Baseline BTS: Kobe Bryant

Baseline BTS brings you behind the curtain to see what went into the supporting illustrations for The Baseline Review. Editor and Creative Director JP Boneyard shares his insight into the process. Next up is Kobe Bryant from Ben Taylor's story Failure Doesn't Exist, illustrated by Andrew Archer.

The Concept
Kobe Bryant's on court heroics are legendary. His work ethic is well documented. Perhaps just as interesting is the way he prepared for games. One of the wildest Kobe stories is of the time he studied great white sharks in order to prepare for guarding Allen Iverson in the 2000–01 Finals! When Kobe later tore his achilles in 2013, he swam with great white sharks during his rehabilitation. 

I literally woke from a dream one morning — before the story had been written or pitched to Andrew and Ben — and said out loud: “Kobe is on the court, surrounded by sharks. Melting shot clock!”. Somehow it made sense and became the direction for the story. The shot clock was supposed to be a tip-of-the-cap to Spanish Artist Salvador Dalí since the concept — and the way it came to me — was kind of surreal. Andrew Archer felt like the perfect fit for this concept since some of his work has a surreal quality to it. Plus the man is an incredible illustrator and loves hoops. We adore the work he did on this one! Who would have thought to blend a snake pattern on a shiver of sharks? It's such a nice touch and only makes sense in a scene like this.

Supporting Illustration from our Story Failure Doesn't Exist

The Inspiration
The tales of Kobe's work ethic are sometimes as concerning as they are inspiring. The man was chasing perfection and would try just about anything to gain an edge or grow his game. Kobe taking tap dancing lessons to strengthen his ankles is super compelling but may make for a goofy supporting illustration. The two shark stories — and all the talk of his killer instinct — felt like a compelling way to lean into Mamba Mentality without showing a bunch of snakes. It also goes back to the title — and a sentiment Kobe would share on occasion: failure doesn't exist. Literal and metaphorical sharks could be after you — there's still gotta be a way to rise above or work your way through that situation. 

Dream Caused by the Flight of a Bee Around a Pomegranate a Second Before Awakening by Salvador Dalí

OK, so you may be thinking “but JP, there's no shot clock in the illustration”. That's right. When Andrew locked in the composition I didn't ask to work in the shot clock out of concern for it feeling wedged into the scene. I also felt like Andrew had already worked his butt off on this one — we needed to conserve some of his bandwidth for the cover. Maybe we'll add in this detail for the book?

Kobe Breaks Down his Philosophy on Failure (BET)

Color Palette
We went with Lakers colors and turned up the saturation a bit. It feels like Andrew and Ben got some great mileage out of a somewhat limited color palette. 

The Screenprint
Shout out to Ben Gunter and Danny Askar for helping turn this image into a 7 color screenprint! For the smaller 9x12" scale we're working at — and for how detailed the image is — we weren't sure how well this would print. This is all a bit experimental. We haven't seen anything done quite like this before. The registration has to be so crisp, and the dots so clean, or this whole thing quickly falls apart. I was eager to see how far we could push the medium. It would have ate at me if we didn't at least try. I was willing to pay for the full run and eat the cost if it turned out muddy and ended up in the recycling bin. If it did that wouldn't be a reflection on Ben or Danny's work — it would simply be due to the limitations of screenprinting. I cannot stress this enough: Ben and Danny did the impossible here and the print came out so nice! That's the benefit of working with the best. I am deeply grateful to Ben and Danny for their brilliant work!

Color Separations for the Main Supporting Illustration

The Cover
We wanted to show a little of Kobe's intensity. Usually we aim to show the wild side in the full page illustration and another side of a player's personality on the cover. Kobe is all focus so we show him looking intense on the cover. I picture him locking in on defense and tearing into somebody. Andrew captured Kobe's energy beautifully. 

Cover from our story Failure Doesn't Exist

TL;DR
Kobe navigating choppy waters with sharks is one of the most Mamba things we can think of — whether they are real or metaphorical. The concept of Kobe with sharks and a surreal environment came in an actual dream, though he actually did study — and swim with — great white sharks. Andrew Archer's surreal style felt like an inspired fit for this one. From a technical standpoint it's remarkable that the screenprint came out even half as good as it did (it's gorgeous!). Andrew captured Kobe's take no crap attitude wonderfully on the cover and did great work with the minimalist color palette. 

Bring it In
This has been another installment of Baseline BTS with Editor and Creative Director JP Boneyard. Thank you for taking the time to learn more about the player, the supporting illustrations, and the creative energy that went into this work. We appreciate you!