Working from the source
I worked from one of my favourite photographs from the 1990 World Cup, Rudi Völler on the shoulders of Jürgen Klinsmann, because it already had a strong composition. I kept the pose mostly the same. I simplified almost everything else so the illustration relied on line weight instead of detail.
Faces and Likeness
The faces took the longest. I wanted them to remain immediately recognisable without over rendering them. Most of the likeness comes from the moustache, hair, expression, and the placement of shadows rather than fine detail. Once those features were in place, I stopped myself from adding more lines.
Shirt and Details
The shirt was another balancing act. The original German kit has a lot of geometry, but copying every shape would have made the drawing feel stiff. Instead, I suggested the pattern with selective lines. I let the viewer’s eye complete the rest. I treated the medal the same way. It only needed enough information to read correctly.
Foreground vs Background
I paid close attention to the contrast between foreground and background. The figures use tighter cross hatching and cleaner outlines. The stadium behind them stays intentionally loose.
I didn’t draw most of the crowd as people. I built it from broken pen marks, patches of ink, and negative space. I left the floodlights almost completely blank. They break through the darker hatching and pull the eye back into the centre of the composition.
Linework and Energy
I avoided perfectly straight hatching. Small inconsistencies are intentional. They stop the drawing from feeling mechanical. I’ve been trying to keep that roughness in my work recently. If every line is controlled, the illustration starts to lose the energy that made me want to draw the photograph in the first place.
Reflection on the Piece
Looking back at the finished piece of Jürgen Klinsmann carrying Rudi Völler, there are still areas I would approach differently, especially around the jersey folds and some of the crowd textures. Even so, it captures what interested me most about the photograph: the movement, the atmosphere, and the emotion, without trying to reproduce every single detail.
If you want to see more of my sketches you can see more of them here.
