Seven Deadly Sins

The Carousal of the Vices. Ink and paper on wood panel. Framed. 20” x 15.75”

For the Seven Deadly Sins group show at Rothick Art Haus. Opening 4.14.12

Rothick's website

Directions

A Moose, A Bear and an Assortment of Weapons

All  new pieces created for the group show 'Trash' that just ended last week. Each piece was originally part of a shelving unit found in a dumpster.  Each shelf was removed, stained, and paper was applied to the background before painting the image on the top.

More shows at Hold Up Art to be announced soon...

California Black Bear
.357 Magnum
North American Moose
A Grouping of Arrows
are all ink and paper on repurposed wood shelving, various sizes.

A New Map of North America

Based on maps made around the 1850s. 

Ink on found fence boards.  29.5" x 34"

Part of my new collection of art for Trash premiering tomorrow night. 

North Western Moose

One of eleven brand new pieces for Trash at Hold Up Art Starting this weekend. To follow the theme used for this show, I actually pulled apart and used a bunch of shelves found in the trash for this painting and the three others like it. The framing around each shelf was stained and the shelf tops were covered in old dictionary pages, which was then the surface I painted each picture on.

Only three more days!

Preview

One of my small acrylic transfers for the upcoming show Trash at Hold Up Art Gallery in Los Angeles. acrylic transfer on found wood. 2.25" x 1.75"

The Modern Matryoshka

Solzhenitsyn: front


Solzhenitsyn: side


Solzhenitsyn: back


Tolstoy: front


Tolstoy: side


Tolstoy: back


Dostoevsky: front


Dostoevsky: side


Dostoevsky: back


Inside

Finished!

After many intense hours, these dolls are all finished and ready to be shown this weekend. For Solzhenitsyn, Tolstoy, and Dostoevsky I also designed an official 'stamp' for the bottom of each one and included their names in English and Russian. When creating these, I decided to size each one according to his age, with the oldest (Dostoevsky) being the smallest. It was in no way to show partiality to Solzhenitsyn, but rather, as they are stacked inside each other, to show how each inspires the next.

The Modern Matryoshka opening reception is April 9th at 7pm
Click here for more details.

Adding Detail... after detail... after detail

Well I have now definitely spent a lot more time working on these dolls than I originally intended. I just kept dreaming bigger. For starters, I added special touches to the inside of each doll. I pasted in old Russian newspaper, and included images I found from these papers on the inside bottom of each 'cup'. Then to add a bit of much needed color, I painted the insides red.  On the outside, I decided to finish each doll off with a textured looking fabric sketch. You can see me working on Solzhenitsyn's herringbone jacket above. I had to put on two coats of lines in order to achieve the darkness I wanted, but I think it turned great. I will be adding textured 'fabrics' to the other two dolls as well and the next posting should be the finalized product.

Character Begins to Show

I got the faces all inked in using a micro pigment pen and each doll is beginning to show some life! Using the curves of the wooden doll to accentuate each face by placing the eyes, mouth, and especially the nose on the right part of the curve required a little extra thought, but so far so good...

Drawing Out the Matryoshka

Here are the first, and very rough sketches of each doll. After a long debate with myself I decided on doing three of the most influential Russian authors: Dostoevsky, Tolstoy, and Solzhenitsyn. I didnt want to make them too cartoony and goofy looking though. Hopefully I can accomplish that.... At this point they are mere sketches, and I havent even started working on the body of each one, because well, Im not sure what to do to them at this point. I have been debating doing different, more traditional patterns and colors, drawing clothing, scenes from their literature, or keeping it really simple and just staining them with a light pattern. It should be figured out by next post...

In Preparation for the Modern Matryoshka

Ill be part of another group show at the Rothick Arthaus soon. We have over 50 artists painting Matryoshka (Russian nesting) dolls. This is going to be insane! I will be posting up pictures as I work on these dolls. The first is what I have to work with... more coming later this week!

Whole Lotta Rosas

Artwork done for the "Whole Lotta Rosas" show this past Friday at the Camp in Costa Mesa (photos of the event coming soon). The second photo is 15 parts that comprise the piece "Soldiers! Workers! Citizens!" There are still a few left if anyone wants them...

A Glimpse

Here is a few of the 15 individual parts that comprise the piece "Solders! Workers! Citizens!" that will be on display this Friday. Though it is one piece, I will be selling off the individual 'parts' starting at $20 each.

"A Whole Lotta Rosas" Group art show
at Ecco at the Camp in Costa Mesa
click here for more info
Directions

Shows Added!

I have added two new shows to the year. Both are coming up rather quickly with the first, A Whole Lotta Rosas, happening on February 11th. It is a one night show at the Camp in Costa Mesa and will feature a wide variety of artists focusing their talents on this rose themed art show. It is being put on by Tim Shelton, a tattoo artist from Costa Mesa. There will be a lot of fresh, new artwork there, live painting by some of the artists, and the best part!?! Nothing costs over $200!

then....

On April 9th, Rothick Arthaus will be putting on a massive Nesting Doll art show. There will be hundreds of nesting or matryoshka dolls painted and created by over 50 artists. Both events will be a lot of fun, and there will be no shortage of cool things to look at.
Visit my events page for more information (more will be added as soon as I know).
Contact me if you have any questions

After a Long Break...

I still believe the best Christmas presents are ones that people made themselves. Though I dont think much could beat last years christmas present to my fiance, this year's is pretty cool too. I made this box from left over construction wood. I brushed a clear coat on the outside of the box to enhance and protect the wood from aging. The inside is lined with cactus and succulent illustrations from a book I picked up at the thrift store. Tell me this isnt better than any box you could buy in a store...

The box is 10" x 6.5" x 5"

National Homeless Youth Awareness Month

I created these posters for YouthHope in Redlands, CA to help promote National Homeless Youth Awareness Month. They will be placed all over the city of Redlands and the surrounding area to help raise public awareness. They also have a hotline number for homeless youth to call to get help. If you dont know about YouthHope, I posted some of the information from their website below:

YouthHope is a non-profit organization that helps homeless youth in Redlands, CA receive the medical, dental, and eye care they need. They also help them get into schools and job training programs. YouthHope feeds an average of 50 youth every Tuesday and Thursday who would go hungry without their help. 

Visit the YouthHope website

The best way you can help YouthHope and the homeless teens and young adults in Redlands is through donations. 

Click here to learn more

Feel free to print these out and distribute them. The full size I uploaded on Flickr is just right for 8.5" x 11" posters. 

Manipulated Photos

Photoshopped images I created to use as the background for a series of posters I am currently working on for YouthHope. November is National Homeless Youth Awareness Month and these posters will be going up all over Redlands, CA to help raise awareness for these homeless young adults. Ill post up the final versions with text next week, but thought I would share these photos with you now....

Bears

For the past month I have been really busy and unable to do very much artwork... and its been killing me! Finally today I was able to sit down and just draw something for fun. Lately Ive been wanting to draw bears. Im not sure what brought it on, but I have actually used them in a few different things over the last couple weeks. Here is a bear I drew with my wacom tablet in Illustrator. I still have a few fixes to make, but this is a good stopping point for now...

Apples Are People Too

Standing up for the rights of apples everywhere.

Promo Cards

Ok the final part before the big show was to make some promo cards. I only make 100 of these per show and use some part of my artwork for one side - in this case Aleksandr's face. I thought about going as far as numbering these just to add a personal touch, but just didn't have enough time or energy to do it.

In case you missed this show, I will be back at Rothick again next August for my first solo show! It seems like a long time to wait, but I know it will be worth it...