News, such, blablabla

Hey all!!!

So a lot has happend in the last few months and more things are in the working. I'll be posting some past projects over the next few posts as well as sharing work that are currently in progress!

For example, I am currently reviving the snake series (having been on hiatus from it for almost a year), the website is still under construction (I'm fickle and change my mind...alot), AND currently I'm working on a children's book. The story is set and the illustrations are underway. This will be self-published and I'm hoping completed sometime mid 2010.

In the meantime I'll get some more photos and such posted soon. Later!!

Devil Chick #1

As promised we're gettin' back to work with the Devil Chick that started the mini-series.
The actual reference was just from photos from various tattoo and Heavy Metal magazines. I started to draw a woman's face and partial bust when I decided "HEY, let's give her horns!" and so I did.

The coloring was just a fun play on things, I've never seen blue hair on a devil so why the heck not. Enjoy this one more to come!

BACK!

Hey all! ok I know it's been months since the last post AND I have had people buggin' "when are you reposting?!" & "When is the website being reposted?!" Well now I'll answer.

WEBSITE: Recently I dropped my website server due to technical issues. I have been working on the website a million times but like many artists I have a new idea and decide to start over......5 times :P SO the site is coming back very soon. I had a breakthrough in engineering the site and the RE-LAUNCH date will be announced soon will a few new unveilings.

BLOGGING: I must admit this is a very my bad. I completely forgot to do my weekly posts.....that's it.....BUT I have been pretty busy with a lot of other fun things which I will share over the next few weeks. I am back and now that I have a few things taken care and new art I am ready to start sharing my work again!

The first will be from a series I worked on the last few years on and off again called the "Devil" series. What's it involving? devils, creatures.....beasts!!! things from the cutting room floor that were fun to draw that I might as well share. They may not get to the website but we'll see. ANYWHO i'll have a new one up soon. Till then later!

"Have you ever danced with the Devil in the pale moonlight?"

Graphic Design

Hey all! As some may know I have recently started a new job! I recently landed a position as the Graphic Designer for Central Connecticut State University's Media Technology department. Basically I am the only one there doing graphic design for the entire campus. I have a sweet new office with a whole lotta equipment which I will not divulge.

Instead I would like to share a few things I have already done. I've done a few things for my supervisor that were fun but I also have been working on other things to get back into the swing of using Photoshop CS! I forgot how much it is to use this program! So I figured I would play around before I get any huge projects from someone on campus by working on a poster for the website and a new skateboard design I've been working on. Not much to be said at the moment so I'll just post these and let you enjoy! All I can say is the teddy bear aka "SadTeddy" is just part of the skateboard. I'll have the finished product by the end of the week. Until then enjoy! Later kiddies!









"By the light of the moon, you must escape into the deep black of the night, fight the devil inside..."

-Mastodon

Revolver and Skull

So today I thought I'd take some time to share two pieces I recently did as gifts for two of my best friends. The first is a realistic drawing of a Smith & Wesson .357 revolver I did for Mr Ka. I knew he is a gun enthusiast even more so than I am. So I figured let's do a drawing that shows one of the most badass firearms out there (well, at least in terms of small arms). It's actually a personal favorite of mine as well so I thought this would also work as a means to get some good drawing exercise in rendering an inanimate object as realistically as possible.

I was very pleased with the final product. It took about 2 hours to really get in there with a 6B pencil, a nice dark and soft graphite. It gave me the desired effect of that chrome appearance of a revolver.

I quote Jenna "Fuck you dude, how are you so good!"

I love it when I get sworn at for my art ......and I totally mean that too, thank you Jenna, that quote must go in my professional portfolio

Next is a work I did for Jay. I decided I would stick with the weaponry theme for this and I knew his favorite cutting device of all time is the Kukhri, used by Gurka mercenaries in the Middle East. I drew a few concept sketches but I came to the conclusion I felt it was way too boring with just the knife. So I decided to put a touch of my style to it. I made the knife pierce a neon green skull. Green being Jay's favorite color and then I used orange in the background since I figured it had a nice contrasting effect.

After I finished adding color I was more than happy with the result. It uses the stylized skull but with a realistically rendered kukhri. This is an effect I really like using and I will try and incorporate it into more of my artowork.

I chose to title this piece "Death Before Dishonor 2". I have done another work with the same theme and title and it's a recurring slogan in tattoo art that has always caught my interest.

I framed both works and the guys were both very pleased with the end results. I love art so much and I find I do my best work when I am motivated by my best friends. To the lumberjackers (you know who you are) I love you guys, most of what I do in life is truly affected by you. You keep me optimistic in such a sometimes shitty world.

Of course I like ending with a quote and since I love the new Mastodon album we'll go with something from that.

"Falling from grace cause I've been away too long, leaving you behind with my lonesome song, now I'm lost in oblivion"

from "Oblivion", Mastodon

Back with updates and news and a lack of pizza :(

SO i betcha everyone thought I was dead! WELL THINK AGAIN!!! It is a bittersweet feeling knowing that I am done with my student teaching experiences but I am finally finished! I have received a lot of inquieries as to why the blog has not been updated in.....2 months!!!! well I just gave you the answer, teaching takes a lot out of you.

For anyone wondering the website has been down as well since I have spent a lot of my free time working on new plans for the site, including new interactive features, more artwork, AND soon to be a monthly comic featuring my recently copyrighted cartoon character.

SO when I am ready to unveil the newest in my art you'll know it. Until then be good and I will be getting back into showing off some work via blog.

"JAPAN FOUR!!!!"

Bowling pins O Rama!!!

So, now I can finally take some time to talk about the other work I had in the RE-Art show almost a month ago!

As you can see the first set is just a set of custom painted bowling pins. My dad started collecting bowling pins for no apparent reason. I started using them as gifts for people or to shoot at but then I decided one day I would try and do some custom colors. The set of three you see are known as "Joker's Strike". The name itself suggests bowling terminology and the reason for Joker is a double meaning. First off my nickname has been "Joker" for quite a long time and this is my art. That's the obvious one. Secondly, the custom colors I chose happen to be lime green and violet. These colors have been a trademark color scheme for the Joker in the Batman series. Joker is also, ironically, one of my all time favorite villains and characters. I used the basic outline of the bowling pins original stripes but added my flair of color.

Next I had one pin left and I dind't know what to do for this. I was looking at work by Sailor Jerry, one of the tattoo greats, and decided I would pay homage to him and other traditional tattoo artists. The subject matter revolves mainly around American tattoo imagery with a slight new school twist. I used themes that occur mainly in this genre. First off you see the swallow on one side next to a rose and covered by a scroll reading AMOR, spanish for love. Next large part if on the other side and involves a schimitar piercing through a heart, another reoccuring theme in american tattoo art. The rest I decided to use purple nautical stars and randomly placed dots to add some extra embellishment tot he piece. I also decided to allude to modern tattoo by using a spider web rendition on the top of the pin. The title of this work in the who was "Tattoo Pin" but when I rethink things I have decided to rename it "Homage".

All pins are currently for sale and I do plan on playing with other color schemes as I did with the Joker pins. What next? Perhaps Superman pins to stay in line with the Comic character theme, but who knows? Enjoy what you see, I'll be posting again soon I hope

"Like most men of power I worship Pan the goat god!"

paraphrased from Duke Phillips.....because it made me laugh

TITLE!

So, it's been a month almost since my last post BUT for now I need to make a slight change. The last post on my Dinosaur Skate deck was a fun one but I of course forgot to mention the title.

The title of the work is "Vigilance Until Demise". The title alludes to the subject matter of this composition. As you can see the Triceratops "Mama" is defending her eggs even though overhead you can see Asteroids about to hit earth which was the cause of the dinosaurs' demise.

So there's my clarification on this work, hopefully I'll have the post on my bowling pins, till then stay Phrosty......I never knew what that meant but it is very fun to say

"Have you ever danced with the devil in the pale moonlight?"

- Jack Nicholson as the Joker in 1989's Batman

Dinosaur Skatedeck

So I decided to get right to it with the work from the Re-Art show! tonight I'll start with the most popular of the pieces the Dinosaur Skateboard!

As some of you know I have been working on designing Skate decks for the last few years while studying tattoo art. I have only done a few skateboards BUT I have tons of designs that have yet to be put onto maple skate glory! A lot of the design work has revolved around my fascination with Japanese and other eastern art traditions. But then I decided on a new idea...DINOSAURS!.....duh

Dinosaurs have been my longest running fascination since I was a kid. I loved dinosaurs, I wanted to be an archaeologist for a long time! I of course loved the Jurassic Park movies, collected dinosaur figures, read many many books (probably the most i've read in 23 years), sometimes I still wish I could find more dinosaur related clothing!

It was around the time I started planning for this show I realized let's get back into dinosaurs. I had drawn a few as jokes with the CCSU Art club but never thought anything of some of my sketches in my journal until recently. I took a look at my T-rex necklace and just let my imagination run.

The board itself fell into the category of Re-Art as it was, quiote literally, a skateboard I found discarded in a dumpster at Central Connecticut State University. I kept the board thinking I could use it for something at some point and when the opportunity of Re-Art came into mind it fit perfect. I had Jay sand the face of the skate deck, I kept the original hardware and I began thinking about a design. I thought "I want an epic battle", so I took the two most popular dinosaurs the triceratops and the Tyranosaurus Rex and pitted them into mortal combat.

As an artist I had to start thinking more than just random subject matter. I began to let the piece evolve as I worked. I made the painting in exactly two days. I drew it up on one of my breaks then brought it home and started with some solid colors. For the longest time it was just going to be two dinosaurs in battle with little detail but then I decided to give a real sense of setting. I put comets in the background with a volcanoe and a small pterodactyl. The middle ground consists of the two raging beasts in mid battle with the triceratops being the clear victor rather than a biting T-rex as most would expect. the horn of the triceratops and the overall detail of things works as a small tribute to japanese woodblock prints and my studies in japanese artwork. Then came the hard part of choosing a foreground. I decided to make the battle over the triceratops' "pups". Instead of a random battle to the death I wanted to make this piece evolve into something more. So I made a mud nest with one hatching egg and two Compsognathus' in the middle of trying to steal the eggs, not realizing they're being caught in the middle of a battle.

The title "Vigilant Until Demise" refers to the maternal nature of the triceratops. She continues to protect her babies even as the end of the world is soaring to fruition. She continues to fight this predator and will do so until the ashes settle and the end of the dinosaurs time has come.

This composition shows my style of work and a new theme in my thinking. I plan on making a few more compositions involving dinosaurs, my brain is brimming with ideas and it is going to be a short break from the VICE SERIES. I am currently working on that as well but will be concentrating on this theme for a little bit. I am not a genius like Leonardo da Vinci, but I sure as hell know how to change my mind as much as he did.

Next blog, bowling pins a plenty!!! I hope everyone is enjoying

"I have been impressed with the urgency of doing. Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Being willing is not enough; we must do"
- Leonardo da Vinci

First Libertine Collective Show a Success!!!

Hey kiddies,

Well it looks like the first ever Libertine Collective Art show was a huge success!!! Check out the pics on facebook if you get a chance. Every artist made amazing pieces that just truly showed the idea behind Re-Art. Not only was it about taking recycled material and using it for art but the show also showed art at it's finest in taking the misunderstood in life and elevating it for it's true value.

The night hosted people from many walks of life and throughout a better part of the night it seemed to be shoulder to shoulder with fans, on lookers, friends, and family. The Kelvins played a mighty awesome set as well. Their music was just as much a part of the show as the exhibits were. Much fun was had and soon enough another show will be upon us. More info to come but be sure to save a date this August for yet another spectical by the Libertines! I'll be blogging on the work I submitted for the show in my next entry so stay tuned for some insanity. Enjoy the photos of me and the "mrs.", the shoulder to shoulder fun, and whatever else! follow the link for more

Here's a link to the rest of the photos:

http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/album.php?aid=2085471&id=48808126

"are we the last living souls? are we the last living souls....."

Re-Art Libertine show this FRIDAY!!!!

SO the show is coming up!!! This Friday come to the MAC Gallery in Middletown to see me and 10 other amazing artists in the first ever Libertine Collective Exhibit! It's a show based on the notion of Re-Art. Think, Re-Art, meaning taking the unused and unwanted of the world and turning it into something better. It's a concept that drove me to create 5 different works of art that I will be dicussing in the next few blogs I do AFTER the show friday night.

7p-10p there will be live performances by musicians, catering, maybe some booze? and of course fantastic sets of art. Come on by and give a hello to you one and only Joker I can't to see everyone

Libertine Collective Re-Art Show

Good evening ladies and gentlemen! So exciting news is up ahead! I was invited months ago to join the Libertine Collective, a group of artists based in CT. H.L. Groen was gracious enough to invite me to join and I am also honored to be 1 of 11 artists to be featured in the first ever Libertine Art show. The theme will revovle around the idea of "Re-Art", specific information you can check out with the following links about the Libertines and the Re-Art show. Enjoy what you see and I'll be posting again soon.

"And I saw my own face, in the dark and Loneliness" - Fear Factory

http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/event.php?eid=63484854026 this is the info for the show

http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/group.php?gid=47018603606&ref=share this is the Libertine info

Vice: Dependency

Well, well, well it's been quite awhile since I've posted and I'm proud to say the Vice series is still on deck for discussion. So let's get right to it.

This is the Dependency snake. There is some confusion on this particular snake and that's what makes the series so much fun. Art especially is about opinion and it's always fun to hear what others see in my work. Some have found it to be a snake that talks about the series as a whole how each snake does become dependant on a vice and that one of the snakes is just a general vice. As interesting as that does sound this pair of snakes has a somewhat different appeal.

The intentions for this snake were to comment on individuality and loss of identity. When someone begins a relationship, be it spousal or friendly, they begin to lose sight of themselves. "Love is blind" is a statement that is attributed to the eyes of the two snakes. One has eyes sewn shut while deperately trying to see the truth of pain while the other tries to see as the eye is pierced. I'm not saying love is a bad thing. What I am saying is some people become to hung up on impressing others that they lose sight of who they really are. Some will let their other relationships suffer to please that person. Some will start to lose what makes them THEM in an attempt to change who they are for someone. Change is sometimes good, but sometimes when you're in a situation such as this you need to know who you are before you can learn someone else.

The best relationships I have seen are built on trust, honesty, laughter, and mutual respect. sometimes you need to be alone to get your thoughts together before you go and take out raw emotion on the one who means most to you or someone just as important. And when you rely too much on that person they can stab you in the back (hence the knives).

I decided that this snake needed two. The colors are not complimentary in scheme, instead I decided on a pink and blue color to indicate that men and women all the same sometimes and can become too wrapped up in trying to impress others and relying too much on other people than themselves. The kitchen knife was a decision to show how domestic this case can become sometimes. The barb wire stands for how entrapped people can become in trying to that somone for another. This is the first DUO of snakes and won't be the last. The next duo will involve sexual dependancy.

If there is any confusion feel free to comment. For now back to the drawing board I'll be posting soon and trying to keep up with this daily or every other day.

"The only way the magic works is through hard work" -Jim Henson

Vice: Injection

So now we dive a little deeper into the world of drug abuse with "Injection", a snake I designed to comment on abuse of steroid and heroine usage.

This was a tricky one, I must admit. I would have gone with a thinner snake and made more of an allusion to the heroine aspect of needles but I decided to touch on the steroid issue for two reasons.

1) Steroid use is still a large issue in the U.S. and is still not touched on as much as heroine issues, thereby exacerbating the dilemma

2) To show heroine use I would need a very emaciated snake to convey it's affect, but as you'll see I saved that tool of aesthetics for the next installment

So, back to steroid abuse. Those who use steroids tend to have a large flux in testosterone and become very aggresive.

The face shows that intensity but the real challenge was somehow making the body of a snake look hulking and muscular. Snakes in nature have muscle tissue surrounding there skeletal structure but it isn't anything that can be toned or defined as in human muscle tissue. I had to find common things found in weight lifters.

So what is something that a lot of heavy weight lifters have in common? One of my siblings (I don't know if he would want to be named but those who know my family can guess who) is a body builder. I know he doesn't use steroids, I'm very proud of him for that.But being a body builder he shares two things I noticed is common in a lot of weight lifters who do and don't use drugs: Tattoos and insane veins! Now his veins aren't ridiculous like you would see on world strongest man, nor is he heavily tattooed. But it's these two things that stick out most to me as a common attribute gained over years in that sort of lifestyle.

As you can see the snakes body is covered in these veins. His body is literally exploding with strength and the holes in his body cement this notion as the liquid seems to burst from his body. The tattoo on his body is Kanji for strength, a very common theme in body builders who tend to get random kanji tattoos and/or tribal themed tattoos. The snake also holds the needle himself and if plunging it directly into his mouth, a very painful area for any sort of injection (those of you familiar with novacaine understand).

The composition as a whole conveys pain while using a complimentary color scheme for the body color. I chose blue for no particular reason but it works well with the orange and green. The green I did choose purposely to resemble poison. Reinforcing the thought that any drugs are a poison in your system. On another and final note this is the first snake not in a side profile head shot but rather a three-quarter shot.

Until next time...

"This town needs an enema!"

-Jack Nicholson as "The Joker", 1989

Inspiration

Due to some advice from a dear friend I decided to do a small posting on where inspiration came from to create my own style of snakes. to the sides are two photos from T.C. Williams, an amazing tattoo artist and the dude who has done most of the ink on my left and right arms. I don't think I need to explain how he inspired me. He is a great tattoo artist, he does phenominal work and if you ever catch yourself in New Jersey look for his shop. He's definitely a man who knows japanese artwork as you can see by the gorgeous Hanya mask up top.

His style of snakes is unlike others especially at the head of the snake. I remember last session we had discussing how styles sort of develop themselves. It was his advice and his art that inspired me to first create a style of art in my work. You can see in former images how I have derived inspiration from him as well as other artists but how I was able to be unique and really craft something iconic and memorable while at the same time remaining true to me.

Next time, Vice snakes and more! and perhaps some poetry? :P

"...the skyline was beautiful on fire, all twisted metal..."