Friday, September 9

KAIJU PROJECT UPDATE

Here are a few recent commissions from my ongoing Kaiju Project. I've added a couple of new slots on my store page if you're interested in getting a custom kaiju of your own. They've been labeled "temporarily sold out" for a few months while I've been on hiatus, so snap them up while you can. Check it out, someone commissioned a Pubear kaiju! Hell yeah!

He Was Never The Same After That...
acrylic on wood panel (INQUIRE)

Illegal In Japan
acrylic on wood panel (SOLD)

Play Me Some Cactus Music
acrylic on wood panel (SOLD)

They Never Could Find Words
acrylic on wood panel (SOLD)

The Parasite
acrylic on wood panel (SOLD)

Thursday, September 8

NARCO

Let me just say upfront, I do not in any way endorse violence, racial stereotypes, or drug use. The following project is a series of commissioned apparel designs inspired by Mexican narco cinema. If you're offended or confused, just watch the previous link and you'll understand. They're B-movies that share a lot in common with American grindhouse, which means silly over the top with sex, drugs, and violence.

This was a very... difficult project to work on. I think at several points I even considered turning it down because I wasn't sure if it was ethical. "What the hell am I doing?! I'm drawing decapitated cartel victims..." was something that came out of my mouth at some point. And for the love of god, never google image search "drug cartel" with the safe search off. I've seen things I wish I could unsee while researching this project.

But for all the difficulty I faced getting started, I took it as a challenge. What started as morbid sketches that no sane person would ever want to buy or wear, slowly became fun comic book villain-esque character studies. So I put on my Tarantino hat, and just had fun with it. Best not to over think these things right? Bad guys kick ass!






Wednesday, September 7

WHAT IS IT YOU'D SAY YOU DO HERE?

Since flying solo almost one year ago, I've been staying crazy busy doing this and that for startups, agencies, and big companies alike. While I'm very happy with the kind of work that has been coming my way, MOST of it will never end up on my blog because it's either (A) too far outside my wheel house, or (B) under a strict non-disclosure agreement (NDA). But thankfully I've got a grip of non-NDA work that's fit to post, so here are two good examples of the kind of thing I've been up to this year. More tomorrow!

CROCS™ Chameleons Ad
agency: Friends of Mine x Sleeping Giant

I've already done two projects with Friends of Mine, and they've quickly become some of my favorite people to work with. The following is a commercial that was put together on a very tight deadline, and still came out pretty great. The boys at Friends of Mine came to me to create a hefty library of elements that they could then animate. I cranked away for several days, handed over the elements, and a few days later Crocs had this magical little children's ad on their hands.




Backpocket Brewery Woodcut Illustrations

If you know anything about me, you know that I frequently lust for a good microbrew (the hoppier the better). Needless to say, I had a lot of fun drawing in a completely different style for Backpocket. They approached me about illustrating some common objects that would eventually brand their various beer styles. This was to be done in a rustic, woodcut style that would gel with their existing design work. To be clear, I did not design the labels, only the first image layout and all of the elements within.

Tuesday, September 6

CREATION, DESTRUCTION, RESURRECTION

Remember the STS9 poster I did a little while back that never saw the light of day? Well fortunately they're back on tour, and I was able to elaborate on that illustration by making it into a triptych for the good people at Conscious Alliance. Locals can get them for FREE by donating food at the shows, and I believe they will be available on the CA website afterward for cash moneys.

The concept behind these pieces was to create a sequential series involving imaginary astrological mythology. I had a lot of fun figuring out which parts of my made-up myth to tell visually, and I'm pleased with the results.


Creation (1/3)

Destruction (2/3)

Resurrection (3/3)

I'M NOT DEAD, I PROMISE!!!

Guys, I'm terribly sorry for the lack of posts as of late. I just married my art school sweetheart Shannon Bonatakis a few weeks back, and things have been hellaciously busy. BUT I have a bunch of posts piled up now, so expect a post every day this week, and some more cool stuff I'll be able to talk about very soon! Eyes peeled!