Re: Totemic

Looks great! Good use of color and some smooth linework.

Re: Totemic

YES!!!!!!
This is what this derby needs!

Re: Totemic

I was inspired by the totem poles in Stanley Park in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The three animals depicted are an eagle, a beaver, and a frog holding the sun. I found a little snippet about the eagle and the frog on another site about some of the symbolism:
The Eagle
It is claimed that the Eagle was the most powerful and useful because it could fly higher than any other bird, detect trouble at great distance and tell the chief to be ready.

The Frog
One legend says, when Earth was born the Sun was in the bottom of the lake. The world was dark. Thunderbird wanted to bring sun into the sky but could not hold his breath to the bottom of the sea. this Frog with long arms brought sun to the surface so Thunderbird could bring Sun into the sky.

The beaver is there due to a totem I saw called the beaver crest pole.

Please vote for the totem

mjc613 wrote:YES!!!!!!
This is what this derby needs!

artulo wrote:Looks great! Good use of color and some smooth linework.

Thanks guys! I'm glad you like it. I really put some effort into the three animals.

Re: Totemic

Wow. What a wonderful shirt. I spent two years as a child with one of the Native tribes in Southeast Alaska. This shirt is very evocative of that area.

easeandgrace wrote:Wow. What a wonderful shirt. I spent two years as a child with one of the Native tribes in Southeast Alaska. This shirt is very evocative of that area.

Thanks easeandgrace! I really wanted someone to be able to see the design from that aspect ( l o l would have been more poignant if you had spent time with a tribe in Canada, but I get the point) Thanks for the vote!

Re: Totemic

I worked with some folks of the Tlingit (sounds like "cling it") tribe many years ago.

Very nice shirt.

Jemmacakes wrote:I worked with some folks of the Tlingit (sounds like "cling it") tribe many years ago.

Very nice shirt.

Thanks Jemma! I think the tribes that inspired the design were the Kwakwaka'wakw and the Nisga'a. (I apologize if I mistyped the names)

JadenKale wrote:Thanks Jemma! I think the tribes that inspired the design were the Kwakwaka'wakw and the Nisga'a. (I apologize if I mistyped the names)

A lot of the totems are similar, there is a commonality in the archetypes.

If you ever get a chance check out the Museum of Anthropology at University of British Columbia.
http://www.moa.ubc.ca/
Simply stunningly amazing.

Re: Totemic

I really like this. I've always liked that style of native american art. I've never known what it was called, but I've seen entire buildings in Washington painted in this style and always wanted to do something like that myself. gmv.

Schrobblehead wrote:I really like this. I've always liked that style of native american art. I've never known what it was called, but I've seen entire buildings in Washington painted in this style and always wanted to do something like that myself. gmv.

Thank you!! I really had to look up alot of information on these. I was very worried that if I just designed it off the cuff, I'd look like an dope. I wanted to make sure these stood out from others I've seen (I live in Wisconsin so I've seen a few from the HoChunk nation and a few other artifacts from long ago).

Jemma, I'm going to have to ask my friend about that. I want to go up there sometime. If she ends up moving to Canada, I'll have a chance to go up there finally. She's looking between Montreal or Toronto, but it's not difficult to get on a train from Toronto to Vancouver if you want a leisurely trip (at least that's what my brother tells me).

JadenKale wrote: I want to go up there sometime. If she ends up moving to Canada, I'll have a chance to go up there finally. She's looking between Montreal or Toronto, but it's not difficult to get on a train from Toronto to Vancouver if you want a leisurely trip (at least that's what my brother tells me).

You could wait a couple years and go there for the Olympics You really did do a great job capturing the different totems and the research shows IMO.

I'm glad I clicked on this one. The thumbnail does not do it justice. Very Cool.

littlejetties wrote:I'm glad I clicked on this one. The thumbnail does not do it justice. Very Cool.

Thank you!!! I'm really glad you took the time to look at the whole piece. Most people won't do that.

Stann, thanks for that knowledge too! I think the winter Olympics are in Beijing, China this year and then in 2010 they're back in Vancouver, Canada. I think if it was my first time to Vancouver, I'd like to not get lost in a sea of tourists and athletes, so I may go before 2010, but going there during the Olympics would be fun too. We'll have to see how it works out with the friend. She's psyched! She's leaving the end of the month for about a week or 2 to go visit up there and just get the feel for things.

JadenKale wrote:
Stann, thanks for that knowledge too! I think the winter Olympics are in Beijing, China this year and then in 2010 they're back in Vancouver, Canada.

Summer olympics are in Beijing. Summer olympics are held every 4 years, and the winter every 4 years, rotating (so 2008 summer, 2010 winter, 2012 summer, 2014 winter, etc).

mihalis aya wrote:Summer olympics are in Beijing. Summer olympics are held every 4 years, and the winter every 4 years, rotating (so 2008 summer, 2010 winter, 2012 summer, 2014 winter, etc).

That makes so much more sense l o l... I was trying to figure that out.

Re: Totemic

nice job! we have a totem pole in my town.

somehow this shirt feels like easter with the colors you chose... maybe that green? it has a pastel feel.

Figit090 wrote:nice job! we have a totem pole in my town.

somehow this shirt feels like easter with the colors you chose... maybe that green? it has a pastel feel.

It's because I didn't choose primary colors. I chose muted tones that you would see on totems. And while I can't change the shirt color per se, I can changed the other colors to mute the overall feel as if it's been around forever. I'm glad you like it!