Pinup and Whale

“Pinup and Whale” is a completed commission for The MadLila. I always love the ideas that this client comes to me with. The original idea was for a pinup girl to be riding a whale, in the same position that you would ride a horse. I sent some preliminary sketches and then we worked together to reach the final idea of the pinup on water splashing out of the blowhole.

Pictured above is the sketch I sent back once the idea was to switch up the positioning of the pinup. Looking back on this sketch, I’m realizing now that I got her address correct on the final design- but flipped the numbers! I love looking back on sketches vs. the final design- there’s parts that really come to life after you’ve put more time into them. For me the whale looked like the final design in my head while I was sketching- but going back to the sketch it looks nothing like the final result. I really enjoy seeing the contrast between the two- and seeing what the client originally saw when they trusted the vision!

Here’s a mockup I created to show the design printed onto a black shirt. The design printed onto dark clothing has a few variations – I think I prefer this version, but I wanted to give the client more options for longevity of this design.