Commission by the Chicago Reader for the News and Politics Section.
The main concept for this illustration was centered around the diverting of Chicago city property taxes to develop apartment complexes instead of being invested in schools and public institutions.
In theory the city's $16 million investment in developing properties is supposed to be paid back to schools and public institutions after the the property is fully developed. The only problem with this is that the property won't pay back the $16 million investment until 2034.
The goal was to emphasize the idea that this development is quite literally stealing resources and materials from the Chicago community. Visually, this concept is shown through the crane ripping off part of the school building to complete the top of the development.
Final scanned elements above.
Final composition of scanned elements and inprogress coloring of the line art.
For the final I chose a color scheme that subtly contrasts the greens and yellows of the "community' areas with the muted blues and greys of the apartment building. Colors were seperated in layers making the illustration easier to screenprint in the future.
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