You’ve got it (for brains)

Artist Bio

Hello, my name is Donovan Foote‚Äîpurveyor of Spruce Moose Technology, living under a 12Ton sky. I grew up in the mean streets of south Arlington Heights, riding bikes, playing trumpet, and drawing. I went down to school in Champaign-Urbana in order to become Jacques Cousteau and ended up with a degree in graphic design. I began freelancing while I finished my degree and moved back to the Chicago area in 2004. Since moving back I’ve worked a ton of different jobs within design, production, and illustration. What I enjoy most is creating albums, posters, and promotional material for musicians, schools, non-profits, and people looking to do something fun.

I suppose what got me into graphic art was my love of drawing and comics. I really enjoyed the interaction of words and pictures in comics, although I wasn’t too interested in the story. I would just hole up and copy images from comics and kid’s books‚ÄîBill Peet was one of my early favorites. I think he had a big impact on how I draw as well as Ralph Steadman, Egon Schiele, and more generally‚ÄîJapanese ink painting, monsters, and worn out things.

My shirt…well the dancing man in a suit is probably a few things: my anti-establishment tendencies, my fear and mockery of success, and ska music (which was my introduction to subculture). I’ve been drawing men in suits dancing for over ten years! wow. I also really enjoy apes and monkeys. I like how they are so much like us. I like using that in connection with religion and evolution. I’m always surprised at how easy it is for us to go animal with our ignorance and stubbornness. More than any other animal, monkeys and apes reflect that primitive quality back at us. The shirt is a bit of that.