Several years ago I painted some artwork for Trail Life USA members to use freely for their group purposes. I didn’t have great success in connecting that art with members so only a small number ever found the artwork and had an opportunity to make use of it. Since the Trail Life USA graphics and clipart pieces weren’t being found or used very much I stopped creating new art. I recently joined Facebook and discovered that is where most of the TLUSA activity is online now so I’ve decided to bring back the free artwork collection and start sharing it again!
The purpose of this artwork is to give Trail Life USA members and groups some free clip art type graphics to help with various group activities. i.e.: for use on group websites, social media, newsletters, notices, awards, cards etc. I also welcome TLUSA members to make use of almost any of my other artwork and photographic images found on this site too (most, but not all images are available so please ask before using).
I was so eager to get moving on the artwork that I painted these pieces even before the uniforms were available to members. I studied the concept illustrations and photos of prototype/sample uniforms, polo shirts and t-shirts which were displayed months before any actual uniforms were available for purchase. As people put their names on the waiting list to advance-order their uniforms I was very tempted to put my name on the list too. Having the actual uniform items to work with would help me greatly in completing TLUSA artwork!
Why did I create the artwork?
In the 1990s I was deeply involved in the creation of an independent Scouting movement in Canada, formed as a more accessible and fully volunteer-run alternative to “Scouts Canada”, the essentially for-profit national Scouting organization. There had been (and still is) a great deal of controversy and dissatisfaction with the national organization. Many people want to get out and find something better, affordable, meaningful and in touch with their interests. The motivations, experience and process of organizing the new independent movement was very similar to what TLUSA went through. We also first attempted to be heard by our national corporate organization and when that failed we left and went through the complicated and lengthy process of creating a new alternative organization for our kids.
Starting a new Scouting-like movement involved numerous tasks and jobs, one of them being the creation of logos, badges, artwork and graphics people could use to promote their new groups. The national organization we walked away from had over 100 years worth of that material to fall back on but we had to start creating new material, and quickly too in order to meet the needs of all the new groups sprouting up. In recent times I could see that this had become a great need for TLUSA too.
I wanted to create some work to help meet that need, and feel that every time I add to the pool of artwork available to TLUSA it reduces the need for the organization to go out and spend money on graphics companies to produce art. This helps keep some resources within TLUSA to use on things of greater benefit to the members.
How you can help
This work is my gift to TLUSA but I need your help to get it out there. Even if you don’t have a need to use the artwork or photos please share this page with your TLUSA friends so if they ever need the work they will know where to find it.
To use the artwork or photos on this site please know it may be used for free and only for TLUSA purposes. The images may not be resold or redistributed as clip art or graphics in any form. Please do not attempt to host the image files and redistribute them to other users needing TLUSA clipart. Each user needs to come only to this site to acquire use of the images. If you ever see anyone violating these conditions please let me know asap.
The reason I need this site to be the sole hub for distributing the images is to help me know where and how the images are being used. This helps me learn how to continue improving the collection for you. If I am kept out of that loop then I won’t be able to continue creating and donating work.
To begin using any artwork or photos from the site please consider subscribing to this website, and also “Liking” my Facebook page (see top right sidebar to subscribe and Like). When new photos and new artwork is shared these are the places you will see the work first. Being a subscriber and Facebook follower too may also help me to learn a little about you so I can feel comfortable in knowing that the work is going to an actual TLUSA group or member.
Many of the images are available in sizes suitable for screen as well as for print. To use any of the graphics, paintings or photos from this site please let me know, via the Contact form, the image(s) you’re interested in and the size you need so I can send you files optimized for your needs. Also, the prominent website watermarks seen in these samples will be removed in the copies you receive.
To help identify the images you would like to use you may right-click to copy the image filename or image location, then paste that info into your message to me. In some cases it may be easier for you to simply send me the link to the page where the image is displayed. There are numerous ways to identify images so go with whatever you feel is easiest and I’ll work it out from there.
In the coming days and weeks I’ll continue sharing individual pieces of Trail Life USA artwork at larger sizes in posts on this site as well as on my Facebook page. Please remember to subscribe to both and consider sharing too! This helps you see the work as soon as it comes available and it will help spread the word so other people in TLUSA can find and use this free resource too. As long as I see some interest in the images it will keep me interested in creating and sharing them.
In closing I’d like to put this out there – it may be a long shot but worth a try! I imagine by now there may be some Trail Life USA uniform items that have seen a fair bit of good use and need to be taken out of circulation due to being overly worn out in some way. I could really put those items to more good use! I’d rather not acquire any uniform items that might still be wearable by any of the boys. If I had perfectly usable items I’d want to donate them to a member in need. Items in poor shape and need to be retired are fine. As long as the overall colors closely match a new item it wouldn’t matter to me if there are stains, holes, paint splatter or marks, missing buttons, broken zippers, frays or any other significant damage or defects. Any size is fine but it would be ideal to have the smallest sizes available since those are the sizes of the boys I have who could model clothing for a painting. Again, I’m not picky and can work with larger sizes too as I mainly need to see colors, textures and fine details. I would be happy just to see anything at all in any size or condition. If you know of any old and unusable uniform items out there, or have any that you’d like to see go to good use, please let me know. Thanks!
Otter