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 pt. 2

A smaller piece I just completed to accompany the one I posted yesterday.
Roughly 3.5" x 4.75", ink and colored pencil on Rives BFK.

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.

searchingforelliottsmith.com

I finally finished up the Searching For Elliott Smith website and launched it today. Such a fun project to work on— it's been a while since I created a website, but I think overall it turned out okay.

New York

I was in New York this past week for the CMJ premiere of Searching For Elliott Smith. Aside from the premiere, I wandered the city day and night in search of nothing in particular but beautiful things to shoot.

Charles Magicianpants

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

Micheltorena Street

If you've read far back enough in this blog, you may know that I've always liked the juxtaposition of nature and urban areas (I explored it in some works that I created a few months ago). This is another piece that falls into that series, based on my own experience here in Los Angeles. I remember (on several occasions) leaving my friend's place on Micheltorena Street late at night and walking to my car while watching these coyotes run off across Sunset Blvd and back up the hills. I always thought it was so strange that something we associate with massive deserts and pure wildlife was right here, running across one of the most famous and busy streets in the world.