Fire & Ice

Created to illustrate a health feature on women seeking help for decreased libidos as they reach their 40s. A mixed media illustration featuring a 50/50 ratio of my own photography and supplied stock art.

I was asked  last week to take on an illustration for our upcoming issue of SD Health, a bi-yearly magazine that the newspaper puts out. I've been asked to contribute an illustration for every issue. So far, this is my favorite one.  I used some of the grunge textures that I started exploring with in 'Once there was a tree.' I had the benefit this time of having a complete story and even the copydesk's suggested headlines which spoke to women looking to re-ignite the sexual spark with their husbands. I created two lo-resolution sketches for my editor to choose from. The other had a woman holding a  lit match in the same scene which the editor felt was too literal and obvious. So this was the winner.

Eight photographs were used to create this image. 5 were mine, 3 (including the woman) were from our supplied stock account. Due to the time constraints I wasn't able to do a model search to photograph my own lead element.

The above group of photos are mine and I used them to create the background and the texture in the illustration. The photos below are stock photos.