New Years Resolution: World Domination

Happy New Years! Very relieved to be done 2008 and very excited about 2009. I have a bunch of projects that I am working on and a ton of new screenprints.

Though I did manage to take a break from it to make this new piece that I finished today to celebrate the New Year. It's called 'DOMIN8' and features one of my favorite evil-doers, DR. DOOM! Enjoy.


DOMIN8, 1-1-9
Watercolor on Bristol
*Sold*

Keep checking back for a bunch of new pieces. Get stoked!

Artist: Matthew Ryan Sharp

If you're in Chicago I highly recommend stopping by A.OKAY OFFICIAL in Lake View to see Matt Sharp's new exhibit 'Weapons of Mass Construction' with Project Detonate, it is more than worth your while. Matt's work has really interested me for a few years now, and it was a real pleasure to see his show in person and get to meet him. Matt's work is gritty, depressing, and full of character. His trademark characters are the Midwest Ghosteez, which is what originally caught my eye, and they have been produced in every form from paintings, wheat pastes, and even a plush figure of them was made last year. Matt has a very unique and controlled almost scribble style to his figures with heavily distressed and splattered background. His work can be found on everything from traditional canvases to pieces of wood to street signs and newspaper boxes, as long as it is remotely flat it seems that Matt will paint on it.
Matthew Ryan Sharp on MySpace


Various Midwest Ghosteez, 2008


Can You Count Suckas?, 2008


Ghosteez roaming around Chicago


Drown Your Sorrows, 2008


Dirtbag, 2008 . . . sorry kids this one is SOLD!

Music: Justice

Hailing from France, the duo of Xavier de Rosnay and Gaspard Auge have created the most revolutionizing dance music since Daft Punk. Pulling influences from everything from Michael Jackson to heavy metal; Justice uses heavy cut up bass lines, and distorted synth leads to forge their signature sound. Even beyond their music, Justice, in my opinion, has the best music videos in the business. The videos for "D.A.N.C.E." and "DVNO" have a very heavy typographic and illustration focus while the video for "Stress" feels more like a modern day Clockwork Orange. Justice recently released the DVD/CD 'A Cross The Universe' which features a live set as well as a documentary following Justice around on tour.
Justice on MySpace


"D.A.N.C.E."


"Stress"

WIP: Dead Elvis

A piece I am working on, it is of one of my favorite bands Dead Elvis & His One Man Grave. As you can tell from this bad scan, I have just done the inking of it, I am going to be water coloring it really soon, so keep checking back for that.
Also be sure to check out Dead Elvis on Myspace

Music: Handsome Furs

The Handsome Furs is a side project of Dan Boeckner, from Wolf Parade, with his wife Alexei Perry. Their sound is a great departure from Dan's work with Wolf Parade, Handsome Furs take a much more minimalistic and melancholic approach. Their debut album "Plague Park", which came out last year on Sub Pop, revolves around a love/hate relationship with home. Dan's voice is beautifully haunting and backed by just guitar, stripped down beats and keyboards to provide a sincere tenderness.
You can listen to the entire "Plague Park" album on the band's Virb page, and I guarantee you will just keep repeating it and repeating it
Handsome Furs' Virb Page


"Radio's Hot Sun" (Live)


"Sing! Captain" (Live)

Some Defining Work

Here are a couple of pieces I did during the course of the last year or so that really helped to define my style and the direction I wanted to take my work into. The one of the random Chicago bum in particular is probably the most important drawing I have done. It really pulled together a lot of elements that I was incorporating into my drawings and has since become the blueprint for the majority of my work.
All these sketches were done with pen and PrismaColor markers.


Vagabond, 2007


Nosferatu. 2007


Zombie, 2006

Also, toward the end of the year I am going to do a two color print featuring the Vagabond character. I'm hoping to have an edition of 10-20, more information on that later.

Artist: PARSKID

Definitely one of my favorite artists would have to be Parskid, his work is incredibly inspiring. Parskid's work has drastically evolved in the past few years as he has really developed his own unique style. Originally his work was very gritty, detailed, but with a disturbing simplicity to it. His later work is a lot cleaner with a heavy geometric and layered influence, and also a lot more thought is present in his pieces. I absolutely love the evolution his characters have made and am constantly impressed with Parskid's work.
Parskid's official website


Dark Gardens, 2008


Tree Tops (detail), 2007


The Last Gathering, 2007


They Are Inside Me, 2007


From the Red River (detail), 2007


Dirt Nap, 2005