Sunday, March 21, 2010

General Electric Goes Green




Here's another piece from my archives. You won't remember this one because it was never published. In 2005 BBDO New York and I worked together a number of times. You would likely remember the General Electric Audubon ads we did together. We took old James Audubon bird prints and altered them to include GE's new green products in the birds' environments. I've said it many times, these three ads are a definite high point in my career. I loved that campaign. There was another ad they were working on for the General Electric Green product campaign around the same time. The idea was to use a Phrenology head and have one of the areas filled with green grass. I knew when they asked me to do the painting that they had also asked a photographer to do the same idea because they hadn't decided on which direction they wanted to go. It was a rush job, painted over a weekend. The art was shipped off but before it even made it to New York, they had decided to use a photograph. My artwork was returned un-opened. My work is usually sent electronically now. Maybe if it was back then my art would've been used. Who knows? BBDO came back a month or so later and asked about having me paint a series of ads for Guinness Beer but they changed their minds and went with photography again, this time before we got started.

BBDO's work is as good as it gets and I'm proud to work with them every time.

Thursday, March 18, 2010

Goodbye Alex Chilton


Alex Chilton died yesterday, March 17, 2010. You should listen to one of these records today.

Monday, March 15, 2010

Props To Propaganda



I was going through some old files and found the original artwork for a set of advertisements I worked on for Workopolis. In 2005 I was hired by Due North Communications in Toronto to create these WWII propaganda style recruitment ads. It was a very nice idea and Carson Ting, the art director, did a great job putting them together. There was a second one featuring a marine but I'm going to save him for another day.

Tuesday, March 2, 2010

Encore à la Maison

What was originally intended to be a contribution to four issues has now been extended. The Spring issue of Maisonneuve Magazine is in the works and will feature the teaming up of me, writer Dave Bidini and art directing genius Anna Minzhulina for the fifth time. I think everyone has outdone themselves this round and I'm especially proud of this painting. I wish I could post it now but I won't spoil the surprise. This is just a sliver of an early rough.

Fingers crossed that there's a round six!