GQ Life cover illustration 

This past October I was contacted by British GQ to do the cover of the "GQ Life" section of their December issue. This cover and the first article of "GQ Life" is about men's mental health. 

GQ came to me with a brief that insisted on a man looking out his loft apartment window but the rest of the concept was up to me. I really wanted to portray mental health beyond a man looking out of his window. As I read through the article and thought on being a man suffering with mental health I noticed a common theme. Most men keep it to themselves, they are trapped. It's not ok to let it out and talk about it. 

So I thought combining the man looking out his window with the same man imprisoned would show the state of most men who suffer with mental health. I thought his shadow would portray that the best and thats exactly what I did.

British GQ also insisted that I create an inside illustration for the article. This illustration would further the story of the cover illustration. I created a rough sketch that emphasizes his state of mind through his body language and his dying plant. I really wanted to do something more than just his body language so I felt showing his lack of commitment to his plant was subtle but very impactful. 

For the final version I added specific building silhouettes to portray London's skyline. The green used in the sky/BG is the official color for mental health, as pink is to breast cancer. I had intentions of using this color from the beginning and that drove me to finding this shade of blue. I felt they were very complimentary.