Client: Red Bull
I normally don’t paint many murals but when Red Bull asked me to paint one in their new Denver office I couldn’t say no! All my murals actually start off as a linoleum carving. I’m not good at painting (that’s why I carve) so I have to project the artwork on the wall so I can draw outlines before starting to paint. This way the finished mural retains the look and feel of an actual block print. Working on this was a lot of fun. It’s almost 30 feet long and I never would have been able to finish it without the help of my good buddy (and artist) Max Kauffman! —John Fellows
Client: Weston Backcountry
Medium: Linoleum Carving and Computer
I had been working with Weston on a few projects and when they mentioned the idea for this t-shirt, it sounded too fun to pass up. They were just about to start a road trip to various resorts around the Northern Rockies and Pacific Northwest and wanted a tee that they could pass out to people they met along the way. Weston has a tiny home they drive around and use as a mobile office/showroom/camper so they wanted to represent that as a Viking ship sailing across the seas ready to conquer distant pow fields. —John Fellows
Client: Keen Footwear
Medium: Linoleum Carving and Computer
If you look back through my work you’ll notice I rarely portray women. I think because it’s just easier to draw an old guy with a burly beard. I guess I’m lazy… So when Keen asked me to create a tee graphic for their women’s apparel line I was excited and nervous at the same time. I really wanted to design something that I would be proud of and that would be worthy of all the badass mountain women out there. The thought behind this design was to show a woman remembering all her outdoor experiences. The wind is blowing through her hair reminding her of past alpine and ocean adventures and the places she loves. —John Fellows
Client: Armada Skis
Medium: Linoleum Carving Collage on vintage topo map of Switzerland
Designing skis had always been a dream project, so when Armada came calling and asked me to create a graphic for the Kufo needless to say I was beyond stoked. I had been skiing on the Armada JJs for a few years already so it seemed like a perfect fit to work with them. The Kufo was made for backcountry touring so I thought I could create a piece of art that spanned both skis showing a lone skier skinning deep into the mountains. This was the largest piece I had created up to that time (almost 4 feet tall with the map). I’m still super proud of this one! —John Fellows
Medium: Linoleum Carving Collage on vintage topo map c. 1934.
I skied Chamonix back in 2012 with my wife and some friends and had always wanted to make a piece that represented that experience and how big those mountains were. At the time this was probably one of the hardest pieces I had ever made due to the amount of layers in it. Chamonix-Sixt was created in my linoleum carving collage style which is when I take a single carved block and print it on a variety of old found paper, cut every piece out and reglue it all back together to get the finished artwork. All the color you see is actually the tone of the paper the block was printed on. —John Fellows
Client: Element Skateboards
Medium: Linoleum Carving
I had done board graphics for Element before but they were all a single self-contained design. When asked to work on a new series, we came up with the idea of the three pros being animals and playing in a bluegrass band (since Garcia actually plays the banjo). I had always wanted to create a single carving that would flow continuously across decks and this seemed like the perfect time to do that. I’m not a huge fan of using lots of color in my work, so I was stoked when I was able to convince them to only use black ink with pops of white on natural wood decks. I felt that would make these stand out in the sea of boards at the local skate shop. —John Fellows
Artwork provided by the artist.
NAME: John Fellows
OCCUPATIONS: Graphic Designer, Illustrator, Muralist, Printmaker
LOCATION: Crested Butte, Colorado, USA
ART: johnfellowsart.com | Instagram @jfellows56