Wacom tablet- Drawings I

I got a Wacom tablet as a birthday present to myself last november- here's some of the first drawings I did with them.  Some were "commissioned" I guess you could say- others were just for fun-- these were all done before i discovered the blend tool :p

Tattoooos

This is a tattoo I drew up for a friend of mine- he's Dirty Lingo's lead singer's brother, Brian- who is also in an awesome band called the Good Bipolars http://www.facebook.com/goodbipolars !!  He wanted a guitar that turned into a tree with music notes and chili peppers on the branches

I'd absolutely love to get into tattooing but in order to start you need an apprenticeship and I've had no luck with that in Phoenix unfortunately :(

Dirty Lingo

So in the midst of all my post-graduation anxiety I packed up my car and drove across the country from Kalamazoo, MI to Phoenix, AZ.  It was a 36 hour drive through snow storms, mountains, and beautiful landscapes.  The trip was pretty terrifying- the longest I'd ever driven at one time was 6 hours, I didn't know anybody where I was going, and to say that I'm awkward and shy is the understatement of the year but this trip was just what I needed to feel like the last 4 years of college was good for something- cause god knows the job market wasn't helping with that.

When I arrived in Phoenix I lived in my car a bit, and hung out in coffee shops during the day looking for housing.  It wasn't the most comfortable way to live but it definitely gave me some perspective.  Luckily I found a CL add for a little house in Scottsdale fairly quickly- I met 2 amazing women at this house and within a few weeks I was living with them.  One of these women, Laura, runs the Phoenix branch of RAW.  An organization that collaborates with artists in local cities all over the US and gives them the opportunity to display their work.  Its totally AWESOME! check out their site http://www.rawartists.org/

Anyway they were totally open and accepting of all my shyness and awkwardness and one night they invited me out to see a show.  Laura's boyfriend is in a band called "Dirty Lingo."  They make some killer music- really addicting melodies tied with some heavier lyrics- it makes for some damn good music.  They also do great covers of the beatles, nirvana, radiohead, etc. You gotta check these guys out!!! http://www.facebook.com/DirtyLingo

The following pics are all related to the band 

 I was just messing around one day and made this up

 The lead singer asked me to do a photo of their band so this is them, done in marker and paper

I put it through photoshop to clean it up a bit and switch the 2 guitarists cause when they perform live they always stand in this order (opposite of how i originally drew it)

Winter 2010- Surfaced Series

In 1901 Plato compared the perceptual events of his life to a wax block.  The block was a place where he could "stamp" all the ways he perceived the world.  Put together, these stamps would leave traces in our brain called memories.  Honestly this all started with a simple nostalgic sketch of my mother's eyes.. it wasn't until later that it progressed into a series I called "Surfaced."  It's a compilation of my childhood memories- or at least the strongest ones.. though many are incomplete and faded still.. the human mind isn't meant to keep a database of clear images for over 20 years.

Stillzz

Here's some still lives I've done. This is the first still life I ever did back in 2007.. 3 eggs and a  take out box.  I've always had a weirdness about cropping though. 

This was supposed to be 8 angles of 1 object so I chose a bike. Sometime in 2008

Sometime in 2010

Last fall- 2010.  These last 2 though convinced me to never ever paint or draw fabric or curtains or clothing of any kind! EVER AGAIN! Everything and everyone's just gonna have to be naked. So get comfortable in your own skin- cause really i went crazy painting this one.