john coulter's blog

Caribbean Map

2011-10-06T13:51:00.001-07:00

Click image to make larger.

I just finished a map of the Caribbean for the book called Hot Sauce! A Spicy Food Lover's Guide to Making and Using Fiery Condiments.

Below is my original sketch:

Pollo con Wasakaka

2011-07-15T15:32:00.000-07:00

When I lived in the Dominican Republic, we'd go to a great barbecue (from the Taino word barbacoa—the Tainos were the orginal inhabitants of the island where the DR is) chicken place. Wasakaka is a citrus based sauce. Here is a link to the recipe.

Rhode Island Monthly

2011-05-11T08:35:00.000-07:00

Illostribute: David Klein

2011-04-20T11:15:00.000-07:00

Click to embiggen

This was my inspiration.

Las Vegas Sun: No Love for Las Vegas

2011-03-31T11:02:00.000-07:00

Las Vegas Sun: Bribing Judges

2011-03-24T11:36:00.000-07:00

Las Vegas Sun: Pulling for Nevada Jobs

2011-03-23T15:40:00.000-07:00

AARP Magazine

2011-03-16T09:52:00.000-07:00

Las Vegas Sun: Las Vegas Mayors

2011-03-15T14:47:00.000-07:00

The Flashlight turns 30 Juried Anniversary Exhibition

2011-02-22T14:08:00.000-08:00

Recently UNLV had an exhibition celebrating the 30th anniversary of the installation of the Flashlight, by Claes Oldenburg and Coojse Van Bruggen.

The theme was: "Respond to Flashlight with an original work of art. We are looking for your response be it an interpretation, adaptation, modification, alteration, incorporation, deviation, transformation…"
I did 3 entries. A diptych oil painting, a wire sculpture (inspired by Alexander Calder) and a collage/painting (using the escort cards found on the Las Vegas Strip).

I won 2nd place for the wire sculpture, her are judge's comment:
This person took time to craft an object which looks like a 3-d drawing of the flashlight where the negative spaces have as much to say as the positive ones. I am hopeful that this sculpture looks as good in person.

Below are photos of the actual monumental sculpture, and my artworks.

Get Your Paint On

2011-02-07T11:37:00.000-08:00

Some of my fellow "Lillastrators" are doing a painting class, called "Get your Paint on"

The first assignment was to do a painting inspired by the Ghee's Bend quilts. This is mine.

And the different views:

illostribute

2010-12-09T10:16:00.000-08:00

illostribute.com is collaborative illustration blog ,created by Toby Neighbors, in which contemporary illustrators pay tribute to “master” illustrators of yore. This round it was Earl Oliver Hurst.

I based my work on these Hurst works:

Seattle Met: Agents of Chaos

2010-11-10T13:38:00.000-08:00

The top house is the boat house from Sleepless in Seattle.

Wine Spectator: Consumers Opinions Uncorked

2010-10-29T12:44:00.000-07:00

I did an illustration for the Oct 15 issue of Wine Spectator for a readers' poll on best wine values.
Note in the sketch I have the hand holding the bowl of the glass. I learned that you should only hold the glass by the stem. So I changed it in the final.

Iron Orchard CD Design

2010-10-20T20:29:00.000-07:00

CD design for my friend Bill Harroun's band, Iron Orchard. Apparently the name Iron Orchard refers to ancient rusting machinery out in the field.

Illustration Friday: Spooky

2010-10-15T08:37:00.001-07:00

Gap logo Re-design

2010-10-12T10:46:00.000-07:00

Scott Hansen at the iso50 blog had a Gap logo redesign contest

I kept seeing mention that people liked the "old" logo better. But I never heard anyone mention the original logo.

I dug up a photo and copied it.

Seattle Met: Shorter Short Sales

2010-09-24T16:28:00.000-07:00

Appuie sur le Champignon

2010-09-08T16:31:00.000-07:00

I was inspired to create a poster based on a phrase my French friend David told me: “Appuies sur le champignon.” It literally means “Step on the mushroom” but translates to “Put the pedal to the metal.” I thought this would look good in a kid’s bedroom, to help them get out of bed in the morning.

Little Chimp Society: Editor's Choice

2010-08-31T09:41:00.000-07:00

Thanks to Little Chimp Society for choosing my rooster illustration an Editor's Choice.

Seattle Met: Free Rage Chickens

2010-08-30T12:00:00.001-07:00

Iron Orchard: Band logos

2010-08-12T11:22:00.000-07:00

I'm designing a logo for my friend Bill's country band, Iron Orchard. Apparently, an "Iron Orchard" is jargon for rusty machinery, often seen scattered around midwestern farms.

A few T-shirt mockups.

Las Vegas Sun: Beer Slot Machine

2010-07-08T11:55:00.000-07:00

For an article in the Las Vegas Sun, about advertising beer on slot machines that aren't being used. I can't believe it took them this long to figure this out. Original thumbnail sketch below.

Las Vegas Weekly: Gene Shopping

2010-07-02T08:51:00.000-07:00

This was for the Las Vegas Weekly for an article about finding about ancestry through DNA testing.

Below is the final layout and some sketches.

Public School

2010-06-28T14:10:00.000-07:00

Thanks to Jay from Public School for featuring me on their blog

Seattle Met: Too Legit to Permit

2010-06-18T10:36:00.000-07:00

This is one for Seattle Met magazine, about people renting out guest houses and sheds without permits.

Poolga

2010-06-14T09:33:00.000-07:00

Poolga is a cool site that has artwork and wallpapers for iPhone, iPad and other mobile devices created by selected illustrators and designers. Click here to download

Share Some Candy

2010-05-11T20:28:00.000-07:00

I was featured on Share Some Candy, one of my favorite blogs. Thanks Reuben!

Las Vegas Sun: Out of Towners

2010-05-05T15:07:00.000-07:00

For an article about people working out of state.

Las Vegas Sun: No Card Required

2010-05-05T15:06:00.000-07:00

Aqua Velvet

2010-04-26T08:40:00.000-07:00

I was featured in one of my favorite blogs today—Aqua Velvet. Thanks Amy!

Bonus: Vintage Aqua Velva packaging:via neato coolville

Las Vegas Sun: Nevada Budget Cuts

2010-04-23T10:59:00.000-07:00

An illustration for the Las Vegas Sun, about balancing the budget. Layout and sketch below:

LCS: Editor's Choice

2010-04-15T07:32:00.000-07:00

I was an Editor's Choice on LCS. Somehow having it on April 15/Tax Day makes it even better.

Seattle Met: Rentals

2010-04-12T13:34:00.000-07:00

This was for an article in Seattle Met Magazine, about house builders renting houses, until the housing market recovers. Art Director: Ben Purvis Below, the final layout and sketch.

Las Vegas Sun Illustration

2010-03-25T09:43:00.000-07:00

This made it on the Newseum's Top Ten.

Here is the final layout with the headline incorporated. Thanks to Rachel Perkins and Spencer Holladay at the Las Vegas Sun:

Click below for a close-up of the texture:

A couple of the rough sketches:

Seattle Met: Condos

2010-01-27T11:22:00.000-08:00

The Daily Beard

2009-12-21T08:40:00.001-08:00

I was featured on a site called "Daily Beard."
I can't seem to find who is behind the site, but there are lots of other cool illustrators on it.
I just put it on my Google Reader.

Little Chimp Society Newsletter

2009-12-21T08:37:00.001-08:00

Thanks to Darren et al for featuring me in the Little Chimp Society newsletter.

Must Be Santa

2009-12-17T09:49:00.000-08:00

I was experimenting a little with offset color techniques here. And making it look like an old film still too. I showed this to my 8 year old daughter, and she asked me if the bottom part was "sand or snow?" So maybe that old paper color is too much....

LA Times: Children's books 2009

2009-12-13T18:38:00.000-08:00

I did this for an article called Children's books 2009: It's all good! says Jon Scieszka

Seattle Met: The Final Straw

2009-12-08T10:47:00.000-08:00

This was for an article for Seattle Met magazine. The art director, Ben Purvis, (who I used to work with at the Greenspun Media Group) does amazing work. See his site here and blog here.

Click the image below to see a closeup of the textures:

Holiday Cards for the Greater Minneapolis Crisis Nursery

2009-12-01T18:43:00.000-08:00

I did 2 pro bono card designs for the Greater Minneapolis Crisis Nursery in association with an ad agency in Minneapolis called Periscope. Click here to buy them. Here are my sketches. The mistletoe was removed by the client. I'm not sure why .

Online Target Gift Card: Snowboarding Polar Bear

2009-11-25T14:03:00.000-08:00

I just noticed you can order my Target gift card online here. It shows it as the whole card and not die-cut.

My someecard

2009-11-20T15:42:00.000-08:00

I have been saying this for years, when someone asks what to get me for my birthday and Christmas. Someecards.com has a "create your own" option. So I made one. Click the card to send this or create your own.

Welcome Jenn Skiiers

2009-11-03T08:29:00.001-08:00

Jenn Ski, one of my fellow Lillastrators, asked me to do an interview for her blog.

Thanks Jenn for the opportunity!
Click here to read the interview.

Target Gift Card: Snowboarding Polar Bear

2009-11-03T08:09:00.000-08:00

My Target Gift Card is finally in the stores. About 2 years ago, I did a fake Target Gift card for Spring. And I sent it to Target. It must have got their attention because they asked me to do some winter holiday ideas. Below are the preliminary sketches, the full version with background (before they decided to make it a die-cut), a shot of it in the stores and an alternate color version.

Click images for larger versions:

Illustration Friday: Fast

2009-10-29T09:14:00.000-07:00

Cheetah is the fastest land animal and the pronghorn antelope is the 2nd fastest.
I usually use Adobe Illustrator to do the basic shapes, but for this one, I decided to just use brushes direct in Photoshop.

This was inspired by the 1980s era Safari Cards. I used to get samples of these cards in the mail when I was a kid.

Here is my sketch:

Yummy Fresh Grain Feed

2009-10-14T09:43:00.000-07:00

Wow! This is a good week for me. A friend just told me he saw my Wild Things illustration on grain edit. grain edit is one of my favorite blogs. So its a great honor to be featured along some of my favorite illustrators like Alberto Cerriteño and Meg Hunt

Share Some Candy

2009-10-13T10:24:00.001-07:00

I posted a few illustrations on Share Some Candy's flickr and they posted my Magnify illustration. Its a cool site. One of my favorites in my Google Reader.

(by the way if you haven't tried Google Reader, you must, it will change the way you look at the internet. )

Terrible Yellow Eyes

2009-10-02T20:52:00.000-07:00

I did a submission for Terrible Yellow Eyes. I based it on a vintage poster by Hervé Moran.

Featured Artist: Illustration Works

2009-09-15T10:22:00.001-07:00

A bunch of my "old style" illustrations are up on Illustration Works (which also partners with Getty Images and Corbis). And I'm the featured artist for September. The first image is from a promotional email. It kind of makes it look like I specialize in smoking imagery.
Click here if you want to see some mid 90s era Coulter.

Illustration Friday: Magnify version 2

2009-09-02T21:22:00.000-07:00

Some people were having trouble making out the insect burning. So I revised it.

Illustration Friday: Magnify

2009-09-01T21:50:00.000-07:00

Its been a looooooong time since I've done Illustration Friday, but I wanted to try out this offset CMYK method.
(where it looks like the plates are out of whack). This is sort of a self-portrait. I hope you all like it. 2360

Little Chimp Society Newsletter

2009-08-25T08:40:00.000-07:00

Little Chimp Society is a cool illustration news portal. My Green Hotels illustration was just featured in their email newsletter. Thanks Darren!

Lola Mag

2009-08-23T11:38:00.000-07:00

I just received the Lola magazine with my illustration. I like how how the art director,
Annie Rosen, incorporated the love molecules in the headline.

Also, here is the original sketch.

Gracias a Illustration Mundo

2009-08-21T08:21:00.000-07:00

Welcome to visitors from illustrationmudo. I was thrilled to be blogged by the illustrious Nate Williams on illustrationmundo today.

Frederik Jurk

2009-08-19T21:45:00.000-07:00

I'm a big fan of illustrator Frederik Jurk. So I was elated when he left a comment on my work on flickr:

You have really mastered this warm, brittle nostalgic style.

I love that description of my "new style."

Perfect Chemistry

2009-08-18T09:05:00.000-07:00

Lola magazine. For an article about the link between brain chemistry and love.

New Style #12: Green Hotels

2009-08-03T20:43:00.001-07:00

I see this is my 100th post.

New Style #11: Nest Egg

2009-07-14T10:00:00.000-07:00

New Style #10: Drink To Your Health

2009-07-13T15:46:00.000-07:00

Finally got to double digits on the new style. Here is something I've been working on, for an article that I saw in Sunset Magazine called:
"Drink to your health; Stop in for a tea tasting at the new breed of bar opening up across the West."

I reduced the size of the head at the behest of my rep. I still kind of like the larger head. Tell me which one you like better in the comments.

A little background on the caduceus (that intertwined snake/medical symbol) with tea leaves (instead of feathers). I based it on Haitian voodoo symbols, called "veve's"

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New Style #9: Le Diable Vert

2009-07-12T11:43:00.000-07:00

I saw a blog "covered" where illustrators "cover" a comic book cover in their own style.
I was inspired to do my own cover of a vintage 1906 poster by Leonetto Cappiello, for a wine called Maurin Quina.

I changed it to an absinthe, and with the help of my French friend, David, he helped me come up with:
Le Diable Vert, (The Green Devil).
"Laissez sortir votre diable" means "Let your devil come out"

Apparently there really is an absinthe called "Le Diable Vert" I need to try it.

New Style #8: Morning Glory Botanical

2009-07-11T10:32:00.000-07:00

My second attempt at a botanical.
I guess since poppies and morning glories are both considered a "medicinal" plant, I now have a theme.
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News: Target Gift Card for Winter Holiday 2009

2009-05-15T16:34:00.001-07:00

Over a year ago I did a fake Target Gift Card.

Then back in October 2008, I got a request for sketches for Christmas gift card ideas. 2 of those ideas were chosen to go to final. Today I got word, that one of the cards was chosen to be produced for Winter Holiday 2009. Once its produced, I'll put up an image.

The art director at Target was amazingly great and easy to work with.

New Style #7: Poppy Botanical

2009-04-14T11:22:00.000-07:00

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click for closeup of the textures

New Style #6: Om in the Office/Office Yoga

2009-03-24T14:19:00.001-07:00

Design*Sponge Reject

2009-03-23T11:33:00.000-07:00

I was invited to do a design*sponge sneak peak, but was rejected. Here are more of my scouting shots on flickr. If you have been rejected from a design*sponge sneak peak, send me an email, at johncoulter at gmail dot com and I'll post your photos here.

I want to be clear: I love Design Sponge. I just want a home to display my photos. And I can't be the only one that doesn't get on, right?

New Style 5: Iranian Text Messaging

2009-03-20T14:09:00.001-07:00

New Style 4: Darfur

2009-03-19T15:38:00.001-07:00

This was inspired by an article in the New York Times called "Watching Darfuris Die"
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New Style 3: Computer Hacker

2009-03-11T21:52:00.001-07:00

Sin City Sinners

2009-03-11T09:28:00.000-07:00

There is a band that plays around Vegas a lot, called the Sin City Sinners. One of the guitarists, Brent Muscat, was in Faster Pussycat. They often have a guest musician sit in with them. Its kind like the Rat Pack (RATT pack?) used to do with guest musicians. So far, I've sen them play with East Bay Ray (Dead Kennedys), Slim Jim Phantom (The Stray Cats) and Phil Lewis (L.A. Guns). This weekend its going to be Annabella Lwin of Bow Wow Wow.

They already have a pretty good logo. But I thought they might need something a little more Mëtal. So I made one with a devil skull wearing Elvis sunglasses.

New style 2: Predicting the Stock Market

2009-03-09T16:54:00.000-07:00

This is my second effort at the "new style" I don't have a name for this style yet. If you have any ideas, leave them in the comments.

Here is the sketch too. I took out the pupil/iris, I thought it looks more serious without the pupil/iris.
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2009-03-02T14:34:00.000-08:00

A poster I made for a friends class at University of Northern Iowa.
I was going for a John Heartfield look.

Adam Carolla Podcast Logo

2009-02-24T15:17:00.001-08:00

Adam Carolla started a new podcast. Click here to get it on itunes.

Bank Bailout

2009-02-17T09:23:00.001-08:00

I'm developing a new style for editorial-type illustration. Click image for larger image and you can see the textures better.

David Kunau Gessien Diver

2009-02-12T21:14:00.001-08:00

A friend of mine who lives in France asked me to make him a personalized divebook stamp.
This is what I came up with.

From the Archives: French Fruit

2009-02-12T13:43:00.000-08:00

From the Archives: UNICEF Halloween Card

2009-02-12T11:34:00.000-08:00

I was digging in the root cellar and found this Halloween card design I did for UNICEF. The date on the file says 2002. As usual, I think the sketch looks better than the final.

Kringle's Tree Farm

2008-12-19T16:32:00.001-08:00

I developed this from a left-over sketch from a previous job.
Below is the sketch and a close up so you can see the texture. Click it to see it up close.

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Some Eco illustrations

2008-12-09T22:46:00.000-08:00

My illustration rep, Lilla Rogers, gave us Lillastrators an assignment to produce some eco/green pieces. She included a story about Obama fixing the environment. So I illustrated that story, and did a more general one for global warming too.
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Jet Lag Illustration

2008-12-04T14:47:00.000-08:00

I did this for a magazine called Endless Vacation
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Vote Early Poster

2008-10-24T22:20:00.000-07:00

I was asked my my illustration rep, Lilla Rogers, to do a "Vote Early" poster.
Here is my submission. 21902

Hallmark Card Finalist

2008-09-22T21:08:00.000-07:00

Link

Holiday Penguin

2008-08-28T16:17:00.001-07:00

Click below to see the detail:

Here is a sketch

Santa

2008-08-14T12:46:00.001-07:00

Click to see the close up of the texture:

The original sketch

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Shirt.woot Analytics

2008-08-13T16:17:00.001-07:00

Shirt.woot.com Editor's Choice

2008-08-12T11:39:00.000-07:00

I did a design for shirt.woot.com's derby theme: Motion awhile back. I didn't win, but I got an honorable mention. Then they had another derby with the honorable mentions from various themes, and I still didn't win. But apparently the editors at woot liked it enough to produce it.

The shirts are $10 the first day, and $15 the next. So get yours now! Click here

Some of my favorite comments from the forum on this shirt:

The 'cuteness' factor in most of these shirts is overwhelming, sugary, sticky.
Do you guys actually WEAR precious pink baby turtles???
How about some tees with testosterone? Grow a pair!

this style of illustration or maybe its the colors, something makes me quite uncomfortable

The best one:

Someone at Woot must have REALLY liked this shirt, considering it didn't even get 100 votes in its original derby and the double-take derby COMBINED...

Texting Pattern

2008-08-04T09:12:00.001-07:00

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Cute Snowman

2008-07-31T13:35:00.000-07:00

Click on pic below for close up on the texture 19331

DR Map: Final

2008-07-23T15:38:00.000-07:00

I think this is the final. At least til I decide to revise it.
I was thinking how it could be in a magazine article about going from Santo Domingo to Santiago to Monte Cristi. So thats why those names are in red. 18994

DR map in process: pt 2

2008-07-22T16:40:00.000-07:00

Still in the exploratory phase. But I'm liking the direction its going.
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DR map in process

2008-07-18T08:31:00.000-07:00

I'm working on a map of the Dominican Republic to try my hand at some map illustration.*
I lived in the Dominican Republic for a over 2 years 1993-1995 in the Peace Corps.

I'm trying out a few different things. I especially want to do some hand lettering. I got some new brush pens from jetpens.com

Also, I'm trying to incorporate some fake halftoning too.

I'm still working on some new lettering. Then I need to do some small illustrations for the various cities and regions.

*I used to work at a company called ESRI, that makes GIS software. I was a graphic designer there. But when my friends from high school asked me dad what kind of work I was doing, he said "John is making maps." So its been a running joke for over 10 years, where they ask me if I still am making maps.
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Shirt.woot.com Theme: Slogans

2008-06-23T07:40:00.001-07:00

Here are a few designs from the Slogans week. Coffee is for Closers was rejected because there was a similar shirt out there. But not with the cool Dunkin Donuts font.

Shirt.woot.com Derby Summer Entry

2008-05-23T10:20:00.000-07:00

If you have a woot login, vote for it here: http://shirt.woot.com/Derby/Entry.aspx?id=16376

Update: I ended up with 186 votes, 20th place. And I got me 3rd Honorable Mention from Woot: http://shirt.woot.com/Blog/ViewEntry.aspx?Id=4947
"Melt With You by redcoulter
Puts the "i" in "funniy"."
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Shirt.woot.com Derby Motherhood Entry

2008-04-28T08:54:00.000-07:00

My second attempt for the Shirt.woot.com/derby Theme: Motherhood.

I know robots are big on Woot, and me and a friend were joking around about having a cat feeding a robot, and the image kind of stuck in my head.

Vote here if you have a woot account. or leave a comment on there:
http://shirt.woot.com/Derby/Entry.aspx?id=13946

Update:
I got Honorable Mention again.
quote: Meowbot 3000 by redcoulter
Who needs artificial intelligence when you've got artificial cuteness?
I ended up with 115 votes, 30th place.

I got a mention on Bestlosers.com as well:
quote: ..And Mine
There's too many already but have to at least mention RedCoulter's cute/weird "MeowBot 3000"

Woot Shirt Derby: Turtle Rage

2008-04-20T10:13:00.000-07:00

Here is my first submission for the woot shirt derby theme: Motion
Vote for it here if you have every used woot.

So in the final I got 51 votes, 90th place. Which was pretty disheartening considering the crap that got more votes. But I ended up being in the Woot editors first every honorable mention category. Basically stuff they thought was good that lost.
http://shirt.woot.com/Blog/BlogEntry.aspx?BlogEntryId=4597
Turtle Rage by redcoulter
Atomic Age awesomeness, from somebody who likes all the right children's books.

Urban Chicken

2008-02-24T22:05:00.000-08:00

This was for an article in Denver's 5280 magazine, about raising chickens in the city.
Below is the illustration in the layout. 14747

From the Illustration Vault: Out Magazine

2008-01-27T21:04:00.001-08:00

I found this in my archives. It was one of a few illustrations I did for Out Magazine (not that there's anything wrong with that...).

This was for a story about an old guy who was in the closet at his nursing home, and his younger boyfriend comes to visit, and the old guy is afraid that he'll be outed.

Target Gift Card Idea for Spring

2008-01-16T15:01:00.001-08:00

A couple ideas for a Target Gift Card for Spring.

Harvard Business Review

2007-11-29T10:20:00.000-08:00

For an article in Harvard Business Review,
that says people who were angry made better stock selling decisions.

For an article in Harvard Business Review,
about how many Chinese business people still use Mao's advice when considering business decisions.

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