought together - we all suddenly have the same thing to complain about. Sharpen those #2 pencils, and send me your sketches!
- Rea Irvin
- Constantin Alajalov
- Richard McGuire
- Edward Sorel
To enter each week’s contest, please send sketches on this week’s theme. Use the submissions page or email jpegs to blowncovers@gmail.com. I prefer sketches to finished work and good ideas to good drawings. The deadline is Thursday at noon (NYC time). The themes on the Blown Covers website closely mirror what I suggest to the New Yorker artists I already work with. This blog and contest are informal and not affiliated with the magazine but I’m always on the lookout for ideas. Please keep submissions confidential in case they are selected for later publication. The winning sketch (according to my own subjective whims) will be posted here on Friday.
UPDATE: The winners of this contest are now here
The weather is warming up, our clocks are turned an hour ahead, and my thoughts are spinning forward to April and Easter. Easter has its roots in the pagan celebrations of springtime and renewal complete with bunnies, eggs, chickens and flowers. What would you do with an Easter-themed New Yorker cover? Sketch in the sunshine, and send me your ideas!
To enter each week’s contest, please send sketches on this week’s theme. Use the submissions page or email jpegs to blowncovers@gmail.com. I prefer sketches to finished work and good ideas to good drawings. The deadline is Thursday at noon. The themes on the Blown Covers website closely mirror what I suggest to the New Yorker artists I already work with. This blog and contest are informal and not affiliated with the magazine but I’m always on the lookout for ideas. Please keep submissions confidential in case they are selected for later publication. The winning sketch (according to my own subjective whims) will be posted here on Friday.
— William Joyce
— art spiegelman
— Harry Bliss
— Kathy Osborn
UPDATE: The winners of this contest are now here
Every year from mid-February through March, Major League baseball players head down to Florida for spring training. It’s one of the many rites of spring and often The New Yorker runs a baseball themed image around this time. We tend to focus on our two home teams - the Yankees and the Mets. The Mets aren’t doing so great this year , even if they’re supposed to be celebrating their 50th anniversary. Think baseball, and send me your sketches!
To enter each weekly contest, please send sketches on this week’s theme. Use the submissions page or email your sketches to blowncovers@gmail.com. I prefer sketches to finished work and good ideas to good drawings. The deadline is Thursday at noon. The themes on the Blown Covers website closely mirror what I suggest to the New Yorker artists I already work with. This blog and contest are informal and not affiliated with the magazine but I’m always on the lookout for ideas. Please keep submissions confidential in case they are selected for later publication. The winning sketch (according to my own subjective whims) will be posted here on Friday.
Barry Blitt - October 30, 2000 - from around the time Hillary Clinton was running for senator.
Mark Ulriksen - April 12, 1999
Bruce McCall - March 30, 2009 — for the opening of the new Yankee Stadium
William Steig - July 11, 1936
UPDATE: The winners of this contest are now here
“In like a lion, out like a lamb” — the March idiom that launched at least four New Yorker covers. Send me your March cover ideas — and feel free to mix your metaphors: tie in Jeremy Lin, global warming, the presidential race and more. Make it current, push the limits. I can’t wait to see your sketches.
Art Spiegelman - March 6, 2000
Barry Blitt — March 13, 1995
Lars Hokanson/Frances Cichetti — March 18, 1996
Lee Lorenz — March 13, 1989
To enter each weekly contest, please send sketches for possible New Yorker covers on the week’s theme. Use the submissions page or email your sketches to blowncovers@gmail.com. I prefer sketches to finished work and good ideas to good drawings. The deadline is Thursday at noon and the winner will be posted here on Friday. The themes on the Blown Covers website closely mirror what I suggest to the artists I already work with. This blog and contest are informal and not affiliated with The New Yorker magazine but I’m always on the lookout for ideas. When I find them, I’ll get in touch with the artist, all on a case by case basis. Thank you for your submissions.
UPDATE: the winner of this contest and the runner-ups are now here.
Check out the 12 winners of the official New Yorker 2012 Eustace Tilley contest. One of these artists is 99 years old and another one (not pictured) is the grand winner whose image will be made into a Strand book bag (announcement of that coming tomorrow). I’ll take submissions for your Eustace Tilley sketches today (winner posted tomorrow) and announce my first Blown Covers contest theme here on Monday, February 27th. Sharpen your pencils!
Behind the scenes atThe New Yorker with art editor 