WSJ Images, Beyond the Hedcut, Part 3

Last in a series of WSJ Images that I produced for the Wall Street Journal when I was Head of the Illustration Department there. These are departures from the hedcut type of illustration, the hallmark head and shoulders portrait that is so well known in the paper.As stated previously, the Journal used to run human interest stories on page one very regularly— a break from the hum-drum financial news.Here, the lizard man. I wish I had a story to tell, but you can see that this guy’s in control. He has an intense gaze that I took care to convey.A musician from San Francisco, I believe. Now, we all played the kitchen pots and pans in our childhood, but Skip LaPlante, portrayed here, took it all the way from the look of things.Staying with Frisco, this is a rather uninteresting composition of the typical cable car in that most interesting of cities. I tried compensating by inserting mesmeric window patterns and a few paying characters…This looks like an author portrait to me. Might have run on the Arts page.A bit less stylish, but still in the full-figure genre, a portrait of three Hutterite women. It was a painstaking endeavor to capture the textile patterns of their clothing, but that was an illustration of the point: They made their own.Now, to the great outdoors…I really like the way this one turned out. The strong lighting on the Falconer’s face and the striking pose makes it an attractive image.Here is a sporting chap from across the pond, showing off his catch. Gotta love the jaunty expression and the off-the-lip puffer.I admit it: I’m into boats. So, this image had me in full steam ahead mode. A replica Viking ship! I later decided to embellish this illustration with a touch of fantasy, adding a moonlit night… how romantic!This post is one of a three part series.

• Red WSJ Images Part One.
• Read WSJ Images Part Two.
• This is Part Three