The cross streets of Creative & Deadline
Completed on 9/26/06
This painting took me 1 year to complete

A long time in the making, this painting symbolizes my perspective on all of the big agencies I've worked at.

The idea nearly killed me as I ran across the busy intersection of 45th and Lexington while working at Cline, Davis, & Mann. I realized I would put myself in danger of being hit by a cab just to make a deadline for the client.

The street Deadline, which represents Lexington Avenue, has a sea of cabs racing across. On the doors of the cabs have the name of the agency and year I was working there. On the roof of some of the cabs are names of clients that I worked on. The cabs with no ads signifies that I did no work of any consequence. The cab drivers represent the Creative Directors of the agencies, their expressions show how they were. If they were nice and calm, they are smiling and driving relaxed. But if they were crazy (unrealistic deadlines, unbelievable egos, etc.) the driver looks as he drives recklessly.

The street Creative, which represents 45th Street, has people (which are my ideas) eagerly waiting to cross the street. Almost all New Yorkers do not wait for the light to turn green. They risk crossing the street to get their destination, on time. The reason for the people having street lights for heads is fun. Yellow-headed people are new ideas while Green-headed people are old ideas. The traffic lights represent the ideas I have. Red lit lights mean the idea is not ready to be used while green lit lights race across the street in attempts to be used for the pitch.

As the ideas race across the street some of the cab drivers try to kill the ideas.

The Ambulance represents all the people who try to save the idea from being ruined by an egotistical creative / art director.

The Bus signifies Bus Driver painting. I met John B at Cline, Davis, and Mann. We spoke about how our ideas always got shot down and how we should go and start our own thing. The sign beside the bus reads 'Lucky Dog', the first agency John tried starting on his own. A year later 2think would be started.

The cyclist represents how I sometimes drove my bike to Cline, Davis, & Mann. My reference for the bike was based on a drawing Leo Espinosa.