DIGITAL ILLUSTRATION GALLERY
ALVIN AILEY GRAVITY
This project came out of my desire to both play more with various rendering styles for photography, as well as forays into texture and bold color contrast. I’m messing with some styles for some client projects, so what better way to experiment than with a completely unrelated and made up assignment?
I admired the clean and confident lines in the poses struck by Alvin Ailey dancers. I decided to isolate them from their staged backgrounds, and render them transparent using a fine digital grain brush. I intertwined them with a typeface that resembled the graceful lines and curves made by their very perfect bodies, via text that reads “the grace of an Alvin Ailey dancer.” (Yes, it’s corny and on the nose, but the truth often is. Besides, this is just an exercise so I don’t get too precious about copy, while also avoiding the Latin gibberish often used for graphic design sample copy.)
Alvin Ailey Grace, Valerie Caesar, 2026.
The shapes of the dancers are so defined that they almost read like alphabetic characters, and they are so emotionally expressive, that after this first experimentation with that simple, single phrase, I couldn’t help pairing them with poetic copy that gives more shape to their relationships, and a passionate, near-neon red handwritten text shouting out the iconic choreographer.
Alvin Ailey Gravity, Valerie Caesar, 2026.
Again, this was just an exercise in graphic design, but when I was done, I became enamored with it. I could see it as a poster, print, t-shirt or greeting card. Perhaps I’ll make that happen in my shop. No promises, though!
Alvin Ailey Gravity (greeting card), Valerie Caesar, 2026.
A CLOSER LOOK
Watch the first short video at the full screen setting to see the making of both images, and then the second to hear the music paired with Alvin Ailey Gravity, and to view it in closer detail.