Vonster

Ok so if you were around for the launch of my illustration site 'Vonster.com' you'll recognize this piece of art. I recycled it for this weeks 'Monster' theme at 'Illustration friday.' I have another monster I could have used but then that would have revealed more then I wanted to about my 'Keyboard-Characters' product I'll be revealing in the next month or so.

Happy Trees and the 'Cult of Bob Ross'

I remember when cartoons ended on Saturday I'd start turning the dial looking for something else to watch and would come across this guy with a huge afro painting landscapes and talking so softly it was like drinking a cup of warm milk before falling fast asleep. It was master oil painter Bob Ross. He'd use a huge house brush to paint with and say the word 'Happy' more times in 30 minutes then I have my entire life. His art didn't really make me want to paint it but for some reason I would watch his entire program every time. I never purposely planned on watching it, I'd always stumble upon accidently but it drew me. Bob even had a side kick on his show several times, his pet squirrel Peapod. Perched on his shoulder Bob would paint away talking to Peapod as if he could understand him. In those days PBS shows were the closest thing to reality television and it fascinated me to be honest.

Happy trees, happy clouds, and happy accidents are part of the wonderful 'Cult of Bob Ross'. He's become a pop culture icon of sorts now and has been forever immortalized on the web for future generations to enjoy. This is my contribution to his artistic influence.

www.HappyAfro.com



Bob Ross (October 29, 1942 - July 4, 1995) was a grandmaster American oil painter who primarily practiced the finer, more respectable arts of relaxation and kindness. His quiet, nurturing disposition was a form of therapy to the weary, and the reassuring intonations of his gentle voice hypnotized entire generations of would-be illustrators into creating a million-dollar art supply store enterprise.

Ornery Frog!

I confess I am some what addicted to domain names. Anytime I think of a cool one I check to see if it's available. If it is I usually buy it. I figure it secures the name for at least a year and only costs about $6. If I don't do anything with it in that year I may let it go public again.

Such is the case with 'OrneryFrog.com'. I just liked the name. Recently I just set up a new FTP server and I decided to plug in the 'OrneryFrog.com' domain to brand it of sorts. Being the detail oriented mild obsessive compulsive I am I created this funky logo to use on the splash page.



You can see it in context at: www.OrneryFrog.com

The MAC Attack!

Yes I am a true 'MAC ADDICT'. I first fell in love with the MAC back in the old green monitor APPLE II days my freshman year in high school. I even learned how to program in basic and Mrs. Hurley would get mad at me and my buddy Lincoln for hacking into the tutorial app and changing code so when a student got a wrong answer the screen would flash the message "NICE TRY BOZO!" LOL

So now of course I enjoy listening to MAC centric podcasts. One of my favorites is 'The MAC Attack'. I wasn't too hip with his show graphics so I decided to help Steve out and revamp his podcast identity. If you check out his web site now you can see what he's been using. www.TheMacAttack.us

Over the next few weeks he'll be integrating the mark with a new iTunes badge graphic, web site header etc.

Feat!

This weeks 'Illustration Friday' theme was 'Feet'. I try to push myself with these and not settle for an easy way out. Not always though, some times just drawing a literal approach in a unique way is fun.

To be honest when I saw 'Feet' as the theme I thought to myself "Oh god! I hate drawing feet." Then a little while later I thought "That's it. Oh God!" Thus this concept came to mind. I decided to handle this more like a logo then a full blown illustration.



“HOW BEAUTIFUL ARE THE FEET OF THOSE WHO BRING GLAD TIDINGS OF GOOD THINGS!” - Romans 10:15

Colorful Joe.

I was cleaning off some older content from one of my servers and came across this textile pattern I had created a year or so ago. I'd love to have a lounge shirt with this pattern on it.

Your in Good Hands!

Electronic Data Recovery, Sports & Leisure, Home Electronics, Office Furniture and Prized Possessions are just some of the areas that Allstate Insurance covers and each needed an iconic representation for use in print and marketing materials. I was directed to use the corporate blue and the background on each set shown below is a tint of that blue color.

The conceptual underpinning on icons can get a little tricky, especially when the topic is complex or not generally known by the public. But this is the aspect of icon design I really enjoy, it's like being a graphic detective of sorts. The challenge is to discover that iconic visual clues that help to relay the given topic. Some approaches are extremely literal because the topic dictates a more literal approach, where as a topic like 'Identity Theft' isn't so straight forward. A criminal can steal your identity in a variety of ways so you don't want to focus on any one specific criminal method, rather you want to relay to the viewer the overarching idea of what 'Identity Theft' is all about and that is how I approached it. A thief nabbing your ID and taking off with it.