Over the past year or so, I have really been wanting to take Mr Lee's blog to another level. And during my trip back in May to the Massive Voodoo HQ where I did some private lessons. And it was over some Turkish meat and veg that the discussion of trying to find the best possible logo for Mr Lee came about.
What is cool about sitting with such creative people, is that the idea generation goes into overdrive with them! First suggestion was to find an animal or something that can become the mascot. Something akin to the Apes and Monkeys are associated to Massive Voodoo.
Well I can say that the ideas for what animal it could be went quite wild. And I have to say that German painters know little about Canada and their wildlife it seems :D I think Moose and Bears were the only things that really came up that made sense ( and the others I have blocked out with copious amounts of German Beer! ).
But when I mentioned about the fact that the Beaver is the national animal.. well now the talks become a bit more focus.. not more serious.. just more focused. Let's make that point very clear very fast! :)
What was cool was that Raffa right out of the gate began to look at a potential logo idea that has a lot of backstory between us as well. A German Suplex Beaver, one for each of us actually.
I have even made a few shirts with it, and have attached it to stickers already! Some people already have them on their lamps and boxes ( some even by their own choice! ). And expect to see more in the future.
The only issue with it, is that is more of a one trick pony ( or beaver i guess ) with regards to how I can make it move forward.
So I played around with Photoshop to create a different view based off of the pattern Raffa made.
As you can see, my skills with Photoshop rival even Raffa's. Heck, if I didn't already mention this was mine, you would think they were done by the same person!
But on a lark, I showed it to Roman who kind of ran away with it for a bit.
Upon coming back, he showed me this..
His pencil version sketch of the Beaver painter as he saw it. Obviously mine is superior, but I didn't want to deflate his ego.. so I suggested a few changes to it.
What happened next I was not expecting, which was just the second of surprises from the Massive Voodoo crew. Roman began o take it to the next level just as Raffa had taken an idea to another level as well.
Here are a few more photos of drawings and WIP of the piece as well..
The evolution of the piece began quite fast with some input from my side on how to adjust it. Making the beaver more of a big bear wrestler shaped painter. Again, tying into internal back stories, but also with the massive log cut paint brush with crazy bristles just like I use today! :)
It was around this point that he then transferred it to Photoshop.. and I would have to see if his skill is up to par there.. if he has the skill level of mine or something different... you make the judgement from the images below..
I guess Roman knows a thing or 2 about photoshop.. and the Beaver Painter takes form.
He continues to show the chaotic nature that is painting though in the following shots while attempting to add paint to the bristles..
All of which was a bit too chaotic for me though.. and thats saying a lot these days!
But in the end, Roman came back with a stellar end piece that will be put to the top of the blog in due time...
And even modified it to be better suited for top banner works..
Which is pretty cool to see! Expect this to be put up as soon as I can find the appropriate background to fit with it.
Next steps will be to make it more logo sized and shaped, and probably complete with Sticker/Shirt sizes. So the other triple suplex design can have a brother version to go with it. Really looking forward to it!
Am also really happy to see that after a quick, and easy conversation, such a story and mascot has come to life with various variations available to it! Am now curious what other mediums and styles he might appear in! Any suggestions?