In the dark

This month's Milwaukee Magazine is on newsstands now, and includes an illustration I did for an article on the Prison Rape Elimination Act. The story explains how the law requires states to keep track of sexual abuse and rape allegations. And although numbers of reports have increased, investigators are still in the dark about the issue, because many incidents remain difficult to substantiate.

So how do you illustrate "prison rape?" I knew it was going to be an interesting story and was excited to be on board, but I was a little panicked about how to tastefully convey the concept. I didn't want the image to come off as cheesy or funny, by relying on something akin to "don't drop the soap." Two hands holding cell bars is pretty instantly recognizable as relating to prison, and two more hands on the outside of the first pair worked well to suggest something more going on. Showing only the hands and nothing else inside the cell also helped to reinforce the idea of investigators not knowing what's really going on with regard to the allegations.
Thank you, Krista!

Let's shake on it

This illustration for The Los Angeles Times appeared in yesterday's Envelope section. The story follows the release of several films involving con artists in recent weeks: Blue Jasmine, American Hustle, and of course The Wolf of Wall Street.

Believe it or not, this image did not come easily. What follows is a series of missteps, almost theres, and not quites:

These sketches focused more on the mention in the article of various awards that movies featuring con men have garnered over the years. One and two are attempts at showing that the flashier con men do better than the low key figures, when it comes to critical and audience acclaim.

This round focuses more on the consequences of the con men's actions, and how they ultimately become victims of their own greed (with the exception of the Wall St bull with award laurels for horns), but they still don't capture the main theme running through not only the article but the movies' storylines. Plus, we wanted to include a wolf somehow, since The Wolf of Wall Street was a slightly bigger piece of the story than the other two films. So after pulling out some hair, cursing myself, and pacing back in forth in front of my sketchbook, an idea hit me and I scribbled this pathetic doodle:

I tightened the "sketch" and sent it in. That was it. To quote my AD Wes: "Bingo." Finally.
Thank you to Wes for his always helpful insight, his ability to steer my frantic thinking towards a more coherent direction, and especially, his patience.
Happy New Year to all!