Illustration Friday-Tango

This illustration was for a regional lifestyle magazine for an article about an after hours secret ballroom dancing club. The art director said she wanted it more sexy than the first sketch I showed so I steamed it up with half-closed shades and a style taken from old pulp fiction romance novels. Thanks to AD Tiffany Barton for this exciting addition to my portfolio.

T-shirt store open for business

I have a few items available for purchase on my brand new markAmontgomeryZazzle site! This site is so fly because you can customize the shirt/trucker hat style, color and size to fit your beautiful body. What a great service! I will update you when I add designs – I have a couple awesome ones in the works. Thanks for visiting, friend!

Norman Rockwell inspiration

One of my favorite stories my dad read to me growing up was Mark Twain's The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. Living in Missouri and visiting the family farm in the northern parts made an instant connection for me. But what stands out in my head when I think about Twain's masterpiece are the illustrations showcasing key scenes in the story. I later found out that the art was done by Norman Rockwell and I've been hooked (along with the rest of the country) ever since. I enjoy Rockwell for his humor and storytelling. The viewer can put together a whole story from a single image without needing a caption. What makes these so memorable is the background work and composition Rockwell did before the finished piece. To really appreciate the details and composition, check out several posts I ran across on Today's Inspiration. My work couldn't be picked apart so cleanly I'm sure. Much Illustration today is pretty simple, quick and to the point. Probably not stuff you would want on your wall, but back in the 40's, they took a lot of pride in their painterly efforts. I'll bet the computer had something to do with the change.

Trends in logo design so far this year

Came across the Web site, Logo Lounge over the holiday weekend that shares results of a constant study of logo trends. They list and show examples of types of logos going back to 2003. To me, this can either serve as great inspiration or show me what to stay away from when creating an identity for some company. It's nice to see what others are doing, but you also want to make an original mark for the client– so staying away from "trends" will hopefully make a lasting identity that won't have to be updated every five years. Really interesting to see the breakdown of the logos they have collected. Nice logos too! I think my Brownfields logo from last year fits in with the recycle logo trend. Who knew?

History of the praying hands

One of the classic images from my childhood and in the world of art is the praying hands. I never really thought about why we fold our hands when we pray (especially in public or in the presence of children). It is just something passed down as tradition I guess. I figured bowing our heads was to show reverence like you would in front of any king, and I suppose closing our eyes is just to help the one praying to stay focused on the one they are praying to. The praying hands actually has a lot of symbolism that I found most interesting on Steven Heller's blog for Print Magazine.

Here is the quote that I found interesting:
"One symbol that we all know, yet doubtless rarely think about because it is so invisibly common, is the ubiquitous gesture of prayer. Where did the joining of hands come from? It might surprise you to learn that it does not have a religious origin. It is not signified in the Bible. And it was not even part of the Christian tradition until the 9th century. In Hebrew and Christian custom, spreading of arms and hands toward the heavens was the prevailing sign of devotion. In The People’s Almanac, David Wallechinsky and Irving Wallace wrote that the joining of hands “leads back to men’s early desire to subjugate each other and developed out of the shackling of hands of prisoners! Though the handcuffs eventually disappeared, the joining of hands remained as a symbol of man’s servitude and submission and his inability (or even lack of inclination) to grasp a weapon.” They added that Christianity adopted “the gesture representing shackled hands as a sign of man’s total obedience to divine power."