A Thank You In Retrospect

"If you think you can’t do it… you’re right! YOU can’t!"

These words were framed and hung on the wall behind the desk of the art director for Good Housekeeping Magazine Bruce Danbrot. He looked this very green illustrator dead in the eye, pointed to the sign, and handed me my first assignment for the magazine. Decades later, there hasn’t been a day that’s gone by where I haven’t been confronted with seemingly unsolvable creative problems in the industry. Thanks, Bruce, or showing me the way! 

(Image below - my first pulp pages for Good Housekeeping, back in the days of gravure printing.)

HBO's Veep

The sixth season of HBO's Veep premieres this week. The hilarious comedy starring Julia Louis-Dreyfus is in it's sixth season. Here are just a couple of the conceptual sketches the Outlines team worked up for the hit series.

Bates Motel Season 5

A&E’s long running thriller “Bates Motel” has been a particular favorite of Outlines Inc. because we have worked on all of the Iconic imagery associated with the hit series since the shows inception five seasons ago! Check out the dramatic side by side samples and see how closely the end result emulates the conceptual illustration produced by Chris and the team at Outlines.

HBO’s Big Little Lies

Academy Award winners Reese Witherspoon and Nicole Kidman, along with ‘Divergent’ veteran Shailene Woodley, star in HBO’s new comedy drama ‘Big Little Lies’. With great star power comes great responsibility. It was important for the creatives to come up with great concepts, but it was Outlines Inc.’s job to make them look great. Therefore, likenesses had to be on target for the stars’ approval. Thankfully Chris’ background is firmly based in celebrity portraiture for the entertainment industry. Add to that the traditionally trained painters and expert digital artists that comprise the Outlines team and all work gets approved easily. Everyone goes home happy!

Disney's Beauty and the Beast

Disney’s Beauty and the Beast is one of the most anticipated film releases of the year. The 1991 animated classic finally translates to live action film, with stars Emma Watson as Belle and Dan Stevens as the Beast/Prince.  The assignment came so early in the project's development that Chris was given only the designer’s concept art for the characters to work from. With absolutely no photo reference, the task of imbuing Belle and Beast with the lifelike qualities of the actors that would embody these characters was no small feat - especially when it came to Dan Stevens as the Beast. Envisioning his young, handsome face under heavy makeup, prosthetics and tons of hair, while maintaining his essence, was daunting to say the least. A year later we were amazed, upon seeing the trailers to the film, how close to the mark Chris’ drawings of Dan as the Beast actually were.

The theory here at Outlines is that Chris has an affinity for the Beast. Back in the day (when the animated classic was up for an Oscar for Best Animated Film) Chris illustrated TV Guide’s Oscar Issue cover, featuring the Beast attending the Academy Awards. (That’s Chris’ self portrait sitting behind the beast)