Ever wondered what a zombie on a skateboard might look like, and then see it printed on a t-shirt?
Coming soon to a T-Shirt near you is my brand new illustration for Live Over Board, an up-and-coming extreme sports company based in Jacksonville, Florida! I was commissioned to produce this illustration as part of their new range of T-Shirts covering all aspects of extreme sports starting with the good old Skateboard.
Followers of my work might see similarities to my old ‘Skate or Die’ image (see slide show below), and they’d be right. The folks at Live Over Board approached me after spotting the illustration and asked if it was available to license for use on T-Shirts. It was, but I offered to re-draw it for them as i’d never been happy with it and could do a much better job nowadays. After a week of re-thinking and re-drawing I delivered an illustration that i’m much, much happier with. Their response, “THESE LOOK SO AWESOME IT’S NOT EVEN FUNNY!”
The original brief required a 3 colour treatment for screen printing (below) so the full-colour version above is a complete indulgence on my part, but it was looking so darn good I just had to finish it! The simplified version is a very strong image in it’s own right though.
I don’t know for sure it will be used as a back print as i’ve shown in these visuals, but I hope so, as it’s always been my strict preference in T-Shirts and you rarely see good back prints nowadays. Is it just me that thinks back prints are way cooler?
Here are some shots taken during the making of. The process was the same as that employed in Army Of Darkness and Key Largo, where all the parts were inked with brush, by hand as separate elements and combined in Photoshop. I then added shade layers and create a complete grayscale version to establish tonal values that read clearly. This is a pretty busy image so it was important not to let the design become muddy and overwrought. Then comes the Photoshop colouring, text elements and there you have it! One zombie skater and a massive improvement over my original illustration. It’s quite self-motivating to see how far my drawing has come over the last couple of years. I’m particularly pleased with how the hands turned out on this. Excuse my patting myself on the back, but these might just be the best hands i’ve ever drawn!
Onto the next one!
All images © Live Over Board – Illustrated by Christopher King; Wing’s Art & Design Studio www.wingsart.net
I’m an Illustrator / Graphic Designer who creates hand-drawn & digital artwork for posters, flyers, comics, magazines, toys, and advertising clients around the world. With 15 years of experience I have worked with clients ranging from children’s toy manufacturers to burlesque troupes and have also been featured in several magazines and books on contemporary illustration.
9 Responses
WAAYYHHHHOOOO!!! I love the design!
Great linework man, those pencil sketches are amazing. The Tarman-ish zombie skateboarder (with a mohawk nonetheless) is so 80s-style rad!
Thanks Dude! I should of known you’d pick up on the Return Of The Living Dead references!
To be honest I prefer the simplified version!
Aside from that, great design overall, really like the concept and loving the look of the zombie 
The general consensus does favour the three colour version. It just has a much stronger, immediate impact.
Hey…I like the look your T-Shirts so much.Pencil sketches are so amazing.
Thanks, most appreciated.