In May 2015 I entered a competition to design the label for Chicago-based brewery Arcade Brewery’s next “Public Brew” – Odyssey Hive. This beer is an American Pale Ale brewed with Honey – so I wanted to do my a take on Homer’s Odyssey in which our patriot hero, lost at sea, is confronted by a swarm of giant bees out to steal his beloved booze – how dare they!!!
Unfortunately, mine was not selected; however, I had a great time creating this illustration, and I couldn’t have been more thankful for all the support and votes from my friends and family – that alone was worth it!
Technique-wise, I drew and inked the image freehand, scanned it, placed it within the specified template provided by Arcade Brewery, and colored it in Photoshop CS6.
Here’s the inked illustration just after I scanned it…
Here’s the penciled image just after starting to ink…
And in it’s infancy…the initial concept mocked up in Photoshop…
Cheers!