The client liked the second option best, feeling that it put the subject more front-and-center. Since the sketch was fairly small, it needed to be redrawn.
I made some minor adjustments from the original thumbnail, like widening the fork in the road, and moving the signs from behind the guy to his left and right. I was really unhappy with the guy I had drawn for a number of reasons (help, I’m falling over), so I decided to completely redraw him by modeling him after the organizations Executive Director. Several of the elements, like the buzzard and tank, were drawn separately and added in later.
I brought each of these sketches into Illustrator and began to create the final cover (below).
Here’s a look with mast head and article titles in place:
And here’s a look at the final printed magazine:
Hahhaa…I always thought he looked like Frazee.
Haha . . . glad you could tell!