I’ve always wanted to create a "full front" print design, where the design fills up most or all of the front of the T-shirt. I’ve always loved how they look, and how intricate they often are. This is my first such design. I had a lot of fun making it!

This design was inspired by the famous "crew cut" portrait of Lincoln taken in February of 1865. As an 80s fan and a Lincoln fan, I’ve always loved this striking portrait of Lincoln. It shows Lincoln with an unusually short "crew cut" style haircut, perhaps because at this time sculptor Clark Mills was creating a life mask of Lincoln’s face. The plaster used to create the mask stuck to his hair, so Lincoln needed his hair cut short.

In the 1980s, this style of haircut became popular. So did bright neon colors, which I’ve always liked. It seemed only fitting that as a Lincoln fan, an 80s fan, and an artist, I’d create a T-shirt using this picture of Lincoln and bright 80s colors.

I figured that a design of this nature would look awesome as a "full front" print. Furthermore, it was simple enough that I could use it to "test" full front printing, but complex enough to be interesting and see how it would work before I made a very complex and intricate full front print design.

The results were spectacular, and I plan to make many more "full front" print T-shirts. The "80s Abe" represents a Lincoln for my generation, and for newer generations that have come to love the 80s. Lincoln, his words, and his memory have been invoked by every generation through the ages, and the 80s were no different. During that time, the "house divided" became a metaphor for the division between the Western democracies and the communist Eastern bloc countries, and his words were often used to extoll the virtues of democracy and promote its spread.

The fight for Lincoln’s ideals continues today. I chose to print this design on American Apparel, a sweatshop free, made in America T-shirt brand. I don’t think Lincoln would believe in sweatshop labor, so I won’t use brands of T-shirts that are made that way. I think he would want things to be made ethically, in a manner in which the workers have rights, so I make sure to make my T-shirts in accordance with his beliefs. These T-shirts are soft, comfortable, and durable, too – and I think Lincoln would like that!

Enjoy the T-shirt, enjoy Lincoln and the 80s, and feel good about it, too!

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However, the speech was soon recognized as a masterpiece. It became an eloquent embodiment of the ideas of freedom, democracy, and equality, and of the sacrifices made to maintain, and improve, those things. Down through the ages, its words have been interpreted countless different ways and for many different purposes. It has been memorized by countless schoolchildren, and I can recite it from memory.

Within my lifetime, the words of the Gettysburg Address have been used on both the anniversary of the 9/11 attacks and at the pro-democracy protests in Tiananmen Square in 1989. It’s been used in advertising and in political campaigns and speeches, including Obama’s. The immortal and multicultural nature of the Gettysburg Address inspired me to create this T-shirt.

I made each of the 272 words of the speech (in red on the T-shirt) a different font, to reflect different eras and different cultures. I spent many hours tweaking the fonts to get them to play well together and look nice. I added this on top of a large blue picture of Abraham Lincoln, along the right side of his face. The picture of Lincoln is based off a portrait of him taken on November 8, 1863, 11 days before he gave the Gettysburg Address. I felt it was fitting and proper to use a portrait of Lincoln that was taken at around the same time as the address.

As finishing touches, I added Lincoln’s signature, the date (November 19, 1863), and the title, “Address Delivered at the Cemetery at Gettysburg”. This is from the so-called “Bliss copy” of the address, the last revision Lincoln made of the address and the text most commonly used as the standard text for the address.

Now you can contribute to the immortality of the address – and of the man who gave it – by wearing them both on a T-shirt. Neat, isn’t it? Check out the Lincoln Apparel website and my Etsy shop for my new Lincoln "Immortal Words at Gettysburg" T-shirts. The T-shirts are screen printed, and they are 100% cotton and are made right here in the U.S.A.

Here’s some more fun facts about the Gettysburg Address:

* There are only 10 sentences in the Gettysburg Address.
* Lincoln likely spent several weeks working on his address. Lincoln was known to take his time writing speeches, polishing them until they were “perfect”.
* No, Lincoln didn’t write it on the back of an envelope on the train to Gettysburg. The ride was bumpy and it was only 70 minutes long. In addition, none of the surviving copies appear on an envelope and the earliest known copy is on White House stationery.
* Lincoln likely did finish working on his address at the Wills House, where he stayed in Gettysburg the night before the speech.
* There are 5 different surviving copies of the address in Lincoln’s hand known today. These are known as the Nicolay, Hay, Everett, Bancroft, and Bliss copies (in that order). They all differ slightly. Supposedly there is a 6th copy (the delivery copy) of the address in Lincoln’s hand but it has not been found.
* The Everett copy is the one that the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum here in Springfield has.
* The Nicolay and Hay copies are at the Library of Congress. The Bancroft copy is at Cornell University, and the Bliss copy is in the Lincoln Bedroom at the White House (which was Lincoln’s office during his time).
* The words “under God” were added in the Everett copy.
* The last three copies were made as souvenirs. The Bliss copy was made because the Bancroft copy did not fit the format the printer was going to use properly. The dates and the titles were added in these.

Enjoy the new T-shirts and have some Lincoln fun!

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The 9 new pictures:

* Lincoln Home: This upper middle class house on the northeast corner of 8th and Jackson was the only home Lincoln ever owned. He lived here from 1844 to 1861 (when he left to be inaugurated as President). He probably spent the best years of his life here. The house was built in 1839 by the Rev. Charles Dresser, who also presided over the Lincolns’ wedding in 1842. When Lincoln bought the house, it was only 1 1/2 stories tall, and they added onto it over the years. The home was given to the state of Illinois in 1887 by Lincoln’s son Robert and then (along with the 4-block-square area surrounding it) to the National Park Service in 1972. One of the stipulations Robert made in the transfer of the home to the government is that it must always be free to tour, and that of course is still true today.

* Skyline from the 400 block of North 11th Street: If you recognize this photo, it’s because I used it (well, a version from a past year) to make my blog header image. I love the pretty lights and the urban feel. You can see the Hilton, the Convention Center, the President Abraham Lincoln Hotel, the Horace Mann Building, the State Capitol and the Myers Building from here.

* 600 block of East Capitol Avenue, Looking West from 7th Street: This is my favorite point along Capitol Avenue to take a streetscape shot looking directly towards the Capitol. To the right is the First Presbyterian Church, which the Lincolns attended (albeit not at this location), and visible down the street are restaurants and shops.

* 600 block of East Monroe Street, Looking West from 7th Street: This busy block has the Federal Building on the left, and a state office building on the right, and restaurants in the distance. For some reason, the traffic pattern at the 7th/Monroe intersection makes it tricky to take this streetscape shot.

* 600 block of East Adams Street, Looking West from 7th Street: Taken from the north sidewalk of the street instead of in the middle, because I like it that way. This vibrant block connects the hotels with the Adams Street Mall and the 5th and 6th Street corridors in the distance. It is lined with shops and restaurants and is one of the main corridors in downtown Springfield. The Illinois Building is visible on the right in the distance.

* West Side of the Square: Like the South Side of the Square shot, this one features the sun shining on the buildings. Which means that it was taken in the morning, and I’m not a morning person, so this one was little difficult to get. But I like the feel of this picture, somehow calming, yet urban, and vibrant. The tall building on the far right is the Myers Building, and Lincoln’s last law office was in the spot where this building now is. (The Myers Building was built in 1886.) The Chatterton Building, the 2nd building from the left, is a Lincoln-era building that housed a jewelry store where Lincoln bought Mary Todd’s wedding ring.

* Old State Capitol: This was the tallest building in Illinois when it was completed in 1839. Lincoln served his last two terms in the State Legislature here, and it was here that he gave his famous “House Divided” speech. This building remained the State Capitol until 1876 when state government outgrew the structure, thus necessitating the need for the New State Capitol.

* View from the 800 block of East Jefferson Street: While walking to the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum one day, I noticed that there was a point on this block where you could see the domes of both the old and the new State Capitols, and where the domes of each of the State Capitols both have the same apparent size. This is a shot of this, viewed through the columns of the Horace Mann building on this block, and the trees on its grounds.

* State Capitol: This is the tallest building in the city, at 405 feet high. It is so large it is impossible to get the whole thing in, so I just got the dome. The building is often referred to as the “New State Capitol” to distinguish it from the old one, even though it was completed in 1876. This building is the State Capitol building today, and it is located where 1st Street and Capitol Avenue would intersect if they ran that far.

The 9 new pics:

Lincoln Home	Skyline from the 400 block of North 11th Street
600 block of East Capitol Avenue, Looking West from 7th Street	600 block of East Monroe Street, Looking West from 7th Street
600 block of East Adams Street, Looking West from 7th Street	West Side of the Square
Old State Capitol	View from the 800 block of East Jefferson Street
State Capitol

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The design is entitled, “Back to Springfield”. I wanted to portray Lincoln as if he came back to his hometown for his 200th birthday this year. I always thought it’d be neat if Lincoln was around to witness the 200th year of his life. This inspired me to base the design on the last known photographic portrait of him taken on February 5, 1865. To represent Lincoln coming back to Springfield, I wanted him to be standing in front of a recognizable modern Springfield landmark he would be proud of, so I chose his museum. Since Lincoln is a figure to be celebrated, particularly during the year of his Bicentennial, I wanted to create a celebratory mood. The fireworks idea just kind of came to me after that and after all the other pieces fell into place.

This was my first full-color design, so I didn’t know how well it was going to turn out at the beginning. When I got done with it, I knew it was going to be awesome. Because this shirt turned out so well and has been such a great success so far, I plan on keeping the picture used in this design around for next year, but next year’s shirt will mention something other than the Bicentennial, so get yours while they last!

Enjoy the shirts!

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