Asset International's SooJin Buzelli gave Graham Smith "navigating a minefield" as her art direction for a portrait of Lee Partridge, San Diego's newest Chief Investment Officer for the city's underwater retirement fund. (more)

Using sea mines as symbols, and the waves that represent San Diego (and the condition of the retirement fund) Graham quickly sketched a few portraits and sent them to SooJin. A sketch was selected within minutes and Graham got to work on developing the illustration right away.

Working over-sized for this full page image, Graham decided to create the portrait and sea mine elements separately and decide on the final composition towards the end.