Utah Jazz Bear - 1994

In 1994 the Utah Jazz announced the birth of BEAR! I was offered the opportunity as a freelance artist to be a part of the creation process in coming up with Bear. This was a time that predates the computer and was a time when imagination, drawing skills, and painting skills were critical if you wanted to work as an artist in the marketing community. The market for the illustrator and designer looked very different in does today. The passion to create was in charge. Time had to be on your side due to the long hours required to pull off any illustration. In this time period, a typical illustration project would require around 2 weeks; some times longer, some times shorter (mostly shorter). In this time period, I had already been at it for 10 years with representation in Los Angeles. For the most part, most illustrators specialized in a style that would become the signature of the artist. My medium was acrylic sprayed through an airbrush. This was a very popular look in the day and my technique of choice. In the case of Bear, the airbrush was used very minimally. Paint brush and pen and ink were used in these initial presentations of Bear. The images I am showing here have been pulled from my art production archive. I added a few art production notes for those interested in the creation process back then. With the new basketball season starting, I thought this would be a post of interest and a glimpse at some history. Are you a Jazz fan? Here’s a look at Bear today: http://weareutahjazz.com/bear

Production notes:

Client: Utah Jazz (1994)
Designer / illustrator: Perry Van Schelt
Color panels: Golden acrylic on hot press illustration board
Line drawings: Pen and ink on onion skin paper