Thursday, December 18, 2014

Happy Holidays 2014

 This was bound to be the theme for one of my Christmas cards sooner or later...

Tuesday, December 9, 2014

2-in-1 Travel Painting Series: "Seattle"

...I've spent 20 years of my life here, so Seattle was bound to end up in this series sooner than later (its rather ironic that I took this picture while visiting as a tourist last month)...

...various shades of teal struck me as an appropriate hue to light the emerald city (although Seattle only had 2 seasons - summer and fall - the later lasts around 9 months, the ever so familiar grey seemed just a bit too harsh).

As for the subject, I had quite a few choices - though 2 stood out over the rest. And... the suspenders-over-the-flannel-tucked-into-the-cuffs-double-rolled-tight-corduroys donning, Market Optical designer glasses wearing hipster beat out the omnipresent perpetually-training-for-the-Tour-de-France spandex clad bike anarchist.

Previous painting: Savannah, Georgia (see it here).

Next up: Hamburg, Germany.

Saturday, November 29, 2014

Zombie Kit - first batch ready!

The first 10 Zombie Kits are finished, sealed and packaged  - ready for retail!
 
I thoroughly enjoy the modern zombie genre (just in case you haven't figured that out from my blog) - so functionality (all wrapped up in a neat package) was the primary motive behind the kit. These kits CAN be used in a zombie outbreak!

No plastic was harmed in the making of these kits (well, ok...the letting on the glass is vinyl) - aside from the content, you're left with a locally crafted case of wood (poplar), natural wool felt, and glass. 

Contents:
18inch machete
first aid kit
portable AM/FM radio with ear buds
LED flash light
permanent markers (2)
disposable lighters (2)
compass

I don't stockpile the kits, and after the initial 10 are gone, I'll be making additional ones to-order, by commission (usually a 3 week waiting period) - I'm thinking of offering additional stains down the road. The finished kit retails at $285.00 - each kit is hand-made to order.

I don't intend of mass producing them overseas (I've come across an excess of kits on the interwebs consisting of sweat shop bags and boxes filled with non-firing guns, plastic knives, a handful of Band-Aids and some poorly drawn, printed at home stickers).

Shipping is going to take a bit to figure out....

Tuesday, November 4, 2014

Z Butcher - the painting

Done.

And remarkably fast. And I actually like how it turned out...

...looks like I'm getting a hand of this "analogue" thing.

The finished painting - 40x30 inch acrylic on canvas - comes in two parts. The butcher board backdrop is hand painted onto the canvas (in only 4 colors)! The zombie butcher is painted onto a 3/4inch thick foam-core board cut-out. I attached the subject to the canvas with 12 magnets - allowing for easy repositioning as desired...

I'm planning a smaller (and more affordable) screen printed version - once I can actually locate a screen printer in Savannah...

...back to the bacon, now.

Monday, October 20, 2014

In the Works...

Yesterday I wrote "what am I doing?" on my wall with a blue Sharpie Magnum (the one they keep in locked display cases at the art store to deter taggers) - the space below it is still just a blank wall, so no answers yet...

...though, fret not, I don't just sit there and stare at said void - I keep busy (following are some pieces approaching completion)...

PORK BUTCHER TRIPTYCH
8 foot x 32 inch wood palette and recycled cookbook acrylic painting.

ZOMBIE BUTCHER
30 x 40 inch acrylic painting on traditional canvas. The subject is painted onto a foam-core cutout separate from the scene for added dimensionality...

...the background is completed, though I have yet to finish painting the character.











SAVANNAH 16

I've created one of these for my previous hometown of Seattle, WA (see it on my website). Though I've only been here, in Savannah GA, for about 10 months, I feel that I've gotten to know the town quite a bit...enough to create this collection.

the final piece will consist of 16 photographs (the purple squares are place-holders) mounted onto individual 8 x 8 inch wood squares and finished with a protective resin coat...

Wednesday, October 8, 2014

2-in-1 Travel Painting Series: "Savannah" - UPDATE

the decision to use stylized photography over painting the settings was influenced by Cartoon Network's The Amazing World of Gumball  - especially its seamless multimedia integration and the animators' exceptional ability to draw ugly really well...

...my overall concept from earlier entries, 2-in-1 Travel Painting Series: "Savannah" still stands. though swapping out the painted settings with photography has a much greater effect on the image's overall impact. the photos will be manipulated to reflect the location's mood through color (picked cinnamon for Savannah), dramatic lighting, weather and positioning...

...the final piece will be printed on canvas with the subject, sculpted in Styrofoam, positioned in front...

...Seattle is next (in blue).

Saturday, October 4, 2014

Retro Bacon on canvas x2

Last month I designed my retro bacon ad illustration - and as promised, I've converted it into not one, but two (shock and awe) canvases (excellent!)...

both are painted with acrylics, with the smaller one (blue) on traditional 24x24x1 inch canvas.
the large (40x40 inch) painting consists of a 12 panel re-purposed wood canvas...

...now I need to get these guys conserved with some MSA varnish...

...more bacon/meat related art to come!

stay tuned...

Friday, September 19, 2014

"Nuclear Family" Bacon Time!


So, yesterday, while having a yet another way too frequent breakfasts at my desk, I came across a retro advertising poster (see small image) on the webs.

That ad and the euphoric effects of the skillet fried pork belly slices gave me an idea for my next repurposed wood canvas.

Here is a digital rendition of the painting (I'm planning on completing the 40x40inch canvas this weekend)...

As for the inspiration (other than the obvious bacon), it originated form an image search for vintage subway tiles, and - all logic eludes me - this image popped up within the Bing results - creepy.

Saturday, August 30, 2014

2-in-1 Travel Painting Series: "Savannah" - digital color final

ok....so, I lied. the image took quite a bit more than a couple days to finalize...

...after a few "failed" color renderings, I decided on limited outlines (mainly to separate the various layers of the scenery - a method I used to employ while creating environments for video games so many years ago). I wanted to avoid the brain wrenching task of having to cel-shade everything when it comes down to painting the "analogue" version - life can be difficult as it is.
...I've already procured myself some canvases (30x40inch - 76x102cm) and acrylics for the scene, and am planning a trip to our local home depot to get me some styrofoam sheets to sculpt the subject (Savannah trolley tourist zombie - happen to see a lot of those around here).

oh...I went with a late afternoon setting during the summer months - makes for great contrast!

I've attached a still frame, as I am still working out the kinks to creating the animated digital loop using a bit of Adobe After Effects and Premiere...

HELP! to all animators out there - how do I export an infinite loop using Adobe AE or PR?

I've added the animated gif for those of you who want to see the loop (though rough) - and as it is a gif, the image is limited to 256 colors, and thus heavily dithered and striated...

...i'm making no promises on how long the actual hand painted version will take (i'm quite a bit slower without the luxury of ctrl-z).

Wednesday, August 13, 2014

2-in-1 Travel Painting Series: "Savannah"

i'm working on a new painting series that spans my 40 years of world travels, a 15 year career in video game art and advertising, a digital media communications degree, and a life-long creative passion for everything zombie.
 
each painting with have a digital and an analogue version (actual hang-on-your-wall-and -gawk-at type canvas)...
 
...the process (simplified):
step 1: location shot (as I can't realistically afford to revisit many of the locations in person, i'm relying on the advances of Google Earth and Social Media for the leg up).
step 2: draw the full color animated gif (pen, paper and Photoshop work famously for this one).
step 3: paint the background on the canvas (using acrylics, for some reason oils make me hurl), and sculpt the character into the foreground.

as I now live in Savannah, GA, it'll naturally be my first pick - the scene is Factors Walk (our local semi-underground) with a view of City Hall.  the character (a zombie - refer to paragraph 1) in local garb, in this case, the ever so abundant tourist...

here you can see the rough (coloring should take a couple days)...

...i'm still on the fence of using the black outlines in the final or going for a more free-flowing approach without...

thoughts?

Sunday, July 20, 2014

2 Stroke Prosthetic Bunny - the action figure - part 8

Phase 8: prototype wax cast with movable linkages (continuation of my April motor bunny post).

The joints are hard plastic peg and hole interlocking segments very similar to the system tried and proven over the decades by LEGO Technic. (i hope these will hold up as well in the final resin cast as they currently are in the wax prototype)...

i embedded the female segment into the torso and filled in the wax around it for a seem-less finish. each limb, the head, wheel and engine components have a 1/2 inch lock-tight hollow pole inserted into them, to (hopefully) ensure a snug connection...it worked for LEGO. all movable parts are limited to swivel on one axis only (very old-school)...

i am working on getting the final molds started this weekend - using the same technique as with the clay master.
 ...here are some additional shots of the prototype figure from various angles.

after the molds are poured, i'll have to research a resin that will be good for pouring the final cast.



Saturday, July 5, 2014

Pulled Pork - piglet #3...

...the third and final installment of my "Pulled Pork" series: "PORK $ale".

Following are shortcuts to the other 2 and the digital concepts:
#2: "Pulled Pork"
#1: "CHOPPED."
Concept images (1-3).

I'm planning on introducing the series to the local art community next week to work out a fair price range...

Monday, June 30, 2014

Pulled Pork - the second palette canvas is up...

...my second 32 inch square (90cm) palette wood canvas is up in the hallway - next to the one from last month's post ("Chopped - November 2, 2013")...

...just started on the third and final concept this evening.

thus far the paintings have been taking me about a week - though, the palettes for the canvases seem rather elusive (contributing to the rarity of this series, once it goes into limited/numbered production)...

Saturday, June 21, 2014

"Praise the Excess" finished painting...

finished in acrylics..."The New World 2014 - Praise the Excess"  (update from an earlier post: New painting in the works...)

took about 10 days to complete!

Saturday, May 31, 2014

Zombie kit (z-kit) in pre-production - beyond the prototype!

some time in 2012 i posted my hand-made zombie outbreak emergency kit. well, it is finally going into limited (very) production for the retail market in Savannah - the first 10 kits are complete...

they are available in the original green felt, as well as blue, white, red and black (not pictured here). the wooden case (locally made out of poplar) is available in a dark cherry or blond stain. off course all the contents are as high quality (name brand) as in the original (see linked post)...

...i am still in the process of finding a local retailer for them...though i may offer them online..

...only there are some issues with the 18inch military machete...

Thursday, May 29, 2014

Pulled Pork - no longer digital

...measuring in at 32 inch square (90cm) the first of my Piggly Wiggly concepts has made it onto the palette wood and the hallway wall...

...the next 2 are on their way (observe the raw materials at the bottom - (really dirty) full-size shipping palettes)...

...bacon time!

Wednesday, April 30, 2014

New painting in the works...

...and now, for something completely different - a new painting!

i've already transferred the sketch onto a 30 by 40 inch canvas (76cm x 102cm for my metric readers) and started blocking it out in acrylics (i stopped using oils, because for some reason they always make me sick).

the text is in Classical Latin, and translates to "the new world 2014 - praise the excess". i'll leave it to you, my readers, to come up with some profound meaning to this, if any (maybe, i just wanted a painting of a 1st century AD Roman legionary and fast food icons hanging above the mantle shadowing the dining table)...

...i just hope i got the Latin right, don't want my College Latin professors thinking all their effort was for naught (Don't despair, David and Barry, its just been a while)...

Friday, April 25, 2014

2 Stroke Prosthetic Bunny - the action figure - part 7

Phase 7: prototype wax cast (continuation of my March motor bunny post).

The molds i poured from the clay master were rather rough (this was expected, as it is my very first attempt at urethane rubber - and creating an action figure from scratch), the wax casts turned out a bit bumpy and pitted...

...however, the wax casting was surprisingly easy and fast to do (only took about 2hrs to cure solid for each segment and de-molded painlessly). It was important to maintain the melted down the ingredients (from the previous bunny post) at around 170F, to prevent bubbles from forming or cracking/tearing as the wax cures.

Once de-molded, each segment had to be sanded, scraped and carved to achieve a smooth finish (i got some really cool looking dentistry-like tools for that)...

next step: build and insert the linking joints...

Monday, March 31, 2014

International Fish Cars of the 1960s - The South

A Southern addition to my fish-car series - the catfish ford F100 red, white and blue pick-up...

I'm prototyping this one to debut my toy series (trying out 2 versions, traditional mold and casting, and 3D printing - lets see which is better)...

...here's a tribute to blue-blooded pick-ups and the great sport of noodling!

Monday, March 24, 2014

2 Stroke Prosthetic Bunny - the action figure - part 6

Phase 6: ingredients for the wax cast (continuation of my January motor bunny post).

Finally, after multiple moves, an eviction, 300+ horribly disfigured moving boxes, and a "Catch Me If You Can" romp with USPS - i finally received my ingredients to wax cast the bunny (right now the turn around time for creating this action figure is Guinness Record worthy)...

Upon opening the shipment i felt a bit like Walter White, getting ready for a cook-off à la "Breaking Bad" (see picture).

For an 8 inch figure i'll need a concoction consisting of the following:
3.30lbs Talc
3.00lbs Paraffin Wax
0.55lbs Candelilla Wax
0.55lbs Carnauba Wax
0.15lbs Bees Wax
some colored crayons

i must credit Scott Hensey, the toy maker behind the likes of TMNT, old school Happy Meals, and Biker Mice From Mars (anybody remember those???), for the original recipe...

once the wax prototype is cast, i can figure out the joints and also clean up the sculpt without having to worry about deforming it (the wax is much harder and more rigid than the original clay sculpt)...

...lets see what comes out!

Wednesday, February 26, 2014

International Fish Cars of the 1960s

together with some really good local fish from a recent diner out (here in Savannah) and my long-time interest in vintage transportation, the concept of the fish-car was born...(i was contemplating more recent vehicles, but the 60s had some great lines without all the frills from previous decades).
the idea is rather simple...
select a car producing country, say France for example - pick a make (Citroën) and a more obscure model (H series van).
next, select a fish commonly found on the diner table of said country (carp).
join the two together and voilà; the fish-car...

here is my first set...

i think i will convert these into a limited edition 3D sculpt series (hard resin casts) in full color - would look cool on the mantel...

...a friend suggested i make them into toys (now there's an idea!), or a cartoon à la Pixar - hmm...

...stay tuned, these will go places!

Sunday, February 2, 2014

...on a foggy morning commute in Seattle...

...imperial forces strategically used the pea soup cover to conceal a land invasion.
i realized that during my almost two decade long creative career, i had never done anything Star Wars (and i call my self a sci-fi geek to boot). I decided to remedy this with an hour of Photoshop and some bacon and eggs over easy...

Friday, January 31, 2014

2 Stroke Prosthetic Bunny - the action figure - part 5

Phase 5: clay master demolded - ready for wax casting
(continuation of my October motor bunny post)


After moving to Savannah (still in our temporary apartment next door to a bunch of dead people from the 1700s) - i finally located the box (among 380 stacked in 2 storage units) marked "motorbunny - fragile"...
 ...the demolding was a success (only 5% of the master was damaged). now all these negatives need is some cleaning and a fresh coat of release spray prior to pouring in the wax mixture. i was so excited to pour the initial rubber molds (and way too generously at that) that i totally forgot to place the pour and vent channels into each and every mold...

...so how does this affect the process? well, i'll have to figure out the least invasive spot to drill a1/4inch hole in each of the molds and you'll have to wait for me to find my Black & Decker amongst the 380 boxes in the 2 storage units...

Tuesday, January 14, 2014

USCSS Nostromo crew outfit - part 2: pants and shoes

...with the shirt completed (USCSS Nostromo crew outfit - part 1: shirt), i started work on the pants - the white pairs worn by the folks left of Ripley...

...again, they are hand sewn (this time on the move from Seattle to Savannah over the Christmas holidays). i also found an olive drab army surplus belt - modified with the Nostromo science officer insignia and a pair of high-tops (like the white ones worn by Dallas, Ripley and Ash (the synthetic on the right - Ian Holmes)...

 ...close enough.

i still have to update the footwear a bit - remove the PF Flyer logo (yup, old school brand, well, the movie was made in the late 1970s). i also need to paint over some of the other markings along the back...

...the final step is going to be the flight jacket.