A Cake Job — Illustrating Retirement

A couple of years ago, I was given an illustration assignment that was a joy to produce -- illustrating retirement.TBWA/Chiat/Day contacted me from Los Angeles to work on an ad campaign for their client, Principal Financial Group.

Illustrating My Ideal Retirement

The concept was to feature different artists’ conceptions of the ideal retirement. I set to work by producing three sketches. Here they are:In the summer, I spend my time at the Jersey Shore. Long Beach Island, to be precise. On the water here, there are many kiteboarders. The conditions are often ideal here for this rather daring sport. I admire these folks and even took a lesson myself to see if it was something I could handle. I imagined myself in the surf being propelled by a giant kite. Drawing the ocean can be tricky!Next, I pictured myself sitting at a beautiful grand piano, playing by moonlight. Romantic, eh?Next, I put myself into an activity that I actually practice: riding a unicycle…My wheel is actually a 24” model. I had my daughter pose on her 36” ‘Big One’ and used that as the basis for my sketch. I also created a Caribbean feel by adding a palm treCaribbeancomposition. As it turns out, the client approved this sketch to go to finish!Here is the finished illustration:Part of this assignment was to post this image on behalf of the client to various media platforms, like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and so forth, which was easy. It was a truly exciting campaign to be part of.