Patch : USAFA Tow Pilots : 2020-10

A friend of mine suggested I enter a contest (of sorts) for a new patch for the tow pilots at the US Air Force Academy.  It was more of a submission to be voted on than a contest.  Regardless, I am always up for competing against other artists and I like to think I know what makes a better patch.  It's simplicity.  People tend to want to add a lot of stuff to patches, but in the end they look cluttered and 'impact' is lost.

This was the final submission (which was picked).  The Cub drags a

Schempp-Hirth TG near the mountains marked by the Academy Chapel.

 

Earlier versions.  The green mountain was to reflect the company's colors.

Then I removed the color.  The original Cub didn't have the lighting bolt.

 

Transition to rigid mountains, then adding the chapel.

 

Simply moving the chapel around.

This was the very first submission.  I prefer a dark blue sky.  There was no lighting bolt and the green was still there for the company's sake.  Also, the cockpit and engine area were much simpler. You might notice the final version had the tailwheel.  The multiple versions show how picky people become when it gets down to making a decision. 

Spoiler alert...none of these versions showed the struts.  I was waiting for people to call that out, but they never did.  However, I had the versions ready.  Both a single and dual strut...

 

Don't tell anyone.

Update 20210217:  here is the actual patch...

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the Gladiators | 201607

In Kuwait we were the Gladiators so I made a graphic for stickers (zaps) and a card I would use on special occasions (similar to my NORAD card).

The classic - for the stickers

 The card design with our motto and an American flag

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pilot postcard

Petra sent me this cool card of a fighter pilots out in the desert. She's Dutch so the orange background made it even more perfect. I did like that she thought of me when she saw it...that's always flattering.

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Yoga Readiness Initiative (YRI) Patch | 2016-03

A friend asked me to make a graphic (for a patch) for a Yoga Readiness Initiative she was working on. I was on the road so it was a perfect project as it gave me plenty note-taking (sketches) material. The first image below is the one they selected and several working versions/sketches follow.

Their final choice (left) although I preferred the legs on the right version.

I like threes (among other number sets) and triangles are the strongest shape so I tried to incorporate those into the sitting pose. The red inverted triangle was to show the heart and the curve shows change, movement, and an increase in readiness. The camouflage background was by request.

I was going with a blue background (red, white, and blue) and was trying to get a star involved. I like stars and all they can symbolize. You can see I even had a triangle head for some versions. I'm not sure what brought in the arc, but I would blame some of my sketches (below) and the desire to show movement and change. I was surprised how well-liked the curve was. 

More versions. I went with green but the camouflage was preferred.

This was a version I liked. I like koi and how fish move. It was probably too distracting from the human focus of the readiness initiative.

Several sketches ~~~~~~

The first sketches after getting the triangle/sitting pose idea (left). Bird focus on the right.

 

Geometric concepts and you can see the fish's appearance on the right.

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JPME Seminar 14 | Tomcats

I attended JPME (Joint Professional Military Education) in Norfolk and was luckily placed in Seminar 14. Seminar 14 is the senior officer group and has a fantastic perspective on this course. Being in that group was a life changer - for the better. Part of the program is competitive sports. There isn't a choice of sport..it's driving by the time of year. We were in the volleyball season. Regardless, the school wants us to be uniform (same shirts) so we needed an emblem. 

This is the final design we used. I modified an existing image (blue image below) by moving the wings forward (open) on our Tomcat (F-14) and removing the star. Of note, the image for the Topgun movie doesn't have the aircraft; just the words, star and chevrons. I also added the two roundels in the tail area. We had a Lebanese in our Seminar (the left circle is Lebanon's roundel). The USAF roundel (the right circle) isn't actually the full roundel, but it was clear enough. It's hard to make symmetry with our roundel, unless you use Army Air Corps roundel which is also a classic image.

 

The Top Gun logo over a Tomcat (left) ~~~~ Lebanon roundel (right)

  

USAF roundel (left) ~~~~ Army Air Corps roundel (right)

We also needed a front image to go over the left breast. I played with a billiard ball, something like the Fantasy Four logo, and just simple text. The billiard ball won out. Why the "411"? Well, we happened to be in room 411 and since it's Directory Assistance, it was a play on words that knew everything...or more than most. There is an error on the center circle (left image). It should have a "11" below the large "4", not "111".

 

Samples for the front breast (left) and the final shirt layout (right)

Because we had an awesome group, we took it a bit further. We also ordered green wrist bands, green headbands, and tall white socks with green stripes. Personally, I loved it.

 

I made other sketches for the Tomcats using actual tomcats. I liked these and preferred the cedar tree for Lebanon and a star for the US. I would've voted for the left image. These cats also reminded me of Cadet Squadron 25's patch...the Redeye (below).

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NORAD Jets and Shirt : 2014-12

I wanted to make a shirt for NORAD. I'm also working on the Operations patch. For the shirt, I did a flashback to F-102 Delta Daggers. They were certainly used by NORAD as interceptors but doing a flashback serves two purposes; 1) it reminds us how long NORAD has been around and 2) it reduces comments from current fighter pilots. Such as "how come there isn't a (insert fighter) on there?"

This is the image I made for the back of the shirt. There are different stories as to when NORAD was actually established so I went with "...FOR FIVE DECADES". Again, a reminder of the maturity of North American Aerospace Defense Command.

This is the actual shirt. Upper left chest (on the left) and the back (on the right). I think it turned out great (used CustomInk) but now the question is 'how do I market these'? How do I measure the interest? We'll find out.

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OIF Patches | 2005-07

 

OIF Patches (proposed)

2005, Pencil and Pen (digital color shown here)

Well, it happened again - I was asked to draw some ideas for a patch my squadron would wear on a deployment, but they weren't used. Maybe I should start charging for sketches - used or not.

I really can't stand patches that have bad colors and/or have a cartoon feel. Also, I think the best patches are tough ones with more serious slogans. The idea with both of these is an imposing figure bearing a weapon (GBU-12 in this case). Slogans are always tricky and I can draw better than I can write, but I came up with a few. Our squadron color is green which is important.

"We will make it better" or "A little Green goes a long way"

Like I said, I'm not much of a writer. The squadron elected for a patch with a lady on it - similar to WWII aircraft nose art. To the artist's credit, it was very well drawn.

the sketch...

OIF Patch, Face detail
2005, pen, personally collection

This was the first sketch for a potential patch. I was trying to make a very imposing figure and skull faces usually do the trick. I added the stumps to show horns were there. A devil character was used in previous squadron patches so the horns were an attempt to classify this guy as a devil. The character himself is an adaptation from a poster I saw in Auschwitz. It was a scary. I can't imagine seeing propaganda like that as a child.

I removed the horns (stumps) all together in the final version (top, left) and made some more distinct shapes in the eyes. The hand gave me the idea to have him holding a weapon. This wasn't used for the patch which is probably best since it's pretty dark.

go to Custom Work or the Galleries

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Defying Gravity | 1992-93

Defying Gravity, 1992-93

Silk Screen, multiple copies.

Finally, a design that was used. This was made for those in the 94th ATS (Airmanship Training Squadron) at USAFA. Many of the shirts were really busy so I wanted to keep it simple and model it after patch. I think I lit the hair on fire because hair-igniting speeds in a glider are rare. You'll have to excuse the reproduction...it's a pic of a shirt.  I have no idea what happened to the original. The Schweizer 2-33 (the glider of reference) is below.

go to Custom Work or the Galleries

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