Robots Killed My Parents: Illustration and Design

Breaking Rad Mural revealed!

2012-01-30T07:41:00.000-08:00

Big thanks to Favio of The Bodega Negra for taking these flicks of our mural at the Public Trust and also helping me do the mural itself. Will be posting these pics on the site later this week. Thanks to everyone who came out and supported.

Dallas Observer cover!

2012-01-16T09:20:00.000-08:00

I was finally able to do a cover for the Dallas observer December 29th - Janurary 4, 2012 issue to help the Observer wrap up 2011 in music. Thanks to Alex Flores for always giving the best art direction. Enjoy!

Breaking Rad!

2012-01-09T11:19:00.000-08:00

So in hopes of doing a re-cap of the luxurious and exclusive Artopia event held at the Dallas Contemporary back in december, The Public Trust is curating a re-cap show. Also, I will be having my first solo show in the side room along with a mural being done by myself and The Bodega Negra. Here's a link for more info on the shows and a jpg to look at and tickle your eyeballs. Hope to see you there!

Wedding Invitation

2011-12-30T06:34:00.000-08:00

Just got the screen printed copy of my sister in-law's wedding invite that I did for her and her fiance. Thankfully my friends Magnificent Beard helped me screen print it and all dat. Go weddings! Enjoy!

Artopia 2011

2011-12-12T20:28:00.000-08:00

So I've been working with The Bodega Negra alot lately and we were given the opportunity to do a wrap for one of the Dallas Observer Newstands recently in an effort to hype up the 2nd Dallas Artopia. Here's some flicks of how it turned out.

2011-11-23T09:25:00.001-08:00

My website is finally up! I've kept it kind of limited as far as my personal work goes, and i've weeded through a majority of my work as i still have much more to put up; but the bare bones are there. This is of course all in the great thanks to the brains behind Virb. Hope you like it. Enjoy!

Art Conspiracy 7 updates

2011-11-20T14:03:00.001-08:00

I was randomly selected to do a piece at Art Conspiracy 7. This was it! Had so much fun. I'm glad i was able to be a part of something like this in dallas. Had a really "interesting" turn out, but my piece got sold so that was cool. Thanks for taking a look!

Austin City Limits

2011-09-15T11:53:00.000-07:00

Here's an illustration for the austin city limits festival. Not sure if it would be considered a festival or a show but yeah. This was done via the Observer and thus via Alex Flores' art direction which is amazing as always. Enjoy!

Soundboard for the Observer

2011-08-19T10:51:00.000-07:00

Just illustrated a very small and very simplified version of a soundboard. Thanks to Alex Flores and his amazing art direction, I was able to bang this illustration out in 1 day. Check out the illustration in it's proper context here. Enjoy!

Sleepy Dan panel remix

2011-08-10T08:28:00.000-07:00

I don't know what the title i just put up actually means. But I guess it's kind of appropriate. I was asked to do a panel for the Sleepy Dan series 1 release party. It was loosely based on the theme: Sleep (obviously) but with the twist: childhood nightmares or "monster's under the bed." So as a kid i was terrified of ET (and still am) and boats, submarines and sharks. Now i should note that i SHOULD have taken a flick of the pic BEFORE i sold it at the show but alas i didn't, BUT thanks to Joonbug of Fresh Kaufee I was able to snag one of his pics from the show. Thanks Joonbug and thanks Sleepy Dan for the up's and good times. Enjoy!

Goldcoast

2011-07-11T10:39:00.000-07:00

So a WHILE back i got a project from Goldcoast longboards to do an "all around the world" graphic. This was awesome. This is what i banged out for them and i really hope i see some kid cruising on it one of these days. Or maybe they'll ask me to do another? Hope so. Enjoy!

Dallas kicks off the Warped Tour!

2011-07-04T11:49:00.000-07:00

This year for 2011, Dallas got to be the hosts of the 2011 Vans Warped Tour. This was awesome for 2 reasons:

A) Nostalgia
B) I got to do another illustration for the Dallas Observer!

Here it is! Enjoy!

Sleepy Dan Series 1 release party/show tonight!

2011-06-25T04:48:00.000-07:00

Hey tonight is a really cool show for the new Dallas based t-shirt brand "Sleepy Dan." He's been hyping it up for awhile now and finally decided to come out with his own line. As a maven; Dan's asked myself and many other local artists to contribute a piece for tonight's show.

So if you're in the Dallas area between 7pm and 10pm, come by for some drinks and cool "sleepy-themed" artwork by artists like: Magnificent Beard, Brian Gibb, Joonbug, Taro-Kun, Brent Ozaeta, Brendan Polk, to name a few. Hope to see you there!

Kanye West as a pigeon in central park

2011-06-19T13:09:00.000-07:00

That's why i love working with Pete Panciera on graphics for Zoo York. His art direction is always direct but not limiting in what i want to do with the illustration. The above title is exactly what he said about this Zoo York shirt. "Just pretend Kanye West as a pigeon in central park." So that's what I did and this is the finished illustration and then the final product. Enjoy!

"Zimmern VS Grylls" illustraton

2011-05-30T06:31:00.000-07:00

Was able to get another illustration for the Dallas Observer's food blog. Click the link here to see the illustration in the flesh. Hope you like it!

Album Art finally dropping!

2011-05-21T15:25:00.000-07:00

Cody Bware. Is having his release show tonight at the Public Assembly in Brooklyn. This is the album i did for him forever ago, it's been a long time coming but give him some love if you're in the area.

Awkward drawing!

2011-05-17T21:22:00.000-07:00

Here's another illustration I did for the Dallas Observer blog the other week. This one is about a "controversial" lawyer in TX who's "going after" internet porn-pirates. Apparently he's trying to strong arm these "porn-pirates," I dunno. Needless to say there was only so much I could actually illustrate for this doodle so I tried to make it as awkward as possible. Enjoy!

More Observer!

2011-04-24T00:26:00.000-07:00

I recently had another opportunity to do a spot illustration for the local paper, "The Observer." It was an article on a local music hot spot where DIY thrives and gangsters unite.......in dallas. Gangsters in dallas; i was confused too but nonetheless intrigued. So here's my illustration, pick one up while you still can! Enjoy!

Knowledge is POWER!

2011-03-30T13:40:00.000-07:00

Been busy, have tons of work to put up but no time to do it. Show in the "not-so-distant future" that i'm raping my mind to come up with ideas for. Enjoy for now. Knock me out and send me on my way home if you see me wandering anywhere else outside my apartment or not working. Thanks, Enjoy!

deets:

New Orleans

2011-03-13T10:05:00.001-07:00

Just did an illustration for a New Orleans based business travel agency via a marketing company called Red Button.
Ton's of fun. Banged it out surprisingly fast too. Usually in my illustrations, i try to keep in mind familiar pop icons or objects that anyone can identify super easy. So for an illustration for New Orleans, i had to do alot of research to condense easily identifiable architecture, tourist attractions and whatnots into one illustration. Inked it, scanned it and then i colored in photoshop. Enjoy!

Observer

2011-02-25T08:31:00.000-08:00

Have tons of work coming up. Been super behind on work and life. But here's something small i did awhile back for the local Observer in Dallas. Enjoy!

(Here's the rough concept they doodled and sent over)

(Here's the final piece.)

New Zoo Shirt

2011-01-13T21:42:00.000-08:00

Here's a new piece I did for Zoo York a couple months ago. The concept sketch as well as the finished black and white image. It's about the day in the life of a New York city coffee cup. Enjoy!

Taro - Kyle prints for sale!

2011-01-06T11:04:00.000-08:00

The other night my friend Taro and I did a few decent exquisite corpses and we turned out a few that we really liked; "Unicorn Boy" & "Old Money." We printed them on 11 x 14 bristol paper and you can email me if you would like one. They're $15 a piece and there's only an edition of 20. (I only have 1 through 10 though) Enjoy!

THANKS!

2011-01-05T07:44:00.000-08:00

2010 was pretty interesting but not monumental (asides from getting married!) But I won't dwell on it save for a few fleeting moments. I had the opportunity to meet Goldcoast Longboards this past year through my friend Dustin. He and a mutual friend of ours Aaron have kept me in the loop since my move from Brooklyn and they were even kind enough to let me crash their place for a long weekend.

So as a thank you/be-lated home warming present Aaron gave me a panel that he crafted and I did a piece that expreses my appreciation for their hospitality. Thanks! Enjoy!

New

2010-12-28T21:17:00.000-08:00

New piece i did for my friend Taro. Check it out. More info on it and where you can get a copy of it soon to come. Enjoy!

Thoughtless...

2010-11-29T22:42:00.000-08:00

Well i've been having a bit of trouble coming up with stuff outta my head lately just to draw. So i figured i'd catch up on the "sketchbook-project-sketchbook" that i'm working on and share some with you 'cause once its done thats it! Also, an update on 2 sketches from my previous post and an update on the mangalwood graphic i was messing with. I think i'll do a bit more with it later on. Enjoy!

Life

2010-11-09T10:40:00.001-08:00

So on October 30th I got hitched and married my beautiful wife, Meaghan AND moved to Dallas.

Dan Z. took the flicks, so many thanks go out to him for making things awesome. But i haven't stopped sketching and there's some more work coming which is in the mix right now as i settle into things here. Here's some sketch's for the time being and a little diddy i did for a band but it wasn't accepted. Whatev's. Enjoy!

*Words to make out in the illustration*

Band name: We are the in crowd

Tag: "I really think i hate you"

hope you can read it!

NEW SITE "RAY+KYLE(dot)com"

2010-09-07T19:59:00.000-07:00

I've been working with the fantastic art director and designer Mr. Ray Marrero on a bunch of projects lately and we finally decided to start doing freelance work together. Follow us on our new website here: http://raykyle.com/
Check us out and give us feed back, tell your friends about us cause we like to design for you!

*Also, this is a shirt i did for the band Shinedown for their recent "carnival of madness" tour. I have to say on a side note, that i am completely obsessed with shinedown and their insightful lyrics, moving guitar riffs and their drummer who looks like he's from limp bizit or some other 90's alt-rock band.....but that would be a complete lie so i'll let someone else admit to that. Enjoy!

more sketch's

2010-07-28T18:13:00.000-07:00

Haven't posted in a while. Been busy. Got engaged. Moving to Dallas in 3 months and working like crazy. Here are some sketch's to appease my ever growing followers. Enjoy!

HOT SAUCE!

2010-06-18T20:24:00.001-07:00

Did some work with Ray Marrero recently and we worked on these 3 concepts for an ad campaign for a reputable hot sauce company. Hope you like it and want to hire me to draw you stuff.

Here's a little drawing i did for my girlfriend awhile back. Drew it on some matte cardstock and made it into a cd sleeve. Here's the doodle. Enjoy!

Foxy!

2010-06-07T16:57:00.000-07:00

Had the opportunity to work with Piermont Records and Warner Bros. label on the Foxy Shazam! spring/summer tour poster. It was alot of fun and they played with some awesome bands like Bad Rabbits and Young Veins. Yup.

Here's another sketch from my sketchbook. Hope you like it.

BIZNAZ CARDZ

2010-05-27T17:56:00.001-07:00

Got my business cards from Vahalla Studios in and theyre looking sick. Also been doing alot of work lately so i'll put some of that up.

Here's a doodle i was messing around with, its a "township," i dunno. Like it or die. More to come!

POSTCARDS!!!

2010-03-10T06:37:00.000-08:00

Finally got these in from Cranky Pressman. Take a look!

old new stuff

2010-02-26T17:32:00.000-08:00

Ok so it's like been blizzarding all day in the god-forsaken state of Pennsylvania today so decided to put up some work that i did with "piermont management" a while back. Some shirt graphics i did like forever ago but they never got used so here they are. Enjoy!

ShadowWorks & More...

2010-02-23T13:59:00.000-08:00

Ok so I've been waiting for the shadowWorks postcards to come so i can take some flicks and put them up here for you! So in the meantime i'm putting up some samples of the illustration work i did for the postcards with little snippits of details that i thought were important to the process. Hope you enjoy!

Back again

2010-02-02T04:51:00.000-08:00

It's been awhile. But honestly I've just been super busy trying to find work/moneys so I can live. I guess everybody in my industry is doing that somewhat.
But I recently started working with this company called "ShadowWorks" from Mid-town NYC. (i miss it already) and my friends company called "The Serif." We did 5 postcard designs that are being letter pressed as we speak. It's going to be a silver print on a black matte. So all of my illustrations were black on white. I'll upload the finished designs as soon as they come back from the printers. Until then, here's some of the patterns and accents I was working with and sketching up.

either/or

2009-12-21T06:02:00.000-08:00

Here's some work I did for my buddy Rob at Either/Or Records. He's the singer for I Am Alaska and has been talking awhile about doing his own thing so I developed a logo for him and here's an album cover I did for one of his first releases.

Kids books & Vegetables!

2009-12-02T12:46:00.000-08:00

OK, so I've been away and some-what out of the loop lately. BUT i have been busy. So here's some recent updates on some of the work that's been taking up my time recently as well as some findings and some other odds and ends. Also, I'll post some small work that I've been doing in the past few months later this week. Enjoy!

Above are the panels of this childrens book I illustrated for a friend of mine, Chris Brignola.

Above, is a book i found at the Red Hill thrift shop. And it's about one of my favorite past times; VEGETABLES! The illustrations are amazing, very similar to what I am constantly trying to accomplish. This illustrator however accomplished this very well.

I'm coming back!

2009-11-10T16:06:00.000-08:00

I know i haven't been around for awhile for those advent followers of mine. (i say that with all sarcasm) But i have been across the US and back. My life's changed quite a bit with the addition of a beautiful girlfriend Meaghan and I am no longer living in Brooklyn but back to where I got my start; Pennsylvania. BUT I do have a scanner coming in the mail so i'll have more work up on here ASAP! But for the time being, this is some work that I did recently for a competition at www.talenthouse.com Enjoy! Robots are awesome!

"untitled"
11x14 ink on bristol

**Dustin Hostetler was awesome enough to put this image in "Faesthetic's" blog recently. Needless to say i was SUPER stoked. Take a look, its short and sweet.**

Also more sketches etc.

2009-06-29T09:04:00.000-07:00

If you've been hanging out with me lately, you've probably seen some of these sketches in my new sketchbook. I'm retiring the old one with but a few pages that are blank. But here's some stuff i've done lately inside and outside of my sketchbook. Enjoy!

Robot Tree's done for "Fishing for Eskimo's." I'll put a link up if they decide to use them.

This was never used but i was really happy with how it turned out.

This was a longboard graphic done for Rayskin.

And this is....well actually i have no explanation for this.

Lunarsway

2009-06-29T08:43:00.000-07:00

This is Lunarsway.

I'm working in conjunction with Piermont Records & Management on Lunarsway's website, ep, myspace, etc. The myspace is laid out and desiged/illustrated by myself except for the coding which i'm teaching myself to do. Currently designing their site to; check them out here: http://www.myspace.com/lunarsway

ZOO YORK & MOB!

2009-05-10T18:44:00.000-07:00

Ok so I interned with Zoo York for a while, I think I mentioned that a while back and I also did some work for Married to the Mob. Anyway, here's what I did!

Sorry for the poor image quality on this last one, this is the only copy of this shirt that i could find on my computer. These shirts, were all etched on scratch board. I worked on this with Christian Acker.

Ok this one is a mixture of St. Michael's in France and the old movie poster for "Metropolis."

This was the girl shirt that i did for Zoo when i first started interning there. Enjoy!

Sometimes i'm glad people don't know i'm doodling them

2009-05-06T09:49:00.000-07:00

Ok this is probably the most detailed doodle i had of the lady sitting across from me, probably because she was doing the same thing over and over again, and that was eating. There's a reason they say eating on the subway is a choking hazard.

All of these people were sitting across from me on the train. Mind you i only did this for my own personal satisfaction. This guy was just begging to be doodled, he looked like such an idiot.

This guy was with his girlfriend on the train. I've never seen anyone be such jerk to their counterpart in public ever....thus i doodled him and his amazing features on his face.

(sorry for the bad photo)
This guy had no chance. His bleached blonde tips and the ice in his ears really highlighted the amazing tan that he had going on. But not to worry, his well put together outfit (cargo jeans and a grey hoodie with a purple/blue foil print) really allowed the tan leather shoes he was wearing to highlight that amazing tan of his. Ok, done ranting. Enjoy!

IAA; digital ep

2009-04-03T22:13:00.000-07:00

Ok so at the band's request, the theme behind this album cover is reminiscent of something already becoming more popular again. (i'll let you figure out what i mean on your own.) I did the illustration in a few hours, it took me a few sketches before i was comfortable enough to render the final pic. Threw it into photoshop and ta-da!

http://www.myspace.com/iamalaska

over-nighter

2009-03-28T21:06:00.000-07:00

My friend over at NoSleep records needed this done asap, so i got it done for him over night. For a band called "Monument to Thieves." Former members of eighteen visions, Throwdown and a few other bands i can't think of. I just hope it prints lighter, which is just wishful thinking. O' well.

http://www.myspace.com/monumenttothieves

More sketches!

2009-03-19T09:24:00.000-07:00

Ok so i've been up and about alot lately. PA, NY, NJ, a really horrible tri-state journey actually. I hate PA and NJ, sorry but i really do. It's like driving in a monotonous black hole. I think black holes must have more interest in them. But it shows in my sketches/art, etc. These are some sketches i did while on the train through this hell hole. Enjoy!

This is a man with a really huge forehead, who's picture was on a book jacket and i had to flick it with my camera phone.

This is a robotic pig. This was a small little thing done for my friend Adam G. at Zoo, it met his criteria; gas mask and robotic, but i don't think he likes it....o' well.

This is a picture of a man sitting adjacent to me while on the NJtransit line to Trenton. Honestly, he looks so plain i had to sketch him, i think i should sketch with more pencils. But I couldn't help but wonder what must have been going through his mind as he sat there...doing absolutely nothing to entertain himself on his hour and a half journey to NJ; "why doesn't my wife like all of my sports jersey's?" or "why doesn't my wife just understand me and my fantasy football team?" or "why did my wife leave me?"

This was a small squiggle pattern, thing. I don't know what to call it actually, but its a good way to kill time and it looks cool too.

O yeah more work!

2009-03-08T15:14:00.000-07:00

I've been trying to do overnight designs as fast as possible lately. Here's a few exercises i've done. (only 2 i know but hey it's a start and if i can do 1 a night that would a great start. More to come!)

Back home in Brooklyn!

2009-03-07T15:42:00.000-08:00

Ok so i went back to Pennsylvania for 2 weeks then came back to NY for a week and then went back again to finish some work and 2 weeks later i'm back home for good. While i was back i got a copy of the last "I Am Alaska" shirt i did for them.

I would also like to take this time to update you on the actual work i did while in PA. I was painting 4 panels. This project comprised of spray paints and markers, etc. Below are photos of the items i used to complete this project and the actual finished pieces. Excuse the bad photography. Enjoy!

My color pallette;

Brushes, markers,stencils & spray paint, etc.

The finished canvases.

1.) WINTER CANVAS

(WINTER CANVAS Details)

2.) FALL CANVAS

(FALL CANVAS Detail)

3.) SUMMER CANVAS

4.) SPRING CANVAS

UPDATE on my recent life/work

2009-02-16T10:35:00.000-08:00

Ok so i've been traveling quite a bit, back and forth between Pennsylvania and New York the past couple weeks. I've been commissioned to do a painting. It's more or less a panoramic seasonal painting of birch trees. The colors are muted and almost desaturated. There are 4 canvases; 2 of them are 8'6" x 3" and the other 2 are 4'3" x 3" HUGE in comparison to what i usually do. So i had to stretch the canvases myself, then the primer was applied. Then i used black paint markers to outline the birch trees. After, i coated the canvases with another coat of primer but this time it was an "off-white" color so the black paint marker underneath still could be seen under the new coat of paint.

Then on top of the last coat i used a darker "off-white" spray paint to fill in behind the trees and branches. To finish that off i took a brown paint marker and gave the trees texture so they stuck out not as just white wirey poles. Some other work that i have to put up are just some doodles and quick sketches that i've been doing of people on the train lately.....as well as this little doodle i drew on a childs placement while passing time at a RedRobbin the other night.

OLD NEW BOT

2008-12-08T09:07:00.000-08:00

This is an old robot that i did about 2 years ago. Dug this one up just a few minutes ago looking for a profile picture for my blogger account here! Hope you enjoy the King.

DOODLES are so much fun!

2008-11-30T20:53:00.000-08:00

I DREW THIS....LOOK AT IT

Ok so i should explain this kiddie a bit. I basically was doodling out of a magazine the other day on the coffee table/bench and i came across this picture of this little whipper snapper so i drew his expression and left it in my sketchbook. A few days later i was sitting uncomfortably close to someone on the train who insisted on looking over my shoulder at what i was drawing the entire time. So to direct their attention away from my pad i was leafing through my recent sketches and came across this little joy and i just decided to "add." Enjoy!

Animal man faces!

2008-11-30T18:52:00.000-08:00

So i've been doodling all within the realm of "uncomfortableness" lately and so in trying to draw something incredibly uncomfortable to look at, or just plain awkward i expunged these little characters. Enjoy!

BACK!

2008-11-26T08:42:00.001-08:00

Ok so i've been running around like crazy lately. I quit my night job at the Element store in times square and i've been freelancing ever since. I've also picked up an internship at ZooYork skateboarding and i'm really learning alot of post-production work as well as alot of interesting steps that i've been able to incorporate into my illustrationg process. I know i've been in and out of the world lately but i promise you in the next few weeks you'll see a big change in my process. I've been taking alot of my contemporary style and incorporating it onto scratch-board which Zoo York has thankfully been using. I discovered that i like scratch board alot. After i was finished with my one graphic for zoo york, the art director simply asked me if i'd like to try scratch board, so i said yeah! And i've been doing nothing but scratch board for the past 3 weeks. I'll have all of that up in the next few months when i'm allowed to but for now i can only show you some of my recent freelance work. Some of it's in the works still, and some is finished.

FINISHED!

Sketch of a Minuteman

2008-07-23T10:19:00.000-07:00

A sketch i did of a minuteman. Pencil. I dunno.

New Robot

2008-07-22T20:38:00.000-07:00

I AM ALASKA CD

2008-07-22T10:35:00.000-07:00

So i was excited to see my artwork make it to some stores today. Earlier last week i got my own copy of the cd as well. Here's some pre-print/production pics of the spreads etc. (except for the printed cd because people are just going to download that anyway.)

Front spread/full color

Inside (Blk/Wht spread)

Back

Also the latest I Am Alaska shirt!

*a tribute to "At The Drive-In" (gas mask)*

New Shirts!

2008-07-09T08:12:00.000-07:00

Plans and ideas for shirts coming out!

(This......)

(Plus this....)

(Equal this: )

*There has text still to be added but you get the idea.*

Revised Darlings Myspace

2008-07-07T10:59:00.000-07:00

NEW DARLINGS

2008-07-04T11:41:00.000-07:00

This is going to be the new darlings myspace. The only thing that is missing is the background coloring which is going to be more coffee stains so that there's a nice muted color in the background; and the text which will be above the movie theatre entrance.

I'm excited.

More of More Darlings

2008-07-03T14:00:00.000-07:00

So this is the background image for the myspace of "Darlings' Cabinet of Sundry Horror." I drew 2 rats, paint markered a rendition of a cake. Then i drew banner and the font by hand and then i baked some paper which was stained in coffee and then i did more paper baking and then i baked some random tea stains as well. All of these things i did separately and scanned them into photoshop as separate layers so that the image could be rendered completely, and now you have the completed image. (Balloons coming soon.)

More Darlings!

2008-06-16T11:03:00.000-07:00

This is a sketch i did for Darlings. This is going to be part of the template design that i'm doing for their myspace page. But you'll see the rest of that in a bit. Granted this did take a little longer than a "sketch," but it turned out exactly how i wanted it to. Enjoy!

There are Rats in America!

2008-06-09T11:29:00.000-07:00

This is for a new and upcoming band called "Darlings: a cabinet of a sundry horror." They're an extremely talented bunch so i was more than happy when they asked me to start doing some band work for them. There's alot of room for growth and experimentation with this bunch and i'm really looking forward to getting some really composed and gritty imaging done. But these are just a few snippets of what i've done for them so far as far as just conceptualizing for their perspective image.

I just found this.

2008-06-08T21:13:00.000-07:00

I did this shirt graphic awhile ago for "I Am Alaska" and i just found a snippet of it that i can post on here of the actual shirt. It consists of lyrics from one of their songs and the small branding that i did for them. Enjoy.

Can't Trust Arms Dealers

2008-06-05T17:29:00.000-07:00

Yes, this is in honor of Edward Gorey. But no, this is in no way equal to him.

I Love Lamp!

2008-06-04T10:47:00.000-07:00

Cityscapes experimenting

2008-05-21T09:17:00.001-07:00

Ok so, i do small graphic work for the record label "Attic Records" up in White Plains, NY. I've been waiting for some more work from them but that's for another discussion. In the meantime, i'm going to show you some work that i might be doing for them in the near future. It's for a band called Cityscapes. Again, these are just concepts. Nothing completely ironed out.

Wonkavision!!!!!

2008-05-08T17:01:00.000-07:00

I just found out that my artwork is going to be seen in Wonkavision Magazine. Well atleast one piece of mine. Take a look!

If you look down a few posts you'll notice that under "Band work" there is the original image of this 'house man.' Since i haven't explained my process in a while i will a little on this one as to how i got the artwork finished. I drew the house man by hand, as you can see below. But then i scanned it into photoshop and made the colors pop a little bit. Then for the background.....welll, i'm going to just let you wonder. Enjoy! Thanks for looking and taking an interest.

In my rummaging

2008-05-07T08:42:00.000-07:00

I found an older mock up i did while in school. This was in an effort to promote the hydrogen injected fuels that seem to becoming more and more popular amongst drivers today. And through my research for this project, i know it seems improbable but the answer is infact a solid "yes," some companies are actually 'trying' to reduce the 'dent' in the economy.

Enjoy!

Boredom and Sticky Notes

2008-05-05T11:01:00.000-07:00

I was bored the other day and started experimenting with some sticky notes in my sketchbook. Enjoy!

*Note: I tried to make sure that the top picture's levels were pulled enough so that you could see a little bit of the underlying image.*

*I must also apologize for the grotesque photo work here. I am not a learned photographer obviously so the far right image is little out of focus close up.*

i dont know calligraphy

2008-05-02T10:45:00.000-07:00

I was sitting in my loft last night doodling. And i doodled this:

More to come. Enjoy!

Particle Wood

2008-04-18T08:02:00.000-07:00

This is an old painting that i did entirely in spray paints and stencils about a year ago. It was a landscape of some cows in a field with a barn and some trees and a fence, basic. But i got tired of it and felt that it would be best if i could recycle the old piece of particle board and just paint over top of it. So i did. I kept a theme in my mind the entire time i was doing this painting. The theme or background of information for this piece is; "There is a frustrating of plans where there is no confidential talk." It's taken from the bible actually; Psalms 15:22. No, it's not a religious painting. But i thought that, this particular scripture had an amazing hold on my head that i just could NOT get it out for the longest time. So i finally put it into a painting and here it is, enojoy!

"There is a frustrating of plans where there is no confidential talk"
(spray paint/paint markers/fabric paints/acrylics on particle wood)

Meet Audrey, the Zombie hater

2008-04-15T08:45:00.001-07:00

This is Audrey. And she mostly hates Zombies. Mostly likes Vampires, but yeah.

BAND WORK

2008-04-14T10:07:00.000-07:00

So yes i have been doing a ton of band work lately. Which is great exercise in patience and humility actually. I don't downplay any of the bands with which i've had the privilege with working with, that's just ridiculous; and asides from that, they've all been great to work with, i couldn't ask to have worked with any other people.
But one thing that any working design professional will tell you in the field is; ''Don't do band work.'' Now they don't say this because bands are full of horrible people or because they steal all your money haha no, that's not at all what they're getting at.
What i've learned with bands is that: Their band usually starts as a hobby. A few musicians get together and jam and realize, 'wow we could really have something here.' So they take their next step in actually becoming a full-fledged band. They start recording. Then my part comes into play as the artist. They seek out an artist, whether it's amongst themselves or through a friend or through some fellow bands that they've befriended. Fortunately for myself i have many friends in the area of music as well as being a musician myself.
The only time there's difficulty is realizing that these bands are just entering into their realm of music, fans, and this unfortunately for them, brings the 'business' end of things. Now for most bands, they just want to record their stuff, put some good art on it and sell it and make money. I know, i've been in plenty of bands. So when it comes to my end of the spectrum, i'm dealing with people who are acting as temporary businessmen/women in their field of music. I always enjoy this though because it creates a very casual atmosphere and this makes an easier schedule to work with and i've always found that these bands soon become very good friends as well.

Now last spring i came across an amazing band called "Igor's Egg" via. craigslist. They're an extremely talented and inspiring group of individuals. They're extremely focused on their music and their style is tight like a tiger. But unlike most jazz/fusion/rock bands they've got a brilliant literary sense about them and for their latest album, which i had the privilege of working on; "The Ultimate Tuh," they're incorporating a story to introduce to the army of up and coming concept artists out there.

But enough blogging and let's get to the artwork!
Here's the first full color rendering i did for them with the main characters for their concept album.

Secondly; there's the other main part of their story, the Prototype. Which you can imagine was right up my alley being as it's a ROBOT!

Thirdly, i did landscape; the setting for this intense and epic action sequence.

This done on a piece of 11x17in matte paper, generally used for small run printing purposes but due to the fact that it can hold color so well and consistently i thought it would be great material for this image's composure. I first stained the paper with coffee so that it would get it's lonely and desolate feeling to this rusting planet made of gears and cogs. Then i mapped out the gears and cogs with a regular ball point pen. The colors were added with accent color prismacolor markers and then the shades; in a slow and gradual process of warm greys. Also prismacolor markers.
And after that, i compiled the 2 previous images together in photoshop and then layered them on top of the landscape.

Ta-"freaking"-da.

Now for the back of the album:

Done in pretty much the same process. Only the background was done on illustration board and there was less compiling to be done.

The characters ^^^

The final composition with both characters and landscape.

The next band in line is A-06.
Another attempt at the concept album genre. We'll watch their career with curiosity.
This is the few sketches for them that i did of their characters. I apologize in advance for the horrible female rendering.

Jack

Lydia

Cypher

The "Psycho Squad" (1 of 4)

A06
The main character of this story.
Now scanned these images and then rendered them in photoshop with the use of my Wacom Tablet, an amazing invention. I did each character completely in photoshop so needless to say i was surprised with myself. Below is the first completed image i have ever done with a Wacom Tablet.

The most fun i've had in a while with my robots was in this piece. I had to take the picture i had originally done of A06 and then completely reposition him. This took literally hours to reproduce and thanks to the patience and professionalism of A.06 they got exactly what they wanted.

Now came the bad guys of this story. Cypher and his evil minions of the undead; the "Psycho" squad.

Now after these 2 images were composed completely on my Wacom Tablet. I had ample time to render them into a landscape as well. Thus you won't be able to see the landscape by itself but you will see the finished battle sequence. Another epic battle in the realm of sci-fi. Watch out Coheed. (haha sorry Matt i had to take a cheap shot)

Now this previous image was for the inside of the cd. There's no text here so it's not very obvious, but the CD is placed right abouts where the dock is in the center of the image. Now the outside of the CD was much more hand rendered. In fact all of the outside of the cd is done in prismacolor markers on marker paper and pastels and color pencil. Simple and easy.

The outside image is a city within the midst of a huge forest. So i rendered the city first, which is all prismacolor markers and a little ball point pen here and there with some alcohol brushed over top.

The second image in composing the outside of the cd is the forest. Done in pastel and pencil, this left a very dirty scanner after i scanned the image in so it took a little bit longer than i thought it would when it came to the final rendering of the image.

Now the final composed image.

The next band is I Am Alaska.
Some very good friends of mine, extremely professional and very good to work with. I really enjoyed this experience.

I had a preconceived concept for their album and their label said it was cool so i went with it. Now here are a few of the images used for the album.

NICK, YOU CANNOT READ THIS!

2008-04-01T11:37:00.000-07:00

This is the start of a few new exquisite corpse's that i'm going to be mailing to my friend Nick. These "corpses" are very hard to continue sometimes with so many various styles so i try to develop a theme for each one before i start it and then have anyone who decides to continue it; follow that same theme, which in this case is: type(left) some type of dinosaur and tree pattern thing(middle) and some completely free-form line art(right) Enjoy!

MORE SKETCHES

2008-03-31T13:24:00.000-07:00

I just figured i'd put some sketches on here. Regardless of their uncompleted features, i always like sharing what i'm currently working on. Hope you like some of it.

These sketches were out of my small tiny little pocket sized moleskin book.

Introducing ROBOTS, MIGHTY ROBOTS!

2008-03-05T08:12:00.000-08:00

These all came to be while carpooling to school and back. My fellow classmate and I would take turns every week driving an hour down to school and an hour back, almost every day of the week sometimes. This went on for two years. So one day while sitting in the back of the 92 Toyota Celica going about 110 mph up the Northeast Extension; i found myself absolutely overwhelmed with the workload that was going to haunt me that night. I knew my schedule was absolutely shot for the evening. Along with my personal schedule and other things that seemed to be taking place i was not going to get anything done that night as far as sketches were concerned. So i put my pen on my pad and let the bouncy car make my movements.
Here's my first Robot sketch:

My second, followed by my 3rd, 4th and etc., etc.

Now if you'll notice; on the top row of bots, in the middle, is my black jack dealer. He's also on my black t-shirts. The 2nd row, on the far right is Jon. He's also on my t-shirts.

Now let's look right about this text line and on the far left you'll see "The Prototype." This was a robot done for the concept/story album done by the band "Igor's Egg." The Prototype is a malicious CD that instantaneously transforms into this rampaging robot that immediately reeks havoc on the world it inhabits.

The 2nd robot is Chad. He was initially a sketch made for the band a06. Then refined and tuned up to look like the robot on the far right who is the actual 'a06.'

Croquis!

2008-02-27T08:12:00.000-08:00

I'm not really sure what kind of croquis these are specifically unfortunately. But they went along very well i think. During my figure drawing class i decided to experiment. There were 2 different models; one male and the other female. The female had about 5 to 10 second poses, whereas the male did about 30 second poses. The only thing that makes these croquis' experimental is; instead of changing my technique or paper accordingly at every pose, i decided to just keep everything relative and just change the color of the pencil i was working in so as to show the different poses in succession.

T-shirts!

2008-02-19T20:12:00.000-08:00

This is a shirt i did for my friends band, "I_AM_ALASKA." A very independent band with a sly style of mixed genres. But They wanted something odd and out of place even so i looked in my doodle book and said how about this?

I am also referenced to as the kid who draws alot of robots all the time as well. I'll fill you in on my robot illustrations a little later but for now i'll show you 3 shirt designs that i did as a way of promoting myself with 2 of my precious mechanical creations.

Ok so on the left is my guys shirt, sizes ranging from small to large and on the left was the girls shirt design; sizes going from youth large to adult medium. The Design on the left comes as well in tank tops ranging from youth mediums to adult small.

Music Magazine

2008-02-18T12:27:00.001-08:00

Given the choice between a snowboarding magazine and a private clothing line magazine i decided to go with the "Strings n' Things" Musicians magazine. An initial look at a few other instrument retail magazines, etc. would suggest that to keep up with the ever growing music industry (as it's participants become younger and younger.) i decided to make the design for this magazine easy for the eye to follow without too much to vary from.

My next decision was to fully render this image, scan it and then fix any flaws in photoshop.

This image was done in my sketch book. I mapped everything out with pencil of course and then i decided what my color palette should be. I decided to start with the hat. I colored the hat with a the tea i was drinking that morning. I just dipped my thin tip brush in my tea cup and started dabbling a little bit at a time. Then i moved down to the legs or pants, still using the tea. By the time i made it up to the shirt it was midmorning and i had moved onto my second cup of caffeine, coffee.
I used the coffee to stain the shoes and shirt. Layers of tea and coffee later i had a very near-rendered image. So i added line contour with a 0.1 gel pen that i had in my pocket.

**The outfit was nearly done and i still wasn't satisfied. I wanted a cold texture. Something that would be brooding and yet allow the feel of the musician still come out on the forefront. So purely by accident; i discovered that cross hatching with a regular black ball point pen, and then swabbing some rubbing alcohol over top with a few q-tips, takes enough of the black out of the ink so that it leaves a blueish hue behind.**
Applying this to the face, feet and neck i got exactly what i wanted. I was so happy with this.

Now it's time for the bass. This time i used the coffee stains as i did before but only for the underlying base for the image. The rest of the colors were all done in prisma color markers and some metallic paints were used for the strings and the knobs on the head of the guitar as well as with the pick-ups on the guitar.

(Any highlights on the guitar were done in white out pen.)

Now take these ingredients and put them altogether and you have this:

JON

2008-02-12T14:11:00.000-08:00

"Why can't you be like the rest of the flock Jon?"-unknown

This quote was given to me as an assignment in college. I was to develop an illustration to go along with this quote or to make it come to life.

This was the thumbnail i came up with. There's probably others but they're of no accord. I just quick doodled what i wanted to compose this piece to be.

Then i had to come up with "Jon." This was an important part of this piece. I really wanted to make this whole piece quite literal. I wanted there to be no representation whatsoever. I wanted the quote to go along with it's illustration almost word for word...with a few subtleties of course.

The complete image is going through a total makeover. It will be up shortly.

Talicomahopilese

2008-02-07T11:57:00.000-08:00

I continually talk about my roots in the fine-arts so i figured it's about time that i show any readers some of my abstract paintings that i've become so fond of. (and how bad i am at blogging)

"Mordecai" 4.75in x 4.75in acrylic on illustration board

This paint is my first abstract painting in the series and it's called 'Mordecai.' It's done in acrylic on illustration board. (approx. size: 4.75inx4.75in) I put on a song on repeat and listened to it for about an hour on my headphones before i came up with this grotesque image.

"Untitled" 8.5in x 9.75in collage w/acrylics on illustration board

The second piece, is a larger piece. It's name i haven't come up with yet. But it too is done on illustration board. But this time the the background doesn't have a black base but i "mod-podged" clippings of newspaper articles and other various magazine clippings to make the base. I believe in the top left corner you can see a small snippet of an clementine orange box mesh that i used. (I was thinking in alot of 'reds' as you can tell on this piece.) Also if you look closely there's a face that i painted in the middle with alot of black acrylic washes. I don't know why the face is there, it just had to or i wouldn't have been satisfied with myself.

" "
4.75in x 4.75 acrylic on illustration board

This third piece was a very satisfying piece. Done on illustration board with a black base. I'm a huge fan of Tim Burton so the little curl in the top left is my tribute to his wonderful piece "The Nightmare Before Christmas."

"Meilousyngrailauropeen"
(Milo-sing-ray-lar-o-peen)
4.75in x 4.75in acrylics/spray paints on illustration board

No i don't really have any explanation for this piece's name. The only being; i continually make up words in my head. I know they don't exist but i figured they should be perfect for my paintings. I write them down in one of my sketchbooks all the time so one day i'll probably put that up on here so you can see all the wonderful words that i like to make up.
"Mystical Rather"
4.75in x 4.75in acrylics on illustration board

Illustration VS Design VS the DC Sniper

2008-01-18T08:43:00.001-08:00

Somewhere out in Montana, there's a little sporting event called "Dirt-bag Day." It's an all day skiing/snowboarding event in which all the contestants come dressed as dirty as they possibly can. There's competitions and prizes for the biggest Dirt-bag as well as prizes for best in either skiing or snowboarding event.

I was so excited to do a poster for this event. I had a few ideas that i sketched out before i came up with what would be my final draft.

I finally got out the coffee and tea stains and started messing around in my sketch book until i got what i wanted. A dirt bag.

So after brushing n drying and waving my book in the air like an idiot and blowing on certain places so it would dry faster i finally got my dirt bag. You see; as a fine artist or illustrator first, borders and 'the grid' and negative space sort of don't come to mind. Composition whatever the artist's eye may see as fit. In complete contrast to a designer, yes, but this why this is an art, and art is liberal.

Now after my dirtbag is done, i need a frame to set him in.

And that's what i did. I got out the tempura black paint, because i needed something done quick so i could scan it. And it's not like i never use this frame ever again, i stock pile these textures in my computer and bring them out over and over again. This adds so much to a piece; because not only are you arranging it compositionally but it's got your 'hands-on' feel to it, which is what every artist strives to do.

So for this piece i combined coffee, tea and a cheesy 'rubber stamp' font that i downloaded off the web to make this piece. The background was really tricky tho and unfortunately i don't have any pics of the original image that i used for the background. But what i did was i took a cookie tray and put a couple sheets of watercolor paper on them and i poured coffee in the tray (saving enough for a cup of my own) and i put the tray in the oven and baked it. For about 5mins and then i pulled the tray out. This makes the paper start to ripple a little bit, but just enough so when i pull the tray out and spill off the rest of the remaining coffee and put it back in to bake; this leaves room for more gracious imperfections to bake into the paper.

Sometimes i am 5 inches tall

2008-01-17T13:27:00.000-08:00

This is one of my first design pieces while in college. Our assignment was very open. My design was to be introducing a new line of candy or chocolates. This is supposed to be something you would see in a magazine. The age group on this would be teenage to young adult. Witty, almost smart humor is the main theme to this piece.
My amateur design, coupled with my raw artwork has certainly produced work that i find myself constantly criticizing. Now trying to find my strengths in design has been the most violent dispute with myself. But on occasion i find when i put my illustration into my design work, a satisfying piece can be created.
Yep, this is totally not a real company. The coffee's real, the idea behind it and the image are certainly real. But for those of you looking for a credible, professional piece, in which i accumulated money or atleast a monetary compensation for a design such as this...look elsewhere, for this is not one of those pieces.

**But i will tell you how this was accomplished because the process is the same in the professional world as it is in the amateur graphic artists mind. (hate to disappoint those discriminating professionals out there who may be reading this)**

Kona coffee; as many late night creatives will tell you; is a Hawaiian grown coffee. Its the same as any coffee though. It's black, it stains, is served hot and has caffeine.
-I obviously went 'vector-crazy' on this piece. But it was a very good exercise to go from the sketch pad immediately to illustrator.
-Obviously this was an assignment given while in college. I sketched like crazy for a few hours or so, getting nothing accomplished as to what the final piece was going to look like. So i went to the nearby Genardi's grocery store and got the cheapest bag of coffee i could find. I opened it up at the seams and put all the beans in a plastic bag.
-Then i took the measurements for all of the seams and creases on the bag that i had just dissected, and made a grid on the computer.

-This dissection of the bag of coffee really is a good example of what my brain does when it is handed an assignment such as this. Dissection, experimentation, whatever you want to call it. Just getting your hands dirty can really make the difference between an accomplished piece and a very dry or lacking piece.

***This is kinda cool, i just found these thumbnails i was messing around with before i came up with the actual idea for the Kona coffee thing. Enjoy.***