Sweatin’ on the Upper West Side

By Carol Tannenhauser

Gary B. Martin is an illustrator and animator who has lived on the Upper West Side for more than three decades. This is his third illustration for the Rag, chronicling life in the neighborhood and New York City.

But that wasn’t enough information for us; we wanted to know more about this talented man who turned up in our inbox. So, we asked and he replied.

“After studying filmmaking and animation at NYU, I went on to work in digital media (sometimes called “new media”),” Martin wrote in an email. “I contributed to the creation of some exciting online and offline multimedia design and productions, 2-D animation and motion graphics, interface design, desktop sound, and even some video editing for clients ranging from The New York Public Library to Ernst & Young, and every kind of nonprofit and for-profit client in between.

“But now in my semi-retirement I’m choosing to go back to my simpler passion of illustration, in which I am self-taught,” Martin continued. “Just me and my pen (or computer, more often), trying to focus on more character-driven images. Much of my work published elsewhere is (often angry) political/social commentary, railing against what’s going on in the world. For WSR, I’m trying to keep my angst local to what’s going on in my head. I’d like to be considered as a ‘late bloomer,’ who is just now trying to make a name for himself doing the thing I love most.”

Watch for Gary’s illustrations on Sundays in the Rag and see his previous illustrations here. To see more of Gary’s work, including animations and other motion graphics, please visit www.martoons.com

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