Medium: Digital Photoshop, Image Size: 11″h x 33″w, T-shirt Image Size: 4.25″h x 13″w, 1999, Revised 2022.

This design was originally created as an apparel design for T-shirts. It was one of the designs in my preprinted T-shirt line called Funky Totems. Funky Totems can be defined as a colorful, graphic style with humorous characters. They are a modern-day twist on the ancient totems of indigenous peoples. Whereas our ancestors from long ago depicted the animals, plants, and spirit beings of their time, I have reinterpreted that simplistic style to show the many things that go on in our present-day culture, but I did so in a fun and or humorous way. Though bears are a venerated symbol to many ancient cultures, totemic symbols of bears are not commonly found among ancient artifacts, so even though these totems are a bit whimsical, they represent the funky characteristics of these intelligent beings.
Sketched in pencil. Scanned into the computer and floated. Painting, graphics, colors, effects, and text were done in Photoshop.