Damian King illustration/design

Cool Kids

2011-12-18T13:16:00.000-08:00

I have been meaning to do something with this figure I painted years back. I finally found the insipiration to make it happen. I ended up going for a kind of 60's look.

Design is SOLD.

Discourage Records

2011-12-18T13:15:00.001-08:00

Some custom text done for 'Discourage Records' out of Portland, Oregon.

Dept. of Benefits

2011-12-18T13:09:00.000-08:00

This is the second round of designs for 'Threads with Benefits' out of SF.

They do a line of t-shirts where each t-shirt addresses an issue, and a portion of the profits from that tee go to help that issue.

Inspired by old Dept. of Forestry and logging logos.

VENTUS

2011-08-13T11:43:00.000-07:00

So I have been wanting to do a sailing inspired t-shirt design for a while now. More specifically I wanted to do something with the signal flags that sailors use, I have always loved them. I had a t-shirt with a line of those flags across the chest in the late eighties, early nineties and I wanted to recapture that vibe.

These flags are used by sailors to spell out words and messages. Each flag represents a letter of the alphabet. They can also be used in pairs to convey various messages to other vessels. In that way I intended this design to be fully customizable. The client can pick whichever flags they like to spell something or convey a message to the viewer.

I wanted to incorporate as many sailing elements into this design as possible without it feeling cluttered or over-done. There is a rope with knots used as an underline. There is a compass reference used on the circle. I put the longitude and latitude of SF, and the sailing speed, as commonly used by sailiors when plotting a course.

This design is for sale.

contact: dk@damiankingart.com

Keep It Green

2011-05-28T20:57:00.000-07:00

This design was commissioned by D-Structure of San Francisco. They are doing a line of t-shirts addressing global issues. Each tee addresses a seperate issue and proceeds from that t-shirts sales go to helping that specific cause. I chose 'deforestation'. Growing up in Oregon I got to see the logging trucks full of beautiful pine trees all the time. I wanted this design to harken back to old Dept. of Forestry signage and old logging company logos. I also wanted to keep it as simple as possible. Less is more.

Will be available soon through D-Structure SF.
Not sure what the color way will be. I like it on AA 'forest green'.

Good Times

2011-05-28T20:48:00.000-07:00

This is a design inspired by a solo show I had in SF in 2010. I have been taking the paintings from that show and making the characters into t-shirt designs. The challenge for me is to integrate my illustrative style into a more classic/retro design aesthetic. This lil guy needs a big 'ol hug, he has been down on his luck as of late.

Design is for sale.

All text is editable.

ALTUS Mens Club

2011-05-28T20:33:00.000-07:00

This is a t-shirt design based on a fictional mens club based in Milan Italy. The figure is from an old scratchboard drawing I did years ago. I have always like thispiece and I thought it had potential as a tshirt design. The guy looks like some sophisticated spy or international agent of some sort. So I maybe he was the president of some super exclusive secret society that posed as a mens club. Hence 'ALTUS' mens club. Altus is Latin for pinnacle, exalted, supreme.

'Shadow' typeface

2011-03-25T13:20:00.000-07:00

I was inspired by some text on an old book I have, to try to recreate it. I am sure that this font exists out there somewhere, I didn't do a search for it though. Instead, I thought it would be a fun exercise to try to recreate the font from what I already have on my computer. (My formal training is in illustration, not graphic design.) I found the closest font that I had to the thin lettering that the type is based on. Again, I am sure I could have searched and found the exact one, which may have been a lot easier actually.

I thought it would be a very straightforward process, but I realized that there was more to this than I had first anticipated. After my initial pass through creating the shadows I realized that some of the letters with diagonals didn't look 'right', they lacked uniformity and readability. Some of the 'legs' were thicker than others. Upon further inspection of the original font, I realized that whoever created this font addressed that issue by simply adjusting the thinner parts to be closer in width to the rest of the letters. Although this is distorting the reality of where the shadows would actually lie, it looks better to the eye. The only letter I am not satisfied with is the 'S'. Any comments or suggestions appreciated.

My typeface:

Original typeface:

Cubism

2011-03-10T16:05:00.000-08:00

I was doodling this cube the other day and thought that it would make a cool tshirt graphic. I have been wanting to incorporate more hand drawn elements in my design work, and this was a good opportunity to give it a shot. I haven't done a t-shirt design, that wasn't commissioned, for a while and I was itching to do something for the fun of it.

I really like how it turned out, but I could have done more elements by hand. Next time around I will do the text by hand.

This design is for sale. Text is just a placeholder, kind of joke really.

I think it would work well for a band or a clothing company.

Hit me up...dk@damiankingart.com

Edited designs for clients

2011-03-05T10:06:00.000-08:00

I have recently sold a handful of t-shirt designs to clients from the U.S. and Canada. These were some of my most recent premade designs that I post for sale at various online sites. The designs all have text that I have inserted as a placeholder for the real text a client may use. Once the design is sold I usually edit the text, and sometimes various elements of the original artwork.

I wanted to show some of these before and after versions so peole can see how my original designs translate into the final artwork used by the client.

Original:

Client:
Original:
Client:

Son of Hip-Hop

2011-02-27T17:34:00.000-08:00

This is a the latest design in a series of t-shirts commissioned by a company out of L.A. depicting the different facets of hip-hop. It is basically a good natured spoof of Rene Magritte's painting 'Son of Man'. The companies owner approached me with the idea and some specific elements he wanted included. I took his idea and added some of my own ideas and elements and ended up with what you see. I played around with using various logos on the Adidas tracksuit and Kangol hat, but ended up leaving them out.

I had fun doing this design. I like spoofs, and riffing on old ideas, making them new. This was actually my second t-shirt design spoofing a Rene Magritte painting. I like how this came out and the company was super stoked on it, so all's well that ends well.

enjoy!

Walkin' & Talkin'

2011-01-27T16:27:00.000-08:00

Here is my latest in my latest 'line' of tshirt designs. They are all based on paintings I did a couple months back for a solo show in SF. I have been incorparating the characters from those paintings into kind of retro vibe t-shirt designs. I have definitely been inspired by classic Amarican design work from the 50's and 60's.

Although some of these designs are offered in limited runs through various establishments, the rights to these images are still for sale. Meaning you could buy this design for your clothing line, and I would edit the text to say your brands name or whatever.

Enjoy!

'Civitas' magazine cover

2011-01-27T16:22:00.000-08:00

I was recently commissioned to illustrate a magazine cover for 'Civitas'. It has been a while since I had a big editorial job to do, let alone a cover, so this was fun for me. They wanted this whole baseball theme, with a dude hitting a grand slam. I like how it came out ansd the magazine was stoked on the artwork, so that's what really matters.

The Mustache Society, 'Savor the Flavor'

2011-01-25T18:16:00.000-08:00

I was recently comissioned by The Mustache Society, a new clothing line that focuses on facial hair apparently, to do a t-shirt design for them. The owner had a very specific idea that I ran with and put my own spin on. I rendered this design very similarly to my last few t-shirt designs, although this time I used a diamond shape, instead of a circle, as the main graphic component. I have been pushing a classic Americana vibe, which I think came across pretty well in this piece. Also, I kept this design down to 2 colors, black and grey, which was refreshing.

Enjoy!

Spaced Out

2010-10-27T15:07:00.000-07:00

Hey folks. This is my latest tshirt design 'Spaced Out'. Similar to my last piece, 'Wasted', in that it is directly inspired by my solo upcoming show in SF. I have been continuing my efforts to combine my illustrative style with a more design oriented style. I am liking where these are going.

Design is for sale. Text can be edited or added to.

Wasted Youth

2010-09-09T09:38:00.000-07:00

Recently I have been playing around with a simple geometric kinda retro looking design work. I was playing around with this image of a wasted skater kid that I did as a painting originally. Initially I was uninspired then late the other night I had the idea to try to combine this new design direction with my more illustrative style. After only a few hours I whipped this out.

Being that I produced it rather quickly, with very few edits, I wasn't sure how it would be accepted by the tshirt designer community. I posted it on Emptees and within 5 hours I had 40 loves. By the end of 48 hours it had recieved 120 loves. A new record for me, yay! I think I will definitely be exploring this new direction.

The design is for sale, and the text can be edited of course.

TOMS shoes

2010-08-24T15:54:00.000-07:00

I saw a posting for a TOMS t-shirt design contest, so I spent a couple days putting together a design and deciding on the best colorways. When I went back to the TOMS site, the contest was no longer posted. I sent some emails and figured out it had indeed been cancelled. I was pretty bummed because I don't usually take part in contests, and I had spent a lot of time on my design. A few days later I received an email stating that the contest was back on. So I subbed it and we will see...

This design is inspired by simple design themes of yesteryear. If you are familiar with the TOMS logo you will notice that this design is a rif on the existing logo. I got some good feedback from some colleagues and it was fun to play around with this new style.

Insight

2010-07-20T15:06:00.000-07:00

Inspired by my new design experiments I created a new T-shirt design. It has been a while since I made a new tshirt design and I thought I would try something geometric and retro, something that looks like it could contain ancient mystical powers. I love the idea that different numbers and shapes have different powers, and when used in alignment they can harness hidden energies.

Some new design work...

2010-07-20T14:53:00.000-07:00

I have been doing some experimental design stuff, trying to stay fresh and try new stuff. I have always liked really sparse/simple design that has a kind of classic Americana vibe to it. So I decided to try some designs and logo work in that vein. I don't think I have quite achieved what I was thinking of, but it has been fun experimenting.

I like this new style enough to keep exploring the possibilities. Also, this is a good exercise for me to practice my typography, that has always been a weak point of mine.

Vapor Room poster

2010-06-14T18:40:00.000-07:00

I was commissioned to do a poster for my friends over at the Vapor Room, a medical marijuana dispensary. I was given free reign to do whatever I wanted, so that was fun. The only thing I was supplied with was their logo, which I used on the balloon, and the Pantone colors they wanted to use.

I had a couple ideas, but in the end I went with this fun retro feeling design of a big 'ol hot air balloon. Their shop has a definite retro vibe to it, so I thought this image was the best. They use these devices called 'vaporizers' which fill up a large bag, or balloon, with smoke. So the image of the hot air balloon is a playful visual metaphor for the vaporizer bag.

'Off the Strip' show

2010-06-13T11:37:00.000-07:00

I recently finished two small paintings for a group show at the WWA gallery in Culver City. The show is called 'Off the Strip' and is based on characters that appeared in newspaper comic strips.

It actually took me a while to fugure out which characters I wanted to use. Many of the cartoon characters I am fond of were either only on T.V. or only in comic books, not newspapers. In the end I choose to do Dennis the Menace and Howland Owl from Pogo.

Of course I couldn't resisit adding subversive elements. Howland is a stoner wizard and Dennis is a menace to society. Enjoy!

'Bukitt' sticker

2010-06-04T16:33:00.001-07:00

This is a sticker design I did for a friend of mine who races his late 80's VW GTI. He calls his car 'Bukitt', as in bucket, like and old decrepit car. His little GTI is anything but decrepit though. He has probably put 30K into that thing, it is sweet, not to mention fun as hell to ride shotgun in.

He came up with the concept, and I executed it for him. He said he wanted a dude literally racing in a bucket. My first version was a metal bucket, but he suggested wood, which came out looking pretty sweet. He was happy, so that's all that matters.

B.I.G.

2010-06-01T17:32:00.000-07:00

Dang, I must be getting old or somthin'. I keep forgeting to post paintings I have finished.

I did this acrylic painting of my all-time favorite rapper, Notorious B.I.G., B.I.G, Biggie Smalls, or just Biggie. It was a personal piece I had been meaning to get to for some time. I took my time and allowed myself to make some mistakes, which I was able to fix and make the painting even better than before.

Honestly this was one of those paintings that went back and forth between being something I loved, and something I was considering scrapping. In the end I think it was pretty darn successful. I posted this online shortly after finishing it and had a buyer within 30 minutes! That was a personal best for me. Who says you need a gallery or dealer to sell your work?

More paintings!

2010-05-31T12:04:00.000-07:00

'Luvrs Rock' 9x11 acrylic and ink. $200

'Ignorance is Bliss' 9x11 acrylic and ink. $200

So, I finally ran out of the blue printing paper I had been using to do paintings on for the last wo years finally ran out. I do not know what kind of papaer it was so I can't really replace it. Anyway, I went and bought some Canson paper I thought would behave similarly when painted on, but it buckled a lot more, even when gessoed. Yes, I did have them taped down too.

The 'Ignorance is Bliss' piece was especially problematic. I'm not sure if the different color papers make a difference as far as accepting watery paint without buckling too much. The 'Luvrs Rock' piece didn't really have the same issues with buckling, it was on a maroon paper, whereas the other was on blue paer.

In the end I think I came away with a couple fairly successful pieces.

I am fond of Mr. Luvr Luvr...

Cavata Clothing

2010-05-20T12:04:00.000-07:00

Boston based Cavata Clothing featured me on their website today. They are featuring my paintings, which I had recently posted for sale on emptees, a tshirt artist community site. I am pretty sure that is how they became familiar with my artwork. I would love to do some tshirt design work for them one day too. (hint, hint Lori!) ;)

Cavata is basically a music based clothing company with a conscience. 10% of every sale goes back into various programs that support the arts in schools. Way to go Cavata!

Stoked to be part of a such a cool company. Support Cavata and support the arts!

http://cavataclothing.com/

Two blue paintings

2010-04-23T19:21:00.000-07:00

These are two little blue paintings I did over a year ago, but never posted here. I did a series of these small (9x11) paintings on pieces of printing paper I 'aquired' for free. Most of these little guys are still available to purchase. You can contact me or check out 'Lower Haters' on Haight St. in San Francisco, they have a half dozen or so.

Enjoy!

'Hippy'

'Spittle'

Red Bubble

2010-04-01T21:38:00.000-07:00

I have started selling my artwork and tshirts at Red Bubble, an online art source.

They have a really nice clean, easy to use format, and a great community of artists.

Within 48 hours of posting my work there I had a painting and a t-shirt design that made the 'feature' page. I don't know if that is hard to achieve, but I sure got alot of views and comments, so that is always a plus.

So, go check out what I have to offer there. I'm sure you can find something really cool.

Stickers from Stand Out

2010-03-22T16:26:00.001-07:00

I finally got my die-cut stickers from Stand Out Stickers. They were, and I think still are, doing a 50 free sticker giveaway as a grand opening promotion. It took me about 6 weeks to get mine, but that is not bad for being free. AND, they are great quality, nicely printed on super thick vinyl.

I did my 'Pickled Punk' image as my sticker. I have made stickers of some of my other favorite images, but these were a first. They look super slick I must say.

As an after thought, I should've included some sort of logo or branding to let people know who they are looking at, but oh well. I hope the image is strong enough for people to atleast remember it. That's enough for me.

Thanks Stand Out Stickers!

peep 'em:

http://www.standoutstickers.com/

Noctua

2010-02-21T12:08:00.000-08:00

Here's a new design I just finished up. This design actually started as a tiny sketch on a small Post-It note. It sat next to my computer for a couple months before I finally decided to make it come to life.

I turned it onto a proper sized sketch in my sketch pad. I scanned that sketch and brought it into Photoshop and did the rest from there.

I subbed it at emptees for some peer review and it has been well received there. The design is for sale and the 'Noctua' text can be edited.

I posted a bit of the process here, hope you enjoy!

Stand Out Stickers

2010-01-15T19:09:00.000-08:00

This is a cool sticker site, quality stuff.

A good alternative to other, more expensive sites.

Peep 'em!

Red Devil Lounge

2010-01-11T13:49:00.000-08:00

I was commissioned by Audiodub to do another promotional poster for their band. The lead singer really liked my series of black and white paintings based on photos I have taken of urban scenes in Oakland. His idea was to do a painting of the exterior of the Red Devil Lounge, which has been one of their major SF venues, in the same style as those paintings. So they got an awesome painting to hang on their wall, and and awesome image for their latest poster.

These paintings are always very rewarding because there are a lot of steps that all need to fall into place to make this a successful piece. First I went out to the location and took about fifty photos of the place from many different angles, many of which forced me to run out in the street during breaks in the traffic. Then I had to go home and edit the fifty down to one photo, tweak that photo to adjust its contrast and saturation levels. I then print that photo at the size I want to paint it and 'trace' the image, with transfer paper, making it a line drawing on a pre-framed, gessoed wood board. From there I add ink, and start adding shades of grey till I get it to where I want it. When all this is done correctly, without too many mistakes, I end up with a pretty awesome piece.

Sophisticated Shaman

2010-01-11T13:18:00.001-08:00

This is a design I have had laying around and finally got it finished digitally. I have done a small painting based on this same drawing, but this was originally meant to be on a t-shirt.

The concept is from a sketch that just kinda came out. I love the power of numbers and shapes, and how each one has specific attributes and strengths. I also really dig how a lot of ancient cultures (Egyptian, Mayan ,Native American) seemed to be very in tune to how nature, math, science, and religion were all interconnected. I suppose this design is a tribute to ancient intelligence and understanding, in a kind of 'tongue-in-cheek' way.

Backstabber

2009-12-09T20:28:00.000-08:00

I painted these guys a couple months ago, around July or August I think. I just realized I never posted this on my blog, so here it is.

It is titled 'Backstabber', it is 24 x 30 inches, and done with acrylic and ink. It was originally for sale at Lower Haters on Haight st. in SF. Then it was in a group show at Studio gallery on Polk st. in SF. After that I brought it to the Thread show in SF to be part of the Artsprojekt booth. It is currently residing at their HQ in Redwood City, CA.

I have gotten a lot of positive feedback about this piece. It was featured in a Juxtapoz blog a while back, and from there it was featured on 5 or 6 other art and design blog sites. People seem to have an emotional reaction to the fact the one of the figures, who seem to be hugging, is in fact about to stab the other in the back. I think we have all been on both sides of this one.

Snow Leopard

2009-11-23T20:20:00.000-08:00

Did this snow leopard illustration for a clients website. She knew she wanted to use a snow leopard, but other than that it was up to me. Actually she did request that I use a background from one of my other digital pieces, so I added that in the end, but I dont think she ended up using it.

I drew the whole cat by hand using the ps lasso tool, drawing shapes rather than penstrokes. I used about 6 layers of color. I did my drawing at a way higher resolution and size than what was needed so I have a really nice high resolution version.

'Blood Diamond' @ Ript.com

2009-11-17T17:53:00.000-08:00

My 'Blood Diamond' t-shirt design was picked up by the guys over at RIPT.com

They go on sale for one day only, this Friday, November 20th, at Noon.

Originally I had intended for the hands in this design to be at the very top and very bottom of the shirt. RIPT only has a 17 inch screen so they were limited on how far apart the hands could be. I think it still looks great.

Go out and get you one!

Cooperation

2009-11-02T15:07:00.000-08:00

This is an ilustration for an online magazine called Greater Good. They used to be a published magazine until they became strictly a web entity at the beginning of '09. This is the first illustration I have done for them since they went online, so it was good to hear from them again.

I like the illustration even if it is super cutesy. Cute is the new gore.

New Paintings

2009-09-30T20:05:00.000-07:00

I just finished a series of four paintings.They are an addition to my growing number of 9x11 paintings done on blue printing paper. I have really enjoyed doing these paintings. There must be 20 of these by now. I have done these over the past year or so, and my style and skills have slowly but surely progressed.

I do so much digital work these days I need something to fulfill my need for painting and drawing on paper. The funny thing about these four is that, with the exception of the 'Mystic Pyramid', they are all based on t-shirt designs I created digitally. Actually, the 'Mystic Pyramid' was originally sketched as a t-shirt design. I still intend to make it one soon.

I am very happy with how these turned out. They will be available at a gallery soon. Probably 'Lower Haters' on Haight and Steiner, in SF. Or you can just email me and make an offer!

dk@damiankingart.com

Choke on Color

2009-09-30T19:57:00.000-07:00

So, I sold my mummy on a bike design to a clothing company called Choke on Color a while back. I added text and did a few tweaks to the color for them, and I beieve they tweaked the colors a bit more once they had the design.

They sent me a few in the mail the other day and I gotta say I was pretty stoked. The shirts are great quality, super soft and an awesome shade of dark grey. Printing is spot on, thick ink. Awesome.

Not sure where they are available yet, I keep askin' and they keep not tellin'. I don't think they are available to the public yet. Here is their myspace link if you want to bug them about it:

http://www.myspace.com/chokeon_color

Shredder Tee

2009-09-30T19:43:00.000-07:00

I recently purchased my 'Shredder' t-shirt from Artsprojekt (affiliated with zazzle.com) . The print could be a teeny bit larger, but I am very happy with how they came out. Tagless tee, and the ink is super soft, it basically blends into the fabric.

Now I can confidently back this product. I have a handful of t-shirts available there and skateboards and prints as well! The cool thing about artsprojekt is that you can print my design on various colors and brands of t-shirts, and the skateboards give you choices between sizes and shapes. Very cool if you ask me.

You should check it ouy and pick up some 'holiday' gifts.

Here's the link:

http://www.zazzle.com/deekin

Not ze Pipe

2009-09-01T19:18:00.000-07:00

This is a new t-shirt design I recently finished. I did this one for myself, but of course it is for sale.

It is sort of an homage to Rene Magritte. He did that painting of a pipe that says "Ceci n'est pas un pipe", (this is not a pipe). I love that painting for the simple fact that it makes you think.

My version is hip french pipe that is keenly aware of what he is and what he is not. He may not believe that he is a pipe, but he does like to smoke. Enjoy!

'Fistycuffs' available at Teefury!

2009-09-01T18:54:00.000-07:00

My t-shirt design 'Fistycuffs' is now avalable to purchase at teefury.com. It will be the featured shirt for a day and then it goes into the archive with the rest of the designs. This doesn't mean it is unavailable after the first day, it just means that it will only be printed once. Sometimes they print a design again if it was popular.

Totally stoked to have a shirt being printed there, they have an awesome site, and great designs! My shirt is available in a girls and guys version.

Stickers!

2009-09-01T18:37:00.000-07:00

My work is now available in sticker form! Bumperstickerz.com recently added an 'artist' section to their website. So far there are only three of us artists, but I'm sure there will be more.

The stickers are awesome. High quality vinyl, full color printing, die-cutting (stickers cut to the shape of the design), and a cool feature that allows the sticker to be easily removed. All of mine have at least two stickers per sheet. Quality stuff.

Check 'em out and buy a few!

Bumper Stickers Artist Series Damian King

Artsprojekt online store

2009-08-07T01:02:00.001-07:00

buy unique gifts at Zazzle

Der Shredder

2009-07-29T11:30:00.001-07:00

This is my latest t-shirt design. I have been really inspired by old skateboard a surf graphics lately. I used to love all the artwork produced by Jim Phillips back in the 80's and 90's. This piece is inspired by him and Rat Fink stuff. I had a lot of fun doing this guy, from the sketch to the finished piece. I really felt a connection to this guy.

The design is for sale at the moment, won't last long.

Jesus Piece

2009-07-29T11:20:00.001-07:00

I did this piece for a t-shirt company called Quirky Clothes. It's not my usual thing, and maybe a bit cliche, but it was fun and challenging to draw. I tried to bring some humor to the piece while staying true to the original painting. I had some pretty specific direction on this, thay wanted a simple line drawing, one color.

I like how it came out, there are a bunch of cool details. Click on the image to see a larger version.

2009-05-09T12:11:00.000-07:00

This is a t shirt design I did for fun. I submitted it to threadless.com so go and vote for it!

I wanted to do something with an old school surfer/skater feel to it. I also wanted to do something bizarre and kinda twisted. I don't really know why I have been putting LSD and joints in my recent pieces. I think I am feeling nostalgic for my high school days.

I hope the sketch and photoshop linework gives a bit of insight into my process.

Comment please.

Audiodub poster

2009-04-16T19:24:00.000-07:00

Did this poster for Audiodub, an awesome three piece rock group outta SF. They are having their CD release party and wanted a poster that was an art piece, worthy of framing. I also did an invite for them that had all the info about the show.

This was a fun one. It ended up quite a bit different from what I had first imagined, as far as the color scheme anyway... But I like it, and the band was stoked, that's what counts!

Different Angle sticker

2009-04-16T19:10:00.000-07:00

I was contacted by this guy who owns an online clothing store based in Isreal. He wanted me to do a sticker design for his store "Different Angle'. The store is similar to Digital Gravel or Krudmart. They even carry bay area heavy hitters Upper Playground.

Apparently this is the first of it's kind in Isreal. Happy to be part of it.

Puffbolt!

2009-03-25T23:32:00.000-07:00

This is a fun bright design for the summer months ahead.

The design is for sale if your tshirt company needs someting new.

Drawn by hand, taken into Illustrator, and then Phototshop.

Leprechauns Bad Trip

2009-03-23T19:52:00.000-07:00

Ok, this is a bit of a departure from my usual thing, whatever that is. I wanted to try my hand at something more gnarly and detailed. Catered more towards (punk) rock band tshirts. Not sure if I hit the mark, but I am pleased with the outcome...

I also wanted to give my faithful viewers a bit of insight to my digital process. I included the pencil drawing, the line drawing, done in photoshop with a wacom, and the finished piece. This is my first all Photoshop design, no Illustrator.

Design is up for votes at threadless.com. Up for sale if it doesn't get printed there. Text added easy!

Still having fun...

2009-03-04T13:51:00.000-08:00

Ok, so I am still having some fun messing around with colors and textures in Photoshop. I usually do my designs in Illustrator, but I couldn't get the textures how I wanted. Photoshop seems to work better for that. Still experimenting, too lazy to read a tutorial. Besides I like to find my own way.

Click on the '13' image to see the full size and all the goodies in there!

Living in/near Oakland I had to do a MC Hammer tribute. Hammer, don't hurt 'em!

whatcha think?

T-Shirts...

2009-03-03T18:02:00.001-08:00

Just posting a couple tee shirt designs. The bowtie dude is an old design that I tweaked a bit. The CMYK design is just something I was messing around with colors and textures.

CMYK design up for voting at Design By Humans:

http://www.designbyhumans.com/vote

Some more Vapor Room portraits

2009-03-03T17:58:00.001-08:00

I finally finished all of these, ended up being seventeen in total. I got really good responses from the shop and the employees. So, I decided to post a couple more of my favorites.

2009-02-15T14:04:00.000-08:00

Fecalface.com, one of my favorite art sites, has an art contest every friday, called free fridayz. They select a different theme word every week for the artists to base their work on. Artwork is uploaded to site and voted on by the fecalface community. The winner gets whatever random prize fecalface has selected, usually something artsy by a cool artist, books, skateboard decks, etc...

I have been meaning to enter this thing for years, literally. A couple weeks ago I decided to enter my first free fridayz contest, a sticker for fecalface from sticker robot.com. My design didn't do too well.

This weeks freefridayz was to do a logo for HUF, Keith Hufnagel's uber cool skateboard/fixed gear, shoe, clothing store. The winner gets his/her design printed and sold at HUF, as well as a $100 gift certificate. I like their stuff and have wanted to do something for them for a while now, but they are pretty much on lockdown as far as design work.

I saw the contest the day before it was due, so at first I didn't think I would have time. But, as usual I got a bug in me arse and stayed up til like 3 am doing a bunch of different designs (bottom picture), and the one I chose to enter (top picture). I did a couple treatments to pick from for the final design, one with a bit of oreange. Go SF!!

Hope it wins. I love doing things I need to get better at, like typography, and treat them like a real job. For me, pressure creates some pretty good results.

Whadya think?

Vapor Room portraits

2009-02-09T12:32:00.000-08:00

I was commissioned by the Vapor Room to do a series portraits of their employees. They recently openend a new space on lower Haight in San Francisco and wanted to replace the old 'caricatures' they had done years back.

These are just a handful of the portraits of the fourteen employees.

I went with a simple color scheme that matches the interior of their new place. They are getting printed this week and then framed.

They should look great!

Backstabber

2009-01-15T21:58:00.000-08:00

A new painting about people and their intentions. Some may seem to have your back, but they are just getting close enough to strike.

20x24 acrylic and ink

Showing at the 'Creative Control' show @ 111 Minna on Saturday, January 17th

VIMBY.com

2009-01-07T17:54:00.000-08:00

http://vimby.com/art/us/all

I had vimby.com, an art and lifestyle website, post a profile video of me today. We shot the footage about two months ago in various locales around the eastbay.

Satva Leung, who does video footage for vimby, asked me to be on the site. He also curated the upcoming 'Creative Control' show at 111 Minna I will be in with Mike Giant and Alex Pardee.

I am not on for public speaking, or talking in front of a camera for that matter. I was very nervous. But Satva edited the video like a true champion. It came together quite nicely. 11,000 views the first day!

Check it out and let me know what you think. While you are there, check out all the other artists, collectives, and galleries.

Greater Good illustration

2009-01-02T12:04:00.001-08:00

Here are some sketches and the finished piece for a recent Greater Good article. Greater Good is magazine that deals with ethical matters based in Berkeley.

I have been doing work for them since I graduated from CCA in 2006.

I was hoping to do one of the sketches of me singing with the bird, they crack me up. There are like six sketches total these were the funniest to me.

Oakland wall

2009-01-01T21:08:00.000-08:00

My girlfriend moved into a cool apartment in Oakland awhile ago. The only thing was the stairway leading down to her entrance was a bit dark and scary.

Alot of really bad grafitti only made it worse. I am usually not one to bag on graf, I have definitely done my fair share, but this was really bad. Alot of back and forth obscene messages scrawled in a bright flourescent spraypaint.

So we went to the paint store and bought a 5 gallon bucket of off-white, and a couple quarts of brown, green, and yellow. We got paint that the store had messed up on the color and they sell for cheap!

She helped me with the white and I got busy with the rest. Actually I think she helped color in shapes and stuff.

The wall is like 70 80 feet long, so I didn't get to doing much detail, but it is a vast improvement and feels much happier.

Little Spider

2008-12-27T23:28:00.000-08:00

These don't really have to do with my art, except that I took the pictures. Thought I would add some ramdomness from time to time.

I saw this little jumping spider on a friends lemon tree a while back. The flower bud he is on is about the size of a pea for a idea of how big the spider is.

My little camera isn't all that good but it does take some cool close ups!

Oakland paintings

2008-12-26T22:07:00.000-08:00

This is a series of paintings of Oakland based on photos I have taken. So far there are only two, but I plan to do 8-10.

I sold the 'Fox' piece after showing it at a Juxtapoz/Artnowsf party at Club Six in SF. The 'Palms' piece will be shown at the 'Creative Control' show at 111 Minna. I would love to show them as a group, but I haven't been offered a solo show for them. Until then I will sell them indivudually.

The 'Palms' piece is 18 x 24 $350

Creative Control Show

2008-12-26T19:55:00.000-08:00

Hello friends and neighbors.

Happy Holidaze! Just got back from Oregon myself.

Thought I would post this flyer for a group show I will be in.

Its at 111 Minna in S.F. on Saturday, January 17th.

There are only six people in this show: Mike Giant, Alex Pardee, MearOne, Karine Leung, Ian Ross, and Myself!

There will be a skateboard video premiere called 'The Frisco Montage'

Awesome artists, awesome show. Promises to be a great evening!

solo show

2008-12-17T23:40:00.000-08:00

Ok, so this is almost a year after the fact, but I didn't have a blog then. So, bear with me, those of you who have seen this all before.

Those of you who have not, these paintings are from my first (legitimate) solo show in SF. It was at a place called 'The Salon', in the Mission.

I wanted to do a cohesive body of work that played with the juxtaposition of realistic pencil drawn figures, many of them in action or conveying motion or emotion, and graphic images or icons. It was a spur of the moment idea that I kinda just decided to go with. It started with the girl and boy piece with the fuschia ribbon.

I realized I couldn't put as many elements in all the paintings as the first piece and still have enough paintings for a show. So I kept the essential elements and went towards a more dreamy sparse look. The death rock one I never took a photo of the finish. But its cool to see it all before paint, just pencil.

The other half of the show was digital prints done in 'illustrator'. Keep your eye out for that stuff later.

Some of the paintings are still available at Lower Haters, on Haight and Steiner in San Francisco.

The Blue Paintings

2008-12-17T19:53:00.000-08:00

This is a group of paintings I did on pieces of blue printing paper I had lying around. The paper was cut at around 9 x 12 inches, so they were fun and easy to finish. I did them in groups of three.

They have been shown at the 'Studio Gallery', Club Six, and a handful are for sale at 'Lower Haters' on Haight and Stiener through the end of January.

t-shirt designs

2008-12-17T17:36:00.001-08:00

Hey all you blogger hedz. This is my christening into the blog world. What!? Crazy! A nube, as it were.

Anyway, I thought I would start from my most recent work, kinda. I have been doing some t shirt designs as of late. Some for fun. Some for clients. Some start as fun and then get picked by someone.

I will also add a couple of designs I did for Zion*I (hip-hop artists) and Goapele (R'n'B artist), both from Oakland.

I do a lot of gallery work, magazine and newspaper (editorial) work, portraits, and other random stuff.

I will get into all that in future posts.

For now let me simply get through this sucessfully and wish you all happy holidays!