I've been away at some festivals, but now I'm on vacation in Ohio until next week. I brought pads and pencils along in hopes of drawing on the road, so we'll see how that goes.
Until next time, auf wiedersehen.
26 July 2006
11 July 2006
Gone for the rest of the week...
...as I'll be off drawing caricatures (AND ROCKIN' IT OUT, CLASSIC STYLE) at Moondance Jam up in Walker, MN. I'll be away through Sunday. Here's hoping for some good crowds and some great music to draw to.
Really lookin' forward to Alice Cooper and The Nuge!
Sorry for lack of updates - it's been quiet here for a while because I've been sick! Summer flu, cold, West Nile... SOMETHING got me good. Today is the first time in nearly 9 days that I actually feel OK.
Until then... check out the new 'temporary' logo I made for my new venture (along with Jim Hungaski and Joe Williams) - WeDrawFaces.com:
Later!
Really lookin' forward to Alice Cooper and The Nuge!
Sorry for lack of updates - it's been quiet here for a while because I've been sick! Summer flu, cold, West Nile... SOMETHING got me good. Today is the first time in nearly 9 days that I actually feel OK.
Until then... check out the new 'temporary' logo I made for my new venture (along with Jim Hungaski and Joe Williams) - WeDrawFaces.com:
Later!
02 July 2006
Collegiate sports art
Anyone who knows me will tell you I'm not a huge sports guy. I don't even know if I'd call myself a casual sports guy. I do watch baseball regularly, but other than that, I really don't care about sports at all.
But if sports involves getting paid commissions, oh, you know I'm there!!! So here are two Homecoming themes that I've done for the North Dakota State College of Science football team. The first one is last year's (2005) and the second is for this autumn's '06 Homecoming. They're the Wildcats.
But if sports involves getting paid commissions, oh, you know I'm there!!! So here are two Homecoming themes that I've done for the North Dakota State College of Science football team. The first one is last year's (2005) and the second is for this autumn's '06 Homecoming. They're the Wildcats.
2005:
2006:
As you can see there is a 'theme' they have each year - which was also part of our job to come up with. Willie Wildcat is the mascot, so we had to include him in the graphic. Their team colors are also red & black. They stay white in the background because they go on shirts, cups, publications, and whatever else.
For last year, the 'Devour' theme gave us the idea of Willie eating the eagles like chicken, hence the big juicy leg he's holding. If you look closely, some of the crippled eagles only have one leg left. Oh, violence in the name of football!
One axed idea for '05 included, 'Pluck The Golden Eagles,' where it would show Willie ripping feathers off an eagle... but the NDSCS staff said "pluck" sounded too much like the word that rhymes with it. At least we still included an eagle with all his feathers GONE! For this year, we thought 'Neuter The Wolves' would be good too, but OH WELL!!!
Speaking of this year's upcoming game, 'Whip' was the first word that came to mind, and stuck with us throughout brainstorming other ideas. 'Neuter' woulda still been funny, right? And the graphic to go with it? Kidding, kidding...
...or am I?
ANYWAY, when we found out the Wildcats were facing a team called the Wolves this year, there was no doubt that the wolf would be done Tex Avery style! YES! So if you're seeing blatant Frederick Avery ripoff in the graphic above, why yes, it is! More like a tribute. Besides, how many zillions of teams named the Bulldogs stole their logos/mascots from Preston Blair? I thought so!
I wish I had these logos to compare with previous years' themes. But they aren't anywhere online, and I can't find printouts. But whoever did them before wasn't very creative. All you need to know is that the guy was photoshop filter crazy, loved to use his gradients, and pasted the 'official' Willie logo on top of clipart football player bodies. Oh, and here are the official Willie logos below, past and present:
For last year, the 'Devour' theme gave us the idea of Willie eating the eagles like chicken, hence the big juicy leg he's holding. If you look closely, some of the crippled eagles only have one leg left. Oh, violence in the name of football!
One axed idea for '05 included, 'Pluck The Golden Eagles,' where it would show Willie ripping feathers off an eagle... but the NDSCS staff said "pluck" sounded too much like the word that rhymes with it. At least we still included an eagle with all his feathers GONE! For this year, we thought 'Neuter The Wolves' would be good too, but OH WELL!!!
Speaking of this year's upcoming game, 'Whip' was the first word that came to mind, and stuck with us throughout brainstorming other ideas. 'Neuter' woulda still been funny, right? And the graphic to go with it? Kidding, kidding...
...or am I?
ANYWAY, when we found out the Wildcats were facing a team called the Wolves this year, there was no doubt that the wolf would be done Tex Avery style! YES! So if you're seeing blatant Frederick Avery ripoff in the graphic above, why yes, it is! More like a tribute. Besides, how many zillions of teams named the Bulldogs stole their logos/mascots from Preston Blair? I thought so!
I wish I had these logos to compare with previous years' themes. But they aren't anywhere online, and I can't find printouts. But whoever did them before wasn't very creative. All you need to know is that the guy was photoshop filter crazy, loved to use his gradients, and pasted the 'official' Willie logo on top of clipart football player bodies. Oh, and here are the official Willie logos below, past and present:
The cool OLD one that I knew as a kid:
The modern one that bores me:
What is it about all those modern collegiate/professional team logos that stick to that same style? Iconic? Yes. Lifeless? Also yes. When designing MY version of Willie (refer back above), I wanted to make sure his look was little more cartoonish. Last year's was still pretty stiff, but this year's was a natural evolution. When I look at Willie's head alone (in the '06 graphic), I picture that as its own great logo. Jef and I were discussing possibly putting that face on shirts for school events. We'll see how that goes.
When we were watching the Homecoming 2005 parade last year, we saw various floats that utilized our theme. Several floats included students with KFC buckets. But the FUNNIEST float was one featuring a bastardized version of our graphic! It was a piece of tagboard with the logo traced on from a projector, but the lines were thin and the coloring was minimal (with what looked like Crayola markers)... it was a riot.
And the football team won last year... I like to believe that our theme attributed towards that victory. Hope the same applies this year! But if they lose, eh, just remember that I'm not a huge sports fan in the first place.
What is it about all those modern collegiate/professional team logos that stick to that same style? Iconic? Yes. Lifeless? Also yes. When designing MY version of Willie (refer back above), I wanted to make sure his look was little more cartoonish. Last year's was still pretty stiff, but this year's was a natural evolution. When I look at Willie's head alone (in the '06 graphic), I picture that as its own great logo. Jef and I were discussing possibly putting that face on shirts for school events. We'll see how that goes.When we were watching the Homecoming 2005 parade last year, we saw various floats that utilized our theme. Several floats included students with KFC buckets. But the FUNNIEST float was one featuring a bastardized version of our graphic! It was a piece of tagboard with the logo traced on from a projector, but the lines were thin and the coloring was minimal (with what looked like Crayola markers)... it was a riot.
And the football team won last year... I like to believe that our theme attributed towards that victory. Hope the same applies this year! But if they lose, eh, just remember that I'm not a huge sports fan in the first place.
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