How it went down: A phone call was made to the boys over at Public Works Department from the PR Agency who handles the Sprite account. They were interested in creating a project similar to the Art Of Basket Ball projects we’ve done in the past, to promote the Sprite brand. A call was then made to me. Awesome. I’m on board along with Joe Iurato, Billi Kid, Cope 2 and Chris Stain.

The job: To create a illustration that represented music and Sprite. Back and fourth. Tight dead lines. Revisions upon revisions. Holidays. Thanksgiving trip to North Carolina cut short. Nine to five job at Siempre Mujer. Insane. Producing a cover shoot, fashion feature, beauty feature, and various other portraits. Frustration? To say the least. Who cares. Get the job done. An actual personal visit from the art director of the project to my studio in Brooklyn. WTF, this was like no job I had ever worked on before. Excitement, beyond compare. The process. Take a look below. It went a little something like this…

CONCEPT 1 SKETCH

CONCEPT 1 SKETCH COLOR

Feed back: To country. Characters and landscape should be more Urban.

My Response: Ok, no problem.

My Thoughts: DAMN! Makes sense though.

CONCPET 2 SKETCH

CONCEPT 2 COLOR SKETCH 1

CONCEPT 2 COLOR SKETCH 2

When I did this revision, my brain was absolutely fried. I believe I farted it out the morning it was due. Horrible. I hated the drawing, but the basic idea was there.

Feed back: A little stiff. Please vary the skin tones. The main character should look younger and hip. Need to represent Sprite colors more. Liquid coming out of the Sprite bottle should be more explosive.

My Response: Agreed! New sketch coming up asap.

My Thoughts: I rushed that sketch. I wish I didn’t send it. Be cool though. You’ll nail it next round. (I hope.)

CONCEPT 3 SKETCH

CONCEPT 3 COLOR SKETCH

Feed back: PAINT THIS NOW!

My Response: GREAT!

My Thoughts: Not much time to do this painting. What did I get my self into? I should’ve made a simpler more iconic composition. Obviously, you like doing things the hard way Dave. Shut up and get it done. (Laughing to my self.)

The process:

Surface. 48 x 36 piece of wood panel. Amount of time to paint? About four or five days. Stress level. Calm but concerned.

Done deal.

The campaign, “Under The Cap“,  features Lebron James from the Miami Heat. The images that we all created are available as down loadable wall papers, iphone skins, t-shirts etc. In order to have a chance to win one of the prizes you must buy a specially marked bottle of Sprite and text the bottle cap code to a supplied number that you’ll find on the bottle.

BOOM! Pure excitement!

Thanks for looking.

Enjoy,

D.

Growing up I always loved Chuck Jones cartoons. I still turn to them for inspiration today..

Somewhere down the line, animation lost it’s heart in my opinion. It’s always nice to go back and check out the classics.

D.

I decided to take a break from drawing page 3 of “Big Empty: Come Hell Or High Water” to draw up this little Merry Christmas and Happy New Year greeting from Big Empty and Bayard. (Two of the main characters from my story.)

Enjoy!

From the depths of Brooklyn,
D.

I was looking through the photo’s on my  Iphone recently and I came across this one.  It’s a behind the scenes shot of Danna Garcia getting ready for a cover shoot for Siempre Mujer Magazine last year. She was down to earth and relaxed. Great shoot, great conversation.

The only way to let people know, is to let them know right? Right. Well, here I am getting ready for my first real mailing campaign in a few years. This really needs to be done on a regular basis, but I’ve seriously fallen off that agenda. I’m trying hard to get back on track. Me thinks an intern is in need to help out with such demands. Any takers???

Enjoy the ride,

D.

On a flight back from Puerto Rico today I started thinking about my everyday commute on the 6 train from 51st street. This is seriously one of THE most annoying commutes I’ve ever been subjected to since working in Manhattan. Anyway, I got the urge to draw. This is what I came up with.

Enjoy,

From the lost parts of Brooklyn,

D.

Much thanks to Guerilla Galleries for catching this little moment at the GGG/Art Of Basket Ball Show last Saturday in Miami. This woman is filled with such a inspiring energy. Much respect Shiro.

D.
Dec 6, 2011
Somewhere in Puerto Rico.