Year in Pics, 2013

Well, that was fast! It's dark around 5pm now and all I crave is fudge and spiced wine. That can only mean that it's December again, which also means it's time for my annual Year in Review! 2013 was a big one, filled with travel and art. I met many of you this year, and I hope to stay in touch with you going into 2014.
Here's a link to a Flickr set with some of my favorite moments of 2013. Listed below are some highlights.

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Jan-March

I turned 36 in January, which is only crazy in that I remember when my mom turned 36, because I was graduating high-school! So, drinking happened. I finished off my run of 200 Slimer whiteboard drawings, met a real-life astronaut while tabling Emerald City Comic Con and exhibited at a tarot card themed show in San Francisco.

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April-June
Spring and Summer was a big deal! I spent a month in Europe, showing artwork in Monochrom's 20th Anniversary show and creating a mural in the Austrian countryside. It was an incredible experience. Here are some Vine videos from the trip. I started a temp job when I got back and developed an obsession with the San Francisco F-Line train.

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July-Sept
I found my true calling as a pigeon, nerded out with my new button machine, and also managed a trip back to Michigan to spend some time with family. Time was spent at diners and bowling alleys. My artwork was also part of the Laughing Squid Quarterly mailing, which was really cool.

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October-November
This Fall I exhibited at APE and Barbot in San Francisco, and then Comikaze Expo and DesignerCon in LA. I met a lot of great people and reconnected with old friends. I also started a series of drunk Twitter bird paintings and sketches that I'm calling "Drunktweets". Maybe you've heard of them.

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Here Comes 2014!
Right, so Christmas is soon and I'll be flying back to Michigan to be with the Ellingson clan. We go kind of nuts for Christmas and I'm looking forward to that. Then, it's my birthday again and more drinking. But look out for more posts about art events soon! I'll be exhibiting at Emerald City Comic Con in Seattle and Wondercon in LA. Beyond that, it's a magical mystery. I'm sure I'll obsess more over the F-Line, art will be made, food will be burnt. Please stay in touch. Follow me on Instagram, Twitter, and the Facebook.

As always, prints of my artwork art available for sale at my website here:
http://ellingson.cc/prints
Handmade things like the Drunktweets and buttons are available on Etsy here:
https://www.etsy.com/shop/ELLINGSON
Use the code YEAREND13 for 20% any purchase through December 31st 2013
(works for both Etsy stuff and my prints.)

*Due to travel, all orders will ship after January 6th, 2014

RIP Kumar Pallana

I just found out that one of my favorite character actors, Kumar Pallana has died. He was 94. Pallana was in a number of Wes Anderson films in comedic side-character roles. When I first saw him in Bottle Rocket, I assumed that he must have been some kind of family friend of Wes Anderson that he thought was funny and put him in a movie. He just didn't seem trained. I recently learned that Kumar was a seasoned actor and vaudeville comic. According to Wikipedia, he was also on the Mickey Mouse Club.

In 2011, I was asked to contribute a piece of artwork to Spoke Art's "Bad Dads" show, a tribute to the films of Wes Anderson. I knew immediately that I wanted to draw Kumar from him role in the film "Bottle Rocket". 

Kumar in "Bottle Rocket"

Here's a little animation that shows the progress of drawing Kumar's face for the "Bad Dads" show print. His expression is very subtle and was a little tricky to capture.

The final artwork was created mostly in Adobe Illustrator. I've found that, while Illustrator is great for graphic work with solid shapes, it's not always easy for skin tones and softer elements. For this piece I used a half-tone effect to get the graphic-ness that I wanted but a more skin-like texture on the face. 

New for Fall - Buttons!

Gold Tooth x Crossbones with gold/silver leaf

Gold Tooth x Crossbones with gold/silver leaf

 (Masters of the Universe buttons - not gold leafed)

 (Masters of the Universe buttons - not gold leafed)

As I write this, I can smell the neighbor's BBQ through the window, my allergies are in full effect, and it can only mean that it's Labor Day again. Congratulations. You made it through Summer.
I have a new button machine in the studio and I've been pressing special gold and silver leafed designs. The shiny gold leaf stand out against the matte finish of the black button. You're going to really like these in person. They are available on Etsy for $6 per 2-pack($3 shipping US only). I also sell boxes of eight gold teeth, for you and seven of your friends. Check them out and stay tuned for more designs. As evidenced by my  Instagram feed, I'm crazy about my button maker.

Fall also means Convention Season has started. I'll be back on the road, selling my art from city to city. Here's where you can find me:
October 11-12th at APE in San Francisco
November 1-3rd at Comikaze Expo in Downtown LA
November 9-10th at DesignerCon in Pasadena, CA
Hope to see you there!

 

"Curious Zero"

I created "Curious Zero" as a special print for an in-store signing at ZeroFriends Store in San Francisco. ZeroFriends has a special gallery on the back wall of the shop that showcases various artists' interpretation of their mascot, Zero. I thought it might be fun to suggest that zero is a space monkey with a yellow robotic companion. The idea bounced around in my head for a few months and after a couple of false starts, I got a solid design down on paper. For the robot, I decided to resurrect an old design from my self-published comics days. For the monkey, i went back and forth with different creepy designs but settled on a cute-yet-alien version. Prints of "Curious Zero" are available in the Store section of my site. Below are a few process shots.

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Chase No Face KidRobot Trikky

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I just finished painting this KidRobot 7-inch "Trikky" vinyl figure. It's inspired by Chase No Face, one of my favorite internet-famous animals. Chase was featured on BoingBoing a couple of years ago when I was drawing lots of meme pets. I was fascinated by her story and created a quick portrait. While shopping for art supplies, I came across KidRobot's MUNNYWORLD figures and thought the "Trikky" charracter would make a great Chase No Face custom.

I use Holbein Acryla Gouache paints for most of my painted work and it works great on vinyl figures. I like the consistency of the paint, it thins easily with water, and it dries opaque very quickly. I use whatever brushes I have around, usually a small flat and a couple of round liners. In the past, I've masked off every detail of a custom figure to get really flat shapes, but that's just way too time consuming. This time, I just blocked everything in with a Col-Erase pencil right on the blank figure and started in with brush and paint. Here's a photo of the Trikky in the box and one mid-paint:

Blank MUNNYWORLD Trikky in box. 

Blank MUNNYWORLD Trikky in box. 

Mid-paint. 

Mid-paint. 

The vinyl figure is a one-of-a-kind item. I'm not sure if it's for sale just yet but I'll entertain offers. In the meantime, here are some other Chase related things that I've made. 

"Chase No Face" by Olga Bell

My Art in Laughing Squid Quarterly

#LSQ01

photo by Rusty Blazenhoff

I'm proud to announce that my "Tentacle Cluster" image was included with lots of other fun stuff in Laughing Squid's first Quarterly.co mailing. With Quarterly, people sign up for monthly gifts curated by their favorite websites and internet personalities.  If you missed out on the mailing, you can get a "Tentacle Cluster" print directly from me here in the Store section of my site.

BONUS- Get 20% off any order in my store with the coupon code #LSQ01 at checkout. 

Goat-Bot Rickshaw Laptop Sleeve by Zazzle

Marketing powerhouse Manifold just sent me a nice Rickshaw Bagworks laptop sleeve featuring my paint-by-number Goat-Bot artwork. The artwork was originally created for Zazzle's booth at Maker Faire 2013 in San Mateo, California. 

I'm totally going to use this sleeve thing. Thanks, Manifold