Sport Illustration, made for Boston Globe - Art Director, Luke Knox-
The request was to have a hockey scene inside an arena (the old Boston Garden), with one player from the Boston Bruins competing against one from the Chicago Blackhawks. They wanted also to have them be current boston player Zdeno Chara and current Chicago player Jonathan Toews, but playing in their team's jerseys and equipment from the 1940s or 1950s ... Basically a vintage scene but with recognizable faces from today on the two players.
The request was to have a hockey scene inside an arena (the old Boston Garden), with one player from the Boston Bruins competing against one from the Chicago Blackhawks. They wanted also to have them be current boston player Zdeno Chara and current Chicago player Jonathan Toews, but playing in their team's jerseys and equipment from the 1940s or 1950s ... Basically a vintage scene but with recognizable faces from today on the two players.
I did 4 sketches:
#0 and #1 are very dinamic, should give the idea of the velocity and ability. Also the background is skewed to emphasize this concept.
#2 and # 3 are two kind of "face off". I like this such powerful moment, when the players seem to be frozen but with tense nerves.
Bodies are stylized and emphasized to better express the power the players.
Players faces and vintage equipment are, for now, only roughed.
Background will show a hint of crowd.
The favorite was sketch #2, the faceoff one with Chara on the left and Toews on the right. They choosed it because it conveys a real sense of excitement and anticipation. They liked the angle too, a low angle looking up and making them seem larger than life and appreciated also the Boston Garden background without too much details.
The final artwork
