BANNER HUNTERS - DUKE BLUE DEVILS

sports duke Blue Devils Coach K okafor college basketball portrait action Dynamic people

It has been an incredible year of athletics and I never thought I would get the chance to work with such amazing programs such as the world renowned Duke Basketball program. I was contacted by the Duke Director of Basketball Operations July 2014 enquiring about my services. I had always known about Duke's exciting program and the legendary Coach K so getting involved was a no brainer. In this industry opportunities come and go all the time, I didn't hear back for a while so I made sure not to hold my breath but it always burned in the back of my mind. Fast forward to the end of the year, I was rejoiced when the organization contacted me again about getting some work done now that they were fully preparing for the new season. This was a significant year for many reasons. It was the 75th Anniversary of the Cameron Indoor Stadium, Coach K was approaching his 1000th coaching career win, and Duke had lined up the youngest, most promising team in decades. #DUKENATION #LUCKYLILDEVILAMI

"BANNER HUNTERS"

The brief of this project was to create a poster featuring all major 8 player and Coach K. Featuring the title "BANNER HUNTERS." Here is a look into the process.

After scowering for facial/body references, I begin the rendering process in a typical palette of colors for skin colors. With line art then building up the tonal values with darks, midtones, lights.

MOOD: OPTIMISTIC AND TRYING TO MAINTAIN QUALITY WHILE THE GRIND OF DRAWING 9 SUBJECTS SLOWLY TAKES ITS TOLL

After I'm satisfied with the look of each player I then begin the tinting process. (I know! I know! why didn't I start with tinting! Well this is my process not yours :) haha This is also when I decided to add linear hatching to my highlights to bring in a more technical look.

MOOD: TINTING LOOKS GOOD BUT ART IS VERY DARK, QUESTIONING DESIGN DECISIONS, SHAKEN BUT HOPE IS NOT LOST

Next of course is the final layout composition of each player. This is where my years of design school pays off cause something that looks generally easy can end in yelling at my computer monitor, curling up in a ball, and questioning important life decisions and why I'm doing this.

MOOD: (IRRATE)

Don't lose hope! all is not lost! #TRUST :) I began to bring in some of my signature gestural marks to not only pop the subjects out but to exentuate the dynamic movement and actions of each subject.

MOOD: HEY THERE IS HOPE YET!! :D

Ultimately I reach my end result which I'm very happy with! but it did not come with its share of pitfalls and setbacks. Here is the close up crops to highlight the details of each subject.