Miscellaneous Illustration

Originally painted for Duluth Trading Company, “Scout” was owner Steve Schlecht’s massive yellow lab. It’s my favorite“Scout” illustration: bad dog!

This was based on an old postcard for Sioux Falls, South Dakota. But the postcard was just the image; I added the text to make it look like a 1940s greeting card. It was printed nearly 12 feet wide for the Duluth Trading Co. store in that city.

Used for Duluth Trading store signage, this was created in a bunch of different layers: the rooster, the blue medal, fruit, straw, tent and background, and ferris wheel, were all separate illustrations.

This is the old neon-lit sign for of one of the few surviving Great Lakes fishing companies, headquartered in Superior, Wisconsin.

If you draw technical clothing, you’ll eventually have to draw some version of this, maybe several.

One of a series of famous mountains done for an initial book cover design. Mont Blanc is the highest mountain in Europe, looming over the charming tourist-trap-of-a-city of Chamonix, France.

Small children, puppies and kittens are always cute. This was part of a St. Louis County health brochure. Colored pencil.

This was painted for the Duluth Trading Co. Duluth store, and it shows the three founders of Portable Products (the business from which Duluth Trading was born): Paul Maher, Bob Fierek and Dave Fierek. Gouache.

Cover illustration for a physical therapy brochure. Colored pencil and digital.

Drawn for Cirrus Aircraft’s SF50 safety card: this operation is a bit more involved than using the seatbelt.

This was illustrated for a Duluth Trading Co. Store background display. I bought rights to a stock photo and basically turned it into a painting. This is very much reminiscent of the Wind River Range in Wyoming: rugged peaks; gnarled, stunted pines and running water. Gouache.

A rendering of a proposed CoLab space.

Like lots of stuff you see here,  this 1957 Ford Country Sedan was done as “editorial” art for Duluth Trading Co.

One of a series of famous mountains done for an initial book cover design. Denali was its original name. President Obama risked the wrath of the Right Wing by recently officially reverting its name from Mt. McKinley to the original Denali. Maybe Trump will change it back.

A simple rubylith-styled illustration for an Animal Allies fundraiser piece. Digital.

A not atypical Autumn day at Split Rock Lighthouse on Lake Superior’s North Shore. Gouache painting done for a Duluth Trading Company store near Denver, Colorado.

Like the Boat on the Bay illustration, this was created for Emily and Joel Vikre’s wedding invitation — they went on to found the Vikre Distillery here in Duluth. Digital.

Illustration for a physical therapy brochure. Colored pencil & digital.

Frosty goes bad, gets caught but can’t be fingerprinted.

The idea was that this dog toy is so tough even a tiger couldn’t rip it apart. I don’t think it was ever actually tested.

The aerial Lift Bridge is Duluth’s equivalent of Paris’ Eifel Tower or London’s Tower Bridge. This was done as a T-shirt design for the bridge’s 100th anniversary. Through my Hallett Dock connection I finagled an invitation to ride to the top of the bridge and walk along just under the top-most parts of its superstructure to get a reference shot for this view.

A very “miscellaneous” item, painted for Duluth Trading Co. It isn’t a product and it doesn’t have anything to do with natural history. But I like it: I like the lighting and how about those tusks! Gouache on paper.

Nobody uses these anymore but probably every coffee drinker still knows what this is: a vintage coffee grinder from back in the days when folks roasted their own green beans on the stove and ground them up in one of these.

Done for a logo, digital: https://kollathdesign.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/logo_dovetail_cafe-600×600.png

Baby, it’s cold outside. Just an artsy-artsy thermometer illustration.

This was painted for the Duluth Trading Company Fridley store. Gouache.

Done for a U.S. Forest Service publication (the BWCAW Trip Planning Guide). It’s used pretty small, so it’s made in a “graphic” style: not much detail. Digital.

I don’t know why I picked a red fox but I love foxes and they seem quintessentially curious: “what’s in the box?’ I submitted the file, worried about how the Frost River folks would take it, but they seemed to approve. They use it.

Drawn for Cirrus Aircraft’s SF50 safety card: how to buckle, tighten/loosen and release the plane’s seatbelt.

Since I don’t handle the layouts for Duluth Trading Co., and I don’t keep every catalog they send me, I sometimes don’t have information on all the illustrations I’ve done for them. Like this one. I only know this guy welds huge abstract sculptures and likes their clothing.

Illustration of the College of St. Scholastic’s Tower Hall in an imaginary snow globe for a promotional fund raising piece. Goauche.

This was painted for a Duluth Trading Co. Store background display. It never had a title (it’s not art, after all) but if it did, the name would probably be something hackneyed like “Young Pine” or “Winter Pool”.

One of a series of famous mountains done for an initial book cover design. El Cap features 3,000 feet of steep, solid granite. Stack two Empire State Buildings on top of each other and you’re not quite there yet. This monolith stands guard over the entrance to Yosemite Valley in California’s Yosemite National Park.

I might add (in a completely narcissistic vein) that I climbed two routes on this face back in 1983. Digital.

One of a series of famous mountains done for an initial book cover design. The Grand Teton — as the name implies — is the largest of several summits in Teton National Park, Wyoming. Digital.

Macarthur: editorial art painted for Duluth Trading Co. Gouache.

One of a series of famous mountains done for an initial book cover design. The book, Cold Feet, Stories of a Middling Climber, ended up with a very different cover. An amusing account of the author Dave Pagel and I managing to somehow climb this famous Swiss summit (and not via the easy Hoernli Ridge for any climbers out there) is one of the stories. Digital.

Imagine you have a large, very white garage door facing Bent Paddle Brewery’s taproom (Duluth’s premier brewer). You could just leave it white, or you could put up a fanciful mural showing that you send your product all across the world.

Art for the 1999 Grandma’s Marathon finisher’s shirt. Around 7,000 of these were printed and handed out. Colored pencil.

One of a series of famous mountains done for an initial book cover design. The Eiger’s North Face (pictured here) has claimed 65 lives since it was first attempted in 1936. It’s considered a “test piece” in the United States but better weather forecasting and constantly updated web information has recently turned it into a “trade route” in European climbing circles.

After several attempts over 36 years I finally climbed this with my friend Dean Einerson in April 2015. Digital.

Typical day at KGD. Illustrated for Duluth Trading Co.

Illustrated for a local wind turbine company doing business before such things were trendy.

Gouache and pen. The Frost River storefront in Duluth’s Lincoln Park. Painted for the catalog.

This was done for a regional medical conference website. The focus was on minimizing downtime for workers disabled through a workplace injury, and this was the homepage header graphic.

Done in the late 1980s for Aerostich RiderWear: a diagram showing Gore-Tex’s waterproofness/breathability characteristics. This is one of three similar illustrations done over a 30-year period.

Once a reasonably-sized, single-family dwelling, this monstrosity expanded to become a multi-unit condo.

The Frost River Campfire Tent, set in an idyllic Northwoods tableau, painted for the catalog. Gouache and pen.

No, not for Duluth Pack, not for Frost River either; painted for Sawbill Outfitters, for a promotional brochure.

Like the title says, a banner for the William’s Brewing facebook page.

Done for Gemini’s 50th Anniversary catalog. Gemini makes letters and such items that sign companies use. Here we see a craftsman applying gold leaf to wooden letters.

I rarely illustrate food. Calling chocolates “food” may be an exaggeration, but this what I’ve got. A purely digital creation.

This drawing was done several years ago for Duluth Trading Company: a diagram showing a two-part waterproof fabric. This is one of three similar illustrations done over a 30-year period.

Created for a friend’s daughter’s wedding invitation. The couple, Emily and Joel Vikre, went on to start Duluth’s Vikre Distillery which makes handmade spirits right here in Duluth, Minnesota. Digital.

Jason was one of a few younger friends I tapped on to model for series of local bus service posters. He liked and hated the attention afterwards.

Done for Gemini’s 50th Anniversary Catalog.