Western Promises

This illustration is my latest for The Nation (Jan 7/14, 2008). I don't usually get asked to work with dark themes like this so it was a welcome challenge. The article is titled Western Promises, written by Marc Perelman, and is a review of Florence Hartmann's new book "Peace and Punishment: The Secret Wars of Politics and International Justice". In short, the book deals with the West's inability, or even unwillingness, to prevent atrocities like the 1995 massacre in Srebrenica, Bosnia, and questions the ability of international courts to bring justice to those responsible.
This one was done mostly the old-fashioned way with watercolor and acrylic but on two different layers, one for the statue and one for the background. I wanted to have a lot of contrast in texture and tone between the white of the statue and the inky, dark cloud, so I combined the two paintings digitally.
Editors: John Palattella and Christine Smallwood