Virtual CEO's

Matt Mullenweg founded Automattic in 2005 to administer his wildly popular WordPress blogging platform. Read, "How a Virtual Company Communicates" in this months INC. Magazine.

Creative Director, Blake Taylor commissioned these 4 illustrated portraits of Virtual CEO's, for the April issue of INC. Magazine. Working with a seasoned pro like Blake was a pleasure I'd repeat any time.

I illustrate these portraits at about 8 x 10 inches, even though they reproduce much smaller. I draw the entire head, shoulders and neckline, in blue pencil, ink them, then crop them mercilessly. The trick is to make sure the fine lines, and the light blue under drawing, are not too thin, as they may fall apart once printed.

Typically, the photo references are all very different styles and sizes. Art Directors often call me in to provide a consistent look based on these non-matching photos. To maintain consistency in a series of drawings, I standardize the size, use the same pen nib and brush, and try to maintain the same level of detail on each portrait.

Kevin Hale of Wufoo fame on developing a system for tracking performance. Read his interview "How to Manage Your Virtual Employees" by Max Chafkin, in INC. Magazine.

Graham Hill founded TreeHugger in 2003 as a blog about all things green. Read "Why my Company is Virtual" in this month's INC. Magazine.

Mike Sappington, CEO of gloStream, has had to recall virtual workers to the office. Read his advice "When to go Unvirtual" by Max Chafkin, in this months INC. Magazine.