Sleepytime Gorilla Museum gig poster named flyer of the week!

...over at the City Pages blog.

Gig poster

Click on image for a better look!

One of my favorite live acts is coming back to town, and I haven't missed an opportunity to see them each time they've returned in the last 6 years. This show is somewhat unique because they aren't on tour, nor is there a new album to be supporting. Only 4 dates, one that happens to be here. Guzzlemug has been given the honor of opening for them.

Shane Prendiville, one of my friends in Guzzlemug, asked me if I was interested in coming up with a gig poster that will be getting screen-printed. Hell yes I was. So we sat down and brainstormed for a bit. Here's what we came up with.

Two more prints on ebay

You know you need these gracing the walls of your home. And in the process, you get to contribute to my moving funds! These were both created in 2004 as part of my Senior Project.
BID NOW!

BID NOW!

Hello, I'm Johnny Cash

I intended to have this done in time to post on his 78th birthday last Friday, but some other paintings that took the back burner and a few other distractions slowed me down.

This had what I considered to be a good game plan in the early stages, but turned into something else that became less and less fun. The kind of painting where too many areas get worked over and over again to the point that it turns into this rough texture that makes it more and more difficult to work on top of. That's the last time I let that happen.

This is acrylic, 11" x 14".

Michael Phelps black light poster on ebay

I'm trying to clear a little space and thought I'd see if this might go over well on ebay. If you know anyone who would appreciate lowbrow humor of this sort, by all means, spread the word!

Bid now!

Steve Buscemi

Acrylic on board, 8.5" x 11".

The idea was to make him look sickly. The one thing I wanted to avoid was making him look too much like The Joker, and I hope I succeeded. But I do think he would be an awesome Joker.

Elvis 2010, Pt. 1

WHAT?! 2 posts in one week? There, ya satisfied MARC?!

This is based on a sketchbook drawing from my beloved Elvis of the day project, drawn on the 314th day of 2008. I have to admit this wasn't nearly as much fun as I anticipated. I thought the eagle would be a blast, but man was I wrong. While I pretty much liked the transferred drawing before I painted on top of it, it kind of turned into a mess. I hope I don't sound like I'm being pathetically modest to anyone who might happen to think this actually kicks ass. It simply took a different direction once the paint was applied. Perhaps the reference photo was taken too literally. I hate it when that happens. It's either a result of undiagnosed ADD, or a plain old lack of vision. Either way, it's all a part of the learning experience for the "big picture", and that is precisely the point.

Keith Richards

11" x 14", acrylic. Click on image for a better look.

Anyone who knows who Sebastian Krüger is (which I hope would be everyone) has a tendency to think of him any time someone does a caricature of any member of the Rolling Stones (but namely Keith Richards). When I drew Richards on his birthday back in December, it was nearly impossible to forget about the images burned into my head of at least 20 different Keith Richards paintings by Krüger. But I made it a point NOT to look at any of his work before that drawing (or this painting).

So my little disclaimer here is that I promise this is the first and last one I will ever do of him or any member of the Rolling Stones. Keith Richards is Krüger's thing. I happened to like the way that drawing turned out and thought it was worth painting. But I don't want to appear as though I am trying to emulate Krüger (which isn't to say that I think this is anywhere up to par with his work). While every caricature artist in the world will forever think of Krüger when they see a Keith Richards piece, I would like my name to one day become synonymous with drawings and paintings of Elvis.

With all that said, I know it's not entirely impossible to eventually reach the superior powers that Sebastian Krüger possesses, but it's also highly unlikely. The best thing I can do is keep working hard and be as creative as I can, while trying to mold my own thing and have fun as I do it. There are way too many Krüger wannabes out there, and very few who can pull off what he does. His subjects look as though they could jump out and bite your face off if only he hadn't trapped their souls in the canvas. I firmly believe his abilities come from the same source as Fry's high-caliber Holophoner performance in the series finale of Futurama.

Vince Lombardi

Here is the first of what I hope to be many paintings derived from my birthday drawings of the last year. This was a Christmas present to my dad who has not missed a Packers home game since 1984. After taking me to several games over the years (including 3 Packers-Vikings games with a field pass...on the sidelines back when he was doing field photography for every game!), I thought this was an appropriate gift.

This is acrylic on chipboard, about 11"x14". The scan came out a tad darker than it should be, but I kind of like it.

Happy Birthday Anthony Hopkins

And this ends 2 straight years of the drawing-a-day task, burden, headache, etc. I've thrown around a few ideas for a drawing-a-day in 2010, but I'm thinking of being done. 2 years is enough, and although everything seems to work best in 3's, I'm leaning toward putting more of that time and energy into painting, simply because I would like to get better at painting. A full year of celebrity drawings has made for a pretty nice savings account of ideas for paintings and I can't wait to get started.

I still plan to fill several sketchbooks and draw as much as possible, but it's time to take a break from doing something with a theme and posting it here every day. The daily posts were a huge help in making me follow through with the drawing-a-day project, but it also became somewhat of a distraction at times, taking time away from doing real, finished portfolio work. Besides, whatever personal project/challenge I might come up with will probably just get stolen and used as a daily challenge on some caricature club forum again.

Anyway, Happy New Year to all, and good riddance to another decade! It may have been the last full decade this miserable world will ever see, but I hope 2010 brings you the best. See you in hell!