Examples of Graphic Illustrations
This page displays some screen images and brief descriptions of work done as a long-time user of Adobe Illustrator.
I was asked to do a parody of Grant Wood's American Gothic. I did the illustration, as requested, and also decided to do a rendering of the original painting which hangs in the Art Institute of Chicago. Before doing so I checked around the Internet for other illustrations of this famous painting and found none. Oh, I found lots of photos of parodies but no straight interpretation of the painting as a graphic illustration. This is not the parody. This is my version of the “real thing”. You can read more about American Gothic and the art of Grant Wood by clicking here. One thing I learned about the painting is that it isn’t of a farmer and his wife. The woman is his grown daughter. Models for the painting were Wood's sister, Nan, and his dentist. The house still exists in Iowa complete with the gothic window.
Though C&L Sales and Service has been in business for more than 40 years, they didn't have a logo for use in communications. They didn't have a web site or internet domain with appropriate email accounts. I was asked to create a logo, secure a domain name, develop a website, and bring them into the 21st century with email accounts that aren't generic. During the process I helped in developing other pieces designed to market the company in a more professional manner. C&L handles commercial equipment with hydraulic cylinders. The griffin image on the trucks was used because the principle owner's last name is Griffin. Selling and servicing fork lifts, bucket trucks and truck-mounted cranes should be obvious. Now they have a unique logo, presence via the web and email accounts that don't end in @gmail.com.
Ever heard of The Three Tenors—Spanish singers Plácido Domingo and José Carreras and the Italian singer Luciano Pavarotti? The famous three-some of operatic fame sang in concert under this banner during the 1990s and early 2000s. Their success led to other groups springing up under the same concept–performers able to do operatic and American pop music with style and gusto. Such a group has recently been formed in the Louisville area under the direction of Dr. Mozelle Clark Sherman, a long-time teacher of voice and consultant to the Kentucky Opera Association.
This is a color drawing of the Lockheed P-3 Orion done for a friend in California. Each time I would drive from San Francisco to Cupertino I would see one of these going or coming from Moffett. The "sub hunter" was based on the commercial version called the Electra which saw service for American, Eastern and Braniff from 1959 to 1961. The Navy design, however, has seen service for about 50 years.
The illustration above was done for a motorhome rally. It was developed to complement the theme … motor camping in the first quarter of the 20th century.
Ah, the fresh look or spring. This graphic, featuring a branch with azalea blooms of pink, was done as the primary element for (what else?) a springtime event. Individual blooms were used to elements on the program as well in other promotional media.
As the newsletter editor and webmaster for GMC Eastern States I’ve created several illustrations based on the classic GMC’s motorhome as well as other artwork to enhance the quarterly newsletter and website. Seldom do I use graphics from other sources. The image above is an example of the quality motorhome images I’ve made.
As a founding member of the Kentuckiana FileMaker Users Group, I felt we needed a expressive logo that coordinates, color wise, with FileMaker Incorporated’s corporate colors. The image show above is the logo I rendered for the group.
The logo of the network of FileMaker developers of which I’m a member was done to emphasize our Louisville, Kentucky connection. Hence, I chose to use the fleur di lis, a French symbol implemented in the logo of Metro Louisville government and many organizations with connections to France.
One of the things I’d like to do is build a garden railroad and start a group of local G scale hobbyists. I worked up this logo for a yet-to-exist club.
What’s so special about a TV image? I’ll tell you. Look for one to use in a presentation (PowerPoint or Keynote) and you have difficulty finding one. This image was created to serve as the background for videos used in a computer-driven slide presentation.