Garment illustration by Janet Tarjan Erl

Devine Canines Totem

Medium: Digital Photoshop, Image Size: 9″h x 30″w, T-shirt Image Size: 4″h x 13.25″w, 1998.

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.

Canines are so admired these days they are almost revered as deities. Many ancient cultures regarded they with high esteem and symbols of them can be found on ancient artifacts; however, these modern-day canine totems represent the playful, witty, and humorous canines who preserve fun and joy in our lives.

Sketched in pencil. Scanned into the computer and floated. Painting, graphics, colors, effects, and text were done in Photoshop.

Note: Image Watermark of Copyright and/or Website are NOT on the Original.