Frederick Douglass and Anna Murray Douglass Illustration Project

Commissioned by: Frederick Douglass Family Initiatives, An organization founded by the direct descendants of Frederick Douglass located in Rochester, New York. Their mission is to advocate for a more equitable world on the issues of human trafficking and racism.

Design Brief: Members at FDFI had become aware of my work through an image commissioned by organizations in the Chapel Hill-Carrboro area of North Carolina to mark the Frederick Douglass Bicentennial celebration. They commissioned a digital portrait illustration of Frederick Douglass referencing a provided source photo. The image would be created in the style established by the Bicentennial portrait. Two versions would be created: one including the full portrait and a cut-out design. Versions of the design needed to be print-ready for direct-to-garment t-shirt printing and smaller applications like sticker printing or social media sharing. Later, I was commissioned again to produce a similar portrait with the same specs of Douglass’ first wife, Anna Murray Douglass from a provided reference photo. This portrait was needed for an event planned to honor Anna Murray Douglass and bring her story to a wider audience.

Scope of Project: I created the Frederick Douglass and Anna Murray Douglass portraits using an illustration technique I developed initially with hand painted portraits. The face is made created using shapes and patterns utilizing carefully chosen colors so the portrait retains it’s recognizable nature. Large portraits were illustrated first and the cut out version for t-shirt printing was made from these large images. From there smaller print-ready and web-ready versions were created.

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Reference photo of Frederick Douglass provided by The Frederick Douglass Family Initiatives

The final full Frederick Douglass portrait design

(image is watermarked for display purposes)

The final Frederick Douglass portrait design in a cut out shape for printing on T-shirts, stickers, and more

(image is watermarked for display purposes)

A Frederick Douglass portrait T-shirt

Kenneth B. Morris, Jr., the Founder and President of Frederick Douglass Family Iniatiatives and the great-great-great grandson of Frederick Douglass, wearing a t-shirt featuring the portrait cut out design.

Reference photo of Anna Murray Douglass provided by The Frederick Douglass Family Initiatives

The final full Anna Murray Douglass portrait design

(image is watermarked for display purposes)

The final Anna Murray Douglass portrait design in a cut out shape for printing on T-shirts, stickers, and more

(image is watermarked for display purposes)

An Anna Murray Douglass portrait T-shirt

The Arena Stage cast of American Prophet, wearing the Frederick Douglass and Anna Murray Douglass shirts before singing the National Anthem at a Washington Nationals game in 2022. American Prophet is a musical incorporating Frederick Douglass’ own writings. (From the Arena Stage Twitter page)

The Arena Stage cast of American Prophet, wearing the Frederick Douglass and Anna Murray Douglass shirts before singing the National Anthem at a Washington Nationals game in 2022. American Prophet is a musical incorporating Frederick Douglass’ own writings. (From the Arena Stage Twitter page)