When the Shit Hits the Fan

Wow!!!

I don't really know where to begin. Sorry I haven't posted anything for a while, but this has been the craziest month of my life...

I drew this at Max's (a bar next to my house) one night with too much whiskey.

1. My wife and I are getting a divorce. Didn't really see it coming.

An awesome break-up album. I have almost worn out this record.

2. I had my best solo art show to date at the WAVE gallery here in Eugene. My brother took a ton of photos, which I will post as soon as I get them back. I gave an art talk too. I'm sort of a nervous public speaker, but after a few beers, I think everything went okay.

3. I moved. I have my own place now, and I actually have the sweetest studio space an artist could hope for.

my new studio!!! work in progress...the studio and the painting

4. I was too broke to make it up to Portland to attend the group show that I was involved in at Good Gallery....hope it went okay. Funny story though...when I took the train up there to deliver my painting, I got shitfaced at Mississippi Studios and stayed in the the seediest hotel I have ever stayed in. Cash only. Anyway, at about 7 am, I was awoken by two crack-heads looking for, "A-1 and his skinny, white girlfriend". I was still drunk at the time, and decided to smoke cigarettes with these fine gentlemen. They really wanted to use my cell phone charger, and sadly I didn't have any gas money for them, but eventually they did find "A-1 and his skinny white girl friend," who were staying the in the room next to mine. I hope they are still alive.

5. I am going to trial for bankrupcy tomorrow morning. That should be fun.

An awesome drunken moment of self-loathing.

6. I love booze. Thought out this entire thing I have had a ton of bizarre adventures, I have drawn more than I have ever in my life, and I have discovered that I am married to making art.

Another one of my weird adventures involved having my Tarot cards read at a strangely surreal party I didn't know I was going to until fifteen minutes before I left my house.  This is my future....my past, and my present.

The sketch for my current painting, entitled, "Out with the Old"

Well friends, seeing that I am single and slightly depressed, expect regular updates and spooky paintings. I have about a million ideas and I can't wait to paint them all. I'll see you at the bars.

...oh yeah, I also met the Sex Advice columnist, Dan Savage. Weird month.

Practice is Fun

This morning I went to a coffee shop, rocked out to High on Fire, and did a little practice drawing of my Grandpa from a photograph.I need to practice more actually, and I think the reason that I am not in a good routine is because I didn't have a cool coffee shop to go to.

Well... all that has changed now that I discovered Perk Coffee in Eugene. I think this place will help me to become a better artist.




This is my new favorite coffee shop!

Work in Progress: The Changeling

Yo Gangsters,

Today I delivered 11 paintings to the WAVE gallery for my show on Friday. It should be a really fun time, and I am trying not to think too much about it because the thought makes me excited and queasy.

Also...and to keep myself distracted...

I am getting ready to start a new painting tomorrow, and I thought that I would show you my preliminary drawings.

Drawing for "The Changeling"

This painting will the the first in a series about Elves and Fairies that I have planned for for late 2012 or early 2013. The painting will be 11 X 14, and will act as small support piece that will add to the impact of the larger conceptual pieces that I have planned....or at least that's what I am hoping anyway.

In my next series, I am planing on doing around ten small paintings, in addition to ten big ones. I never really paint small, so this should be pretty fun, and will probably only take me a few days.

This was drawn with graphite and white charcoal on tinted paper.

Thumbnails

The Antidote

Hey,

Here is a photo of the painting that I just finished.

"The Antidote" 18 X 24 Oil on Canvas 2011

Check this out, as I was walking home from the frame shop after getting a frame for this thing, I saw a real life wizard waiting at the bus stop. He wore a cloak, a wizard hat, had necklaces of beads and bones, and he even had a staff and a beard. Cool huh? I wish I had my camera with me.

Elves and Fairies are Metal

Hi Everyone,

I have finished the last piece for my upcoming show. I am pretty pleased with the results and I will post some photos of the painting tomorrow.

It is only 11 days away from the opening of my solo show at the WAVE gallery, and I am thrilled. After hundreds of hours of planning, drawing, and painting,  I think I have produced a pretty neat body of work and I can't wait share it my friends and the community. The show is called, "Death Potion" and the work represents the last few years of painting, loosely tied around themes of drinking, depression, and recession, juxtaposed with fairy tale imagery.

The album is insanely good, and served for a lot of inspiration when
creating my last body of work. Early Man will melt your face.

More than anything, the last series of paintings has been an exploration in discovering my personal voice as an artist, refining my art-making process, and learning how to become a better painter. I am still a beginner. I have only been painting seriously for two and a half years, and strangely, the only thing I am certain of in life is that I am supposed to paint every day.

THE HIDDEN FOLK 


Once you finish a painting, or even a series of paintings, you can't just sit back and relax. An artists work is never done. It's time to start a new painting. It's time to start a new series.

The show will be called "The Hidden Folk" and will, for the most part, be a series of semi-autobiographical paintings unified around folklore imagery. I believe the paintings will be set in the world of fairies, but will include modern day people who have stumbled into this world just like Alice, Dorthy, and all the others. I think coming up with my own interpretation of fairies, gnomes, elves, dwarfs, and goblins will be really fun. Don't expect any tiny half-naked nymphs with butterfly wings, or any other traditional representations of these creatures. Things are going to be a little more creepy than that.

This book is fucking rad!

"The Troll Book", shown above, was one of my favorites as a kid, and it is one of the few possessions I have kept from early childhood. It is essentially a beautifully illustrated educational text dealing with the lives of trolls and also describes other beings from Scandinavian folklore. After all these years, I still love this book, and some of the concepts with serve as a platform for the Hidden Folk series.

Arthur Rackham, Goblin Market

Arthur Rackham, is one of my favorite painters and is a pretty big inspiration. I love how he balances realism of the girl with almost cartoon-like characters.

The Labyrinth = Awesome!

Pan's Labyrinth = Metal!

And now I am off to paint!

Show Posters

Here are a couple of posters for the two shows that I have coming up in the next few weeks.

Wizards and Warlocks Vol. 1: The Shadowmarch Series by Tad Williams

Hello friends,

This is the first installment of a weekly, "what I am listening" to post. I am proudly addicted to fantasy novels and heavy metal, and I thought it would be nice to get the word out about those authors and bands that help get me thought the long hours of painting. I love audio books, and I have a subscription to audible.com. If you like audio books too, then check out audible.com, you won't be sorry.

This week:

The Shadowmarch series, by Tad Williams

There are four books in this series and I am at the very end of the last book. It has been a pretty fun ride, filled with awesome monsters, memorable characters, and great story.

And because I am to lazy to write my own summary, here is the plot summary taken from wikipedia:

"The first Marchlands kingdom, Southmarch (commonly called "Shadowmarch"), lies directly on the edge of the mysterious Shadowline, a shroud of endless mist that marks the entrance to the realm of the fairy-folk, the Qar. Crossing the Shadowline is said to drive any human mad, but, as far as anyone knows, the line has not moved any further south for centuries. Now, inexplicably, it has begun to creep slowly but surely deeper into the lands of Southmarch, bringing an unknown menace with it.

Coupled together with this threat is the dissension and endless political maneuvering of many of Southmarch's nobles. The king of Southmarch has been captured and is imprisoned in a distant land, and when the prince regent is murdered, the burden of rule falls to the inexperienced princess, Briony, and her moody brother, Barrick. Faced with invasion, betrayal, and conniving nobles seeking to take advantage, it is up to them alone to hold Southmarch together." -wikipedia

One thing the summary forgot to mention was that the fairy-folk in this series are actually brutal demons lead by the "Porcupine Queen", named after the black spikes that cover her armor. Rad! Anyway, I highly recommend this series and I think the title "Shadowmarch", would make a super heavy band name. Next week I will talk about metal, and maybe post some videos, in my other bi-weekly series, called "Into the Pit".

Work In Progress

Hello everyone,

I am currently working hard to finish an 18 X 24 painting called the "Antidote" for an up coming show. Today, I thought it would be fun to post some photos of the work-in-progress.

As you can see, I've got quite a ways to go.

A detail of the radish-head guy.

Here is the original sketch.

This next photo is a really wacky part of my process. In order to transfer my sketch to the canvas, I scan the drawing into Photoshop, enlarge it to the size of my canvas, then chop it into small pieces--my printer only prints 8.5 X 11-- which I then print out and reassemble. The end result is a pretty dumb looking poster. With a piece of graphite transfer paper between the canvas and my printed out drawing, I trace over all the key lines and bingo! my canvas is all ready to paint. By-the-way my printer prints everything in beautiful rose color when it starts to run out of ink.

...and here I am hard at work.

Events!

I am pleased to announce that I will be part of two upcoming shows. The first of which is a solo show at the gallery formerly know as the Voyeur, in Eugene's wonderfully weird Whiteaker neighborhood on the last Friday art walk. The gallery has been taken over by my talented friend Sabrina, who I might add is also an excellent painter, illustrator, and co-owner of Poppy and Moe.  The official name of the gallery will be determined this week. I have about eight spooky paintings ready to go, and if all goes according to plan, I will also have prints. Expect surf music and possibly Halloween costumes.

When: Friday, October 28th
Where: 547 Blair Blvd, Eugene Oregon

The next show that I will be a part of is on the following Friday at at the Good Gallery, in Portland's historic Mississippi District. I will be part of a group show entitled, "What the Undertaker Saw". It should also be a spooky fun time and it will be great to see what the other artists came up with.

When: Friday, November 4th 7-10PM
Where: 4325 N Mississippi Ave, Portland Oregon

My Submission to Good Gallery's "What the Undertaker Saw" group sho

Look forward to seeing you there.

Their Perpetual Soiree

"Their Perpetual Soiree" 36 X 48 Oil on Canvas 2011

Alright friends, like most of my other paintings, this one is semi-autobiographical and semi-fantastical. After years of as bartender I wanted to paint about drinking and partying and the weird tole it takes. 

I love whiskey and booze still pays for a big portion of my bills. My inspiration for this painting however, was the tired, cheerless look that I've noticed in people get when they go out night after night. It is as if hanging out at the bar has become a boring routine rather than an exciting choice. In this painting I wanted create a party in which no one is really having any fun at all. I wanted to illustrate that fine line between the habitual drinker and the alcoholic. 

Actually, the T-Rex is an alcoholic. He is an angry drunk, and so am I. Just kidding, I'm really nice. And by-the-way I can't drink anymore. My doctor told me not to.

The Sketch

This painting took me much longer than usual, about two months. I had a couple of other projects in between the time I started the painting and the time I finished. Also, the painting is huge.  

Here is the rough sketch for the painting. It is kind of beat-up looking. Honestly, I thought that I had lost the drawing. Later I found it in a sad pile on the floor behind my drafting table. As you may notice, the monkey in the tree was almost an after thought. I quickly drew him on tracing paper and taped him to the original. 

There are many differences between the sketch and the painting. I think it's fun to compare the two to see what I changed along the way. I love doing this when looking at comps and painting by artists I admire. When I am working on a comp like this, I am really only interested in the composition and placement of key elements. I usually freestyle everything else. 

Along with sad drunks, I was inspired by two other things, the first being my t-rex figurine. I have a whole collection of figurines, and they seem to appear quite often in my paintings. 

And the final thing that inspired me was the Shadowmarch series by Tad Williams. When I work on a drawing, I listen to heavy metal, and when I paint, I listen to horror or fantasy novels on audio book. I know I am a dork, but his series is pretty bad-ass. I am almost finished with the last book and if you like fantasy novels, be sure to check it out. 

Bar Drawings

For this week's blog I decided to share some doodles from my moleskin. Once a week I go out to a bar to  drink whiskey, shoot the shit with my friends and draw cartoons just for fun. Usually I try to draw something that makes my pals laugh. ...and yes, I am that weird guy who draws at bars. At least I am not that guy pretending to read a book.




I drew this first one at the Starlight. I was thinking about  starting an exercise routine. That never happened.

I have no I idea what I was thinking at the time, and yes the spotted unicorn is both vomiting and peeing at the same time. Watch out world, my art blog is super highbrow.

I also drew this one at Jameson's and I believe that there was a homeless person on the corner with a bong. I do live in Eugene, Oregon after all.

And I drew this one at the Horsehead, the day after my birthday. I am 32.

A Lesson in the Arts

"A Lesson in the Arts" 24 X 18 Oil on Canvas

I have been thinking about going back to school to get a degree in painting. For some reason, it feels like a really hard decision to make, and instead of making a true decision, I decided to paint about it instead.

...and here is what it looks like in the frame.

No Pets No Smoking

Hi Everyone, here is a new Painting entitled, "No Pets No Smoking". This one is really small compared to the sizes I usually paint, coming in at a whopping 12 X 16.

The Concept behind this painting was that my wife and I were looking to move out of our apartment and into a house so that we could have a little more space. Each day we would check craigslist and discover all these perfect places to live, however none of them accepted pets, and many had really strict policies, like you have to water their garden each week, no musical instruments, no smoking, no drugs...blah, blah. And in instances when the landlord did accept pets, many actually required a pet interview which we thought was really funny. Anyway our joke became, no pets, no humans.

In the end we just decided to stay in our apartment, and I made a new painting about the whole adventure instead.

And here is what she looks like in a frame.

A new T-shirt design for threadless

Click on the thumbnail to view my other t-shirt designs!

This is a new t-shirt design that I was inspired to make after a night of old-fashioned boozing.

A Thief Amongst Princes

This is a new painting, and my first ever blog