I AM THE WORST!!!

Alright, it's NYE 2015!!! And I am resolving this year, among other things, to get back on this blog friends on the regular. Here is a ton of new work that has occurred since we saw each other last. Let it sink in. Happy New Years all!!!

I have been neglecting you dear blog readers, yet again. Here is a ton of new work for you to check out:

                                 

I GOT NEXT

Okay. I have one rejected t-shirt deign that I reclaimed for my own personal portfolio. And I have for your viewing pleasure, a badly taken photo of a new wood piece I have!

THIS or THAT?

MORE NEW!!!

True. As usual, it has been a hot minute. In the last day, I got my car towed three times, and got onto a commuter rail train, two subway rides, a cab ride, and a bus ride. I'm exhausted. I don't want to talk about it, I'm but finally in my own bed! Back on side positive, YES!!! And on that note, here's some more new recent work.

This Broad City piece was featured on their 

Fan Art Friday post series that they do. Thanks, Broad City!

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10152500777176718&set=a.10152325477606718.1073741826.343415306717&type=1&theater

NEW WORK!!!

Dear readers, I am back with a vengeance with a ton of new work. Here are some finished treats!

Chomet does the Simpsons!

Sylvain Chomet ( Triplets Of Belleville, The Illusionist), one of my favorite animators, who should also be one of your favorites if you're into that sort of thing and don't already know his work, has done the opening couch sequence of a recent Simpson episode and I am in love.



I noticed the Simpsons' creators, Groening and crew have been hitting up other artists lately for their opening sequence, which is consistently awesome in it's own rite. Maybe their golden well of creative ideas is finally drying up because here is a link for a Bill Plimpton one also! Regardless of the reason, they are awesome!

Another Artist You Should Know entry!!!! Yue Wu!

Adventures in Toddlerville!

Hi guys! Just wanted to take a couple of moments to post some pics from the mural/climbing wall I am creating at The Little Schoolhouse in Northampton, Massachusetts. It's still in progress but near finished. This project has been great fun to take part in. It's an interactive mural for the kids, in this case toddlers to climb on. Finished photos will be posted soon. Thanks to Candice for involving me in such a rad project that's literally, for the kids, yo!

*******http://littleschoolhousefamilydaycare.com

     

 

Hippitty Hoppity

 A 3-D model of a Wheel Of Steel (or in this case, plastic). Eventually, I'd like to mount this inside a wood casing and add some extra fantastic cartoonish elements for an installation of the imagination. Always thinking ahead. I believe that is rule number one seventeen, readers.

Futura's Theme Music

Not every artist is lucky enough to have certified THEME music! Especially when it's instrumentals are provided by the legendary CLASH. Too cool. More music about Art to be posted in the future!

A new 'Artist You Should Know' entry! MU PAN!

Hi all! Welcome to another installment of the 'Artists You Should Know' series we occasionally run. Today's artist is not a artist long since dead, but a current working Illustrator, also a graduate of my alma mater; SVA (NYC).

Many of my favorite illustrators working today coincidently came out of the same program I attended at SVA. I did not know this before entering into my undergraduate studies, that was not my motivation for applying to their BFA Illustration/ Cartooning program, but it just coincidently worked out that way. As it turns out, many of these artists studied under the same professors I did, so I know many of the techniques many of today's big names employ, and whom they specifically learned said techniques initially from. These techniques are no big secret or anything of the sort, not exclusive to SVA, but there a few professors in the program there that are pretty consistent in their curriculum. This totally draws on the classic tradition of Master teaching the Apprentice. Professors share their knowledge and then encourage their hatchlings to fly with that information for themselves. That's what we Art Educators do. At times this can be difficult, because in a way, you are helping to train your competition. But this tradition is hundreds of years old. We are a community, us Artists. But in this specific case of one of this Artist's main approaches to work in my opinion is…(I'll just say this, as a hint):

                       P R A C T I C E    F A I L U R E

'Rob E.Lee as 47 Ronin', 2009,  40" x 30", drawing on paper, Mu Pan.

With that said. You should be knowing the work of Mu Pan. His work fits the above mentioned bill. Long story short, we studied under the same teachers, that is how I initially discovered his work. I have been following his development over the course of the last few years, and I admire his work greatly. His attention to detail astounds me. In addition to this, dude's imagination combined with historical narrative and text creates a really interesting aesthetic. Please check out his full portfolio @ www.mupan.com

Further3-D ADVENTURES using recyclable materials!!!

What to do with an empty container of disinfectant wipes? Make a giant 3-D sculpture of a can of aerosol paint of course!!! A little of this, a little of that, and POW! Eat your heart out Krylon!

Jayboism

Ok guys, I am a fan of what Jaybo Monk is laying down. His approach and attitude toward work is inspirational in my mind.

New work by Illustrator Alessandro Conti!!!

Italian Illustrator Alessandro Conti just killed it on his new series 'InHumane Anatomy' by offering up a variety of internal illustrations of some of our favorite cartoons! Love it! Kudos! Check out his DeviantArt page to see the full series!

                                                  Alessandro Conti new work!

Control, Gouache, and a Portrait of THE PAINTER as a Young Man

This week I’ve been thinking about “Control”. There is no refuting the general consensus that life can be extremely challenging at times. In general, it seems to me, to be a series of learning experiences and milestones, sugar coated by a clustterf*ck of confusing emotions and confusing relationships, both good and bad. 

Within this complicated journey of life, I’ve found that we really have very little control over many everyday things. As an A.D.D fueled artist with borderline creative compulsive disorder, one component that I am drawn towards in my creative process is Control. What do I mean when I say Control?  Please allow me to expand: Artists study and explore the different mediums available to us. Whether it’s charcoal, oil paints, silkscreen, oil pastels, watercolors, or crayons. We learn and experiment by pushing the medium’s capabilities in creative ways. We dialogue with our materials, and develop relationships with certain mediums that sometimes last for years. Myself? I’ve been dating Watercolors for a good four years now, but have begun to see Gouache on the side. In some ways, I view creating art like a mad scientist. I’m just pouring crazy unlabeled chemicals together into collective jars to see what happens, and laughing about it wildly and loudly as I do so!!!!!

     

 

 

I am normally a very energetic person. People close to me might describe me as hyper or they might say I have “positive energy” (is that the polite version? I dunno). Although I do enjoy my personality, and it’s who I am, it is at odds with who I imagine my ideal self to be. My ideal self is focused, calm, mature, a great listener, and some one who is in control. Reaching this Machiavellian place just isn’t realistic for me on a regular basis, but it is who I strive to be. It is no easy task to make changes to one’s personality, it is near impossible, but I do believe it is possible for one to try and monitor their behavior, but it requires great CONTROL. For me, this has never been easy because I am just too hyper. It is too challenging, and I really have to be on my toes to achieve it. 

But what I can do is control paint. When I paint, I am calm and focused. All distractions fade into the background. I trust paint. I know paint. I tell paint where to go, and what to do. Gouache as I’ve recently discovered, is great for this, maybe even ideal for this. Gouache is more opaque than watercolors, and depending on how much water you use to dilute the gouache, the layers of washes one uses are up to them. The less water you use results in really bold and graphic SuperFlat colors. I love the way it looks and moves on a surface.  Here are some examples of recent experiments.

Eureka, duh!

          Recently, I was reading an interview with a musician I admire, and I thought to myself about how interviewers (I feel) in general don’t ask any of the questions I want to hear. I don’t want to hear any namedropping, I don’t want to hear about where they got their band name from, the movement they used to spearhead (other than it’s comparative nature and context), or who they are dating, or about how they’re feeling about the big music fest coming up, etc.

          In this moment of deep thought, I realized that popular music is also an art by it’s base definition, it occurred to me (duh) that musicians, whether you are talking about Fred Durst, 2 Live Crew, Haydn, Madlib, Ani Difranco, or The Flaming Lips, Django or a John Doe studio Ghost Writer, they are ALL capital 'A'rtists just like me. Yet another arm of creative production. There are some similarities between these different categories to a visual artist in many ways. Not in the work they produce, or in the specific creative process that creating work requires in order to produce an actual product, whether thats a painting or a song. For a musician to get to the point of recording in a studio, or for an artist to put a painting up on a wall, or for a comic strip to be published in the Saturday paper there is a whole behind the scene process that must take place. Under this umbrella of creativity, we are all part of the same Creative family.

           I am admittedly guilty of not giving many musicians due credit because of the way media and the music industry handles, treats, and presents their musicians to the public. Because of the way we look at musicians and fame in general. I think the music industry is a bogus extension of the capitalist machine. Is the Art World any better? Asking these question made me realized the inherent contradiction at hand that I was perpetuating. For whatever reason, I realized that the path of Artists, whether you are a Musician, Writer, Singer, or a dancer, etc. it ALL falls under the same category. We are all related, part of one machine that marches to the same beat that effects the senses and the brain, as well as the heart. And behind all of that, finally is PROCESS PROCESS PROCESS.

'The Only Food Group That Counts', Gouache on paper, 2013

            In minding my newly discover epiphany, I realized I have been cheating you readers, by presenting a one dimensional version of what I do in my process, I was showing you all an elitist vision of the creative process by only showing you the product. And so I promised myself I would write at the very least, ONE post that really got the due attention that all posts deserve. In general, my time has always been pretty stretched thin, especially when I was in Grad School, and writing a thorough post has never been at the top of my list of priorities due to circumstances beyond my control.

            But, generally, this blog has been comprised of mostly visual elements with occasional statements made here and there regarding my art-making or the work I do as an Art Educator. I now am, when able, going to make a concerted effort to communicate better with you dear readers, about the things I truly care about and am interested in as artist whenever priorities shift and time is allowed. The details between the lines if you will. Let’s make a pinky swear on it.

With that said, here are my main topics of interest (as an artist) to consider when interviewing ALL types of Artists:

• ·               Process (every aspect!!)
• ·               Technique
• ·               Interpretation
• ·               Context
• ·               Theoretical & Critical Analysis
• ·               Innovation
• ·               Distribution

I know it's been a minute. It's been awhile in fact. I'd say, a good five minutes, at the least. But, never fear, dear Bloggers, new work is coming soon! A new site also! In the meantime, here are some studio shots. Theses are all works in progress y"all. Enjoy!

 

sketchbook shot