last september i was one of a handfull of artists commissioned to create a desktop image for the new Windows 7 software. being that Windows 7 launched this week, i am finally able to make a post about it.

if you watch the following video at about 2:24 you’ll see my image on the touch screen demo.

the objective as far as i can remember was to create an image that conveyed adventure, delight, lightheartedness, and something fun to look at, and it needed to be able to appeal to a wide audience…

with his homemade cloud suit and a pair of feathers he takes a leap of faith at the center fountain where all wishes are made.

so for any rednose fans out there, you’ll be happy to find a little ‘freebie’ in your next Windows upgrade. i just hope ‘the launch’ goes over well…

here are the approved sketch and colorstudy. it honestly was a blast to work on and even the rejected sketches ended up being created for my own work later on. thanks to everyone at 72&Sunny for the adventure.

some details

after the landfill research, i dove into trying to figure out the color scheme for the book. keeping in mind that the story spans an entire summer and travels to several places, i wanted the color to help convey various times of day , attitudes, conflicts and most importantly to use color to show how the garbage gets worse and wears more heavily on the captain over time.

here is the colorstudy sheet with each spread being about 1.5″ tall. i like to keep all of them on the same page so i can see how the color flows thru the book as a whole as opposed to just working on each individual spread. i used watercolors and the small scale to help me work quickly and to hopefully not to overthink the color.

here are a few details of the colorstudy. with scribbles and notes in the margins. looking back at this i see that it was merely a starting point for the colors that as i worked on the finals, evolved into more complex color schemes but this initial study was constantly referred back to and use as the primary direction for the whole book.

in trying to decide how i would create this mass of garbage that hulks upon this infamous barge i arranged a tour of the landfill back home where i grew up. (where my father now works) i wanted to see what trash looked like once it had been through the ringer a few times.

notice the serene farmland on the horizon. this is about 7miles from where i was born and raised.

the garbage is sort of whited out. they spray a layer of heavy concrete like powder on the new garbage at the end of everyday. it keeps stuff from blowing away and helps to compact it. from what i understand they used to use a thin layer of soil for this step. for me this white stuff took alot of the color that i was looking for out of the garbage.

yes, that is a semi trailer on a contraption called a tipper. its the easiest and quickest way to unload a trailer full of trash. a new trailer comes in about every 30 minutes.  you have to see it to believe it.

this is a compactor. i didnt get to see it running but it was quite a machine just to look at. beautiful in its own right.

i did get to see and  feel this dozer running. because we were standing on a mountain of garbage the earth literally shook and quivered when the dozer passed by. the trash that was caked in and on this machine is what i was looking for.

i think everybody should take the time to tour your local landfill. it really make you think about how WE ALL live.