Book review Illustration

Here is a recent illustration I did for OUT about an interesting new book called ‘Single Man’. Nick Vogelson who was art directing the job was interested in doing something similar the small personal book I made here. This approach was perfect for the article and feel of the book itself which revolved around a mans struggle with his art due to the complexity of life and relationships.

After reading the editorial I settled on a good scene which Nick originally suggested of an older man with one of his students skinny dipping nude after a drunken encounter.
I did a quick sketch and just went straight into painting it with no real colour preference. I actually painted it in a near opposite palette to that of the final and achieved the final colours by using photoshops channels and colour controls. Also I ‘filled out’ alot of the paint to get it a little more stronger.

(Click to enlarge)

Also it’s always a treat to be given the spread with all the bits and pieces in place. Nick supplied this before even starting a sketch which made the composition/layout of the illustration a smoother process.

On a side note, wow its great to use paints again. Over the last few months I haven’t had to many opportunities to paint even in small scale with the jobs at hand and it was extremely refreshing/inspiring.