Behind my Grandparents' house, there's a barn. When my mom was a kid, they had animals in the barn, but ever since I can remember, it's been an antiques workshop/storage/showroom. It always smells like sawdust and wood stain.
Porkchop Express
I made this for an upcoming art auction benefiting the Hell's Belles car club, here in San Francisco. I had this idea for last year's auction, but I dusted off the sketch and finished it up for this year.
I've always been a huge fan of John Carpenter's, "Big Trouble in Little China" and I love the classic Big Daddy Roth hot-rod illustrations. It just seemed like a natural fit.
Special thanks to COOP, for posting a gallery of Roth memorabilia. It was great for inspiration. Also, if you are a BTILT fan like I am, you'll want to head over to The Wing Kong Exchange website for lots of fun Big Trouble in Little China stuff.
Vice
One of my favorite things to do when I was a kid, was to make bootleg nunchucks on my grandpa's workbench. He had a great shop in the barn behind the house for refinishing antiques. When he wasn't fixing a chair or refinishing a cabinet, Grandpa had a duck decoy going. There was a box of dowels in the shop and my cousin Jason and I were always scavenging for the best ninja weapon parts.
New Art - Den 1
This is another piece in my series about growing up at my grandparents' house. The house is full of taxidermy. In the den there are some deer mounts being used as hat racks. The boar had a plastic tongue that would come out if you pulled on it. There also used to be a really big goose hanging from the ceiling in the attic. Grandma has since remodeled the attic, and the goose is long gone.
Shoes for the 1800 Campaign
I just found a sneak(er) peek of the Essential Artists campaign sneaker series. The line features my "Eagle with Baby Dragons" on a pair of Nikes. What do you know? Here's a link to Sneaker News' coverage:
GourmetKickz x 1800 Essential Tequila Sneak(R) Peek H-Town Sneaker Summit
Roscoe's Ascension
When I was a kid, my Grandpa rescued an abandoned baby raccoon. We named him Roscoe and he was our pet for a little while. Eventually Roscoe couldn't stay in the house any longer so we made a house for him out of an old chicken coop. One day Roscoe was hit by a car on the busy street near the house. A neighbor friend of mine helped me bury him in a field under some rocks.
Behind my grandparents' house is a statue of Mary and some cherubs. The statue used to belong to my Aunt Mary Lou and it's close to where the old chicken coop was. Anyway, this is my portrait of Roscoe.
1800 Tequila Ad in Sept. '08 Maxim
Hey look, I made the inside front cover of MAXIM this month. My art is part of an ad campaign for 1800 Tequila. The "1800 Essential Artists" campaign features nine different artists from all over the country. Limited edition bottles featuring the art from the campaign will be available at some point.
There's more about the 1800 Essential Artists campaign at 1800's website, www.1800tequila.com.
Carrying Home
Here's how the color is coming with that crab drawing. The house on top is my grandparents' home. It's where my aunts and uncle grew up, and it's where I have my most vivid childhood memories. My grandparents were antique dealers and the place is filled with amazing furniture, sporting gear, and other decor from another time. I think about that house a lot and wonder who will be occupying it a hundred years from now. I wish I could carry it around with me.
New! - Links and FAQ
I've just updated the site with a Links page and a Frequently Asked Questions page. The Links page features links (imagine that!) to some of my artist friends, inspirational sites, publications, and more. The FAQ section might help answer some of the basic questions that I get all the time from friends and other artists about my process and my work in general. Feel free to drop a line on the Contact page if you have more specific questions. Thanks.
Ink is the New Black
This is something new that I'm working on. I plan to add a lot of color to it soon, but it's refreshing to work with more lines.