Man in the Tulip
This series of illustrations was created in 1990 during the last recession. I was interested in depicting the economic cycle in a humorous way, so I created a series of invented characters to show the effects of the boom and bust cycle of the economy.
The "Man in the Tulip" illustration is a visual play on the hope for recovery during a recession. The cool thing about these images is that they became relevant again during the recent recession. The art was created in airbrush and the style was first inspired by a short children's book I wrote at the time but never tried to publish. I did, however, create a set of sketches for the book with charactes that have similar elongated faces as the figures in these illustrations.
I normally work with hard edged shapes in both my traditional and digital work so these illustrations represented a departure in style. The idea was to create a softer storybook style. Featherin the airbrush paint under my frisquets and wiffing in paint freehand was a fun way to work. It created a more organic look to the art
and an alternate style for me as an illustrator.
Businessman On a Tricycle
The business man on the little tricycle was the first illustration in the series. I love the work of Dave Calver who was working in colored pencil at the time. He and several other artists were developing styles featuring geometric looking figures with simplified heads and faces. The approach intreged me as a way to break into editorial work so I developed my own simpler style.
This is me on my new set of wheels in 1990. And they say the art business isn't lucrative. I did this as a spoof on all the businessmen in Troy driving the expensive sedans and SUVs, but it actually tuned into a nice editorial on the business cycle. Ironically, I got a commission off this art to create a set of illustrations in this style promoting Chrysler dealers.
Chrysler Dealership Project
I recieved several commissioned projects over the years in this style. The illustration for Chrysler dealers was the first in 1990. It was a fun challenge. I was the model for the guy in the busineess suit. He represents a costomer looking at inventory and weighing his choices. Marlen Stewart, the legendary lettering artist at McNamara painted the lettering on the dealership sign.
DOME Magazine Cover Illustration
A more recent project in this overall style for John Hopkin's DOME Magazine.
