TOM - Here's a new promo piece I did recently. The idea behind it is about how newspapers are sadly becoming obsolete with the Internet being the fastest, most accessible way for people to get their news. Due to news blogs, podcast, and video feeds, newspapers are quickly becoming a thing of the past. I see much less newspaper reading on the train and much more ipod listening than ever before and I must say it's actually very sad. As an illustrator, the rush that I get from seeing my work printed on paper alongside an article is something I hope I never goes away. Websites and blogs are cool, but being able to look at an illustration up close in a newspaper or magazine and admire an artists brushwork or how the illustration works within the composition of the page is something that you don't get from seeing someones work on a web page. I'm sure writers feel the same way about having their work printed in a newspaper, since everybody has a blog nowadays, it's just gotta feel more "official" for a writer to see their work in a newspaper. And beyond all of that, on a purely aesthetic tip, newspapers just look cool! The shape and size of them, the smell of ink on newsprint, aside from comic books they're really the next best thing. I'm all for keeping up with the changing times, I think being able to get up to date news at any moment is an awesome idea, I just hope there continues to be a place for newspapers in that future, maybe "green" newspapers, articles printed on recycled paper would be kinda neat.
Here's a quick look at my process for this piece. Above are the final inks, I inked this with a #2 Isabey brush, Windsor Newton India Ink and some pens for the finer detail.
I had a real hard time settling on a color scheme for this piece, so a big shout out goes out to everybody that helped me, including James Flames. As you can see above are some of the alternate versions I went through. In the end, I'm very happy with the final piece.So everybody go out there tomorrow and buy a newspaper, they look alot cooler than iphones!
