I illustrated 43 portraits for The Sit Room: In the Theater of War and Peace, written by David Scheffer, published by Oxford University Press. The Sit Room details 3 years of decision-making, policy, and deliberations involved in the US intervention in the war in the Balkans, 1992-1995. David Scheffer served on the Deputies Committee of the National Security Council during the conflict, and later as the first American Ambassador at Large for War Crimes Issues.
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The portraits were all drawn with black ink and brush on paper. I drew them large, scanned them, and reduced them down to a thumbnail size in Photoshop. Because the Balkan War took place in the early 90s, online photo reference for many of the key players was limited. For some portraits, I used three tiny, grainy photos from the period and a few contemporary photos as reference material to create the portrait. This required some imagination. Below are a few process shots of the portraits.
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Below are final thumbnails, finals drawings and how they translated to the book pages:
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