Art Director: Bryan Gray
Client: Liberty Magazine
Description: This commission was for an article on the new atheists, and how they want to punish, even destroy all religion. The article specifically mentioned thought crime, which I used as the catalyst for the idea.
I've listed a number of the other ideas that were not used, as well.
At first read, I wanted this illustration to come across as a person praying, with their head bowed. In actuality, the figure is bound to a chair with his arms behind his back. A talking head n a projection screen behind him references 1984.
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17 comments:
When it rains it pours. I'm happy to hear the Academy went well for you. This work is wonderful to look at and a bit of a departure from your older work. I saw the Atlantic piece when it came out and was thrilled to see it. The level of sophistication within your work is just astounding. You're really reinventing yourself without suffering any lack of aesthetics. I think you're a lot closer to erasing the line between personal and commercial work. Thanks for posting this Sterling. Cheers!
This piece was definitely worth taking my shirt off for.
wow, this is so cool
Very fine art with multi-layers of meaning, not sure what exactly the Big Brother behind the figure is doing for the piece, but anyways, can I say divine about the illustration dealing with atheists?
This is a great piece, another great concept, interesting colors, and I appreciate you including all the process sketches and info about the piece and your take on it. I'm looking forward to getting back to VCU to do some work. See you there.
This is really amazing
I really like how experimental this piece is, and I agree with Geary about how awesome it is that you included your process work. What about this job made you decide to approach it like this?
hey man, i remember talking about this one, came our great man, looked like some fun! i wanna say thanks again man for the inspiration and all the wisdom, i cant begin to tell u how much u and chayka, and allot of other really changed the way i make pictures man, might be seeing ya next academy too!
Hey Sterling :) I remember you talking about this project too... great to see the final piece & the sketches, you had a lot of interesting ideas & the suggestive layered approach really suits the subject. Thanks for your wisdom this summer & for being an all-round inspirational kind of guy!
Great ideas. Can’t wait to see more.
Peace,
Joe y Elio
eli- I appreciate your thoughtful posts. I'm working towards two different directions in my personal work, and I hope to have something to show to galleries by the end of the year.
jeff- I wouldn't have chosen any other model!
gumkid- thanks, I heard you got your first project through VA Living!
anonymous- thanks for posting. The Big Brother in the background was the only device that I could think of to give it a background. I didn't want the piece to simply be a floating figure on a black background. It was meant really as an abstract shape and "thought crime" was mentioned specifically in the text.
Geary- great work this summer. I'm looking forward to catching up with you at VCU.
Hoony- thank you very much.
Josh- The solution directed the technique, which is usually the case. I needed some interest to take it away from being just a static conceptual figure with no place and time. I'm trying to blend narrative and conceptual work in my current pieces, which I rarely see done.
bullfola- You impressed a lot of people this summer Justin. I miss hanging out with you and everyone else, but man, is it good to be home!
annika- Thank you. It was a pleasure having you at the Academy this summer. Jasmine was just up in Richmond. Hope that you are well!
El Grande- Thanks man, I'm working hard on personal work, which might take me a while to post., but it's coming!
just stumbled on your blog. really amazing work. i just added you to my cool blogs link. keep it up. i'll be back.
thanks c.b.- you are welcome here anytime.
s.
I think you are an amazing illustrator, I have a book with some of your illustrations in it (society of illustrators) and I look at your pieces all the time. Beautiful, inspiring, fabulous work. As an illustration student i totally appreciate learning about your process, too.
The piece looks great man, you really did make it more of an interesting piece. I know you said that the subject or text was a bit plain, but again cool stuff man. Do you think that you will take the textures further in future pieces? Well, hope things are going well for yah, and I hope to see you guys in the future.
Well, it looks like everything has been said already haha. Great work as usual. Couldn't take a class with you this semester, but hopefully there will something in the Spring, maybe Senior Studio or something. Good stuff!
Alexis- thank you for the feedback. The Society of Illustrators has treated me well over the years.
Will- Thanks for the input. I think that the textures will always be a part of my work in the future.
Richie- I hope to have you in class, again.
s.
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