Bad Sports

Bad Sports by Graham Smith

After the Philadelphia Inquirer fired Stephan A. Smith from the sports column he writes for them, he lawyered up, and they had to hire him back. The Philadelphia Inquirer still pays him his $220,000 per year salary, but they refuse publish his column.

Read more about this story by written Steve Volk, in Philadelphia Magazine online, or get yourself a copy - out on news stands now.

I worked closely with Jesse Southerland, the Art Director at Philadelphia Magazine, on this illustration. Jesse scanned in sections of The Inquirer for me to use as collage elements, even going back into a stack of old papers, looking for one of Stephan A. Smith's columns to use.

The preliminary sketch, the final illustration with the magazine cover in the background.

I draw a pretty tight pencil sketch before I begin inking. That process helps me figure out the likeness of the subject and how I will ink their portrait. The sketch is where most of the work is, and ironically, no one ever sees that. The inking itself is done very quickly. I try to maintain a level of vibrancy and spontaneity within the finished illustration. I can move quickly and confidently through the inking process, if I am sure all the hard work was done within the sketch.