Al Doggett Graphic Designer and Fine Art Painter

As I sat in his comfortable living room, Al Doggett described his early years and then the details of his move to Seattle. Born in Brooklyn, he first showed an interest in art when he was in the second grade and he became the class artist in the fifth grade. He loved drawing and telling stories. He was fortunate to gain entry to the School of Art and Design in Manhattan where he learned how to illustrate professionally. He then went to the Fashion Institute of Technology and supported himself with freelance work. Finally, he attended the Art Students League, but at this point in the early 1960s he decided that he wanted to leave New York.

Al Doggett 2026

In 1962, he took the greyhound bus all the way across the country, arriving in Seattle at the same time as the World’s Fair. He took his portfolio to various advertising agencies but nobody was interested in hiring him. At that point he returned to New York and became an apprentice for a top studio and began looking up advertising agencies in Seattle. On the basis of five responses to his letters he moved to Seattle in 1967 and made contact with creative directors. He stated that by then he had a much better portfolio and he was able to move forward. He also was able to buy his current home in Madrona.

He pursued both fine and commercial art. He did work for the Urban League and projects for the Bon Marché art department. He trained high school students and he had five employees helping him.

In the mid-1990s, the world of illustration went digital. Doggett retrained himself and continued to work. In addition to his professional work, he also taught art classes to children and adults, and workshops at local schools and museums. The youth used to come and hang out at his house and when they grew up they came back to visit. Doggett was also connected to their families.

His painting series of the “Images of Africa” includes careful profile images of women from different tribes. Maasai Elder gives us a stunning profile against a huge sun and glowing sunset landscape. Another series “Essence of Youth” includes children in many poses, sitting, thinking, and dancing. In “Beauty Parlor” a young girl is doing her mother’s hair and the mother is doing her daughter’s hair below her. They are seated on the front steps of their home.

“Family Tree” has three generations of an African American family proudly arranged for the portrait in a triangle. They are all dressed in elegant turn-of-the-century clothes.

Liberty Bank building Courtyard, 2016

But one of Doggett’s most stunning and accessible works is the mural that he created for the entrance wall of the Liberty Bank Building. The Liberty Bank had been the first bank to loan mortgages to African Americans when the law was changed in 1968. Now it has 115 affordable apartments. Al Doggett and Esther Ervin commissioned seven African American artists to create work for the building. Doggett’s beautiful mural, visible from the street, features a tall saxophone player with a dancer and a painter against a bright orange background. The mural suggests the rhythms of the music and the high energy of the three figures. He has commented that it was difficult to arrange the figures around the windows, but the mural is magnificent. Doggett also created other murals and paintings at the Liberty Bank Building, but they are inside the building. We need to ask for a tour!

~Susan Platt