Ghost Ride The Whip!

I was recently asked to contribute to the You Can't Front On... section of YRB Magazine this month. Past topics I've illustrated include: malt liquor, iron-on letters and Rent-A-Center. This time the topic was a phenomenon that I was unfamiliar with called ghost ride the whip. It basically entails dancing on or around your car and generally acting like a jackass while it coasts down the street.

As you can tell by my lack of updates, I've been working on too many projects at once. Instead of turning down the gig I decided it'd be interesting to collaborate with my pal Ben Tegel. I started off drawing the car, which is based on a vintage Vette. Chevette that is. Then I handed it over to Ben who sent me back these great sketches:

I really love them all and it was tough to pick which one to go with! Ultimately I went with the one immediately above this paragraph. It had a great pose, clear silhouette and the character had the right amount of retardedness for me. Then I printed out the sketch and tweaked Ben's drawing a bit.

After I got it close to what I wanted I scanned in the drawing and dropped it into Illustrator for inking and coloring. Since these pieces don't appear that big in the magazine I decided not to add any real background outside of the curb and fire hydrant.

I wish I had more time to finesse the drawing and colors, but deadlines always seem to come quickly. Overall I'm happy with how it came out though. Stay tuned for more collaborations with Ben on upcoming secret projects.

I also have two pieces in the current issue of YRB Magazine. It's the Art Issue, so it's packed with good stuff. Go buy a copy you cheap bastards!