Vacation Sketches

Give Me Liberty

A Justice League of Their Own

I've been incredibly lucky with my internship at an ad agency this summer...not only does it feature free coffee (and snacks on Tuesdays and Thursdays), but it's given me the opportunity to work on some really cool illustration projects.

I can't disclose too much about the specifics, but the batch I've posted here comes from a pitch we were doing for a non-profit youth activism organization that was looking for some new flair. Our team thought it would be cool to come up with a colorful squadron of super heroes (a "justice" league, if you will) to champion the three major causes we were going to pitch: badge-based volunteering, animal activism, and get out the vote.

Sooo, lots of cups of free coffee and one all-nighter later...

...we had the three the comic book covers you see at the top of this post. Not bad for a 48-hour turn around. I'll go through each one in a little more detail if you're interested in hearing more about the process.

First up was Badge Boy, the spokesman for a merit badge-esque social media initiative that was  essentially Boy Scouts for the Digital Age.

I proposed a number of different comic book covers for this one, but they really wanted to stay with the traditional pin-up approach--which ended up looking great once everything was done up in Illustrator.

Next up was the Animal Avenger (originally named Captain Cuddles), who championed a initiative to get teens to volunteer at dog shelters.

I thought the cover could be a little more heroic than a typical day at the puppy shelter, so I had the Avenger jumping out of an exploding building while saving a couple of endangered pups. Who wouldn't sign up if that were the kind of adventure we promised on a daily basis?

Finally there was Democracy Diva, who had the misfortune of being the last hero on my list, and thus the one that didn't begin until 4:00 in the morning. 

Nonetheless, I think she turned out alright...although I'm can't tell whether it's Tina Fey or Sarah Palin under that mask. The world may never know.

Guess Who Poisoned the Water Hole?

Jon Favreau's latest action flick--Cowboys & Aliens--has been getting a lot of attention at the box office this weekend. And even with a less-than-fresh Rotten Tomatoes score, it seems that a lot of audiences just can't get over the ingenious idea of a straight Western that just happens to feature aliens in one of its title roles.

Nevertheless, amidst all the hubbub for Favreau's film, I thought it only proper to pay homage to the original blockbuster that thought to combine Western wranglers and extra terrestrials on the same screen. Yep, Toy Story.

Here's a quick snap-shot of the process below: