GLori Hallelujah!!

Hi All,

It's Thanksgiving week.  Thursday is Thanksgiving Day, one of our favorite holidays where we take a break, gather with family and friends, and give thanks for all the...For Everything.

Recently I was contracted to do a logo that seems to fit the theme.  The name of the company sort of sounds that way anyhow.  The logo is for an on-line shopping site called, GLori hallelujah.  It's really a cool site and a great deal (so check it out www.facebook.com/GLorihallelujah ).

The client's name is Lori.  "G" is what her grandkids call her.  "hallelujah" fits with the gratitude she's in for her family, her life, etc...  So, GLori hallelujah is the name she chose for her company.  I like it, it's catchy and it's personal, but she needed a logo.

Lori liked a script font spelling of the name - but, like the name of her company, it needed a personal touch.  We kicked around some ideas but they still weren't quite working.  Then she sent me her handwritten name and pointed out the unique manner in which she makes the L.  It all fell into place around that handwritten L.

Logo for GLori hallelujah - violet version

As you can tell, the L is a unique style - very personal to my client.  I made the sizes of the script typestyle varied and linked the G and L together, to balance out the logo.  Lori likes it and I feel like it works.  It's representative of my client and her company in a very personal way.

GLori hallelujah Facebook cover photo version

I made a black and white and 6 other versions; basic colors and metallics.  I also put a handful of Facebook cover pics together (like the one above).  Since social media is such a big part of marketing, these will come in handy.

Metallic Silver logo version

Christmas Facebook Cover photo version

Violet Facebook cover photo version

So Glori Hallelujah - have a great Thanksgiving everyone!  Every day is a great day to be grateful, but this coming holiday season, I hope you have the opportunity to take even a small break, and enjoy a little relaxation with some special people.

Be good out there and always take the opportunity to say something nice to another person.  Be good to  each other.

Peace,

Tom

My online art and design sites:

www.behance.net/tk-art
www.facebook.com/pages/Tom-Kreienbrink-Art-and-Design

Barry Sanders - Yes Another Football Pic

An old friend of mine, Greg, has been after me for years -- "Tom, do a picture of Barry Sanders.  He was the greatest running back of all time" -- and so on, and on.  Well, Greg's been a Detroit Lions fan forever, and God knows, they don't usually have a lot to cheer about, so finally I got around to working on it.

All joking aside, I've been wanting to work on this one for a while.  I figured I'd do a combination technique using a pencil illustration and Photoshop to finish it out.  After a little searching around, I found some reference material and decided on the layout.  Next - I got out a big handful of pencils, a pad of bristol board, and got to work.  I like working out a nice pencil rendering using a variety of pencils from the hard 4H pencil all the way to the very soft 4B (and all the others in between).

Pencil Portrait of Barry Sanders - base illustration

I scanned the portrait in to my iMac and worked on adding a little more detail in and darkening some of the tonal values.  I did this in Photoshop using a Wacom tablet.  Using the brush tool in photoshop and the pen stylus and digitizing tablet - it has a similar feel to painting or airbrushing (and it's much more forgiving if you make a mistake).

A great feature in Photoshop is the ability to work on various layers.  It's just like it sounds - like transparent overlays that stack up from bottom to top.  So as I go, I create layers and worked in some color on the uniform and his face.  I keep it kind of soft, allowing the pencil to show thru.  Then I added some additional texture and color on a couple of layers using the powder blue color and some really large irregularly shaped brushes.  Afterward I adjusted the layer opacity, giving it just the right amount of color and texture.  For me, there's quite a bit of adding and subtracting in these processes too - it's a process.

Finishing touches were applied with a nice border; a rugged almost rock like texture which is opposite of the soft translucent colors over the image.  I selected the border area and painted in some light and dark colors.  Next, I started experimenting with various filter effects until I was pleased with the colors and textures.  I finished it with a Layer Style, using the Bevel and Emboss effect.  I selected the Inner Bevel style and Chisel Soft technique, and adjusted the depth, size, and softness until I was happy with it.

Barry Sanders portrait...finished artwork

Finishing touch...a nice white stroke around the image and my signature.  And there you have Barry Sanders - who, in the opinion of my buddy Greg - "is the best running back  in football history."  Glad you aprove Greg.

Have a great week everyone.