Before Tara McPherson was a successful commercial illustrator, making poster art for bands like the Strokes, Interpol, Duran Duran and Built to Spill; before having her sweetly creepy illustrations featured in Oscar darling Juno; and before preparing more than a dozen paintings and several sculptures for her first solo show opening Feb. 23 at the Jonathan LeVine Gallery, she was the vice president of the astronomy club. As a Santa Monica Community College student, she would spend weekends camping on the rocky deserts of Joshua Tree National Park, drinking beers and watching the stars until the sunrise snuffed them out of view. Ms. McPherson considered giving up art for an astrophysics degree. “But I was thinking, do I really want to be an astronomer? I’ll be alone logging data in the middle of the night,” Ms. McPherson, now 31, explained in her storefront Williamsburg studio, curled up in a paint-smudged black hoodie and turquoise-colored jeans. “But now here I sit by myself all night. Ironically enough, I’m doing the exact same thing I was trying to avoid. Becoming an artist, I didn’t realize I’d be alone so much.”  read more »