Pattern: Sea Urchins and Trumpets

Sea Urchins and Trumpets, 2011. Digital vector art. Illustrator CS2.

I have really gotten into pattern design all of a sudden. I checked out a book from the library to see some William Morris works and also got inspired by the designs from the 1950s. Here are some of the inspired works.

No Christian Symbolism in Digital Flowers

No Christian Symbolism in Digital Flowers, 2011. Digital vector art. Illustrator CS2.

This is a work I copied from a Dutch master that I can no longer find the name of. (I'll edit this when I locate the painting and his name ***edit*** The painter's name is Jan Frans van Dael.) The work was done in Illustrator and you can see I became more relaxed with the program as I went along. I started in the bottom with the roses, worked upward and I feel the flowers at the top of the still life came out looking more natural.

Religious images were forbidden in the Dutch Protestant Church, so flowers and other items in paintings took on symbolic meanings to get around this. These synthetic images of flowers contain no hidden meanings.

Tar Baby

Tar Baby, 2011. Digital vector art. Illustrator CS2.

As a child my mother used to read me the Uncle Remus stories which are an amalgamation of West African tales and Cherokee folklore. Brought over by slaves to the southern United States the tales center around Br'er Rabbit (Brother Rabbit). This blending of African, White, and Indian cultures make up a great many memories I have of my childhood. We grew up in the town where 'Gone With the Wind' is set; and learned about the indigenous Creeks and Cherokees that once lived in the surrounding areas.

This design depicts the Tar Baby, a sculpture made of tar and turpentine by Br'er Fox to ensnare Br'er Rabbit so that he may eat the tasty lapin. "Tar Baby" has become much maligned as a term mired in racial connotation but was meant as a fable, that being, the more you struggle in a sticky situation the more you'll find your faculties in a quagmire. In the background is a diamond and oil droplet motif. I included them because they are two commodities that Africans and all consuming Americans would be better off without.

Sir Odeon de Lyon -- Vol. One

The ultimate unflappable first issue starring the unsung unemployed unwimpy urbane and most unique knight from Lyon, Sir Odeon de Lyon. Upgrade!

Br'er Rabbit

Br'er Rabbit, 2011. Digital vector art. Illustrator CS2.

As a child my mother used to read me the Uncle Remus stories which are an amalgamation of West African tales and Cherokee folklore. Brought over by slaves to the southern United States the tales center around Br'er Rabbit (Brother Rabbit). This blending of African, White, and Indian cultures make up a great many memories I have of my childhood. We grew up in the town where 'Gone With the Wind' is set; and learned about the indigenous Creeks and Cherokees that once lived in the surrounding areas.

This design depicts the trickster Rabbit in his brier patch where he was, "born and raised".

WIP -- 4 Young Men

Work in progress in acrylic. More to come unless Charlie Sheen uses his adonis dna or tiger blood to kill us all.

Bring a Meaner Dog May 4, 1963

Bring a Meaner Dog May 4, 1963, 2011. 9" x 12". Acrylic, chalk, pencil, dog hair and cloth on canvas.

On May 4, 1963 the photo of two black Birmingham officers in dark aviators grabbing a white boy by his sweater as a police canine tears into the white youth's stomach was chosen for the cover of the NY Times. The boy, Walter Gadsden, a relation to the editor of The Birmingham World a white newspaper, has his eyes lowered, with a look of passive calm as the dog buries its teeth into him.

Gadsden was merely a passive observer to what was called the Children's Crusade, which was a demonstration of Birmingham, Alabama's students to bring more awareness to the civil rights campaign. Fire hoses and dogs were used on the white demonstrators to quell the gathering. Gadsden himself was jailed for 'parading without a permit'. After witnessing his arrest the police Commissioner asked the arresting officer, "Why didn't you bring a meaner dog; this one is not the vicious one."

Bayern Munich kits 2011-2012 season

Bayern Munich kits 2011-2012 season, 2011. Digital vector art. Illustrator CS2.

I was pleasantly surprised a few days ago when Uli Hoeness, president of the German football club Bayern Munich, called me up on my mobile. He had a proposition for me, he asked, "Hey D, we heard you might have some time to dedicate to designing the uniforms for our 2011-2012 season, would you be able to give it a go?" To which I replied, "Gosh, Mr. President after all the joy the club has brought to me over the years, it would be my honor to design what they wear on the field."

The home kit is inspired by the run of design that has been seen over the past few years. A common thread throughout my line is the use of the herringbone pattern. It is used here in the shorts and bold red stripe, between which is a thin pen stripe.

The away jersey features the color black which represents Munich's monastic origins. It also uses the herringbone pattern to mimic the Lederhosen outfit's suspenders/ drop front flap.

In the 3rd/ Champions League kit I used pieces from the Bavarian coat of arms. It is also a nod to Bayern Munich's first colors which were blue.

Black and White Flowers

Black and White Flowers, 2011. Digital vector art. Illustrator CS2.

Death of a winter's day

Death of a winter's day, 2011. Digital vector art. Corel Painter X & Illustrator CS2.

Crest of Sir Odeon de Lyon

Crest of Sir Odeon de Lyon, 2011. Digital vector art. Illustrator CS2.

So I've had about a month of using illustrator and I have to admit I love it! I wish I had taken a few classes for it in school. This is the crest of a knight (who has gone through a name change after some research about Lyon, France) who lives in a place that no longer has war. I wrote a little intro to the story so here it is:

Atwain the apex o’ the sun
And zenith o’ the moon
Midmorn breaks it’s sunny yolk
Upon the day yellow festoon’d
Atop yon blades o’ grass
Bitten by dew
Our vernal hero trods
With challenges anew
We lay our scene in provincial France
Capitol of Gauls
Where wars doth end
Held captive to enthrall
For countryside and surround’d lands
Swim only in peace, prosperity, and merriment
All knights, soliders, and mercs must quit
Thy shore of gainful employment

The story will be told in a Sunday newspaper comics style. More to come hopefully.

Fort Couch

Fort Couch, 2011. Digital vector art. Illustrator & Photoshop CS2.

A couch inspired by the piecemeal constructs we made as children.

Steam-punk Timepiece

Steam-punk Timepiece, 2011. Digital vector art. Illustrator CS2.

This is part of the logo to a series of short stories locked safely inside my head. That is to say I will probably never flesh them out fully and write them down. The series would be called 'Times of War'. It would be vignettes about a world embroiled in battle - where a world wide shortage of combustibles have nearly brought a powerful nation to its knees. Their foes hold the last remaining fuels on the planet and bitter combat ensues. Small portions of the larger picture are painted through the eyes of the various story tellers - a solider, a nurse, a scientist etc. That's seems pretty typical. I just find it funny the steam punk genre never seems to mention what happens to a planet after all this burning of material to create that steam.

Owls Chocolate

Owls Chocolate, 2011. 10" x 10". Acrylic on canvas.

Tomatoes and Knife

Tomatoes and Knife, 2011. 12" x 16". Acrylic on canvas paper.

Le Corbusier

Le Corbusier, 2011. Digital vector art. Illustrator CS2.

Kawaii Pink Slip

Kawaii Pink Slip, 2011. Digital vector art. Illustrator CS2.

If you ever browse the new art of the website Deviantart.com then you've certainly noticed the superfluous saccharine trend in anime called 'kawaii'. This Japanese term translates into something along the lines of cuteness, precious, adorable etc. More can be read about the style -here-. To get the vision of all these uber cute depictions of sushi, ice cream cones, and rabbits out of my mind I have distorted the notion a bit by making the image a negative one. Since so many people have felt the brunt of being unemployed I thought it an economic zeitgeist. In the bottom corner is a business man grappling with the vicissitude of his career.

So now, begone kawaii; don't come 'round here no more.

Series -- Battle of Corinth (146 BC)

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Here is my first real series of paintings. It is collectively titled "Battle of Corinth (146 BC)" after the Romans fought and totally destroyed the Greek city state of Corinth. It was formerly well known for it's incredible wealth. The series includes the paintings 'Detail:Basement', 'Red Line', 'Day Dream', and 'Grecian Arms'. The set deals with themes of exile, loss and worthlessness.

Red Line

Red Line, 2011. 14" x 18". Acrylic and paper on canvas.

In architecture a 'red line' is a mark denoting something that needs to be changed. It points out an error in the drawing that the drafter must fix. In this depiction the white profile of a facade rises from the horizon. A gray skull is revealed beneath with the Red Line cutting a swath of bone away exposing brain material. A column in section is being thrust down into the mouth of the skull. Inside a desk is set ablaze. This is the final piece of the 'Battle of Corinth (146 BC)' series. It is the most violent, but continues the themes that came about after I was laid off.

Sir Osogon de Lyon

Sir Osogon de Lyon, 2011. Digital Vector Art, Illustrator CS2.