Baseline BTS: Patrick Ewing

Baseline BTS brings you behind the curtain to see what went into the supporting illustrations from The Baseline Review. Editor and Creative Director JP Boneyard shares his insight into the process. Next up is Patrick Ewing from Matthew Wilding's story The Hardwood Sisyphus, illustrated by Oliver Barrett.

The Concept
Sisyphus is the first mythological figure that comes to mind when we think of Ewing. The king of MSG has a lot in common with the King of Corinth. That was the jumping off point we shared with both Matt and Oliver. They each did incredible work within this theme. We wanted to depict Ewing as serious, fierce, determined, and dignified. Oliver nailed it.

Supporting Illustration from our Story The Hardwood Sisyphus

The Inspiration
We asked Oliver to work directly from a 19th Century etching entitled Sisyphus by Friedrich John nach Matthäus Loder. Sometimes we look to the past for nuggets of inspiration.You can often find little pieces of gold that can be combined with other disparate ideas to make something interesting. Other times, when the work is public domain, there's an opportunity to make something new while still drawing directly from something that already exists. When we pitched the concept of this story to Matt we left it open ended. He could use the connection to Sisyphus as a single line, one paragraph, or the basis for the whole story. When Matt went with the latter it made even more sense to go all in on depicting Ewing as Sisyphus straight from this gorgeous etching. 

19th Century etching entitled "Sisyphus" by Friedrich John nach Matthäus Loder

Color Palette
It may not look it but this is a ten color screenprint (twelve when you factor in some of the special techniques we're using to avoid ink transfer when printing). The colors delicately overlap in interesting ways and feature subtle tonal shifts. I love that the scenes feature the iconic Knicks orange and blue but still feel dramatic. I boosted the values a bit and found a nice middle ground to match the tonality of the story and of the series overall. Those Knicks colors on their own are so vibrant it would be way too easy to have this somewhat serious story look like a Saturday morning cartoon. 

The Cover
The textures and contours of Ewing's face are lovingly mapped by Oliver. The Orange highlight on his face reminds me of that scene in Pulp Fiction where Vincent Vega opens the briefcase and he's bathed in a warm glow of something glorious. That glow is the elusive championship for Ewing. It's the adoration of millions of New Yorkers who desperately wanted to see their Knicks return to the promised land in the 90s. However you interpret that glow, we're so glad Oliver worked it in. 

TL;DR
We took inspiration from the story—and imagery—of Sisyphus. The king of MSG has a lot in common with the King of Corinth, after all. We admire the moody yet vibrant nature of the Oliver's interpretation of Ewing as Sisyphus. We use the iconic Knicks blue and orange but still managed to make the main scene feel serious and contemplative. The determination on Ewing's face says it all. Killer work by Oliver!

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!