Big thanks to the guys at Kayak for working with me on their Titanic anniversary issue cover.

The sinking of the Titanic was one of the big events of the 20th century; a tragedy that ended the lives of many people, but also marked the decline of an era of optimism and faith in human engineering and commerce. It also was a bitter display of classism at work – a theme that was played up heavily in James Cameron’s movie. As I was working on this, I kept  wondering if society was slipping back into Titanic’s time, where a small number of super rich ruled the world and literally jumped ship when calamity struck, leaving behind the poor to perish. There were some 1st class passengers who did answer the call of noble self sacrifice, but the stories of those who didn’t have become even more legendary.

My initial suggestion was to show the Titanic in a more positive light, perhaps leaving port or being built. The magazine wished to depict the sinking however, but requested it not look too gruesome. I did want the ship to be visible, but I also wanted the passengers to be be prominently visible. So we settled on a shot of people in a lifeboat looking in shock at the sinking ship. I would have preferred not to have the small silhouettes of people in the water (as this is a children’s history magazine), but I guess for historical accuracy they had to be there.

The cover was accompanied by 2 spots in the article. I’d originally suggested the guys in the Marconi room, but we later changed it to the band instead.

For the record, in my head, the rich guy in the life boat is Bruce Ismay. He’s not meant to look like Ismay, but in my head that’s who he represents.

Did this some time ago for Kayak’s ‘Shopping History’ cover. Kayak is a Canadian kids history magazine. It was a fun cover to work on, though I do think the historical family over extended their credit…

Halloween 11' / Charlene Chua illustration

Happy Halloween everyone! To avoid the above scenario, do not use paper bags for trick-or-treatin’….

Another one for the Journal. This was about getting special offers and things on your smartphone. Was a bit surprised that they asked for this concept, but I guess it showed off the phone with the mannequin better than the sketches where you could see the lady’s face.

Another piece for the Wall Street Journal. I have actually already forgotten what the article was abo0ut… my memory seems to be getting worse and worse. Oh well. The ‘fashion mags’ were done in Painter, which was quite interesting. And quick.

WSJ Ask Teri / Charlene Chua illustration

This was done for the Wall Street Journal’s Ask Teri column for Thursday Jan 20. It was a very quick turnaround (same day). The column is about a man who lost weight and so got his suits remade to fit. He was asking if he should get his shirts remade as well since the necklines were still uncomfortable. The art director originally asked for a picture of a tailor working at making a suit, and I supplied him a sketch of that. I also supplied an alternative sketch for an idea with a pair of hands with a measuring tape across a businessman’s neck, which I thought had related more to the text. The team at the Journal liked the idea and we ran with that. I ended up making the guy look older with a bit of a heavier neck. It was a nice, quick job, and it was great working with the folks at the Journal again (who are simply amazing with their response time!).

These were the sketches I provided:

This was the original tailor idea.

This was my original alternative. I adjusted the guy to be older.

Did this as a sketch a while back. Started by drawing the girl and didn’t know what else to do so I kept drawing and added the hands and chicken. It reminded me of Baba Yaga’s chicken house so that’s why it’s titled as such. But honestly I have no idea what’s really go on…

Did this a while back. My agent requested a piece that had more guys in it, so I cooked this up. Hopefully they do, indeed, look like guys!

Thanks to Angela over at Santa Fe Reporter for working with me on this one! This is the cover for the magazine’s ‘winter guide’ issue. The space at the top is reserved for the masthead. The brief was open so I came up with some ideas involving winter. We both liked the idea of some sort of ice princss, so I married a couple of concepts together and came up with this.

Below are the other sketches I roughed:

(I ended up re-using this one for my own Xmas card.)

This was the reworked sketch:

Some new work for Penthouse. Did these recently for their December erotic fiction piece. It was a fun piece although somewhat challenging since not all that much was happening in the story (a girl meets an old flame at a condo she’s eyeing, they make out in the pad’s outdoor shower). I tried to come up with some ideas that didn’t involve showers, but couldn’t really. The magazine prefers the images to be more direct and less conceptual anyway. The suds were quite fun to figure out, and I think generally it worked out well.

Here’s the spot that accompanied it:

I kinda liked this sketch that didn’t make it (thanks for the anatomy help Vince!), might do it up when I have the time: