Totem Burger

I wanted to make sure I kept my promise to re-blog about a print I posted earlier during my school grind which ended up being the first illustration I got printed! (...or at least that I was proud of.)

Above is the original illustration I did for an early assignment in the fall semester of my portfolio class...back when I was intent on sticking to my weak watercoloring skills.

Once I had committed myself to printmaking I knew I wanted to revisit the Totem Burger project and it became clear that I'd complete it as a woodcut. My only regret is the omission of the beer can on top, but it did give me the opportunity to carve out more spaghetti. Mmm!

I ended up submitting the original print to the student run SVA publication Visual Opinion, which coincidentally was doing an issue focusing on food. I even got to share the spread with an awesomely talented fellow graduate, Keat Teoh! Check out his work! Its sweet!

I've yet to get a scan of the spreads, but Totem Burger was also printed for my feature in a zine created by some of my closest homies up at Wilkes University who make things good and call themselves the POWteam! You can preview their first issue here and friend them here on Facebook! They like friendz!

I always wanted to try digital coloring and have been looking for ways to incorporate it into my prints, so I gave it a shot with this. Could be a new direction to head in with my work, but I'll just stick to my instincts for now. There's always room for exploration!

Here's a treat! My first attempt at silk screening from the beginning of my junior year in the bookmaking class taught by the incredible David Sandlin. Thought it'd be fun to share!

More updates soon!

FINISHED!

Its been a long time since I've updated, but...ITS OVER! I'm officially the recipient of a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Illustration!! YEAH BUDDY!

I gave myself time off, but now I'm getting back on my grind in the worst way!...and there's a lot of exciting things happening!

Exactly one year ago, I started working with Yvette Edery, internationally renowned puppeteer and one of my new great friends, on the production of the short children's film, Jillian Dillon. (See the trailer below!) Even now its being screened in a massive amount of festivals and getting all kinds of deserved praise! All in all, it was an entirely rewarding and exciting experience! (I'll dedicate an entry to the work I've done for her SOON)

JILLIAN DILLON TRAILER from Yvette Edery on Vimeo.

Now, exactly a year later, Yvette is preparing a show she's been working on for FIVE YEARS and she's assigned ME to construct some of the pieces for the show!...and as if that isn't enough, in conjunction with the show, I will have a solo exhibition of work in the gallery space where the show is taking place during its duration at Flushing Town Hall! AHHH!! More updates as the date gets closer!

Here are three pieces from a series I worked on in Joo Chung's Fine Art of Illustration Class titled Don't Step on the Crack. Through the use of various mediums and the exploitation of text I explored the fetishism and explicit nature behind childhood sayings. Above are the pieces for Fuzzy Wuzzy, Liar Liar, and Cooties. Currently missing are the pieces Milk Milk Lemonade and Pizzaface. (They'll be on my website after the update)

These are two pieces I did for my portfolio class with Tom Woodruff and Yuko Shimizu for a Seasons based CD project. I was using them as color studies for prints that are almost done! They're based on the songs House Ghost and Cloud of Hope by one of my favorite bands, Best Fwends! Check 'em out!

I'm going to be mighty busy for a while, but I will try to keep up! ALSO!...look out for the website update at some point! ROUGH! Its been a while!

All Everybody Wants Is Sugar

ONE MORE MONTH!

The exciting part is I think I have the necessary ten pieces for my final portfolio review. On the other hand, nothing ever seems to be enough.

This was probably the best piece I made my junior year, also for Marcos Chin's Fashion Illustration Class.

For the assignment, we received a variety of Andy Warhol quotes and we needed to pick one to illustrate. I have my other sketches, but they were pretty terrible; however, I did go through an extensive refinement process before I went to final, as you can see.

This ended up being the final drawing which transferred pretty accurately into the final. Regardless, there were still things I could have refined. Mostly, the honey oozing from the trees.

 

Like the last piece I posted, I also ended up refinishing this piece as a silkscreen print. I think, in general, it works a lot better than the original. It feels warmer, the way it should feel.

I have a couple of cool projects going on which should be done within the next couple of days, so expect more updates!

 

Here's a sneak at a final I'm working on tomorrow, mostly for the sake of copyright. I scanned in the sketch to blow it up and left it in the print shop scanner by accident.

Enjoy!

Royal Pimp

AH! Sorry guys. So much for "UPDATE SOON"...

Its been a busy month since my last update. I'm in the process of scanning in more work and pulling together the final touches on my portfolio! Exciting!...and exhausting!

I know what you're thinking!...believe me cuz I feel the same way too! THIS IS TERRIBLE!

Spring semester '09, I had the opportunity to take Fashion Illustration with the awesomely talented Marcos Chin! This was my second attempt at a final for our first assignment, which was to illustrate a combination of an adjective and a noun which we drew from an envelope. Naturally, I would get "Royal Pimp."

My first round of sketches were all over the place! Some were fun, others obvious, and some WAY too pretentious for my own good. To my surprise, my most far fetched idea (King Kong dressed as a pimp eating golden popcorn...don't ask how I got there) was the one that drew the most attention.

A second round of sketches brought me to these two ideas. A refined version of the original idea and a combination of it with the best parts of some of the other sketches. Ultimately, the one on the right was chosen and excited as I was to work on it, I was having considerable difficulty figuring out how to finalize it. Painting had become a pain and I love drawing, but how was I going to incorporate that into a final piece? Don't get me wrong. I learned a lot through the completion of this piece and it only advised where I would stand about a year later.

This semester I resolved to revisit this piece one last time through my new found love for printmaking and it ended up being EXTREMELY more successful than my first two attempts. It also became the first intense print I've ever made! WHOO! The difference one year can make...

I promise I'll blog again soon this time! A lot more work to scan in!

Also, its still got some kinks and is pretty simple, but my NEW WEBSITE has LAUNCHED! Check it out!

PS: I haven't forgotten about the Totem Burger. Details next time!

Children Of The Sun

Nearing the end of the third week of the semester!

These are three postcard sized pieces done recently as an extension to my final project, which is evolving incredibly. I'll probably refine these a bit more and make more; maybe turn it into a bigger wallpaper-ish print.

Here's some background:

I'll post up a lot more work now that I've secured excellent scanning facilities!

Wrasslin'

AH! School's almost over and its making me a little nervous now....mostly excited!

Also, mostly sexually frustrated, apparently. A lot of my recent work has featured men wrestling and/or fighting. Its the subject that keeps on giving!

This shirt was an assignment in Brian Smith's Type and Image class. I'm pretty psyched with the results. It was my first time experimenting using a waxy medium to make a separation for silkscreening in an effort to increase my use of texture.

Also, its going to be featured in the second issue of Spaghetti Suicide. Look out for it!

 

 

This is my first attempt at what I like to call digital printmaking. Lack of facilities is forcing me to find alternatives to printmaking for the future.

 

This is a color study in color pencil I did for my extensive final in-college project. I won't give too many details away yet, but expect an update soon...and some redecoration! This blog looks el teríble!