Smile You Son of a Bitch — Jaws art tribute show

For the "Smile You Son of a Bitch" an art tribute to "Jaws" show put on by PangeaSeed, artist Craig Drake and Hero Complex Gallery — I decided to do something a little different from what I've normally been doing. 

I've been wanting to get back into sculpting and I recently got flooded with a ton of ideas I really wanted to execute. 

I thought this show would be a great chance to do a sculpture of Quint from "Jaws" showing off his manly strength crushing a beer can after chugging it down.

The piece, titled "Crush It!", is 9" tall by 7" wide. I was inspired to make Quint the way he might look in a Rankin/Bass stop-motion animated film, but with my own style applied to it.

I'll write up a post on how I made it in the near future.

Also, there will be a limited (edition of only 15!) 11" x 17" giclee print of my Quint sculpture depicting the scene from the movie, but in more of a stop-motion animated looking setting. The watermark is not on the actual print.

The show is 3 days only – Nov. 1 -3 with the opening Nov. 1, 7 p.m at Hero Complex Gallery in L.A. It's a special event with a $10 cover but all that goes towards PangeaSeed's conservation & education efforts. Also I'm donating a percentage of my commission fee from any of my sold pieces to PangeaSeed as well. 

Online sales will start sometime on Nov. 2.

There's over 90 artists participating as wells as prop replicas from Greg Nicotero and KNB for viewing. So if you're in L.A. this weekend, go check it out!

Hero Complex Gallery Walking Dead Show

Here it is, my piece for the official Walking Dead Show at Hero Complex Gallery opening this Friday (Oct. 11 at 7) in LA!
The cool thing about this show is that every piece of art was officially approved by AMC's The Walking Dead team.

I admit, I struggled with what to do for the show. I wanted to challenge myself and do something different. I started thinking "why haven't we ever seen a period zombie movie?" like one set in the 1920s?
Then that led me to thinking what an old portrait photograph of Glenn and Maggie would look like from that era and this is what I came up with. 

I executed the piece with ink and ink wash on watercolor paper and got a faux old oval frame to finish off the look of the piece. 

I think it turned out better than I had hopped and I had fun drawing it. 

So if you're in LA and a fan of the series — or just zombies in general— it looks like it's going to be a stellar show so go check it out. 

Saturday Morning Show

I couldn't be more excited to be a part of Ltd. Art Gallery's Saturday Morning Show, and boy, was it hard to figure out what exactly it was I wanted to do. I had so many great memories of watching Saturday morning cartoons and shows growing up. Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends, Muppet Babies, Pee-Wee's Playhouse, X-Men, The Tick… so many great shows. It's certainly a by-gone era that kids these days have no idea how special it was. 

I finally settled on one of my favorite cartoons, The Real Ghostbusters, for inspiration. But not just the cartoon, but the action figures. 

Time was unfortunately a little tight this time around, so my original plan of doing paintings of the action figures had to be put on the back burner, perhaps for another time. But by doing that I think I came up with something that I found more interesting. 

I've been on a bit of a kick of drawing with charcoal on colored paper lately and thought it would lend itself well to these portraits.

If you're a fan, I'm sure you've already figured out that the color of the paper corresponds with the color of jumpsuits they wore. Special thanks to my nephew for providing the reference material, i.e. his figures, since I've long since lost mine.

Titled "Collect All Four", the piece is framed in a 16" x 20" frame and each drawing is about 5" x 7". 

It can be purchased at the gallery in Seattle or online here. 

Also another cartoon related painting of mine, Krang from Teenage Mutant NInja Turtles, can still be purchased here from Ltd. Art Gallery as well.

So if you're there in Seattle, do stop by and take in a really fun show that's bound to stir some great memories of watching cartoons while laying in your Return of the Jedi sleeping bag and eating Frankenberry cereal. Well, at least that's what my Saturday mornings consisted of. 

The Pandorica Opens Doctor Who screen print

My latest piece is a screen print that I've been wanting to do for quite some time. When Planet-Pulp, the online artist group I'm a member of, announced they would be partnering up with Hero Complex Gallery for a physical show all about the color red — I just knew I had to finally do it.

The print, based on "The Pandorica Opens" (and "Big Bang") episode of "Doctor Who" features a lot of red elements, which I thought made it a show-in for the show.

With Rory the Roman's attire, the Doctor's fez and bow tie (because, "they're cool"), Amy's blazing red hair and scarf, the red Dalek and even River's hallucinogenic  lipstick, there is quite a lot of red throughout those two episodes.

The 4-color screen print measures 18" x 24" and is a limited edition of only 50 (since it's the Doctor's 50th anniversary this year). 

Each print is only $35 and can be purchased here through Hero Complex Gallery.

I couldn't be happier with the way the screen print turned out, Rural Rooster in Austin once again did an amazing job printing it.

Big thanks to Adam Smasher at Hero Complex Gallery and Planet-Pulp's Jayson Weidel for letting me be a part of the show!

The Red Show currently runs through the end of next week at their location in LA, so if you're  there, be sure and go check out all the amazing work from other artists.

Shredder and Krang action figure portraits

Earlier this year I picked up an old action figure case from the later part of my childhood that contained a few favorite toys.

I immediately got inspired to do a couple of figure still life portraits — especially when a couple of them were perfect subject matters for a couple of group gallery shows I was in. 

For LTD Art Gallery's Tentacle Show currated by the awesome Bonnie Burton, I did a portrait of my Krang figure from the original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles line. 
Titled "Banished from Dimension X," it's acrylic on 12" x 16" illustration board. The piece is framed and currently on view at the gallery (LAST WEEK! Ends June 1st) and for sale here.

Next was the portrait of Shredder from the top of the post. He's currently a part of Hero Complex Gallery's Arch Nemesis Show. Titled "Tonight I Dine On Turtle Soup," it's acrylic on "15 x 20" illustration board and comes framed. He's currently on display at the gallery in LA through June 16. 
You can buy the original here or get 11" x 14" giclees for $20 here.

Here are some work in progress shots of Shredder from start to finish.

I had a lot of fun painting these and will definitely be doing more action figure portraits in the future. In fact, I just got done with another one. 

G1988's Bad Robot Show

The watermark is not a part of the actual print.

When Gallery 1988 invited me to be a part of their Bad Robot show I just couldn't say no. The hard part was trying decide what to do. So many great films and TV shows have come out of Bad Robot and the mind of J.J. Abrams it was hard to choose. 

I finally decided to do a limited screen print based on one of my favorite episodes of "Fringe" called "Peter." It's a throwback episode that takes place mostly in 1985 and even the opening credits were a call back to '80s sci-fi shows. 

The print is an edition of 20, 13" x 20", $30 each (unframed) and the 1/20 print framed for $60. 

Rural Rooster printing in Austin did an excellent job with the prints for the show. They're great guys to work with and very affordable.

The show opens tonight at G1988's West gallery location. If you're in LA, go check it out — looks like it'll be an amazing show. If not, all remaining art will be available online this weekend.

The Tribute to Judd Apatow Show

For the past few years I've thought about how awesome it would be to be a part of a show at Gallery1988. Finally that goal was realized when I was asked to participate in the "Tribute to Judd Apatow Show" that opened at the Melrose location last night. Judd Apatow himself was there as well as Seth Rogan. Sadly, no I was not there but being a part of the show that included artists that I'm big admirers of was one of the biggest treats I've gotten this year.

"The 40 Year-Old Virgin" is still one of my favorite Judd Apatow films and Andy's obsession with old action figures really spoke to me. For a while I've been wanting to paint Andy as an action figure from the late 70s complete with packaging reminiscent of "The Six Million Dollar Man" figures. 

The piece, titled "Bionic Andy," is acrylic and mixed media on 15" x 20" illustration board and is for sale at the Gallery1988 Melrose location. The Judd Apatow tribute show runs through the end of the year so if you're in LA, go check it out!

Also I was honored that G1988 also featured my piece on their Instagram feed! 

L|td. POP! 2 Show — Best Bat Buds

I was thrilled when I was invited to be a part of L|td. Art Gallery's POP!2 Popular Culture show. Above is the print that I submitted titled "Best Bat Buds." I really can't explain how I came up with the idea of two Caped Crusaders from different eras hanging out drinking beer — it just happened. I'm really glad that idea just popped into my head though, it was just too good not to draw!

The prints are 10" x 12", printed on archival luster paper and a limited edition of 10 with 1/10 being sold framed. 

The POP! 2 show opens tonight at 6 p.m. at the L|td. Gallery in Seattle so stop on by if you're there and check out all the amazing art! More info about the show can be found here.

Really wish I could be there myself! If anyone happens to see my piece there, please take a pic of it and send it my way — I'll post it here and give you credit!

James Bond Illustrations for The Star Tribune

I recently got asked to an assignment I just simply couldn't say no to — draw all the Bonds for a feature in The Star Tribune. As a life long Bond fan, this was a blast to work on.

Mike Rice, Features Design Director at the Star Tribune, hit me up with the opportunity to do that and a few spot illustrations to round out the package. Above is how the front page of the section looked. Below is the jump page that ran inside.

Mike did an amazing job designing the package and helping make my illustrations pop on the page!

Here's a few of the illustrations close up (click to make bigger):

If you're interested in reading the articles, you can check it out at the Star Tribune's website.

Are You Afraid of the Art? Show at Gallery 27

When Gallery 27 in Chicago invited me to their "Are You Afraid of the Art?" Nickelodeon tribute show, I just couldn't say no. That was easy. Trying to decide what to do for it was hard.

I grew up on Nickelodeon programming, starting in the early 80s when all they had were old TV reruns and Canadian exports they aquired like "You Can't Do That On Television" and then continued watching through the mid 90s when they introduced Nick Toons and ground breaking shows like "Pete & Pete."

While I had ideas for 3 pieces, I only had time to do two, so I did one from each end of the spectrum of my Nickelodeon watching expierence. 

The first one, above is a lovely portrait of the character Barth from "You Can't Do That On Television." It's a 9" x 12" digital piece titled "Duh, I HEARD THAT!" — his signature line after the kids in the burger shop would tease about "Who do you think's IN THE BURGER."

The next piece is a tribute to Powdered Toast Man from "The Ren & Stimpy Show." It's  9" x 12", ink, ink wash and Copic Marker on paper and is titled "LEAVE EVERYTHING TO ME!" 

I had plans for a Pete & Pete Mr. Tastee piece to round out the food theme I was going for, but just ran out of time. Maybe I'll get around to it someday.

The show will have it's opening reception tonight (Nov. 2) from 6 - 10 p.m. If you happen to be in Chicago and love classic Nickelodeon, go check it out! More info about the gallery can be found here.

Update: Both pieces are now up for sale on Gallery 27's site. You can purchase Barth here and Powdered Toast Man here!

Recent Magazine illustrations

Over the summer I worked on a few illustrations for a couple of magazines that are currently on newsstands. The first one above was for Boca Raton Magazine and was for a story about the upcoming Presidential debate that will be held at Lynn University in Boca Raton.

The University loved this illustration and asked to use it on the main poster that will be put up all along the campus and handed out to attendees of the debate.  

I had a lot of fun doing the second illustration for the article peppering notables like Stephen Colbert, Jon Stewart and others throughout.

The next set of illustrations I did for an article in Salt Lake Magazine about Twi-hard moms and the obsession with teen literature. 

The Hunger Games vs Twilight illustration was particularly fun to do. Poor Edward, not much he can do but bite stuff. ;-)

Both issues are on newsstands in Utah and Florida through the end of the month. You can read the Twi-hard Moms article here and the Presidential debate article here. 

Ltd. Art Gallery's "B: A Tribute to B-Movies Show"

I'm really excited that I was invited to be a part of Ltd. Art Gallery's "B: A Tribute to B-Movies Show" that will have it's opening tonight in Seattle! A lot of great artists will be a part of this show and I couldn't be prouder to be in the mix with them.

It was tough trying to decide on what to do for it but I decided to go with a portrait of one of my favorite actors who got his start in a popular B-Movie — Steve McQueen from "The Blob." The piece is 9 x 12 inches, painted with Gouache, India ink and ink wash on watercolor paper.

If you stop by the gallery tonight or while the show's up and take a picture of it, please feel free to send it to me. I'll post it here and give you credit for the pic!

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UPDATE

Levi Hastings, another amazing artist who participated in the show, was kind enough to take a pic of Steve at the opening for the show last night. 

Thanks Levi! Be sure and check out his website to see his art and his amazing "Death Becomes Her" piece that's also in the show! 

___________________

UPDATE #2

The "Beware of the Blob" piece is now up for sale over at Ltd. Art Gallery's website! If you'e interested, you can purchase the piece here!

Monsters, Movies & The Dude Opening

Wow. That's the best way for me to describe the amazing turn out for my solo show Wednesday night. I am extremely humbled by all the old friends and new fans that turned out to look at my stuff. Also a big thanks to everyone who purchased my work, I'm extremely grateful to all of you.

Here are a few photos from the opening. I've dedicated a page on my website that I'll update with more photos from the show sometime this weekend so check back on there soon!

I'll be appearing on CBS KUTV-2's morning show Monday, Oct. 8 around 7:20'ish promoting the show so if you live in Utah, set your DVR's for it!

Again, thank you for everyone that turned out and if you couldn't make it, the show will be up all month long at the IJ & Jeanne Wagner Jewish Community Center in Salt Lake City.

Having a conversation about my "Young Frankenstein" pieces with cartoonist Pat Bagley.

It's Darren Ewing in 2-D and 3-D!!

My artwork stretched all the way down the length of the hallway.

My wife Nicole and I in front of her favorite piece from the show.
I think it might have something to do with Chris Hesmworth being in it.