Music Head

Some bands and musicians I’ve been listening to lately: Nora Jones, Say Anything, Manchester Orchestra, Vampire weekend, Iron and Wine, Cold War Kids, MuteMath, Silversun Pickups, The Fratelli’s.

Anyone have any suggestions for some music I might like?

Laundry Day

I spent a good eight months without a washer and dryer last year. At least there was a laundromat near my house. I usually killed time during washing by playing pinball, but this day I was out of quarters.

I know it’s weird, but I kind of miss doing my laundry there. The hot humid air, the little Mexican kids playing hide and seek, the old church lady who always said, “Oh no baby, you gots ta throw some fabric softner in there.” At the time, I hated the inconvenience. Looking back I see laundry day as a peaceful hour in my busy week.

At the Circus Fernando!

I was armpit deep in the bargain bin at a used book store when I found a strange looking book about one of my favorite artists, Toulouse-Lautrec. The book had a cream colored paper cover, was glue bound, and on the cover there was no title or picture to let you know what it was about. But up in the corner some one had written, in immaculate cursive, Toulouse-Lautrec. I flipped through it and found the inside to be filled with giant, full-color prints. I eagerly paid the dollar for it and took it home.

After studying all the paintings and poster art I decided to copy some of them in my own style. These two pictures are work-in-progress shots of what I came up with. It’s done with paint and pen on a paper shopping bag. It was a nice bag and I just couldn’t throw it away.

Here’s some info on Toulouse-Lautrec if you’re interested.

Haiti

By now you’ve certainly heard about the earthquake in Port au Prince, Haiti. I’ve posted a few links for those of you who are looking for ways to contribute to the relief effort.

Yele Haiti, a movement led by Wyclef Jean to bring hope back to Haiti, has set up a way to send a five dollar donation through text messaging. This is the easiest way I’ve seen so far to send a donation. All you do is text yele to 501501 It charges to your cell phone bill.

You can send your donation to The Red Cross but, since it is such a large organization, I don’t know how much of your money will actually reach Haiti. It could go to another relief program they’re working on. Just do what feels right to you.

Finished

It occurred to me that I’ve posted a couple of work-in-progress shots of this piece but I never posted the final. So here it is. Please pardon the poor picture quality. The flash washed everything out and with out it everything looked more gray than it is. I’ll have to update later on with a photo taken in natural light.

Let me know what you all think.

Trader

I think I drew this way back when I heard the movie was coming out. I still have my copy of the book that my mom gave me when i was a little kid. It’s on a shelf in my art studio.

I remember in second grade we had a book trade. You brought in so many books and you got a ticket for each book. Those tickets were redeemed for other books that other kids brought in. One of the books I brought was Where the Wild things are.

As the teacher sorted out the books I waited anxiously. I suddenly regretted bringing that book in and I was going to make sure I was the first kid to the pile so I could get it back.

But someone else beat me to it. I had to trade him all my tickets to get it back.

What’s you’re memory of Where the Wild Things Are? Leave it in the comment box.

Waiting…

You know what the best part of being a waiter is? Come to think of it, there is no best part to being a waiter. Allow me to rephrase the question. You know what the best part is of being a waiter who also happens to be an artist? When business is slow you don’t have to be bored. You can always draw.

So here’s a little something I whipped up at work to distract myself from the fact that I wasn’t making any money that day.

Down

You may have noticed a gap in my usually posting schedule. I was down with a virus that I just couldn’t get out of my system. No, not H1N1. It was a computer virus that completely took over my computer. One of those nasty little bugs that tries to get you to buy anti-virus protection, then, when you purchase, it steals your credit card information. I didn’t fall for it. I’m a little more savvy than that, just a little. But it took over a week for the computer guys to fix it. That’s what happens when things go wrong over the holidays.

Now that everything is back to normal (I’ve updated with better anti-virus software) I hope to get back on to a regular posting schedule.

Happy 2010 people. Do good work.

Maurice Needs an Intervention

Maurice has a problem. He just cant get enough of that chocolatey-peanut crunch. I’ve suggested he seek treatment for his disorder but he wont. Instead, he lurks inside my sketchbook licking his way across the pages in search of a way to pacify his need. It’s possible that I could draw a Baby Ruth bar for him but I don’t want to be an enabler. And besides, he’d finish it and still want more. I’d spend every day drawing chocolate and peanuts and I don’t have time for that. So Maurice, my friend, I wish you luck and a swift recovery.

 

IMG_0022

It’s hard to tell from this photograph but there are layers upon layers of washes and splatters in this painting. My goal was to create a varied background so that when I flung the black paint on it the black specks would appear to vibrate in place. It sort of works, if you stare at it long enough.

I still can’t come up with a title for this piece. If you have any suggestions leave a comment. Until then it gets the name my camera gave it.