NBA Finals (again)

This was a cover I created for the San Jose Mercury News/East Bay Times NBA Finals Preview Section. I wasn't very fond of it when I did it but, half a year later, it looks alright to me. Initially I was going to do a drawing as I have in the past for the other Warriors Finals appearances, but maybe I was tired of drawing LeBron, Steph, etc. It's really remarkable that it was the same showdown four years running, but it seemed tedious at the time.

Top to bottom, I used the photos of D Ross Cameron, Nhat V. Meyer – staff photographers for the Bay Area News Group at the time – and AP's Morry Gash.

The End

PS: Ha! I just found this in the folder with the cover image file – for a very short minute we were going to try to tie the Finals in with Star Wars somehow, so I came up with a quick collage rough for that. Clearer heads prevailed (as in wtf were we thinking?) and NBA Finals Episode IV was the sequel that never came to be. Probably one glance at Yoda Klay killed that whole idea. Gah. I like that Death Star basketball in the background, tho.

The Warriors Again

This is slightly belated, but: The Golden State Warriors are the champs! Again! It felt weird typing that the last time (a couple of years ago) and it might be even more bizarre now since it looks like it could be an annual occurrence. The past few decades have been grim for those of us who have a sentimental attachment to the ancient days of Clifford Ray and Rick Barry, or the exciting years spent with Run TMC. I don't follow the NBA like I used to but it's cool to see "Golden State Warriors" and "champions" in the same sentence.

We won't mention what happened last year, tho, 'kay?

When it became a distinct possibility that the Warriors might sweep their way through the playoffs, I started to work on this illustration, but it looked like the image below.

It became clear halfway through the fourth quarter of game four that LeBron wasn't going to let such a historic feat happen on his watch; and that was a bit of a relief for me, since I would have had to finish the illustration by the next day for use in the Sunday publication.  

I used the extra shift to re-think it a little bit, and to focus on coloring, which is the most time consuming part of the drawing process, in most cases.

Golden State Warriors: World Champions!

It feels weird typing that. I suppose anything can happen, right? Maybe the SF Giants will win three World Series or something, too. I don't follow basketball anymore, but there was a time when the Warriors games were broadcast on local commercial TV and I was an enthusiastic follower of the team.

My favorite era, of course, was the Run TMC era. No championships, but that team looked like it was having more fun than anyone else and it was great fun watching them. The 2015 edition of the Warriors have that vibe, too, but it looks like they play a meaner brand of defense than Don Nelson's troupe.

I was thinking about personal heroes Jack Davis and Mort Drucker while I was working on this.
Drawn with MangaStudio and Photoshop!

In anticipation of the sports department asking for an illustration to commemorate the impending Warriors' championship, I started this sketch a day or two before it was won, just to get ahead when the inevitable request came.

Well, the request didn't come. They didn't even think about it. But I offered it up, and it was about 1/3 done so it looked a little better than a sloppy rough. They said "cool, finish it." It was needed in a hurry so there were a few hours of sleep sacrificed after midnight to hit the deadline but it was fun!

I wish I could have slipped Tim Hardaway in there, somewhere...

Forgot to mention this was published in a special section of the Bay Area News Group newspapers on Sunday, June 21! That's the SJ Merc, Oak Trib, CC Times, etc., etc.