Historical Contributions Of Inventors And Innovators

Alex Savakis illustrated portraits of inventors and innovators. The motivation behind his work came from an online challenge. The Instagram account, TheyDrawAndCook, posted prompts of foods to draw. Instead of drawing food like a Bundt cake he researched then rendered inventors who brought the food to the public. For instance, Ella Helfrich’s second place win for her Tunnel Of Fudge Bundt cake was the impetus behind the rise in popularity of the Bundt cake pan and instant cake mixes in the United States. Uncovering a dispute in Buffalo, New York, between cross town communities over the invention of the Buffalo chicken wing surprised him.

He used an iPad Pro and Apple Pencil to create his portraits. His searches for reference material started in Google. He looked for primary sources like historical societies, libraries, and manufacturers’ histories to ensure his descriptions were accurate. His favorite works are found in magazines as editorial portraits where the subject was placed in their work setting or just simply rendered.

Currently Alex uses his experiences to connect to inventors. For example, as a kid, the first and only gaming system he owned was the Atari 2600. With a story how he acquired the gaming system and a background of Space Invaders he created a portrait of Nolan Bushnell, a co-founder of Atari. Until a book, magazine, or blog needs a portrait Alex’s ongoing project is his life in progress.