Night ride @ the NY Times

I really enjoy working against time—and doing the night shift, too. I did an Op-Ed illo a couple of days ago, illustrating a pretty wonderful text by Seth Stevenson. Out of the very brief text draft I got, I made a very stiff and practical draft of new, 'ground-borne' vehicles made out of recycled airplanes. I wasn't very satisfied with this idea:

But I also made a looser interpretation of travelling in the shadow of a volcano who stops us from flying:

I liked the approach in the draft above, as it's neither witty nor catchy—and after having read the final text I completely could apply the poetic idea to it. So, I adapted the image:

Read the article and see the final here.
Thanks to Art Director Aviva Michaleov!