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Commissioned Illustration

Caricature, cartoon portraits and

Executive retirement gift illustrations

A large digital painting of the CEO of MGA Entertainment, (and creator of Bratz dolls, and LOL Surprise toys.) I worked from several photos, created sketches, and then after approval, sent the finished painting digitally to the client. They sent it to a large fine art printing firm, 
who printed it on 24 x 36 canvas with archival ink.

 

 

 Large format executive gift illustrations...

(Samples below created for Paris-based global utility and biotech leader, Capgemini )

 

Click to enlarge

 

"We presented your illustration to G.J. during the 300 person online meeting. He absolutely loved it! He was over the moon, and so many people on our call loved it too. We are having it printed and framed for delivery to his house. Thanks again for your partnership on this; always fun!" - V. Labate. Vice President of Global Marketing, 10,000 employee Capgemini Corp., Paris France

Illustration created for a prominent financial advisor.

Part of a series of 12 custom caricature illustrations created for the prominent cloud security firm, Zscaler. These depicted the executives of several of their top clients, including the City of Los Angeles, and various Silicon Valley tech companies. I was comissioned by a design agency in San Francisco to draw these in 2022-23. They were printed at 14" X 5", then matted framed and presnted to each executive, as a gift.

                                                                        Click to enlarge

Retirement gift illustration cmmissioned by global executive placement firm, Heidrick & Struggles. This was created for a executive who had spent 30 years with them, and presented to him at his retirement party. Finished size: 11 X 17, then matted and framed. I was provided with photos and subjects to cover, ideas for milestones, etc. - B&W ink with watercolor.

 

This is a specialty that I have offered to other companies, and the format I began using two years ago has since been requested by several other companies. (Another illustration created in that format is discussed below as an example of my process.)

An illustration of the executive  Vice President and Head of Marketing of Public Storage, Inc. (He is also skier and a fan of one of my favorite ski towns.) This was commissioned to be presented to him as a gift. I created it at  18" X 24", and it was printed on canvas in high resolution, and framed by the client.

 

                                                 (Clicken to embiggen)

Personal Commissions

I often create custom cartoons and illustrations for companies and individuals who want a special gift for a friend or colleague.

 

My process:  We can discuss your illustration through email or over the phone, and arrange the particular details. I will need a few clear (front and profile) photos of your friend or colleague.

 

I'll provide you with sketches via email. After making any needed revisions, I'll proceed with finished artwork, sending you high quality digital files that you can have printed locally at a Kinkos or local print shop, on a high quality printer.  I create the artwork in sizes that allow for easy framing.

 

Please contact me for more information.

This was a project for a gentleman in New York City who wanted to create a high detail illustration of he and his friends, to give to each of them as framed gifts. He wanted a group scene set in a famous casino with everyone seated at a high stakes poker table. He also wanted less exaggeration in the caricature, and a more realistic style cartoon depiction.
 
I worked from typical phone snapshots taken (with uneven lighting, and not everyone leaning the same way). So, the trick was giving everyone the same same light source (highlights and shadows), with a similar range of emotion/smiles. etc. I also made the decision to draw everyone in tuxedos to fit the tone and to make it cohesive. The gave the client a high resolution digital file which he easily uploaded to an online specialty printer, to have the canvases printed and framed.
 

 

A caricature based greeting card cartoon created for Coca Cola Corp. magnate Bruce Grossman, his wife, and their famous $40M super yacht, "Forever One".

Reference photos provided by the client:

A personal commission for an editor of a client publication on the East coast. Her son is a college student a Bowdoin in Maine, and she wanted to give him a framed illustration as a gift when he arrives home for winter break. I had some fun with this, adding some thematic elements that reflected her son's interests. I created two versions, one vertical and the second horizontal. allowing my client and her husband to choose which worked best aesthetically and for framing.

Caricatures and artwork comissioned for the Atlantic Monthly magazine.

One of several humorous illustrations of recording artists, "The Swon Brothers", created for Arista Records and used in album artwork, social media and promotion.

An example of my process:

 

The following illustration one of several created over the past few years for global utility and biotech leader, Capgemini. (The Paris-based company has twice as many employees as Google, and I'm embarrassed to say, I had previously never heard of them.)

 

They celebrated the retirement of one of their top executives recently. I was commissioned to create a gift illustrating several key milestones during his tenure. I was given a list of these achievments and asked to illustrate them in a lighthearted and humorous manner.

Reference photos

First step: I worked  with Capgemini's Vice President of Marketing in creating the concepts...and then began drawing the B&W first draft. After discussing the sketches, some minor revisions were made, and a few more scenes were added.

Final art was drawn in ink, and color was added in the form of digital watercolor washes. The artwork was sent as an 11 x 17 high resolution file, which was printed and then matted and framed by the client.

A photo of the gentleman, his assistant, and another Capgemini executive (whom I worked with on the piece), at the celebration in Toronto. (Click to enlarge)

Back stage at the retirement party, with the guest of honor.

A humorous illustration done for a financial advising firm in New York.

 

This was a gift for a retiring director and his replacement at the firm. I drew from several photos for each person depicted. The finished piece was emailed as a high resolution file and emailed to the client...who had it printed locally at a Kinkos office at 11" X 14", then matted and framed.

(Click to enlarge)

A cartoon illustration created for a family in Los Angeles, who framed it and gave it to their obstetrician, (whose heroic efforts saved their baby.)

A piece drawn for the "White Marlin Open", the world's largest ocean gamefish tournament,

held annually in Ocean City, MD

A regular part of my corporate client work consists of creating illustrations to help communicate the benefits of new products and technologies.

 

These cartoons and illustrations are used in advertising, marketing and presentations. One of my specialties is finding effective ways to portray concepts, and adding humor to maintain audience interest.

 15 illustrations created for a presentation to McDonald's

executive management at their Chicago headquarters,

introducing a new technology being implemented.

An illustration created for a presentation by CitiBank/Citgroup

            Here is a blog post with more commisioned illustration samples and further explanation of my process.

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All content and images Copyright 2022 Mark Hill. All rights reserved.