A couple weeks ago you may have seen my artwork featured (along with other artists) on CBS's Big Brother. Long story short, I was contacted by Jessie, one of the producers, to quickly turn around illustrations of two of the (former) house members. The artists' work would be featured in the final competition of Episode 19 that aired on Wednesday, August 6th.

Of course you can guess that the theme was comic book related; each house member was to be drawn as a comic book character on a mock comic book "cover."

The deadline was incredibly tight--I had to turn around 2 colored pieces of art in two days, which would include preliminary sketches and approvals. I was assigned members Brittany and Joey (L to R, for those who follow the show):

Each was to be battling bad guys in their own "superheroic" way: Brittany would be kicking soccer balls with her bionic leg, with one pelting a bad guy. Joey was to be depicted as a kangaroo fighting a bad guy.

Here are my initial rough sketches:

Brittany was approved right away; both versions of Joey were liked but ultimately they decided to go with Version 2 (stomping).

After I was given the green light to tighten these, here is what I came up with:

After some minor requested changes, here is the finished inked line art:

Some of the balls were copied, rotated/scaled to different sizes, and pasted to help save time. With my hectic schedule, every minute counted!

I enlisted my artist buddy Robb Miller to help with the coloring since the deadline was so tight (did I mention that I was also inking Catwoman for DC Comics, too?!). I gave him some direction/notes, but honestly I wouldn't have gotten this done without him. He literally saved me a few hours I didn't have. Here are the finished color versions; do you see any further subtle changes from the black & white?

This is the best we could do in two days...!Easter egg: the bad guy with the eye patch is a stupid character I made up in high school called Johnny Beat-Em-Up. — This is the best we could do in two days...!
Easter egg: the bad guy with the eye patch is a stupid character I made up in high school called **Johnny Beat-Em-Up.**

This actually was not the final approved version; I had to add pants to Joey (see below).  Easter Egg: the bad guy being stomped on is an homage to a  cartoon character my friend Jeff created back in high school named Simon. — This actually was **not** the final approved version; I had to add pants to Joey (see below). Easter Egg: the bad guy being stomped on is an homage to a cartoon character my friend Jeff created back in high school named **Simon.**

Here are all of the other comic covers done by: Andy Smith, Josh Adams, Joe Martino, and Michael Borkowski. Special thanks to Gabriella Schnierle for the help with the graphics/title placement! — Here are all of the other comic covers done by: **Andy Smith**, **Josh Adams**, **Joe Martino**, and **Michael Borkowski**. Special thanks to **Gabriella Schnierle** for the help with the graphics/title placement!

Zach getting pissed off during competition!

I hope this gives you a little insight as to what it's like for a freelancer like me to work with a big-exposure gig. My work is mostly print and web-published, and this is the second time my work was prominently featured on television. Special thanks again to Jessie Whitney, Andy Smith, Robb Miller, and Gabriella Schnierle.

Entertainment Weekly Online article here.
Bigger photos at CBS.com here.
You can watch this episode here.

Gear used to create the illustrations:
-Microsoft Surface Pro 2 + Clip Studio Paint (Manga Studio 5) for the roughs/pencils
-Printed out on Strathmore Bristol board (smooth)
-Inked with Pigma Microns and Windsor & Newton Series 7 sable brush + india ink
-Colored in Photoshop

Yes, I still have the original art. Should I sell them? Keep/frame them?? :D