I’m a beer fan, so I’ve been crazy honored and excited to be creating the artwork for my favorite brewery in Brooklyn, Strong Rope. They make kick ass beers, including great stouts, they’re dog friendly and just all around friendly.
All of these cans are attached to a story or a period of a larger overall story. As a sci-fi, fantasy nerd, this overall story is fantastical, magical with cool creatures, creation, destruction, exploration. The owners (Brewmaster Jason and his wife who’s in the design field Christina), have been so much fun to collaborate with, explore new concepts and generally grow these artworks as their brewery grows as well.
Seriously though, go buy some of this beer, then take my artwork, peel off the label and stick it somewhere cool.
Young Lion of the West (Cream Ale) is an ouroboros creature, symbolizing destruction and creation in a cycle (or the infinity of birth and death). It comes at the point in the story where a canal (like the Erie canal) breaks and ruins destruction on the known world. Bad ass. The cream ale is a nod to upstate, western New York Genesee cream ale.
Seeds of Love and Outrage (IPA) is a creature born of magic emerging from post industrial machine parts and nature/plants. It’s got a weird gear mouth, crawls around similar to a crab and has an antenna array on it’s head. It’s a sneaky little communicator.
Galactic Travel Constant (Stout) is a weird, unknown space object/construction with a scout satellite appearing in the scene to check this weird shit out. The object is inspired by the Spanish architecture such as the Metropol Parasol in Seville and pretty much all of Santiago Calatrava’s works. Seriously, he designs some otherworldly things, the first time I encountered his work was in the year 2000 while it was still being constructed in Valencia. It blew my mind. Closer to home he designed the Oculus of the World Trade Center Transport hub. Check him out, for real.
Blood of Gods (Red) is a point where the main character confronts a bad ass, fuck you up right quick dragon. The background is all hand painted, giving this textural quality to the dark scene.
Tenacity of Cones and Bines (IPA) is in the same creature series of all the IPA’s. This being some Octopus, squid, whale fish made up on gears and steam pipes.
J.J. Bollerack’s (Brown) is the main character, as an explorer, creator and inventor just discovering this new world. The background world is all inspired by my bike ride through Corsica, France at the time of the creation. My wife helped me draw some of the dudes vintage gear, because she designed vintage clothing for a long time.
Field Drinker (IPA) is another magical, machine character of a hop harvesting robot in a filed of barley.
Trophy Cat (Blond), not pictured yet. It’s an Egyptian cat god, with all these astrological, magic cat themed surroundings. They hieroglyphics “spell” out Strong Rope Brewery and have pictograms of all the ingredients of beer. Yea, I’m a thoughtful dude, I pay attention to details.
Ripe and Ruin (IPA), not pictured yet. It’s a hop eating/processing worm, like earthworms it’s crawling around in a pile of hops doing it’s thing… which is pretty much eating and shitting out some great stuff… like worms do.
Fat Man Little Stout (Stout), not pictured yet. It’s a kick ass tugboat like spaceship transporting cargo through this trippy worm hole. The beer won an award as best beer in the 2020 NYC Beer Awards. Kick ass.
Backroad Odyssey (Ale), not pictured yet. It’s a hiker setting off on some upstate roads during fall time. Feel good one, leaves have color and there’s no New Yorker’s on the road honking at you or trying to run you over.
