Unbelievable 2.5

Unbelievable_2.5, originally uploaded by owenfreeman.

Portrayals

Here is an ink drawing/portrait of Mr. Hugh Hefner I did for this year's Playboy Jazz Festival. Throughout the assignment I was inspired to keep practicing with daily warmup portrait sketches of whoever else came to mind, and push various limitations like duotones or lighting as I went (while trying to maintain some fleeting likenesses.) It's an unexpected bunch, all together, but I guess there was a lot of Kojack on in the background...

Northlake

New illustration for this week's LA Weekly. Also just received a bronze medal for the Meric piece in the current issue of CQ, which was a cool surprise.

G20

Here is a cover and double-page spread I did for the current issue of Securities & Investments Review. The assignment was a super-heroic take on the single superadvisory board that world leaders were creating to confront the global economic recession at the G20 Summit in London this year.

The cover was penciled pretty much directly from the rough sketch, but the thumbnail sketches for the spread at the top left were still a bit too subtle, so for the tighter pencil versions we tried to take it in a more direct and cinematic angle. After a few color treatments the double page spread finally felt dark enough without being too dark, and the recession had the correct number of tentacles and it was off to print. Thanks to Johanna Ward at Wardour for the opportunity, and special thanks to Frank Stockton for the assist.

The Four-Star

Illustration I just finished for New York Magazine about the impact of the recession on four-star restaurants in Manhattan.  

Morello

Here is a full page illustration I did for the current issue of FHM magazine in the UK. The illustration was based on an article detailing the brutal rise and fall of GIuseppe Morello, the head of the first organized crime family in America during the turn of the last century.

Help is on the way

Just finished this assignment for this week's LA Weekly based on an article by Courtney Moreno recounting tales of life as an ambulance driver. The stories are a fascinating glimpse into a harrowing and often surreal side of medicine and was a great challenge to try and tackle visually. Also owenfreeman.com has just been updated with a bundle of new illustration and sketchbook work.

Forget it Jake...

Here is a piece I just did for the LA Weekly, on newsstands this week. The sketches were based on the broader idea of the city of Los Angeles, and then the finished illustration was an expansion on the upper right sketch with a nod to the classic film. Much thanks to Darrick and Jason for the opportunity and special thanks to the talented Eric Davison for his assistance.

Waiting

Just finished this illustration inspired by a piece on the daily risks in the lives of sex workers. Above are the thumbnail idea sketches, trying to work out a few compositional elements and then expanding further into quick color and value studies on the upper right. The interesting challenge to the piece was to try and create a sense of space which could then serve as a stage for the headlights to stand-in for a foreboding figure and still cut into the motel room with as much (or more) menace.

MF Doom