The New York Times Op-Ed

My first illustration commission for The New York Times ran in yesterday's paper. This was created for the Op-Ed section on Alzheimer's disease - letters to the editor in response to the original article that ran back in October. Alexandra, (the AD for the project) mentioned that the topic was sensitive but felt a collage could work well and suggested something beautiful and psychological. As an artist, I prefer the non literal vs obvious and safe route but felt it my responsibility to present both sides to her and the editor. After discussing and presenting the sketches, Alex narrowed it down to 3 finals. Sketches 1, 2 and 5 were selected. However, I was asked if I could tweak the flower/brain hybrid image into a more simplified idea with half of the flower full and vibrant and the other half deteriorating and dying. Here is the end result and a bit of my process including the sketches. Thanks Alexandra!