I was very lucky to get a call from Philadelphia for a 1/2 page illustration at the end of April. The article was about white-collar workers seeking out blue-collar jobs as the economy changes. This new workforce, called "bruppies" (blue-collar yuppies) is growing as more people either seek out labor jobs after being laid off or after just getting bored with cubicle life. In the article, several examples of people starting their own business as well as places to get training for such careers are discussed in great detail.
My initial sketches:
I favored sketch #1 as I felt it really "hit the nail on the head" (sorry for the pun.) Sketch one showed a business suit built from boards and nails. Sketch #2 is a man so dirty from working in white collar clothes that the dirt leaves an outline where his tie was. Sketch#3 is the weakest and shows a white-collar worker playing dress-up as a carpenter. And sketch#4 is the iconic figure taking control of his future by brandishing some huge tools.
Revised sketch: The AD decided to go with the final option as it was the idea he wanted to see sketch in our initial conversation. There was a request from upstairs that the figure be given a suit jacket to cover his vest. I really liked the vest version, but I was happy to oblige.
While working on the artwork, Jesse (the AD) called me and let me know that they now want to run the story as a feature with a spread and spot! How awesome! We had to alter the artwork to fit a 2-page spread so I lengthened the figure and he would now span onto the left page where text would be laid out.For the spot artwork, the AD wanted something highlighting the education aspect of the article as it would accompany a blurb listing places to go for classes.
Accompanying spot sketches:
Final art:
Thanks to Jesse for making a regular job into a fantastic job!Enjoy the Day,
Chris
