Fear poster

An 11"x17" poster designed for the Imperial Valley Artist Collective's "Fear" exhibition. It's been a while since I created a poster entirely by hand.

Rockabye Baby! - The Flaming Lips

Many months ago, I worked on this awesome assignment with the good folks at CMH Records (home of Rockabye Baby!)-- one of the most fun assignments I'd worked on up until that point. After a few rounds of sketches and refining...



a design was finally chosen.



So fast forward to the present day: the album is out now, and I get to work with said good folks on a daily basis on other wonderful Rockabye projects. More material definitely to come as it's released!

Soulmates

Same design, same colors, same route, and... they go everywhere together.

Carspool

If cars carpooled... would it be a "carspool"?

New Pornographers t-shirt

Though mentioned elsewhere (hello, Twitter!), I thought I should mention that my New Pornographers t-shirt is now for sale online via the band's Cinderblock store here.

Happy shopping and happy belated holidays!

Urban Gardening

Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings

It's been a while since I focused on any sort of portrait, so I figured Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings would make for a nice little warmup. Without going into it too much, I was trying to maintain a retro feel by keeping it mostly "black and white" while giving it a slight modern element with a little bit of color. So... did you spot all 8 Dap-Kings? (;

On Tour and On Sale

I've forgotten to mention that my t-shirt design for the New Pornographers is currently on tour and on sale. The t-shirts may in fact be for sale online once the tour's over, but for now... head on out and see them live! (One of my favorite bands, ever!)

Greetings From Silver Lake

A new piece based on some of the more iconic signs seen on Sunset Blvd in Silver Lake. I wanted to create a portrait of the neighborhood, and excluded much of the extreme corporate signage in the area in order to avoid a potential watering down of what gives Silver Lake its unique, quirky charm. I'm still loving the brown kraft paper, though it sure does eat away at those Aquarelle colored pencils...



(On a side note, this piece also made for a nice postcard— I'll have a few for sale Sunday at the Atwater Village Festival.)

Prizefighter

This was a fun, simple commission that I completed late last week... very few requirements (b&w, 1920s–50s gentleman) and lots of freedom. I thought a portrait of a boxer with a black eye would be a nice break from my usual work. I think the ink wash complemented the idea pretty well.

Animal Collective

I rarely do full on digital coloring, but I figured if there were ever a time, this was it.

The love lives of bicycles

Heartbroken.




Lonely.



In love.

Mexicali Rose

I'm currently working on some new drawings for a 7 person group show in Mexicali, Baja California, Mexico at Mexicali Rose Media/Arts Center. They are a great grass roots organization in Mexicali that is "dedicated to providing free access to artistic media for the lower income community youth of Mexicali, Baja California." I am greatly looking forward to it.

Not necessarily going for a particular theme with my work this time around (who knows if a theme will pop up on its own)— but mostly just focused on creating and creating.

VW Vanagon

Perhaps one of the cutest things I've witnessed while sitting at a stoplight near my house. This VW van crossed Silver Lake Boulevard at Marathon, and just as it reached the center of the street, a beagle popped up in front of one of the back curtains to look out the window.

Grizzly Bear

Just finished this illustration of the band Grizzly Bear last night before bed. In addition to wanting to take full advantage of their lovely band name (who wouldn't?), I also wanted to illustrate the success they've had this year with their album "Veckatimest."




This piece will go on to become part of a new promo package I'm working on. Below is the final version, and a couple of small sketches to show where it all came from.



Sketches:

Figuring out the type. In the end, hand drawn Caslon just felt right.


Last sketch before working on the final. Thought about adding the scientific name in but it really served no purpose.

Coney Island, off-season

This is a piece based on my experience at Coney Island in the off-season. I mostly remember brightly colored signage, but it was completely deserted and everything was closed. After wandering around, my friend and I were walking out towards the Atlantic when it started to pour. With no umbrella to fight off the rain, we turned around and headed back to the subway station.



8" x 5.5" Ink and colored pencil on Rives BFK.

New York series cont.

New York series

I started work on a new series based on my trip to New York this year. This is the first piece, with many more to come. This particular series will be on display at Bamboo Lounge in San Diego next month.

Empire State of Mind

So Jay-Z is calling himself the new Sinatra... should I just take his word for it? Guess so!



This is a preliminary drawing of sorts... I plan to translate it into a much more graphic style and add some background soon. It'll also be part of a new promo package I'm working on for this winter.

In other news, I've been invited to a group show for the month of December in San Diego at Bamboo Lounge. No decision yet on a date for the opening but I will be showing alongside Minerva Torres-Guzman and Elizabeth Lopez, both great artists who have earned their BFAs in Painting at Otis College of Art and Design here in L.A. Many thanks go out to Ramona Ramirez, the show's curator.

Charles Magicianpants

I believe that if Charles the parakeet were a magician, she'd be pulling ladybugs out of her tiny top hat!