The NFL's domestic abuse problem

This illustration of mine ran yesterday in the L.A. Times Sunday Op-Ed, for a story on the recent case of violence involving Ray Rice and his then-fiancee, as well as the many cases of domestic abuse among NFL players, and the league's refusal to do much about it.

Wes, my AD on this, contacted me Wednesday night with a story on a tight deadline- he needed final artwork on Friday. Although I don't really follow football, I'd heard about the Ray Rice incident along with lots of other people who don't otherwise pay much attention to the NFL. Despite the rush on the job, I thought it was a very important story, and wanted to take it on.

After sending the above sketches in the next day, Wes picked #3, but also mentioned that he had an idea of using a pair of eyes, one of them being a football. He still preferred #3 of my original sketches, but I liked the potential of his suggestion, and quickly sketched out a rough in Photoshop. He liked it, and that sealed the deal. We had our solution.

You can read the op-ed here. Thank you, Wes!

Hoo-ray for Hollywood!...er, wait

I did this really quick piece for Grantland.com, which is up on the site now, and is for a piece on Hollywood's lackluster blockbusters this past summer. Titled "Hollywood's Horrid Summer," it details the poor performance of the summer movies, due in large part to the industry's reliance on sequels, spinoffs, and remakes. Such as "Horror 3: The Re-Horroring," my favorite tongue-in-cheek example from the article.

I received the email late Tuesday night: "I'm looking for a 1024x576 illustration that shows the famous Hollywood sign in decay. What do you think?" I think I can do that. I didn't even know the story was focused on the summer's box office performances, but luckily by coincidence I chose to combine the sign with a cow's bones, in a sun-scorched, desert wasteland. It turned out kinda summery. You can read the article here. Thank you to my AD on this, Juliet!