The AD wanted a portrait that would showcase Berg's involvement in the conspiracy movement, but he dd not want Berg to be "too crazy looking." He sent me a few reference photos (neither of us could find much) and I got started:
I decided to nail the likeness down first and try some different backgrounds. I agreed with Jesse about staying away from a "crazy look" as we agreed that the article would let people decide for themselves. My goal with Berg was to show him as he sees himself: as a hero informing people of the facts. I went for a iconic and confident look; he is very proud of himself and what he is doing.
In terms of the backgrounds, the first sketch features polaroids of 9/11 and theories about Obama and the White House; the photos feature handwritten theories. I was going for an "evidence wall" type of feel.
For the second sketch, I went in a different direction and used a technique from a personal drawing I did a year or two ago. I like the visual effect of a figure surrounded by question marks. It works in two ways as they can represent both Berg's questioning everything as well as our questions about Berg: "What happened to this man? Has he lost his mind? etc."
The AD decided to go with the first sketch, and I was fine with either choice. I worked up two different color versions. One featured a green background and the other was the red background chosen. I tried a few new things on this piece in therms of rendering the figure, and I like some of the subtle things going on.On a side note, this assignment sort of sucked me into the whole conspiracy world. I was watching videos of 9/11, reading sketchy blogs, etc. Some of the arguments can be pretty persuasive!
Enjoy the Day,
Chris
chris-whetzel.com
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