Portrait of Walt Whitman

   Walter "Walt" Whitman (May 31, 1819 – March 26, 1892) was an American poet, essayist and journalist. A humanist, he was a part of the transition between transcendentalism and realism, incorporating both views in his works. Whitman is among the most influential poets in the American canon, often called the father of free verse.

    This drawing was created for Sticky Leaves which is a new company based in the USA that's dedicated to helping people show off life passions and positive world views on high-quality, artistic t-shirts sold at a reasonable price. They're starting things off on Teespring and hope to expand to having their online store set up soon. This Walt Whitman design can be purchased on their latest shirt, which is available here: http://teespring.com/waltwhitman

Watch me creating this art on YouTube:

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Astronaut Reading a Book

The drawing of an astronaut reading a book was my first commission from Skip N' Whistle – a company offering eco-friendly screen printed t-shirts in New Orleans, USA. The company is known for its great selection of fun and clever t-shirt designs.

I was asked to draw a spaceman sitting down with his legs crossed and reading a book

One of the reasons why I was contacted by a representative of this company was that guys from Skip N' Whistle were not quite happy with hard edge vector clipart that so many people used to translate their design ideas into drawings. And I cannot but agree that freehand drawings have so much more soul and life than those made with Adobe Photoshop or Illustrator or any other computer-based graphic editor. There is nothing better than a hand-made work totally created by human mind and hands. Hopefully, customers of Skip N' Whistle will appreciate future hand-made designs of their t-shirts. I believe there will be plenty of popular Skip N' Whistle designs re-made into freehand drawings by me and/or other artists because it seems that managers of the company are ready to go for it.

Watch this video on Youtube

Another reason I was hired to create the drawing for a t-shirt from Skip N' Whistle was my distinctive drawing style of hatching and cross-hatching making my artworks look somewhat vintage. Skip N' Whistle’s t-shirts and accessories feature a lot of vintage-inspired designs and guys from the company believed that it would be cool to make custom designs while keeping that so popular vintage vibe.

AD ZONE: Read books, watch videos, have fun

Unfortunately, I do not know the exact meaning of this drawing of a reading spaceman but the design looks fun which means that Skip N' Whistle is likely to find a lot of buyers for t-shirts featuring an astronaut with a book.

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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.

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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

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