It began with a tweet. Alan Rich responded, recommending yours truly — one hour later, I was on a call with Brian Reich of the UN Refugee Agency, discussing the project.
The concept? A New Yorker-inspired painting, addressing the Global Refugee Crisis. Brian’s original 9th Avenue World View idea, transformed to a modern take on the original New Yorker cover, featuring Eustace Tilley… the New York Dandy.
You can view the entire process captured in time lapse, with a powerful soundtrack courtesy of MH the Verb and GR Stone...
Choosing the headlines for a project of this magnitude required careful, diligent collaboration. Following several back-and-forth rounds with Brian, we discovered a perfect balance.
Here, you can see the collage map alongside the trimmed content, ready for pasting.
Collaged and ready for paint.
Orange under painting, orange wash.
A gentle blue gradient in the sky.
Drawing in “The New Crisis” — found the appropriate typeface for The New Yorker, and re-created the masthead. Incidentally, for years, The New Yorker hosted “Eustace Tilley” design contests… I entered in 2010.
Painting in section by section… burgundy red, hunter green, shades of grey… regal.
And with the addition of a butterfly… The New Crisis. It was a pleasure working with you Brian.
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