Mitch Gives Back! Part One!

More real life art assignments, dissected for the art student (and way too much minutiae for everyone else)!
Pick up today's Chicago Tribune, get a pencil and notepad and follow along.
Got a call Wednesday night from the charming and delightful Mike Kellams, the Sports Editor for the Chicago Tribunes sports section, to do a cover illustration of 3 Bears of the 2006 team paired off against 3 Bears of the 2010 team, plus 4 small interior spot illos. Could I do it all by tomorrow night (also, money was involved in the proposal)? "Of Course!" was my "go to" answer. Said I'd probably want to scan my pencils instead of going to full inks, otherwise I really don't see how I could do it (you have to be somewhat realistic). By 10pm he had uploaded a bunch of images that I could use for reference.
Set the alarm for 3am to start the work (thought I'd get sleep out of the way). Managed to convince myself to move by 4am. Realized most of the Tribs email reference was unusable (players faces I had to capture printed out about a murky half an inch high), so Googled away making folders for each of the Bears. Also realized that I needed some good reference of football players in the poses that matched the assignment, "We picture them in full uniform but with helmets in their hands, like they’re ready to step on the field, which separates them, and play. We’ll put our headline type in that space between." so I woke up Kieran early, tossed a pillow on the living room floor, handed her the camera, and told her to sit there and snap my picture. I'll spare you the pics of a blurry eyed unshaven Mitch holding a bicycle helmet striking "football" poses. They did sharpen my resolve to join a gym asap, and possibly look into a "lifestyle lift" while I'm at it.