Donald Robertson is crazy cool. He’s also crazy talented and crazy funny. He was my creative director, and he got me. We communicated in short, unfinished sentences and drawings. He was quick like me, had no attention span, and no patience. He was always doodling—during our meetings, in his office, almost everywhere. The doodles became colorful drawings, shopping bags, framed art on store walls, and gifts for some big creatives we worked with.
Then one day, this creative director opened an Instagram account called Drawbertson and became an in-demand working artist, commissioned by top department stores and very fancy people. He sells his paintings, drawings, prints, and occasionally collaborates on cool items like mugs, puzzles, and wallpaper. He has published a couple of very cool books and teaches funky art classes that look like so much fun.
He’s had shows of his art in LA, Palm Beach, New York, and I’m sure many other places. These are some of the drawings he did while we were working together on my glass line with Harlow, my book, and even a pitch I won that was sent to Howard Schultz at Starbucks. We both thought it was a good idea; Howard, not so much.
This is only a small smattering of Donald's work, and I'm pretty obsessed. I love this piece I bought of Ruth Bader Ginsburg and framed it for my office. It sits near the Queen, from another artist I love endlessly. It's featured on a wall in our JRB headquarters office.
Here’s Donald's newest book! I think it’s his second or third. If you go to one of his shows and can’t afford the hefty price for the book (which is well worth it), he lets you tear out some pages, and he signs them so you can frame them.
Here’s a glimpse of some epic Donald drawings, but I haven’t even touched the surface.
There’s so much more to this guy from Canada. Donald is also married to the saint of a wife I call the ultimate cool girl, Kim, and they have four kids. He’s also hysterically funny. When he talks about his family on Instagram, it would make a quite interesting reality show. Forget the Baldwins. I think the Robertsons would be way more interesting.
I hold close to my heart the Louis Vuitton shopping bag he painted with a now not-so-popular rapper, and he’s kind enough to cover it for me.
And lastly, before that famous banana was taped on a wall at Art Basel Miami, Donald drew me my own one-of-a-kind Louis Vuitton banana. Luckily, I took a picture because it pretty much turned brown and I had to throw it out.
I think it’s time to commission a Plofker extended family painting with loads of bold color to adorn a wall of my beige and grey house.
INSTAGRAM: @DRAWBERTSON
WEBSITE: Donalddrawbertson.com
Love him, and what a glamorous painting of you!♥️
Love him and have been following his work for a while! He seems like to most fun human on earth! I totally want his book! Or maybe a page!