Dear Ross,
The New Yorker just sent the final proof of my essay, Unbuttoned, and I wanted to tell you how much I like the illustration you did. It looks like something in a children’s book, and fits so well with the final line. I love the touch of red, and the shabby jackets hanging in the closet. You got everything just right, and it tears my heart out. Thank you so much.
Sincerely
David Sedaris

Cover illustration. This issue had several reviews of books about comics.

Art Direction Matthew Dorfman

For a piece on Canadian psychologist and author Jordan Peterson.

Art Direction by Nicholas Blechman

A piece in the August 2017 issue to celebrate the release of Bruce Handy's book Wild Things: The Joy of Reading Children's Literature as an Adult.

Art Director: Hilary Fitzgibbons

Illustrations for a book by Dave Barry, Adam Mansbach and Alan Zweibel

Art direction Ross MacDonald

Illustration for Garden and Gun magazine., for an excerpt from Lee Smith's piece Marble Cake and Moonshine.

Art direction by Marshall McKinney

The art was inspired by a poem by her friend James Still

Heritage

I shall not leave these prisoning hills

Though they topple their barren heads to level earth And the forests slide uprooted out of the sky. Though the waters of Troublesome, of Trace Fork,

Of Sand Lick rise in a single body to glean the valleys, To drown lush pennyroyal, to unravel rail fences; Though the sun-ball breaks the ridges into dust

And burns its strength into the blistered rock

I cannot leave. I cannot go away.

Being of these hills, being one with the fox

Stealing into the shadows, one with the new-born foal, The lumbering ox drawing green beech logs to mill,

One with the destined feet of man climbing and descending, And one with death rising to bloom again, I cannot go. Being of these hills I cannot pass beyond.

—James Still

Illustrations from the book In and Out With Dick and Jane, A Loving Parody.

Written by James Victore and Ross MacDonald

Edited by David Cashion

Personal piece.

This poster was produced in collaboration with Steve Heller and the School of Visual Arts in New York.

It is hand printed letterpress from hand set wood and lead type, and a linocut. Like the RESIST poster, this piece was done to protest the travel bans.

read more here

Thumbnail sketches done in response to news events

Illustrations, hand lettering and maps for Southern Living Magazine

Art direction: Peter Carstensen

Illustrations from the How To Speak... book series –

How To Speak Baseball, by Sally Cook and Jim Charlton (Chronicle Books)

How To Speak Golf, How To Speak Football, How To Speak Soccer, by Sally Cook and Ross MacDonald (Flatiron Books)

Illustration for Tor.com, for the short story Last Son of Tomorrow, by Greg Van Eekhout

Art direction: Irene Gallo

New York Times, Book Review

Summer Reading Issue

Art director: Steve Heller

Linocut and watercolor

Penguin Books

Design by Michael Ian Kaye

Personal piece

Poster, printed letterpress in 4 colors from handset type and linocuts. This was printed on the morning that Trump's first travel ban went into effect.

Illustrations done for the online marketing of the SyFy Channel miniseries Childhood's End, based on a Robert C Clarke novel of the same name.

In the show, the Overlords appear from space to banish all war, sickness and poverty on earth... but at what price? You guessed it -  a terrible one!!!

I did 2 or 3 thumbnail sketches for each scenario, but the children were deemed too happy - in the show, the kids become dead eyed, robotic and slightly menacing. So the tighter sketches and the final art show the more soulless children.

Illustration for one of the last pieces by the great Christopher Hitchens.

Read more about this assignment here

Art Director: Roy Comiskey

Illustrations for Security Management Magazine