Tuesday, November 27, 2012

the feeling of a job well done

As crazy as this sounds, it has been almost one year exactly since I was contacted by the Oregon Dairy Council to create a poster for their dairy princesses. Yes, this is what we call a long haul.

This project was not particularly difficult, and the client was great. Normally I would never have a project take this long, but since they weren't in a hurry, had many stakeholders and no real deadline, this project just took its time.

'Our Dairy Cows Send Their Best' is complete. Dairy princesses shout with joy, as your new teaching poster is refreshed with bright colors, engaging images of cows, milking parlors, bottling plants, shopping aisles and happy families.

Monday, November 5, 2012

color

I love color.

Personally one of the skills I am most proud of is my eye for color. I really love color and enjoy working on color harmony in my work. Years ago I had a fantastic teacher, Elsa Warnick, who taught Illustration at the Pacific NW College of Art. She gave us a project where we were not allowed to use black. It changed my life. Really.

I recall how I struggled at first to work without using black. Then it came to me and the colors started to sing and the absence of black was not an issue. I didn't need it at all. Much of my personal art does not contain black. I rarely find it necessary. I find shadows are much more rich without black.

Recently when I was finishing up the Oregon Dairy Council artwork I found that even though there are many colorful panels altogether, the colors don't fight. They are harmonious and exciting.

Thank you Elsa, I owe you a lot, but that lesson in particular will be with me always.