Portrait of Stephen Alonzo Jackson and Other Artworks for Frats

Making t-shirts with custom designs for college fraternities is another idea of Buffalo Jackson’s management purposed to satisfy their young male customers who gravitate towards classic masculine values in fashion opposing today’s fashion trends aggressively promoting men with metrosexual and sleek appearance. A portrait of Stephen Alonzo Jackson was the first artwork created by me for Buffalo Jackson Trading Co’s new series of frat t-shirts.

I never knew about Stephen Alonzo Jackson until Buffalo Jackson commissioned me to create his portrait. Due to this company I learn a lot of things about the United States history. And I am now aware of Stephen Alonzo Jackson being one of the most important men for the Kappa Sigma fraternity as he managed to transform Kappa Sig from a struggling local fraternity at the University of Virginia into a strong international Brotherhood.

Stephen Alonzo Jackson is possibly the most important man in the history of the Kappa Sigma fraternity

I actually love the idea of college fraternities and sororities which we do not have in my country. I believe it feels good to belong to a community, a club which only people sharing the same traditions and common virtues can join. It must be nice to feel the team spirit which helps people withstand competition and encourage support for those brothers in need and troubles. College fraternities and sororities seem to be a powerful institutions making students’ life even more exciting and saturated with positive experience.

Watch this video on Youtube

No wonder Buffalo Jackson Trading Co. appeals to college fraternities when advocating their traditional rugged gentleman muscularity expressed in lifestyle and fashion. A lot of fraternity members are prone to respect traditions of past generations and, being conservatives, they are less easily enticed into new fashion trends shifting far from a classic image of a man.

Other Artworks for Colledge Fraternities

The portrait of Stephen Alonzo Jackson is not the only artwork ordered by Buffalo Jackson Trading Co. for fraternities. I also made a few drawings featuring frat crests and badges. You can see some examples below:

Read more...

Elephant Drawing

A drawing of an elephant had been created as another template for political t-shirts from Buffalo Jackson Trading Co. just like the donkey drawing I wrote a few posts ago. An elephant and a donkey were drawn for t-shirts featuring symbols of two major American parties – Republicans (elephant) and Democrats (donkey).

Elephant drawing for Buffalo Jackson Trading Co.

This is how the Republican Elephant t-shirt from Buffalo Jackson Trading Co. looks like

And again I won’t delve into politics of the United States of America in this post because I know nothing about it. All I know is that it seems that the majority of customers of Buffalo Jackson Trading Co. supports the Republican Party and welcomed t-shirts with the elephant while booing t-shirts featuring the Democratic donkey. However the guys from Buffalo Jackson Trading Co. wanted to be fair and spent their time and money to make t-shirts for the Republican Party supporters as well. But anyway I simply wanted to show you the elephant drawing here without politics involved.

Watch this video on Youtube

Related posts:
Lion drawing
American wildlife art

Read more...

Robert E. Lee on His Horse

I keep on telling you about artworks commissioned by Buffalo Jackson Trading Co. (ex Buffalo and Company). And today’s artwork features General Robert E. Lee – a commander of the armed forces of the Confederate States of America. This is second time that I create a drawing featuring Robert E. Lee for this company but this time the drawing depicts Robert E. Lee on his horse called Traveller. The drawing is based on a well-known photo taken during the American Civil War.

General Robert E. Lee on his horse Traveller

This drawing is based on the famous photo of Lee and his horse

I believe that the idea to add the Lee’s horse design to the collection of t-shirts from Buffalo Jackson Trading Co. was prompted to guys from the company by the General’s letter to his wife’s cousin, Markie Williams, who wanted to paint a portrait of Traveller. The letter went like this:

If I was an artist like you, I would draw a true picture of Traveller; representing his fine proportions, muscular figure, deep chest, short back, strong haunches, flat legs, small head, broad forehead, delicate ears, quick eye, small feet, and black mane and tail. Such a picture would inspire a poet, whose genius could then depict his worth, and describe his endurance of toil, hunger, thirst, heat and cold; and the dangers and suffering through which he has passed. He could dilate upon his sagacity and affection, and his invariable response to every wish of his rider. He might even imagine his thoughts through the long night-marches and days of the battle through which he has passed. But I am no artist Markie, and can therefore only say he is a Confederate gray.

Read more...

Donkey Drawing

You might already know from my previous posts that Buffalo and Co. (one of my biggest customers) is in the process of re-branding into Buffalo Jackson Trading Co. For that reason the company is about to introduce a whole range of new t-shirts for which quite a number of drawings have been created by me. Among those new t-shirts to be soon released by Buffalo Jackson Trading Co. will be a few related to politics and in particular those featuring symbols of two modern US parties – the Democratic donkey and the Republican elephant.

Donkey drawing for Buffalo Jackson Trading Co.

This is how the Democratic Donkey t-shirt from Buffalo Jackson Trading Co. looks like

In this post I won’t talk about American political parties as I am not competent enough to discuss how good or bad they are for USA citizens as I do not belong to them. I only want to show you the image of a donkey merely as another drawing of an animal created by me.

Watch this video on Youtube

Related posts:
Horse drawing
Drawing of a lion
American wild animals

Read more...

Portrait of General George S. Patton

Portrait of General George S. Patton is my other contribution to the Heritage t-shirt series produced by Buffalo and Company.

George Smith Patton, Jr.

Well, the US army has always been one of the most powerful armed forces of the modern world. It is naturally that such military power scares many of those who confronts and hates America openly or covertly. You can hear a lot of hateful words and accusation being said against the USA military activities in today’s world. But laying politics (which is a very dirty business sometimes) aside and leaving nothing but dry facts, one cannot deny that the United States of America have managed to build the most powerful army within a relatively short span of country’s history. And I am sure that whatever other nations think about America and their armed forces, the majority of the US citizens have a lot of reasons to respect and be proud of their military history. George S. Patton had been one of the main contributors to the outstanding development of the United States Army, therefore Buffalo and Company included the General to their Hall of Fame to honor his name and deeds.

Watch this video on Youtube

Related posts:
Portrait of Harry S. Truman
Portrait of Winston Churchill
General Stonewall Jackson portrait
General Robert E. Lee

Read more...

Portrait of Adam Smith

Portrait of Adam Smith belongs to the serious of famous men portraits created by me for Buffalo and Company.

Adam Smith (social philosopher and a pioneer of political economy)

Have you ever wondered why the USA remains one of the most economically developed countries in the world? My strong belief is that the reason for a wonderful economical success of the United States was the wisdom of country’s first leaders who were greatly inspired by freedom and who had chosen and adapted economical theories which guaranteed freedom and equality of rights of each American citizen as much as it was possible within the bounds of the active legislation. Therefore it was not surprising that American intellectual leaders noticed and got interested in Adam Smith’s economic theory laid out in his “Wealth of Nations” in which he outlined the ideas of the so-called “laissez faire” philosophy. The phrase laissez faire is French and means "let do", i.e., when applied to Smith’s views, it is of paramount importance for the government not to seek to interfere in people’s economical activity unless it is an illegal business. It is now proved by the history that providing as much freedom for business as possible results in positive economical development of the country due to a sound competition and fair legislation.

Watch this video on Youtube

I do not want to say that Adam Smith’s economic theories are perfect as there is nothing perfect in this world. However one cannot deny that the ideas of Adam Smith laid the foundation of today’s economical success of the United States of America. No wonder that Buffalo and Company chose Adam Smith as one of the greatest men who they and their customers would honor by wearing t-shirts featuring my portrait of this famous economist.

Read more...

Portrait of Harry S. Truman

Another US president whose portrait I made for Buffalo & Company was Harry S. Truman.

Harry S. Truman (33rd President of the United States)

As you might know from my previous posts, Buffalo & Company advocates classic values of manhood in men’s lifestyle, fashion and character. The company designs clothes with the heritage of men in mind opposing their brand to today’s trends in men’s fashion promoting the image of pretty-boys instead of rugged gentlemen strengthen with the life full of challenges. Buffalo & Company honors men whose courage and resolution, talents and charisma, intelligence and wisdom totally correspond to the classic image of a man. Harry S. Truman can definitely be among those men honored by Buffalo & Company. A president of a country, especially such a big and powerful country as the USA, is the person who faces an enormous number of challenges in his daily life. I cannot even imagine how difficult and tough must be the life of a president whose country is in war as the destiny of the whole nation depends on his decisions. But even if he takes unpopular decisions, the President must be an extraordinary person to lead the nation to the victory and never loose the universal esteem years after.

Watch this video on Youtube

Related posts:
Winston Churchill portrait
John F. Kennedy Portrait
Teddy Roosevelt portrait

Read more...

Roosevelt and His Rough Riders

I’ve been recently involved in a number of projects for Buffalo and Company. I am going to show you the results of my work in this and a few next posts. Today I want to show a stylized image of Teddy Roosevelt and his Rough Riders based on the famous photograph of the 1st United States Volunteer Cavalry regiment, also known as the Rough Riders, made by photographer William Dinwiddie.

The reference picture of Roosevelt's Rough Riders

The drawing was to be placed on pocket t-shirts produced by Buffalo & Company to honor brave men and express company’s concern over today’s extensive feminization of men’s fashion. Drawing all soldiers on the reference picture too thoroughly would be time consuming and expensive but I thought that using my signature drawing technique (cross-hatching) could result in a somewhat sketchy but rather cool looking image of Roosevelt and the Rough Riders. This stylized image, I believe, is perfect for a tee.

Roosevelt and his Rough Riders (drawing by Igor Lukyanov)

And again I learned an interesting story from the United States history. It’s kinda cool how the Rough Riders regiment had been gathered. It had been formed of volunteers who were cowboys, American Indians, college athletes, ranchers, gold or mining prospectors, hunters, gamblers, former military men etc. Only the strongest and the most capable men had been selected to join the regiment. This story reminds me of Hollywood movies about selecting the most talented, capable and brave soldiers to accomplish the most impossible military missions.

Roosevelt's Rough Riders t-shirt by Buffalo and Company

I think that the image of Theodore Roosevelt and his Rough Riders is the perfect choice to use as a symbol of genuine masculinity reflected in character, deeds and fashion.

Watch this video on Youtube

Read more...