A logo for the J.T.P.

What does J.T.P. stand for? I got a different answer every time I asked…

My friend, John, reached out to me and asked if I’d be interested in drawing him a logo for his band, J.T.P. As luck would have it they were all in town and planned on having a series of rehersals in John’s living room.

“Mind if I stop by to listen and get some ideas?”, I asked him.

He agreed.

John had been sending me J.T.P.’s recordings for a while and I liked their covers. He told me that they have been playing together since attending college at The University of Georgia in the 90’s.

Now spread out across the United States, they rely heavly on Apple’s GarageBand, a music editing application, to “knit” together their various tracks ( guitar, bass, vocals, etc… )

At their rehearsal I listened, sketched, and took some pictures.

Here they are : Steve Posner, John Hatcher, Paul Dye, and Brad Anderson

If you’d like to listen to some of the J.T.P.’s music, you can find it on YouTube at @JohnnyHitsTheGroove.

Lastly, here are some of my quick sketches. All hand drawn on a 5×7 notepad with a mechanical pencil.

For the end product I went with vector graphics using Inkscape, prefering a format would be sharp, crisp, and could be easily resized. Vector graphics take me longer to produce, but they have a certain durability and reusability that I prefer over hand drawn stuff.

Take care.
Stay healthy.
Live life.

– Scott

#bandlogo #jtp #garageband #dadband #universityofgeorgia #inkscape #ranchobernardo #makingmusic

Clearing out the files

The end of the year is rapidly approaching and, after a quick audit, I’ve realized a substantial backlog of projects that I have been meaning to post about. With the holidays on the horizon now is as good a time as any to catch up, so here goes…..

First up – a new Vandervort Realty Logo. Jodie’s real estate brokerage is growing and has expanded into property management. Although that doesn’t necessarily warrant a new logo, I couldn’t help but add some flare to the one that I created for her in 2021. My real reason for the gussying up? I wanted to surprise her with an applique for the glass doors leading to her home office and realized the original design didn’t exactly “pop”. Although I don’t expect “Vandervort Realty” swag to be a big seller, you can order your very own hat, shirt, coffee mug on my TeePublic store.

Next up – yet another comic based on my experiences in Corporate America. “Firehosing” is a term used in tech circles that is used to describe feeding someone information at such a rate that it’s impossible to digest. This particular comic has been sitting in my sketchbook for a while and it was overdue for some ink and color.

The Rubber Band and Penny, the birthday girl.

“I Wanna Be Sedated” by The Ramones

“I Won’t Back Down” by Tom Petty

“What’s the Frequency, Kenneth?” by R.E.M.

“Santa Monica” by Everclear

Next up – some tracks of The Rubber Band playing at my good friend, Penny Bauder’s, 50th Birthday Party at the Westwood Club. We played about twenty songs – three of which I sang lead vocals on – all of which I opted to post here. I’ve been working hard on improving my voice ( and accompanying myself on guitar), so please indulge me. On a side note, if you want to indulge me further please go buy some band swag on my TeePublic store.

Next up – some concept artwork I created for my friend, Mike Jock, for his new car dealership, Classic Motors ( Facebook Page ) . Mike had been bouncing the idea around for a while and finally pulled the trigger earlier this year. If you’re looking for a used car, give him a call.

Next up from 2023 – some tattoo sketches that I created over a year ago for my band’s lead guitarist, Shawn Burgwald. He wanted something to honor his late dad, Eric, who was a huge Beatles fan. The guitar pictured is of “Rocky”, George Harrison’s eccentrically-painted Fender Stratocaster.

Next up from 2022 – a comic I drew after spending the better part of a month recovering from pneumonia. On the left is Asclepius, the Greek and Roman god of medicine and healing. On the right is Zeus, the king of gods. A hidden joke for those unfamiliar with Greek Mythology is that Zeus did in fact kill Asclepius after Asclepius attempted to heal mortals of wounds that would have normally been fatal. Zeus’ fear? That Asclepius would close the gap between mortals and gods.

Next up from 2021 – some concept drawings I did for a an illustrated book on engineering security practices that my college buddy, Adham Shabaan, and I were tossing around. The artwork was designed to make the material more approachable. Unfortunately, the idea failed to gain critical mass.

Next up from 2021 – a logo I created for the custom Stratocaster my brother, Todd Vandervort, built for me. Yes, it’s a play on words and probably wouldn’t fly past Fender’s legal department without being riddled with holes. My brother decided to use the more conventional “Fender Stratocaster” applique on the headstock, instead. As far as the guitar? It sounds great. I’m so lucky to have my own personal luthier in the family.

Phew! That’s it. I’ll try and stay on top of things moving forward.

Take care and live life!

-Scott

#logos #comics #partscaster #dadband #livemusic #greekmythology #workhumor #illustration #drawnandcoded

The Rubber Band

A logo I created for the Dad-based Garage Band that I am in. It’s based on a vector image that I created, but rasterized with some distressing thrown in.

I have been playing guitar with a group of dads in a garage band for a little over a year now. What started out as a breakout session in the bedroom of my friends’ sons’ bedroom has grown into a full-fledged 5-person band. Although we try to meet weekly, a plethora of other dad-related duties compete for our time, making our practices inconsistent at best, but we try. Our adoring fans include passers-by and neighbors, either too young to know good from bad, or just too curious to turn away from the train wreck/spectacle that is transpiring in the garage.

We call ourselves “The Rubber Band“.

Part pun. Park joke. The Rubber Band expands to accommodate – whether that be each others’ schedules, talents, or even new members wanting to “give it a try”. The truth is? We’re not all that good, but we sure have a great time not being that good.

Thank you Shawn Burgwald ( Drums ), Kenn Matthews ( Vocals ), Mike Jock ( Bass ), Todd Vandervort ( Guitar ) and to that 20-something couple walking their dog three months ago that decided to pick up the open mic and join us for a song.

Keep on rockin’ in the free world.

Take care. Stay healthy. Live life.

-Scott

P.S. And Dr. Stewart, if you ever read this, I’d like to challenge you to a battle of the bands 😉

P.P.S. Here are some alternative logos and artwork I came up with before settling on the one pictured above.

#RubberBand #GarageBand #Music #Guitar #Musician #Rock #Drums #GarageBandMusic #Dads #DadsPlayingMusic

Vandervort Realty

“Are there any tests available yet?”, Jodie asked me.

“No, not yet. I’ll check again tomorrow.”, I replied, discouraged.

“I’m going to forget everything before I get a chance to be tested on it!”, I continued.

“Same here.”, Jodie smiled

It would be almost three months from the point I finished studying for my California real estate agent exam to when I was actually allowed to be tested on it. The testing centers were either closed or restricting the flow of candidates to a small trickle. Thank you, COVID.

Fortunately, I passed.

Over a year ago my wife, Jodie, decided to get her brokers license. She started in real estate over ten years ago right after our oldest daughter was born. She had done really well, too, building relationships and selling and buying homes all over San Diego.

“Well, what if I get my agent license, too? Then I can help you out – maybe hold open houses or something.”, I offered.

She smiled.

I smiled back. In real estate, agents work “under” a broker. My wife would essentially be my boss.

“Unless you have something against sleeping with your employees?”, I smiled.

“Nope”, she laughed back.

So we studied together. Then, after we were done studying, we waited together for exam spots to open up. It took me almost a year. It took her even longer because, to become a broker, she had to prove her work experience, a process that took forever due to the glacial pace of the Department of Real Estate weighted down by COVID restrictions.

Jodie passed, too.

We threw around names for a while and decided on “Vandervort Realty”. Over the years I’ve realized my last name can be a bitch to spell for newbies, but instantly memorable – if only because it’s a bitch to spell. It would be perfect for a company name – as long as we didn’t have to create any musical jingles to go with it.

The company logo proved trickier.

Initially Jodie wanted to go with a design she had found on Etsy, but I insisted on designing one for her. Illustration and graphic design has become my “thing” over the last few years, just as real estate hers.

“I work cheap.”, I told her. “You can pay me in vegan brownies!”

“Deal!”, she said.

We went through countless revisions. The endeavor expanded into a business card, listing sign, and Facebook Page, too. But finally the day came.

Vandervort Realty Brokerage Realtor Real Estate San Diego

“I like it.”, she admitted.

“Really, so we’re done?”, I asked, stunned.

“Yeah”, she smiled, “Well, for now…”

“Good”, I smiled. “You have a lot of baking to do, you know.”

“Yup.”

Take care. Stay healthy. Live life.

-Scott

Vandervort Realty is a family-owned real estate brokerage located in sunny San Diego. We pride ourselves on making relationships, not sales. Our goal is to educate people to help them make the best decisions in any market. For more information you can contact me here on DrawnAndCoded, or visit our Facebook Page.

#SanDiegoRealEstate #Realtor #Brokerage #RealEstateAgent #FamilyOwned #VandervortRealty #SanDiego

Daddy’s BBQ Sauce

A logo I created to support my cousins’ new endeavor, Daddy’s BBQ Sauce.

My cousin Paul and his wife April just launched a new BBQ Sauce, “Daddy’s BBQ Sauce”. The BBQ Sauce is based upon a family recipe handed down by April’s grandfather. Paul and April have served it for years at family gatherings in their backyard on smoked and grilled meats. Before I eliminated meat from my diet due a prostate cancer diagnosis I looked forward to it’s unique sweet taste and how it caramelized on the meat. Without sounding like a hypocrite, it’s delicious.

I might seem like the last person that should be promoting a BBQ sauce, but I want to be the first to support my cousins’ endeavor because I believe in it. It’s good. So good that I volunteered to create a logo for them to support them. Over the next few months they’ll be promoting “Daddy’s BBQ Sauce” on a road trip across the United States. If you see them, tell them their cousin Scott said, “Hi!”, and pick up a bottle.

“Daddy’s BBQ Sauce” is also available on their online store.

I used Clip Art Studio, Gimp, and ultimately, Inkscape to render the logo. The logo went through several iterations, each focusing on a caricature of April’s grandfather. Some of the other finalists are below, but most people I talked to favored the “laid back” demeanor pictured above.

Take care. Stay healthy. Live life. Try “Daddy’s BBQ Sauce” ( you’ll love it )!

-Scott

#BeefRibs #BBQPorn #PorkRibs #Grill #BBQSauce #BBQTime #Grilling #Brisket #BBQLife #BBQ #BBQSauce #SmokedMeat #Rubs #HomemadeBBQSauce #FamilyRecipe #DrawnAndCoded #Comic #Family #CustomLogo