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A few editorial illustrations I’ve done recently, including an illustration on making connections at the holiday office party; the recent “Right to Work” vote that passed in Michigan; and one humorous illustration for Thanksgiving & pumpkin pie.
Check out my Illustration Portfolio
You might recognize the stag with a cross in his antlers from the Jägermeister logo. What you may not know is that the mark is a reference to St. Hubertus. This 7th century bishop has become a patron saint, but his story is intertwined with another earlier mythological church figure that I find even more interesting—Saint Eustace
According to the legend, a lascivious 2nd century Roman general named Placidus was deep in the forest hunting when he saw a vision of Christ in a stag’s antlers. He immediately converted to Christianity, was baptized along with his whole family, and changed his name to Eustace.
After enduring a lifetime of trial, including temporarily losing his wife to a pirate captain and his boys to wolves and lions, the family miraculously persevered through it all to finally be reunited. Their joy was short-lived, however, when they were burned to death by the emperor for refusing to offer a pagan sacrifice.
For hundreds of years before being dismissed by the Catholic church as fantasy, Saint Eustace was the patron saint of hunters, hence his and Hubertus’s veneration by Jägermeister—a digestif brewed from a variety of forest roots and herbs.
For whatever reason, I’ve connected with this guy Eustace. Real or not, I can identify with his suffering and his connection to the forest, and I’ve spent the past few years trying to imagine how to portray his story. I finally lucked out with this concept assembled from a bunch of scrap lumber – collected from the junk pile behind Odom’s, off the side of the road at Apple Fence Co. in Grawn, random lumber yards and from my own backyard.
I’m dedicating this piece to all my friends out there in the woods trying to find food for their families. Shoot straight & safe, fellows!
Check out detail images of this piece and others from the show in my Fine Art Portfolio
The Jagermeister label also features the first verse from a fanastic german poem by Oskar von Riesenthal called Weidmannsheil. I love it so much I tried to incorporate it into the painting, but almost ruined the whole thing in the process:
This is the hunter’s honor:
That he protects and cherishes the animals,
That he hunts as he should:
That he honors the Creator in the creation.
Hate reigns over the war bullet,
But love for the animals aims the rifle.
When you eat every day consider if your animals are starving,
That your animals don’t starve.
Guard it before man and animal,
Shorten his mortal fear,
Be tough outside, and lenient inside,
Then your honor may shine.
Thanks to graphic designer Karl Noelle for help with the translation
I was talking with my illustration agent the other day and she asked what I thought was a really weird question. Her client apparently was curious to know if I were capable of illustrating more than one character in a scene. She asked if I had some other work that maybe she hadn’t seen yet.
I was a little flabbergasted by the question… of COURSE I can! What do you mean?
So I took a look back at the past 3 years of illustrating and was pretty disturbed by what I discovered.
Essentially every single illustration I’ve done featuring a “person” (human or otherwise) is only a single character in the scene. Observe:
Old & New Project is an ongoing collaborative biblical art collection that I started with Jim LePage. This week I put together this little animated trailer for the new round of designs launching this Monday, September 24th!
The theme for the round is (obviously) Miracles, and the roster of contributing artists consists of some of our favorite graphic artists & illustrators. One of the coolest aspects of the project is that contributors come from across the faith spectrum—from evangelical to atheist.
Check out the 24 pieces from the first round and follow along on Facebook or Twitter so you won’t miss any of the new stories!
Here’s another piece created for Song in Art show at Seed Studio Gallery in Traverse City.
I had no idea how this one would turn out and honestly, once it was finished I kind of hated it. But then I thought, “well, that’s kind of the point, right?”
I had several people ask about it during the opening reception, to which I replied, “If you don’t get it, you’re too old (or young).”
Actually I responded in a much more PR fashion, but that’s what I was thinking anyway.
Super excited to be a part of a new exhibit at Seed Studio Gallery in Traverse City this summer.
The new show is called Song in Art and is chock-full of artwork in various mediums all inspired by or created around the theme of music. Obviously this is right up my alley and I have about a dozen pieces included in the exhibit—framed limited edition art prints as well as original mixed media pieces (something new and super exciting)
Song in Art will be up through mid-july in Traverse City, so anyone visiting the area please make sure to check it out!
More shows are coming this summer. Please follow on Facebook, Twitter and sign up for my email list so you catch all the news.