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| Mark D. Ruffner, 1984 |
I was sorting through my flat file recently and came upon an illustration I did for a Florida magazine almost 30 years ago. The idea was that if one subscribed to
Florida Trend, the new subscriber would be rewarded with a baker's dozen of fresh donuts.
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| Mark D. Ruffner, 1984 |
The mailer was designed to arrive looking like a closed baker's box, sealed with an adhesive tab. When one lifted the cover . . .
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| click to enlarge | Mark D. Ruffner, 1984 |
. . . there would be a dozen juicy, glazed donuts! I achieved the illustration with a mixture of acrylics, airbrushed dyes, pencil and charcoal.
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| illustration by Paul Davis |
I looked to the great illustrator Paul Davis for style. Paul Davis continues to be a source of inspiration, and you can read my posting about him and his iconic work
here.
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| Mark D. Ruffner, 1984 |
Also inside the mailer was a die-cut 13th donut, redeemable at our local supermarket.
There have been some professional hazards connected with being a commercial artist, and one of them was that in order to complete this particular assignment, I went through two dozen glazed donuts!
Have a great week, and don't overdo.
.
Dear Mark, Just shows what a great artist you are. Your doughnuts look as fresh as newly baked ...they should really be petrified by now, only kidding.
ReplyDeleteGlazed doughnuts are my favorites. I'm not surprised that you could eat 2 dozen.
Dear Gina, Thank you for the compliment! I have such a sweet tooth that it's imperative that I don't ever buy treats when I'm grocery shopping!
DeleteDear Mark,
ReplyDeleteWhat a wonderful talent you have my friend! I suppose many people say it but it won't stop me: I wish I could draw and paint like that!
Kirk
PS
I also have a sweet tooth and I an not ashamed to say that I indulge it as often as I can! When it comes to doughnuts I really like chocolate covered ones with jam centres. I don't think that I could eat two dozen though...
I know YOU have a sweet tooth, Kirk — I've drooled over all those posts of pastries that you've uploaded, pastry you've bought and pastry you've made. That's a wonderful talent that you have. (I like the jam center, too.)
DeleteYou can come over for tea and cake any time!
DeleteDear Mark - I am sure that your talented and appetising illustration for the juicy glazed donuts resulted in a very successful promotion for the magazine Florida Trend. Only the strong could resist those wonderful looking donuts - like you I find it is best not to bring things like that home when out grocery shopping.
ReplyDeleteDear Rosemary,
DeleteI thought it was a clever promotion, and as it turned out, I later ended up working for Florida Trend's parent company, the St. Petersburg Times. By that time, though, I was no longer illustrating; everything was computers and clip art.
So fun! So clever!! So yummy!!! I would like to subscribe :) On the topic of donuts, I had way too many pumpkin donuts over the weekend. More than a baker's dozen!!!
ReplyDeleteHi, Loi - I've never tasted a pumkin donut, and I'm trying to imagine the taste. I'll be working on that for quite a while. But if you ate more than a dozen, it must be good!
DeleteHello Mark, Once again, your talent and cleverness astounds us. At first, I was wondering about the "baker's dozen", and then was highly amused to come across the lagniappe of the thirteenth doughnut.
DeleteI see a relationship to all those Victorian ads you have featured, with their die cuts, embossing, and mechanics. You and their creators are kindred spirits.
--Jim
Hello Jim,
DeleteThank you for your very generous comment. I hadn't consciously thought of it, but the whole concept for this offer is indeed very Victorian. As I note in my side bar page on trade cards, there are many seemingly modern advertising lures that actually have old precedent. And it's quite true that I have a great affinity with those early lithographers. They are, as Milton Glaser would say, part of my "visual vocabulary."
I thought they were real coffee eclairs . amazing well painted donuts almost as good
ReplyDeleteThanks, smr — it's always easier to represent something one enjoys!
DeleteThat's funny Mark! Hazards of the job sometimes include doughnuts! Your illustration is very believable...I love how you used so many different mediums.
ReplyDeleteHi, Theresa,
ReplyDeleteI used charcoal on the left side of the bakers box, and pencils for the shadows of the inside right side of the box. The rest was mostly acrylics.
You are indeed talented. Luckily I don't have a sweet tooth, and when I tried a donut as a child I disliked it intensely. I make up for that virtue by being abominably bad in other areas, which seems very fair, don't you think?
ReplyDeleteDear Columnist,
DeleteThank you for that compliment. I can assure you that I've eaten the equivalent of every donut that you have left behind! They seem to materialize in the conference rooms of every American business, and I had a particularly tough time of it at the newspaper where I worked!
When I live in Atlanta in the early 80s there was a Krispy Kreme walk-able from my front door. I actually didn't pay much attention to it until a friend clued me in to waiting until the store illuminated the neon 'Hot Donuts' sign. Then I totally got it. Ironically one of the only KKs in L.A. is also close to me. I think about it but rarely go there.
ReplyDeletesw
It's just as well. When I worked at the newspaper, people brought in donuts so often, which was terrible because I have no self-control when it comes to sweets. I finally devised a tactic which was to announce loudly that I would pay $20 to anyone who saw me eat a donut! And I never had to pay.
Delete