Warren Dayton is an American illustrator, artist and graphic designer best known for his posters from

psychedelic art Psychedelic art (also known as psychedelia) is art, graphics or visual displays related to or inspired by psychedelic experiences and hallucinations known to follow the ingestion of psychedelic drugs such as LSD, psilocybin, and DMT. The word ...

era, a pioneer of the use of T-shirts as an art medium, creator of corporate branding & logos such as

Thomas Kinkade William Thomas Kinkade III (January 19, 1958 – April 6, 2012) was an American painter of popular realistic, pastoral, and idyllic subjects. He is notable for achieving success during his lifetime with the mass marketing of his work ...

’s Lightpost Publishing, and internationally award-winning book, editorial, commercial illustration and typography. Dayton's work ranges from funny and whimsical drawings used in many magazines and books, corporate branding and logos to illustrated features and books that have been honored by selection in design competitions and earned grants from the

National Endowment for the Arts The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal ...

. He has authored and illustrated several books that have become collectors items; he continues to illustrate murals, posters and books. He founded Artifact, Ink studios in 2001 and currently works in the studio in the Sierra Foothills with several other artists and designers.

Biography

Warren Lloyd Dayton was born March 1, 1940 in Sacramento, California as the fourth generation of an early California pioneering art family. He won a scholarship to

Chouinard Art Institute The Chouinard Art Institute was a professional art school founded in 1921 by Nelbert Murphy Chouinard (1879–1969) in the Westlake neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. In 1961, Walt and Roy Disney guided the merger of the Chouinard Art I ...

in Los Angeles in 1961 (now known as

California Institute of the Arts The California Institute of the Arts (CalArts) is a private art university in Santa Clarita, California. It was incorporated in 1961 as the first degree-granting institution of higher learning in the US created specifically for students of both ...

, or CalArts) where he studied illustration and advertising design. After working in ad agencies in southern California, he began a freelance career in 1965. In 1967, Dayton pioneered reproducing wearable art on

t-shirts A T-shirt (also spelled tee shirt), or tee, is a style of fabric shirt named after the T shape of its body and sleeves. Traditionally, it has short sleeves and a round neckline, known as a ''crew neck'', which lacks a collar. T-shirts are generall ...

, unique enough at the time to warrant a feature in

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the U ...

West Magazine. Upon the emergence of the Hippies and explosion of counterculture art, Dayton's posters such as “Quack” and “Now” came to be highly collected from 1967–1973 and were featured on the cover and lead article about the

phenomenon in Life Magazine. Warren Dayton's posters can be seen in films and documentaries of the hippie and

Haight-Ashbury Haight-Ashbury () is a district of San Francisco, California, named for the intersection of Haight and Ashbury streets. It is also called The Haight and The Upper Haight. The neighborhood is known as one of the main centers of the counterculture ...

era, such as

American Experience ''American Experience'' is a television program airing on the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) in the United States. The program airs documentaries, many of which have won awards, about important or interesting events and people in American his ...

: Summer of Love (PBS Broadcasting, June 2007). After converting to Christianity in 1974, Dayton founded Prints of Peace publishing the work of 12 Christian artists including fellow Chouinard (CalArts) alumni and psychedelic poster artist,

Rick Griffin Richard Alden "Rick" Griffin (June 18, 1944 – August 18, 1991) was an American artist and one of the leading designers of psychedelic posters in the 1960s. As a contributor to the underground comix movement, his work appeared regularly in ...

. In 1985, Dayton moved to the Sierra’s near Placerville, California, where he currently lives and works. Warren Dayton began the design studio, ArtiFact, Ink in 2001. Recent awards include a poster chosen for the 2009 & 2008

Society of Illustrators of Los Angeles The Society of Illustrators of Los Angeles (SILA) was founded in 1953 by a group of Southern California artists and designers "...to promote the professional status of illustration art as well as foster both philanthropic and educational goals". ...

national competition ''Illustration West''. He does work for charities, such as logos and mastheads for Focus on the Family and Habitat for Humanity, murals for an orphanage in Mexico and other worthy causes, and continues to publish limited-edition prints. His poster for the ballet Coppélia, created for Stages: Northern California Performing Arts has been selected as an example of modern poster design in the article about

history of graphic design History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbrella term comprising past events as well ...

Awards

Warren Dayton’s work was selected many times for juried showcase awards publications, including

2009 Certificate of Merit and show annual publication ''Illustration West '' (3 inclusions: 2009 certificate and gallery for "Illustration West 47", 2008 “Illustration West 46” and Illustration West 26”, see reference below), Graphis Inc. - The International Journal of Visual Communication (5 inclusions magazine and annual, 1966–1972), Communication Arts Magazine and Annual (2 times inclusion), the Los Angeles Art Director's Club Show and the New York Art Director’s Club.The 35th Annual of the Art Directors Club of New York, 1965,'' Seattle Repertory Theatre Logo''

References

External links

Warren Dayton's Art Website & Blog showing new portfolio work and professional illustration and design comments

ArtiFact, Ink Website showing work by Warren Dayton
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dayton, Warren 1940 births Living people Converts to Christianity American graphic designers American poster artists 20th-century American painters American male painters 21st-century American painters 21st-century American male artists American cartoonists Psychedelic artists Artists from Sacramento, California Painters from California 20th-century American male artists