Just two random pieces... found in sketchbooks. This time, my stuff and from the late '80s.
The top is the color break for the cover for a slightly-above-ground entertainment and radical weekly rag. The point of the thing was to illustrate and accompany the breaking the news that the profits from the Communist Chinese "Son of Heaven" exhibit (of ancient terra-cotta soldiers touring the US, and at the moment in Columbus, Ohio) funded the massacre in Tiananmen Square. Proudly, I did this (what I thought then, and think now) terrific editorial-esque cover art... the "Son of Heaven" logo made of spilled and splattered blood on the stones of the Square.
My cover was killed just before it went to press. The editors spinelessly balked at the last minute at my trenchant and pointed statement - and a much feared lawsuit. I forget what they ended up going with. Some pablum done by someone else.
I should have demanded my artwork back and a "kill" fee.
The little black and white 'toon I did, beneath it, on a much lighter note, has always been something I've loved (to be humble yet honest). I won't shock you, or gross you out, however, with the true story therein lies.
3 comments:
Interesting story about your cover art. It's nice to see some of your work like this. Very well done with what you were trying to communicate. Do you have other editorial stuff to show us?
And what's with the exploding cow? Or should I ask?
No, you don't want to know about the exploding cow. Although, technically, he didn't exactly explode...
Ok...I'll ask you about it over some hot wings. Unless it'll wreck my appetite? (oh wait....that won't happen, what am I saying)
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