Cover for City Beat this week. play on Rockwell’s “First Love” image for a story about older gay couples.
Thanks to my friend Woody for helping me brainstorm on this one real quick!
It was initially oil and color pencil, scanned that, and finished digitally. I didn’t want to approach it as an imitation of Rockwell, because I simply would just not win that match. So, I stole his composition and tried to keep the posture of the two figures similarly. I also had to make some changes to make sure it looked like two men and not a man and a boy….that would be trouble.
So, I took a little of the “cute” out of it, so now it plays as simply a nod to Mr. Rockwell for those who are familiar with the image. And for those who aren’t, I still think it gets the message across in a fun way.
casey
love it! it looks great, o!
Feb 12, 2010 @ 11:17 am
Jerry Dowling
Hi Oliver.
Really nice piece of art on CityBeat’s cover. I saw you comment on the Illustrators blog about the reproduction.
When printing on newsprint, that’s what you get. It’s disappointing to spend so much time and effort to produce such good art and then see that on the street.
CityBeat especially is known for poor reproduction, even the black and white stuff. It’s happened to me repeatedly, and even when I was at The Enquirer, the same thing happened.
You’re fortunate they didn’t really screw up the layout, which they’re good at. Remember the Bengals-UC cover I did last fall? That was a disaster.
Keep up the good work. I’d like to see you at to our weekly lunch, where all of us discuss these things.
Jerry Dowling
Feb 16, 2010 @ 9:23 am
oliver
Thanks for stopping by, Jerry.
I love working with the CityBeat crew, but like you said, the reproduction is always a problem on that newsprint. The best luck I’ve had is doing more graphic art, utilizing more black lineart and more solid fill coloring. Obviously though, not every image is as successful treated that way.I’ve had pretty good luck with the layouts too, so I’ll keep my fingers crossed.
I’d love to make more lunches. It’s difficult with work and although sometimes they make they’re way out to Mason, I’m usually crunched on time! I always check the emails though, and hopefully I’ll see you all at one soon!
Thanks again.
Feb 16, 2010 @ 5:32 pm