Owen Gildersleeve was invited to create the cover illustration for both the print and digital editions of Politico Europe, illustrating the feature article on “Putin’s sanctions-busting shadow fleet” spilling oil all over the world and spreading environmental harm without consequences.

Inspired by vintage Russian propaganda posters, taking cues on the graphic use of form and limited colour palettes, Owen went on to create a three part illustration in his signature handcrafted multi-layered papercut style. The series views the tankers from various dramatic angles, carving slicks of oil in their wake.

The illustrations were initially drawn up in Adobe Illustrator and then artworked for cutting. The design was then handcrafted out of sheets of paper, using foamboard to add depth between the layers. Once complete the final multi-layered paper artwork was photographed by Owen in his Brighton studio, using natural light to help retain the paper textures and give nice soft shadows. He then retouched the final images in Photoshop ready to send off to the client for use on the printed newspaper cover and Politico homepage.

The artwork was also beautifully animated by Grand Matter's in-house animation studio Plastic Horse, bringing Owen's multi-layered artwork to life as a hypnotic visual piece.