Nest of the Hawk

Food Truck Blaster...

2011-06-11T09:50:00.000-07:00

Will & Pop's, Chapel Hill & Carrboro's front-running mobile grilled cheese/grilled sandwich authority got a big dose of love recently. I've been revisiting the roots of this incredible art form, in particular Sento, and have to give a shout to the massive amounts of style and influence he's had on spray art. I admire all true technicians, and his tech is about as dialed as it gets.

Thanks Kenny and Carol for the sweet job.

It's about time....

2011-06-03T09:06:00.000-07:00

I'm always inspired by the technical wizardry of Pose and more recently, Does. Does uses color gradients perfectly, and his letter style is 100% solid. He combines color the way a good dj mixes beats. Pose mixes up the sickest blends of character-influenced writing style. His work tells stories, and his abstraction of the letter is unparalleled.

With all that in mind, here's my latest take on the boom/bap. Glenn's Tattoo/Carrburrito's, 700 block of Rosemary Street, Carrboro, NC.

stoked.
thanks, MTN paint. it's the best paint period.

A 10 year celebratory garment.

2010-07-28T06:02:00.000-07:00

Drunkcyclist.com, one of the leading cycling related blogs, and perhaps the original cycling-related blog, is celebrating 10 years of growing web presence. I have helped to design, and provided graphics for their commemorative jersey. In addition to its nod to the Belgian national champion jersey, it packs a lot of nice details. Can't wait to see it delivered!

Chapel Hill News...

2010-07-19T14:07:00.000-07:00

Link to a nice article on a nice young man from Chapel Hill....

Mural Mural on the Wall...

enjoy the picture of me looking particularly uncomfortable in front of the camera.

Just the job I've been waiting for.

2010-05-28T18:20:00.000-07:00

I landed an excellent gig, much thanks to Nate @ Daytripp.com for the wall hook up. Thanks to Montana for the paint.

sketch number one, fast and frivolous:

colors... more sketches.... more coffee...

That's all I had made to work off of, and the rest just took form in my head in the weeks prior to starting. Getting to work this big is super gratifying and I have the best time art making on a big scale. Blasting out the line work was fun to death. This happened in about 10 minutes:

The Montana 94 paint is like canned candy. Its opacity is top notch, and I'm completely hooked. The richness of each color just kept bowling me over.

X-eyes forever...

Here's a peek from the street:

The whole chimichanga:

And, as always, thanks, babies!

a little more, a little less, it's only a haircut.

2010-05-02T19:15:00.000-07:00

card game champs are never good at much else.

my vulnerability is showing.

2010-04-19T10:26:00.000-07:00

green pollen.

2010-04-09T19:42:00.000-07:00

Pimp my Crib, Episode 1

2010-04-06T10:31:00.001-07:00

now that 8 month old ellie has developed far beyond the point of infantile ocular focusing, it became clear that it was high time to do something with our baby bubba gumball's room. we're not trying to raise a little baby spartan, you know. and since i'm basically the male version of martha stewart, i figured we should do something really dazzling!

observe how safe my OSHA peeks kept me from all of the sawdust.

observe how far my OSHA girls kept me from accidentally including a finger in the decor.

things are starting to happen really quickly up until now....

there's nothing like a little gold leafing to slow down the whole production.

and, blammo! ellie's room!

the clouds sit on the wall at about a 45 degree angle so that the crib's eye view is plenty interesting, and the gold leaf does catch the light in an extremely fascinating manner. in fact, if ellie were a large mouth bass, she'd be leaping up at those things starting every morning at about 15 minutes before sunrise. thank goodness she's a human, because 15 minutes before sunrise is WAY too early for these parents to be waking up.

dewdz of the week.

2010-04-06T10:15:00.000-07:00

new guy just keeps on stepping...

2010-03-31T22:43:00.000-07:00

signs that I'm still working.

2010-03-24T21:27:00.001-07:00

Back Alley Bikes, in the house.
always kick it off with a drawing.

i cut the letter stencils out of some masking paper. it was easy to draw on and maneuver.

a little spray-tack on the back of the letters, slap 'em on the medium density overlay (MDO), and a light dusting of spray paint. peel away, and snap! - time to cut.

a stack of cut out letters. time to ice my wrists, maybe with a cold canned drink or two.

laid out in the crawl (duck your head) space, a few coats of oil-based primer front and back, of course. fumes, dewd. get me outta here.

that's better. hung and done with. good times at the bike shop.

One can do as much as one wants with what one has. Ingenuity is always my best tool.

i'm not dead!

2010-03-24T21:12:00.000-07:00

new waterpaint sketches. all rhyme, no reason. i'm just finding the love again. wait. there's the reason, i guess. heavy.

heroes.

scouts.

barons.

paupers.

family.
bikes.

My Update Weighs a Ton.

2009-08-18T06:46:00.000-07:00

I want to explain a little bit.

It's been since April that I updated this thing. I fell off the blog roll. Straight off the back of the blog bus, took one bounce, and landed in the blog ditch where I sat for months NOT blogging.

My computer is old. It's a dinosaur. When I pull up Flash-intensive websites it stares back at me blankly as if I were playing some hip hop for my grandpa. So, it's just been a bit since I've made the time to do this on a computer that knows what's up.

Well, so here you have it. I'm going to lay this mother out like a smooth bead of summer hotdog mustard stretching from Asheville to Flagstaff. Just because I haven't been webbing it does not mean I haven't been out fighting the good fight. In fact, it's been the most insanely productive and celebration-worthy 4 months of my life. Sit. Cha-click open a cold one. Let's hang out a little.

First of all, this gnar-rad computer programming company in Durham known as Relevance hired me on to hijack their sweet new spot in a sweet old building downtown. I got my faux finish on in a major way.

When I finished hundreds of linear feet of 12-foot tall walls with nobody but Dick Gordon to keep me company, I went even more nuts and put a weathered mural on the wall. It's new. It looks old, but it's not. Psych. Joke's on the viewer. I think being hired to paint stuff like this for Disneyland would be extremely killer, aside from the $7 an hour paycheck and daily "Whistle While you Work" seminars. Anyhow - here's a quick blow-by-blow:

a little letter shadowing, and... done!

Thanks, Relevance!!!

Speaking of Disneyland, this rules:

Wearing a 4 year-old out at the most magical place on earth is the best. I don't care what kind of evil you think Disney is made of, a 4 year-old girl doesn't know jack about that, and when you let her get a peek at a "real-live" princess after making her cry on Mr. Toad's Wild Ride, well, the special gets huge and memories are made.

What else? sheeeeeesh. Tons. I feel it's time for a commercial break. All kinds of wrongness hovers over this shot:

First of all, yes, we were at Target. Big whoop. Everyone goes. If you don't go to Target, you're probably the kind of social justice hardcore that also doesn't believe in computers or laundry detergent, you won't even read this, and I will completely avoid your admonishment. The real jacked-up thing is the fact that I was packing a cam. What kind of mallrat packs a camera at Target, right? So how could I not snap off a couple of shots of the --- wait for it --- 3 wheeled Segway? Couldn't help but think of this. Assets protection, it says on there. Pshhht. It made me want to fake stealing some crap just to see that thing light up. It definitely would have made for the most exciting day of someone's life next to the day they got their GED in the mail. In any case, it just seems like throwing another wheel on an already built-for-totally-helpless-americans "vehicle" seems to make as much sense (and is probably as common amongst its users) as ordering a bucket of Diet Coke with your SuperSize lunch. Whatevs. Break's over.

Next up - Some signage! First, for one of my in-town faves, Back Alley Bikes. The dewdz there run a tight shop giving the people of Chapel Hill and Carrboro what they need for successful and joyful 2-wheeled locomotion. That in mind, I worked up a little door signage that seemed fitting for their old-school-bent tastes. The step-by-step, briefly:

A printed-up cheater paper. It's good to be as exact as possible.

An inside-the-window, parallax-defying Frisket stencil:

A quick couple of coats of gold spray paint before removing the stencil:

And backed-up with a little burnt umber japan color. Werd.

And let's throw a T-shirt graphic in there for them while we're at it....
They're the best shop in town, betta reckognize. And what's a pile of bike parts without an empty 40 bottle hanging out of it.

Hmmm. What's next..... okay. For another friend of two-wheeled devices, this -

They got married towards the end of a bike tour of the bride's homestate, Iowa. RAGBRAI, a rolling bike tour-party-goodtime week on bikes! And they threw a little wedding in there, too! Nice one, dewds. The art was used for their party-favor pint glasses.

Speaking of weddings........ Allison is not just my girlfriend, not just my best friend, not just my girl forever ..... she's my WIFE!!!! I told you the update weighs a ton! check it!!!!

It was the most beautiful day ever, and we had friends and family showing up from all necks of the wood. We keep talking about the joy and satisfaction that came from us putting on the most wonderful party of a lifetime. Allison and I tackled everything ourselves which made the whole celebration even MORE special. I even made our cake topper! LOOK!

Like I said, the best day EVER.

I got all macro on the spice cabinet. I really need to work on growing up a little.

Okay, back to work. New bar in Downtown Durham, WHISKEY. Great dudes. Great interior. Takes me to the era of Gentlemen's Clubs, maybe in NY or Chicago. Great name. Gold leaf surface gilded window graphics for them:

... and a little mirror work for them, too. They're keeping the local draft beers flowing, and they wanted to show them off by listing them on this badass mirror made from a copper window frame that came from the Cooper Union building, NYC. Ah, the history.

Lines is tight........

STILL GOING! (told you it's been a shredder summer....)

ICE CREAM BIKE!!!! So - sweet idea, having an ice cream bike in this town. The streets are sleepy enough to be noticed, but busy enough to rake in some bread if you are cruising a tight joint like this one. I was the most excited to be busting out some serious fancy for the project. The letters are outlined in 2 different colors, and the dots added serious flair. In addition, freestyling some filigree around the "whiteboard" zones in which she will be keeping the feet on the street in the heat posted as to the flavors of the day. Cap it off with a slightly irrelevant (but meanigful to the owner) eyeball on the front, and I think we have a pretty top-notch vendor cycle. Heather is a proud owner of her ice cream bike, and the popsicles she is selling are strictly the business. Get some.

I like bikes. We like riding them. Sometimes we pack up the little puppy, Scof, and go for a little ride. It ends up looking like this:

I also made this sign for the side of Back Alley Bikes, though not this summer.

And I think I'll round out the professional portion of this ridiculous update with a project for local cabinet makers, Aventine Inc. They are all awesome people and as a group, the most incredibly skilled and intelligent tradespeople I've ever met. I admire them tons, so working to beautify the facade above their building meant a lot to me. I really screwed up with my potential viewership by not taking "before" shots of this, so you'll have to take my word for it - it came a long way. I faux finished the bottom 3 rows of brick, as you used to just see nasty black asphalt above the roof flashing. I also fauxed brick over about 4 feet on each side of the weathered white field. Then, to top it off, the ICE sign as you see it was a more traditional teal color with a blue border around it. To raise the harmony levels between the graphic and the newly renovated front of the building, I tweaked the color palette to a warmer tone. Well, here it is. Fun times on a tin roof in the NC heat. Thanks, Aventine.

And for the last splash of personal greatness: Please welcome Ella Rae Robertson into the world. Born August 3rd, a little early, a little little, but a LOT cute. We couldn't be happier.

This is Bull City

2009-04-21T09:57:00.000-07:00

OH MAN!!!! It's been waaaaaaaay too long, I know. I'm sorry. I was busy, but I DID to get this whole art show together! My little way of loving something often times means poking fun at it, and making it as ridiculous as I can. In this case, it's Durham that I'm loving. When you drive around downtown Durham, you get the sense that there was a TON happening there at one point, and that maybe there is a ton of stuff happening there now that will lead to a bunch more stuff happening soon. That's the case. Durham's been pushing and fighting and struggling for years to bring its soulful downtown landscape back to life. I'd say they are doing a damn good job of it. There are countless old buildings, tobacco warehouses and mills to revitalize and convert into the ever-popular "urban loft" or office space. With those types of buildings come vital stuff like music venues, art galleries, restaurants, and more. It's how cities got started in this country. They gave folks that didn't have farms places to live close to where they work, and BAM - city. Well, the suburbs came along and offered middle-class americans places to all live for reasonable rates so as not to need to rent and a beautifully homogenous landscape, and the hearts of cities everywhere fell in to the pantcuffs, eventually getting flung into the gutters.

Now these cities are experiencing huge amounts of interest. They're cheap to move into, offer the alternative of homogeny - soul, - and are rapidly getting dusted off and ready for whatever type of crash lie next. No one around here has a farm, so they should probably ought just move to Durham. It's one of those old towns, and it's a visually amazing place. Old ghost signs peek out of alleyways, art deco era buildings stand next to pockets of green space, and the bustle of the sidewalks is ever-increasing.

To pay tribute to this city on the mend, I decided to make up a bunch of crap about it and poke fun at it. the show is a bunch of images that are inspired from my drives through town, and from the city's past, complete with museum-style plaques explaining all of the nonsense.

For Example:

King Kong in Durham

Durham’s original sign painter, Kong, could reach the top of most any wall or building in Durham at the time and had a brilliant command of all current trends in visual advertising. It was thanks to him, that during the 1910s, Durham’s visual identity blossomed. Unfortunately, he couldn’t resist the idea of further developing his skills and reputation in New York City. As most know, it was there that Kong faced harsh criticism, ridicule, rejection, and ultimately, his demise.

and.....

The William “Bummer” Wall Sign Company

Because of the continued boom of the tobacco industry and the absence of King Kong, the city needed someone to pick up where he left off. William Wall, or “Bummer” as he was known, was the best Durham could muster. To this day, in most any direction one can still see a Wm. Wall Sign – brilliantly painted but not so brilliantly worded. Nonetheless, his work remains a valued part of Durham’s rich visual landscape.

which described these images:

Legends of Durham Athletics

Durham was home to many noteworthy athletes in the early part of the 20th century. Tom “Shakes” O’Bailey was the undisputed lightweight champion of the Golden Leaf Boxing League until he suffered a career changing injury during a match in Richmond, when his cigarette was knocked into his eye by a mean left jab. He then went on to master the gun sight bottle labeling machine at DT & BAC.Chet “Ace” Duke, a legend in his own mind, was strong, swift, and tough as nails. He was also, as they said in those times, “One letter shy of a Model A.” He was never seen wearing anything but his favorite dress-up costume, a football uniform. This gave the depression-era Durhamites a real laugh and propelled him into a position of admiral local esteem, albeit for different reasons than others in the Duke family.

Chas H. Puffington was an amazing cyclist during the time of the jazz-era’s 6 day races. There’s not too much else to report on Chas, other than his ability to keep a cigarette burning evenly during sustained speeds of up to 35 kilometers per hour.

Walter P. McMurdoch was born in Hillsborough and was known (in addition to his considerable fame as a distance runner) for his tireless promotion of the health benefits of smoking and drinking.

Dirt Town Bottling And Cappery

Riding the popularity of Durham’s new turn-of-the-20th-century nickname, Dirt Town, DT & BAC (the ampersand is silent) enjoyed much success as the city’s top distributor of spirits – so long as your spirit of choice was dry gin. DT & BAC simply bottled gin from an undisclosed source in different vessels, each with a different name. Marketing pioneers, DT & BAC were decades ahead of the wits of their customers. “Beauty” gin was a town favorite and its effects had generally great effects on the all-around beauty of Durham’s womenfolk, especially if considered from the point of view of the men consuming it. “Strength” gin suffered a different reputation as it was indirectly to blame for more broken noses and collarbones than early prototypes of the American roller skate. Thanks to “Strength,” Durham enacted prohibition one year earlier than the rest of the nation. DT & BAC switched promptly to bottling seltzer water for a few months before going out of business.

Failed Bluesmen of Durham

Durham has long enjoyed a rich Blues heritage, but there are many musicians who have failed to garner much credit for their contributions. Wm. Wall took on the recording and documentation of many lesser-known bluesmen. His collection of “Failed Bluesmen of Durham” trading cards have recently served the Durham Historical Society as a crucial resource in unearthing the vast amount of Blues talent that Durham had produced.

Pictured below: from left, clockwise: Unsung Hero Number Whatever, Kevin "Captain Happy" King, and The Drunk Brothers.

Below: from right, clockwise: "Whoops" Willie Williams, Jimmy "Take 12" Taylor, and Deaf Tommy Tones.

And lastly, these cretins:

The Streets are on Fire: Durham Motorcycle Gangs in the 1970’s

During the 1970’s, lawsuits against the tobacco companies began rolling in like waves and resulted in the loss of massive amounts of Durham commerce. Its residents desperately sought steady income and safe neighborhoods, which they found by joining or organizing motorcycle gangs. These gangs almost immediately started warring with each other and mayhem ensued. The 70’s were not just a dangerous time in Durham, they were a time of drastic social reconstruction. The constant battle for control of their neighborhoods and the freshly deserted buildings therein served as a model for future real estate developers. Soon, though, the whole charade grew tiresome. Many residents simply chose to stop being afraid of them and move to Cary. Shown are several jacket patches from various gangs.

The sign, by Wall Sign Co., was originally posted in Duke Gardens, a popular place for gangs to gather, read books, play disc golf, and plan brutal displays of dominance. In its original location the sign was useless. It was proven most effective after being stolen by the Dirt City Chopper Thiefs and remounted outside their hideout to inform the Durham Police that there was no funny business taking place inside. It worked.

And there you have it. That's why I've been a lazy blogger. Anyhow! if you're down to stop by, you can get directions and more info here: http://www.goldenbeltarts.com/newsEvents_Details.php?event_id=41

While you're there, take a stroll around. It's a GREAT example of one of the afforementioned mill-turned-hotspot places I was talking about. Good stuff, for sure.

C'mon, feel the noise . . .

2009-03-12T11:29:00.001-07:00

A little follow-up on a plan....

2009-03-09T14:07:00.001-07:00

The piece from the post down below got tweaked a bit and is now gonna be the cover for the newest Bomb Snow magazine, a little indy publication out of Bozetucky, Montana. It'll look like this:

as the cover artist, i get to include a page inside the mag. it'll look like this:

you'll also notice (maybe) that the passed out dude there says "www.seventysicks.com." that's because arizona superbro Dave Herbold is constructing me a website with his bare hands. killer as hell. it's going to look like this (and then some):

i'm sure all 5 of you are thinking "crap. what about this awesome blog?" well, childrens, i'll be able to really cut loose with this blog and post more crazy whatever i like to do during not-art-making time stuff, which means - snakehawk.blogspot is gonna get a whole more FUNNER!!!!

oh - and baby? i can't wait to marry you in a couple months....

Just Sayin'.

2009-03-06T10:13:00.000-08:00

Just trying to get some things done around here. Drawings, vectorings, paintings - the show draws ever closer.

newness.

2009-02-17T06:04:00.000-08:00

turn it up, bro.

oldies but goodies...?

2009-02-12T21:03:00.001-08:00

no particular reason, really. just a little spice in the blog stew.

For the Kids...

2009-02-09T11:03:00.000-08:00

Getting kids to brush their teeth! I had to correct the amount of toothpaste on the brush originally because apparently some of the song lyrics instruct the kiddos not to use more than a pea-sized drop of toothpaste. I had the toothbrush foaming like a car wash. Well, all better now...... go brush your cute little dientes felices, dudes!!!

Upcoming prints?

2009-02-06T10:31:00.002-08:00

we'll see. anyhow, i'm getting stuff ready for a show in durham in april, and need to do some prints. the show at Room 100 gallery is going to be celebrating the heritage of bull city, one puff of smoke at a time.

Photoshop is a Ninja.

2009-01-19T18:57:00.000-08:00

Just messing around with a sketch to sharpen my Photoshop kung-fu.

Sketch:

Photoshop:

Happy New Year

2009-01-07T10:48:00.000-08:00

6 days late and a ten spot short, but better late than never? I don't guess it matters too much, because I already emailed all 6 of my readers and let them know the update would be a little late.

I had a very eventful holiday break. I made a few sketches on the plane ride out and back. It's a great way to get the person next to you to stare at your tray table incessantly. I hate that part, but I really love passing time on the plane by making drawings.

I was at the airport early to death to catch my flight out to L.A. I was feeling surly and unfairly judgmental, so I lashed out with my usual brand of judgmental cynicism. In the first sketch I thought I'd use my neighbors to either side of me at the gate as make-believe competitors in the game of life. whatever. I was super sleepy still and the coffee I'd just bought for $5.72 was so hot, it was probably against FAA regs on account of being able to melt through the aluminum fuselage of a commercial plane.

I'm still feeling surly while drawing the next one, and the confines of the small hopper jet that I was on didn't help. I was feeling mad. No reason for real, but I was definitely still looking at the glass as half empty. Not my coffee cup, though. That junk was still nuclear.

Aaaaaaah. Starting to calm down. It's a good thing too, because I was considering drawing the word "terrorist" in my sketchbook just to see if anything would happen. In the nick of time, I noticed the dude sleeping next to me had an interesting profile. Profiles are a pretty sweet way to catch a likeness. Sorry for talking smack on you earlier, dude. Way to hold still.

I'm not a graffiti artist, but I love it like crazy. Truth is, I'm not into going down for my art like that. I don't need a damned arrest record. I need a job. Khah'm Sayin'? Anyway. I love letters and fonts and the fact that so many people are dedicated to crafting new ones, and abstracting the hell out of the written word, all the while flying the finger to the man and risking civil liberties. It's beautiful.

Tattoo stuff. I'm obsessed with lightning bolts. Traditional tattoos are great too, and I love them for their simplicity. It's time to get out the machines again and start making my friends more colorful.

Connecting flight, another unknowing victim.

And wrapping up the return flight with a couple more tattoo-type sketches. Nothing earth-shatteringly unique, just paying homage. In the first one here, the A & C stand for Allison and Casey. Yes, I love Allison. If there had been a tree on board, I'd have carved our names in it, but then I'd have to have sneaked a pocket knife aboard, too. Or maybe carve it with a soda can tab or some crap. I don't care, I'd have done it.

On the descent into RDU. Later, vacation. . .

I liked having just a few colored pencils with me on vacation. The limited palette was fun to work with, and made me think more simply. Like that's hard to do. I'm so damned simple, it's ridiculous.

Man. Holidaze.

2008-12-27T09:24:00.000-08:00

I know. I think i've been starting off every post lately by saying something about how long it's been since I last posted. BORing.

Holidays. Busy action fun time. There's so much going on, it's making my nose bleed, but I always have time for more. Especially when a friend says, "Hey, can I pay you some cash for you to draw whatever you want?" I'm always game for that. Seems like some folks think that because I draw things, and drawing is you know, such a low carbon footprint thing to do, and since natural gifts like artisticness and creativity don't require a tens of thousand dollar degree, that it must just be cool if I go ahead and just give you some art. I went to school and got student loans. I got bills to pay, too. I can't send my landlord a drawing every month. It's real simple: you give me a really modest amount of money, and I give you something you'll totally love! I swear. That's the only way it can work. Otherwise, I may as well just throw out my pencils and get a MBA.

Anyways, maybe you wanna check out this show. I know I do!:

Produce.

2008-11-19T14:50:00.000-08:00

Sorry, peeps. (all 5 of you) It's been awhile since I last posted. I was taking a breather from the heavy blogging that I had been doing there for a while. uhhhhhhh. . . . .

So I did that one up there as sort of an experiment playing with some different effects as per some signmaker's online tutorial. Yes, tutorials. Nobody's ever too good to learn some new learnings. I also did it because I can't really ever stop thinking about Beeba. That is pretty much the real reason. I'm also about to begin work on a very large mural project in Durham for a computer programming and consultation company called Relevance. In their designs I'll be incorporating lots of old-school sign painting techniques. In researching fonts and the like, I ran across a tutorial, and my massive tangent turned out to be what you see above.

Great. Trivia Night. Time for some beers.

FM Goods Show... 10-3-08

2008-10-08T08:46:00.000-07:00

--SHOW'S OVER. SORT OF.--

It's just up at Carrburrito's in Carrboro now. So if you're hungry for a burrito, taco, or one of Mac's famous CrunchWrapSupremes, get over there. Stuff your face, and stuff some cash into my Christmas stocking, fools. Seriously. I'm trying to buy some new socks this season, and I just switched from Miller High Life to Chimay, so something's gotta give. Word? Thanks.

-----------------------

Sick sick show. the FM folks are killer, period. It was heavily attended by a pretty solid core group of friends/clientele, and I had a great time meeting folks and getting some new takes on the stuff I like to make so much. I went with a new process this time around, using background subject material, rather than just plain graphics on wood. The focal images are cut paper drawings done in pencil, sharpie, and some acrylic paint. They were all super fun to do, and as usual, Allison's keen eye for detail and her awesome support had a huge amount to do with this stuff coming together so well. Thanks, baby.

To top off the night, one of the universe's most amazing turntablists ran the illest set of spin-rock I have ever heard. It made me totally feel like I could dance, even though I can't. Allison can, though. Girl gots moves. Super huge ups to KLEVER. Look for him, and listen to him any chance you get. Times were good that night.

If you're interested in any of the work, you can call FM Goods at 919.828.8899. Check out their site here: FM GOODS And thanks to Sarah with FM for the photos...

$125 (top), $100 (bottom)...

$175...

$200...

$175...

$100...

$150...SOLD.

$125 each...

$150...

NOT FOR SALE.

A couple Mill...

The Bike Guys Are Coming.

2008-09-16T13:08:00.001-07:00

A new mail-order company coming correct with the goods. And as they come, they'll be using a logo that looks a lot like this:

Coming Up....

2008-09-16T08:12:00.000-07:00

Next Monday, the 9th Issue of Faesthetic magazine is due to drop. I'm ultra-stoked to be participating in this one, as it is my first published art project. By that, I mean not a design for someone, or anything like that. Just me. I recommend the crap out of this magazine. It's cover-to-cover amazingness, each time one comes out. Great coffee table material. Great primer for discussion. Great mag. Dustin Hostetler, aka UPSO, the mastermind behind the project, is a 100% stand-up guy who knows good barbeque when he sees it.

It's a UFO-themed issue, so the pages upon pages of artwork should be super great to thumb through. Like I said, Monday, and you can buy one HERE

here's a little sneak-peak at my contribution:

I finally got around to seeing No Country for Old Men and it made for Weird Dreams for Old Snakehawk. I will never laugh at a dude with a bowl-cut again.

This Dude was Great.

2008-09-04T07:46:00.000-07:00

Working here at this gallery of art and other pop-culture curiosities, I rarely encounter a customer worth much at all. I mean, we have our regulars: the folks that collect, obsess, and immerse themselves in this peculiar brand of unneccesaria. Those folks I truly value and appreciate. The others are a dim-witted bunch of head-scratchers who "don't get it." Really. So today's hero came in the form of a robust man of average dress, thick-necked and rough-handed, mind you. He was from Monroe, Louisiana. It so happens that there's a hurricane taking the tops off of homes in his area and those adjacent. This man, with his thick Louisiana drawl, was just making a stop at "one of his favorite places." Turns out, his daughter lives up here, and during visits he became a big fan of this pop-art-lowbrow-whatever-the-fuck-it's-supposed-to-be-called stuff. He got his daughter a t-shirt, we chatted about how much ass Ed "Big Daddy" Roth and Kenny "Von Dutch" Howard (the crafstman, not the sorority girl mesh hat brand) used to kick, and the movement of visual art that was flung from their rampant sprees of creativity. This man was a true appreciator, a real genuine person; honest in his speech and actions, and a potential victim with his good nature still about him. "If Gustav don't get me, the looters will. They follow the evacuation trucks into town, and stay a fair bit later," he said. But this guy's gonna be alright. He's got his life, and seems to really love it. I'm feeling that, dudes.

With that, I'll leave you a picture of an Impala I pinstriped a long time ago. It just seems to fit.

And as for the merch...

2008-08-22T07:07:00.000-07:00

So, as all 5 of you may have read in the post below, I've got an opening at FM Goods in Raleigh in October. For that show, we'll be doing a limited edition FM tee. I'll be throwing a couple more ideas at them before we finalize, but why not post what I've got? I know, right?

Coming up this Fall.....

2008-08-19T08:14:00.000-07:00

I'm psyched to announce that on October 3rd, I'll be exhibiting at FM Goods & Sounds in Raleigh, NC. If you're not aware, FM is a great DJ-cenrtic store that specializes in limited release sneaks, tees, hats, and all other sorts of hip-hoppery. It's a great shop, run by great dudes. check 'em out:

FM Goods

Oldie, but goodie...

2008-08-14T07:49:00.000-07:00

Man, I did this one last summer for local mega-rock powerhouses, Colossus. They sound amazing, are extremely glamorous, and shred the socks off of anyone presently rocking. Bill Fisher, my closest connection in the band, was a one-time coworker and will crack you up like no other. While he definitely commands full attention of your ears with his blazing guitar riffs, he is also a visual masterpiece. His tongue bounces off of dirty bar-room floors as he rips out pinch harmonics like a wounded dragon. His stance on stage is roughly 3 yards wide, even though he's only like 5'10" or so. Maybe 5'11." This puts his crotch about ten inches off of said dirty bar-room floors, upon which his guitar practically rests while playing. I'm rambling, but seriously - Bill.

Mandatory to note, and vital to the essence of the rock legend that is Colossus, are the 15 other members in this band. They have long since dusted the whole classic-rock-era spectacle of having 2 drummers by packing the stage with 4 drummers, all named Ben. Sean, the singer, makes Bruce Dickinson sound like Shirley Temple and occupies 3 human bodies while on stage. 3 of the other guitarists, named Nick, rip the crap out of both cans of beer, and scorching guitar licks. Nick alone could be the entire band of Overkill, if only he could borrow one Ben from the drummer. I still have about 8 guitarists to mention, but first it should be mentioned that all of the Rylans in the band play bass together with the precision of a foreign corporation doing morning warm-ups on the roof of the parking deck. Andy, while appearing to be the boy-next-door type, actually is 4 enormous supermodel men who also can't seem to keep their legs together on stage. Or off. If you were to chop off both of Andy's hands, you would still find him playing better than Yeungling Manstein, or whatever his name is. That guy bores me to tears.

Anyways, here's what their album cover looks like. Thanks, Dewds.

Link to the Shred: The Colossus Will Crush You

More New Stuff.....

2008-08-01T07:51:00.001-07:00

In addition to getting some work ready for an October show at FM Goods in Raleigh, I've also been nailing some freelance stuff. As always, stuff for bands, tee-shirt graphics, and more. The most exciting for me right now is having a spread in the next Faesthetic magazine, due out in late August. If you haven't heard of Faesthetic, you should check it out. Sick mag full of art work from artists all around the globe.

Let times get good for a second with this piece I did for a friend's musical side project. We borrowed super heavily from THX-1138's logo, but amped it up crab nebula style. I don't know anything about outer space or THX-1138, but I know that I can smell the weekend coming.......

Here's one for a rad dude I met in L.A. over the 4th of July holiday who has recently launched a line of graphic tees called, um, well you can read.......

bang!bang!

2008-07-16T16:16:00.001-07:00

So, speaking of the buddies of mine in Chicago in the amazing rad killer band Bang!Bang!, I just did their new album cover. It's a 5 song EP due out pretty soon, as I understand it. The real shred is that they'll be coming through Chapel Hill to play at Reservoir Bar in October. Thanks, Dewdz!

Pedal to the Metal, Buddy.

2008-06-23T09:53:00.000-07:00

July's a crazy fun-busy month!!! Today I'm shipping work off to Chicago to participate in 2 separate group shows. The first show is at a gallery called Lotus Keep, and it's a tribute to fallen Wu-Tang Swordsman, Ol Dirt McGirt. ODB. Big Baby Jesus. Osirus. Whatever you wanna call him. Dude lived a hard, fast, crazy life. His rap sheet down at the station was longer than a suburban graduation ceremony, and he went out in a rough way. He was animated as hell, and all kinds of a character, but when i sat down to memorialize him, i couldn't help but think of how messed up he must have been, and seemingly a bit disturbed. Anyway, I thought an cut-apart tall-boy paper bag was kind of metaphoric.

The other show is at Fluevog Shoes, which is killer. My buddy Jack, who stands up front in the band Bang!Bang! lined this one up. A good friend of mine from junior high Nick Kraska rips the crap out of drums in this band, and that's how I came to know Jack. He's hilarious, furious behind the mic, and though I don't know personally, I'm sure he laces a shoe with a ridiculous amount of grace. So in keeping with my favorite themes of bad luck, rock 'n' roll, emphatic words, and Fortune 500 suckery, here are some of the pieces:

Now I'm off to LA for 2 weeks with the raddest girl in the whole entire universe. Graffiti, Art Galleries, Gooooood Food, and chillaxing in the sun.

Later, Dewds!!!

New Summer Bidness.

2008-06-18T10:47:00.000-07:00

I just finished vector blasting a new T-Shirt for the best drinking hole around. This one is pretty much an exact copy of a mural I did upstairs at Reservoir Bar, in Carrboro, NC. If you don't know Reservoir, you have GOT to stop in there on your way through town sometime. Allison and I are primary shareholders in the place, tithing to them a sizable portion of our paycheck. In return, they provide us with plenty reason to maintain a steady intake of Ibuprofen.

The Tee:

The Upstairs Mural:

Shirts & Stuff, Dewds!!!

2008-05-01T15:09:00.001-07:00

So these came in way after the buzzer, but they ARE finally done. They also come in green with the same color of ink, and they are available in the full range of guys and gals sizing. By the way, the original painting that inspired the design is still available. Any interest in these goods should be directed to Wootini Gallery at (919) 933-6061, or store@wootini.com.

Here's another for local wax wizard L in Japanese. Cool guy, so i was stoked to make him a cool shirt.

Oh yeah - The Arcade Fire and Superchunk (originally from here) are playing at the Carrboro Town Commons tomorrow, for some sort of Obama Rally. It's really not a huge thing to me personally, but just seems like the kind of thing one should blog about.

Pick Your Friends!

2008-04-23T11:31:00.000-07:00

My bad. It's taken me waaaaaaaay too long to get this business posted, but i can be sorta webtarded at times. The show was super fun. They always turn out to be a great opportunity to see a bunch of shred friends all at once, and all in the same place.

I had great help from Beeba, the most beautiful girl in the world, and my bestest friend ever, in getting the work all hanged nice and straightish. It's always so killer taking the show from my desk to the walls. Beeba helps me out so much with advice, hammering me for squirly lines, and just being rad to death in general. Making art while she cracks away at her dissertation is pretty much the best thing ever. I'll never have another cube mate again.

Red dots were flying onto the walls at a very satisfying pace, and much of that can be credited to my great friend Husky calling before the show opened. He was like, "Hey buddy. Listen, I'm about to get on a plane, so can you run $XXXX on my credit card and pick me out a bunch of your work?" Uhhhhhh. Sure dude. A power move like that can only be described as "PIMP."

So check it - Here's the work.