Blown Covers

The deadline for this contest was July 26th, 2012. The next Blown Covers contest theme will be announced August 17th. The winners for this contest will appear here as they are posted. 

MAN IT’S HOT. It feels like every summer for the past three or four years has been named the hottest summer on record. In New York City, life in August becomes a game of getting from one air-conditioned place to the next without melting. And for those of us, like Nadja, whose Brooklyn apartments are cooled mostly by rickety window fans, even the nights don’t seem to bring much relief. Then, yesterday the BlownCovers offices were pelted by golfball sized hailstones that nearly broke the skylights. Pull out your melted crayon set and get sketching! What does all this crazy weather mean? 

- By Joost Swarte

- By Seymour Chwast

- By Istvan Banyai

- By Ian Falconer

To enter each month’s contest, please send sketches on this week’s theme. Use the submissions page and please include your name and email address. I prefer sketches to finished work and good ideas to good drawings. Please send files in as jpegs under 1mb. The deadline is Thursday, July 26th 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.  Winners will be posted over the course of the month, beginning one week after deadline. The next contest theme will be announced August 17th. 

This theme is actually just an excuse to show Nadja’s favorite New Yorker cover (the sleeping Sempé cat below). Really though, we can’t think of anything better than going through 100 or so images about cats and dogs. We’re going to wind down this contest soon: There are only 3 or 4 more weeks to go before we take off for our summer vacation, and in the fall we both have so many other commitments that we don’t think we’ll be able to continue. So if you’ve been lurking in the sidelines wondering if you should submit, now is the time. Break out your leashes, your scratching post and your best kibble bowl - and get sketching!

- By Jean-Jacques Sempé

-By Ian Falconer

- By Gürbüz Dogan Eksioglu

This week, the sun beats down on New York at a relentless 90 degrees, making it difficult to imagine that the seasons will ever change. And, for a child, the distance between July 1st and September 1st does seem like an eternity. But for a New Yorker cover artist, the time has already come to start sketching back-to-school ideas. So turn your fans on full blast, throw on your back packs, break out your number 2 pencils and start sketching. We can’t wait to see your ideas!

(please note: starting this week, we are only accepting sketches through the submissions page of our tumblr (no longer through email). We just can’t keep track of everything otherwise. Please submit your images here. Full submission guidelines at the bottom of this post)

Here are a few published back to school images for inspiration: 

- By Art Spiegelman

-By Bob Staake

- By Owen Smith

-By William Joyce

To enter each week’s contest, please send sketches on this week’s theme. Use the submissions page and please include your name and email address. I prefer sketches to finished work and good ideas to good drawings. Please send files in as jpegs under 1mb. 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. 

Food is tied to all our primal senses - comfort, happiness, passion. We live in a culture constantly saturated with photographs of food, discussions of food, videos of food. So what about drawings of food? The New Yorker runs a special Food Issue in the Fall, but it’s a topic that can run on the cover anytime. Whether it’s an update on the classic still life New Yorker covers of the past or cutting cultural commentary, we can’t wait to see what you come up with! 

- By Gardner Rea

-By Roz Chast

- By Adrian Tomine

-By Wayne Thiebaud

- By Daniel Clowes

To enter each week’s contest, please send sketches on this week’s theme. Use the submissions page or email submissions to blowncovers@gmail.com. I prefer sketches to finished work and good ideas to good drawings. Please send files in as jpegs under 1mb, and label the file with firstname.lastname. 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. 

In New York there are moments when every city block feels like a runway. Our Blown Covers offices are in SoHo, and every day we have to weave our way through the 7 foot tall model creatures that walk the streets. Think ahead to the changing seasons (The New Yorker runs a style issue in the early fall) and pull out your sketchbook. Show us what you think of the Fashion world — will it be an homage or a jibe or something in between? (full submission guidelines at the bottom of this post, first time contributors encouraged)

Here are some past fashion covers for inspiration:

-By Lorenzo Mattotti

- By Christoph Niemann

-By Art Spiegelman

-By Ana Juan

To enter each week’s contest, please send sketches on this week’s theme. Use the submissions page or email submissions to blowncovers@gmail.com. I prefer sketches to finished work and good ideas to good drawings. Please send files in as jpegs under 1mb, and label the file with firstname.lastname. 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. 

Slather on that sunscreen and slip on those flip flops! Summer is here and every good New Yorker knows the only way to survive summer in the city is to leave it. In New York you can take the subway to the coney island shore or you can have your chauffeur drive you to the Hamptons. But whether you take a private jet or the Q train to get there, the Atlantic is still just as cold. Perhaps that equalizing factor is part of why the New Yorker runs several beach images every year. Shake the sand of your sketchbooks and start drawing! We look forward to seeing your ideas. 

- By R. Taylor

- By Ian Falconer

- By Carter Goodrich

- By Roz Chast

To enter each week’s contest, please send sketches on this week’s theme. Use the submissions page or email submissions to blowncovers@gmail.com. I prefer sketches to finished work and good ideas to good drawings. Please send files in as jpegs under 1mb, and label the file with firstname.lastname. 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. 

Fireworks, barbecues, American flags, folding chairs —  it may not be exactly how our Founding Fathers celebrated, but it feels like the traditions are old as time. July 4th is a celebration of summer and of America - which makes it a good time to poke fun at America too (see Christoph Niemann’s covers below). How will you be celebrating this year? Pull out your red white and blue crayons and get sketching! (Perspectives from international artists more than welcome.)

- By Harry Bliss

- By R. Sikoryak

- By Christoph Niemann

- By Christoph Niemann

June weddings are a tradition that dates back to ancient Roman times. According to my brief internet research, Juno, Roman Goddess of Marriage, brought prosperity and wealth to all those who married in her month. “Mary in May, and rue the day,” an old proverb goes. New Yorker June wedding covers are a tradition that date back nearly as long - to the second year of the magazine’s existence, in 1926. What would your June wedding cover be? Put on those tuxedos and gowns and start sketching! (Full submission instructions at the bottom of this post)

Here are some published New Yorker covers to inspire you:

- By M. Scott Miller

- By Mark Ulriksen

- By Lou Romano 

To enter each week’s contest, please send sketches on this week’s theme. Use the submissions page or email submissions to blowncovers@gmail.com. I prefer sketches to finished work and good ideas to good drawings. Please send files in as jpegs under 1mb, and label the file with firstname.lastname. 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. 

Everywhere Nadja goes in her neighborhood in Brooklyn, she sees Dads out with their kids: pushing their strollers, buying them ice-cream, taking them to the park. Fathers even stole the show in Chris Ware’s recent Mother’s Day cover. How would you depict modern fatherhood? Put on those Father’s Day ties and start sketching! (Full submission guidelines at the bottom of this post)

Here are a few published New Yorker covers for inspiration:

-By Leonard Dove

- By HA (Bob Zoell)

- By Charles Burns

-By William Joyce

To enter each week’s contest, please send sketches on this week’s theme. Use the submissions page or email submissions to blowncovers@gmail.com. I prefer sketches to finished work and good ideas to good drawings. Please send files in as jpegs under 1mb, and label the file with firstname.lastname. 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. 

Between Obama’s historic endorsement of gay marriage and allegations that Mitt Romney bullied a gay classmate in Prep school, this seems like as good a time as any to discuss homosexuality in America. Plus, Françoise will be looking for June wedding covers soon. Commenting on a minority group is tricky but please try not to censor your sketches. Françoise tells her New Yorker artists “Think of me as your priest.” If you don’t let yourself go too far, you often won’t go far enough. So pull out your rainbow crayon set and start sketching! (Full submission guidelines at the bottom of this post, first time contributors encouraged)

Here are some past New Yorker covers to inspire you:

- By Jacques de Loustal (when this ran in 1994, it caused a huge stir. But now, it would just be an illustration of the NY times wedding section)

- By Barry Blitt (this was also one of The New Yorker’s most controversial covers at the time)

- By Barry Blitt

To enter each week’s contest, please send sketches on this week’s theme. Use the submissions page or email submissions to blowncovers@gmail.com. I prefer sketches to finished work and good ideas to good drawings. Please send files in as jpegs under 1mb, and label the file with firstname.lastname. 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 winner and first runner-up of this week’s contest will also win free tickets to this event at the 92Y in NYC with Francoise Mouly, Art Spiegelman, Barry Blitt and Roz Chast and get to meet the artists. 

It’s that time of year again, when the eager young best and brightest line up in strange robes for a piece of paper they’ve worked years to earn. Nadja remembers her own graduation fondly - it was 2009, the economy had hit new lows, and all the young bankers-to-be had had their early job offers rescinded. “No one knows what they’re doing now,” she said cheerfully, “which is great for me, since I’ve never known what I was doing.” What does it mean to be graduating into today’s world? Pull out your pencils, sketch on the backs of your diplomas and send me your ideas! (Full submission guidelines at the bottom of this post).

Here are some published New Yorker covers to inspire you:

- Constantin Alajalov

- Leonard Dove (the joke here would have been that a woman had gone to college)

- Barry Blitt

- Carter Goodrich

-Daniel Clowes

To enter each week’s contest, please send sketches on this week’s theme. Use the submissions page or email submissions to blowncovers@gmail.com. I prefer sketches to finished work and good ideas to good drawings.Please send files in as jpegs under 1mb, and label the file with firstname.lastname.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 PRIZE: The winner and first runner-up of this week’s contest will win free tickets to this event at the 92Y in NYC with Francoise Mouly, Art Spiegelman, Barry Blitt and Roz Chast and get to meet the artists. 

…Or should we say just say reading? There’s been a lot of concern these past few years about the decline of the book as an object.  What does it mean, in our modern times, to get lost in a story? How would you capture this moment in an image? Sharpen your “pencils”, find some of that “paper” and send me your cover idea sketches on this week’s contest theme (full submission guidelines at the bottom of this post, first time contributors very much welcome)

Oh and did I mention? There’s a prize! The winner and first runner-up of the contest will win FREE tickets to this event at the 92Y in NYC with Francoise Mouly, Art Spiegelman, Barry Blitt and Roz Chast and get to meet the artists. 

Here are some past New Yorker covers for inspiration:

- By Adrian Tomine

— By Daniel Clowes

— By Roz Chast

- By Eric Drooker

To enter each week’s contest, please send sketches on this week’s theme. Use the submissions page or email submissions to blowncovers@gmail.com. I prefer sketches to finished work and good ideas to good drawings.Please send files in as jpegs under 1mb, and label the file with firstname.lastname. 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.