In the Spotlight: Christian Musselman

I had seen a couple of images by the illustrator Jim Flora that utilized the stacking of different style buildings. In particular, some of his work for Fortune magazine. Flora was well known for his whimsical illustration style — almost cartoon-like, but very sophisticated in terms of style — in the 1940s and ’50s. It’s very different from mine, but one particular image he did prompted me to consider what it might be like to vertically stack buildings of different styles. Most of the mid-century modern homes I illustrate are very horizontal, so this was a fun way to create a more a vertical image while using some of the most iconic home styles: butterfly roof, international style, flat-roof style, low slung and Wexler style roofline. I thought it would be fun to stack them up as though they were part of a vertical community while playing off their different iconic styling, furnishings, lighting, etc.

William Logan [Modern in Denver publisher] had seen another illustration I had done for Palm Springs. Together, we wanted to develop an illustration that would embody the stacked homes concept, but make it more appropriate to Denver. So there is a rendition of a Cliff May home inspired by a Harvey Park neighborhood home. I also used elements like aspen trees, cairn stacked red rocks like you see on hiking trails in the area, a distant Denver skyline, and the Sculptured House off I-70. Throughout the image we used some elements that specifically relate to Modern in Denver’s 10th anniversary. Many of the people in the image have MID magazines in their hands — reading them or passing them to other characters. There’s the “10” that sits on the breeze block wall. Even two guys lighting the 10 candles on a cake in the International Style home.