Apparel Collection: I dA LA

Thu Nov 29, 2012, 11:18 AM

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Read About the Artistic Process Behind I dA LA

I dA LA

Love for dA's Hometown

Whether embarking on adventures with friends or just out making art in the wild, this design is appropriate for any occasion. It’s all about the love we have for our roots as we travel the world building new communities. The "kernel" of deviantART was sown in Los Angeles, and while we represent all cities worldwide, LA will always be in our hearts. Tighten up your sneakers, and get lost in creativity!

This piece started with my love of this dA sticker:

So good and so simple. Pixel hearts: solid! Inspired by the phrase, I went to my sketchbook to figure out how I would execute this piece in my own style. After filling up page after page with a Chisel Tip and a large Paint Marker, I just wasn't finding what I was visualizing in my mind.

It got messy for sure, but that’s cool because perfection often wears the mask of chaos. In the tumult of ink and page killers, I decided to change tools. The big, chunky marks I was making were not fine enough and not sophisticated enough, either.

After looking through my arsenal of supplies, my dip pens stood out to me as the best tool to push ink and make an assertive line, while being precise at the same time. It’s traditionally a calligrapher's tool, but of course it can be used for some mixed media. The Wacom tablet would also come in handy to deliver the final touch.

The marks came from my hand on the first try, and I was stoked to have found the right tool.

The square logo of dA was not a perfect fit, so the final note was a crown added digitally with nice sharp marks.

For this piece of local love, I chose a serious color scheme… and another version that is bursting with color!