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Illustration
Illustration is traditionally crafted either to stand alone as an expression of an idea, or to provide a visual representation of something described in text. Depending on the client's preference, Optimistic Realism draftsmen may depict forms abstractly, such as highly stylized portraits, or realistically to the point of lifelike resemblance. Whether you are seeking an artist for your imaginative family picture or an illustrator for your original children's story, look to O.R. for exceptional, creative, hand-drawn images. Illustration services include: stylized sketches, tattoo art, editorial cartoons, pencil, pen & ink, portraits, realistic, abstract, and caricatures.
01 Portrait: This unique, mixed media family portrait depicts a family of exceptional people in an extraordinary fashion with sketched figures cut and pasted against a colorful backing of hand-drawn swirls of wax. View the portrait.
02 Finished Illustration: Illustrations exist in all degrees of detail, and the Optimistic Realism pencil portfolio includes examples as exquisitely minimal as Chinese calligraphy and those as precisely carved as Ukrainian eggs. Each O.R. drawing is full of meaning and rich character. This collection of illustrations features those that are drawn in a representational fashion as opposed to the more stylized form. View the illustrations.
03 Comic Strip: Montana Fresh and Local is an organic produce distributor. The comic strip, An Eggplant Named Sue, began as a creative marketing endeavor, designed to gain the attention of grocery store produce managers and chefs, and to create awareness about the society's growing demand for fresh, local, and organic produce. In the cartoon, two temperamental eggplants in a plotless existence pose statements and questions that are answered with bizarre twists. View the comic strip.
04 Tattoo Art: This multi-faceted music theme showcases a range of music settings from guitar by the campfire to hand drums by the seaside, and the design now lives along the waistline of an immensely creative man who made famous the belt tattoo. View the tattoo.
05 Editorial Cartoon: Following the 1997 Superbowl, Optimistic Realist, Cabe Lindsay, likened the underdog, Denver Broncos, with the Bible's David, who defeated Goliath: the Green Bay Packers. That year, the Wyoming Activities Association awarded this image first place in the Editorial Art category. View the illustration.
06 Tattoo Art: To the woman who requested this tattoo, the raspberry leaf represents change and the joyful tears that coincide with self-betterment. This design works with the idea of "turning over a new leaf," and presents it in a fresh, minimalist, abstract way, subject to multiple interpretations. View the tattoo.
07 Pencil Sketch: An ordinary word becomes extraordinary when presented in an evocative context. This Optimistic Realism drawing, with the name "Shelly" written in the guitar cable, suggests that the guitarist has something more than music making on his mind. View the sketch.
08 Pencil Sketch: Because of the ethereal quality of ballet and other dramatic art forms, artists explore the essence of a dance with the natural tendency to portray it in an impressionistic style, e.g. Degas, as revealed in this sketch by O.R. artist, Cabe Lindsay. View the sketch.
09 Pen & Ink: Pen and ink drawing allows fine detailing and harmonizes with text, because it is essentially black ink on white paper. For these reasons, pen and ink illustration is widely used in text books, newspapers, and other printed media. Optimistic Realism cartoonist, Cabe Lindsay, has penned comics ranging from single-frame cells to story-length comic strips. View the illustrations.
10 T-shirt Design: T4U is an apparel company specializing in avant-garde, ultramodern T-shirts. This design appeals to the T4U client base who embraces the lotus flower as a symbol for liberation, representing purity of mind blossoming above the muddy waters of desire and attachment. This idea is poeticized commonly with the words: "From the mud the lotus blooms." View the illustration.
11 Editorial Cartoon: In the heat of the Lewinsky scandal surrounding President Bill Clinton, in 1998, O.R. artist, Cabe Lindsay, delivered an editorial comic that parodied the political drama of the day. Playing off the oral sex fixation, the psychic, with her crystal ball, tells Clinton, "I see a blown job in your future." View the illustration.
12 Tattoo Art: The man who requested this tattoo asked for a cowboy on a horse, to be tattooed on the side his lower back. After receiving this design, the recipient said that he had envisioned the more common rustler image: an outlaw with six-shooters in hand, but embraced instead this outlaw with a six-string guitar in hand. View the tattoo.
