DEMO-licious 2013
As the semester comes to a close I was looking over some of the in-class demonstrations I gave throughout the year. I try to give 2 to 3 demos in every class that I teach. This year, since I was teaching more courses than ever before, I have a bunch of examples. One of the things about my demos is that I will instruct and start in a certain technique or process but I usually do not complete it in front of the class. This serves two purposes. The first is that I try and keep it short and simple and allow for as much time during class for the students to experiment with whatever we have just covered. The second, and more important, is that I have found that when you finish something in front of an entire class they seem to think that I want them to work exactly like I do and that their finishes should look like mine. I prefer leaving it open for interpretation, allowing them a bit of wiggle room to experiment and discover on their own. On the flip side, I wind up with a bunch of unfinished artwork. I decided to take many of these to finish and over the next few weeks/months. I will posting finished versions of some of these demos while citing the technique and the materials used.
Images above (clockwise):
“Hellbound Heart” – demo in digital painting, working with textures and layout.
“King Arthur No. 1″ – character design and marker demo.
“Barbarian” – demo on adding digital colors and textures to your drawings.
“King Arthur No. 2″ – character design and marker demo.
“Mumm Ra” – pen and ink demo.
“Boxer” – drawing with the Wacom tablet demo.
“Rawhead Rex” – demo in digital painting, working with textures and layout.
Monster Fun on Threadless!
7 x Monsters + Threadless = Awesome Sauce!
Excited to report that 7 of my designs are up on Threadless for voting. Being a huge fan of all things MONSTERS I decided to submit a bunch of monster art. The wonderful folks over at Threadless selected a butt-load and they are all up now for voting. Time is short so please go on over, log in (it’s super easy) and throw some love my way. Feel free to share the link, reblog this, tweet and retweet, etc…
Aw heck, I’m thinking about carrier pigeon and smoke signals right about now.
You can click here to vote and a big Thanks goes out to everyone that voted already.
Above: A little slideshow of the 7 designs that were selected.
Talkin’ and Walkin’
A Beautiful Day
In September I was honored to speak at the David Nasto Memorial Walk for Oral Cancer. I read from my book, talked with fellow survivors and drew my butt off. In the past I have spoken to all types of groups about the making of my book; cancer survivors, caregivers, even classrooms full of art students. This was the first time I had ever spoken in front of a group of people affected by the same disease I was diagnosed with back in 2007. I met and talked with some of the strongest, most amazing people ever. It was enlightening and empowering. That day changed my perspective and definitely changed my life. On top of all that we were able to raise some money AND awareness! As part of the fundraising I raffled off an appearance in my comic, Monster Mondays. You can see the finished comic here.
A big thanks goes out to Susan Nasto Lauria for her dedication and for organizing such a wonderful event. I would also like to thank my fellow authors, Itzhak Brook, MD and Eva Grayzel, for their inspiring words.
If you would like to make a donation to the 2013 Walk just click here.
Above: A slideshow of pics from the day’s events.
Kindred Spirit.
“Piglet sidled up to Pooh from behind. “Pooh?” he whispered.
“Yes, Piglet?”
“Nothing,” said Piglet, taking Pooh’s hand. “I just wanted to be sure of you.”
― A.A. Milne, Winnie-the-Pooh
As I write this there is an article coming out today in the Spirit Newspaper, a community paper out of Fishtown here in Philly. The article is titled “He Put he Can in Cancer,” it is about yours truly and authored by my good friend Jeffro. I am five years cancer free. For those of you even remotely touched by the disease you know that the five year mark is a unique milestone, a graduation of sorts. When I was first diagnosed I reached out for many, many hands, like Piglet did with Pooh in the quote above. Numerous friends and family answered my call with a healing touch, some lifting me higher when I couldn’t even lift myself. The fact that my friends are still lending a hand to this day is a testament to how truly fortunate I am; not only fortunate to be cancer free for the last five years but to have people in my life that truly inspire me and that I will always feel indebted to for the gifts that they have given me.
You can read the article in its entirety here, be sure to leave a comment.
Above: A picture from the lecture podium from a recent talk that Concetta and I gave about the art of collaboration at Antonelli.
Celebrating 75 Years at Antonelli.
“It takes a long time to grow young.” - Pablo Picasso
Yesterday students, faculty, alumni, friends and family gathered at the Wodemere Art Museum to honor the Antonelli Institute’s 75th Anniversary. I have been an instructor at the school for almost five years now and absolutely love the school, the faculty and, most of all, the students. More than 70 works are on exhibit highlighting the work of students, past and present, as well as artwork from faculty. There are even photos on display taken by the school’s founder, Severo Antonelli. Hundreds of people filled the Woodmere and I gotta tell ya it was a pretty amazing day. Personally, I was honored to share some very historic wall space with my students and good friends.
The exhibition will be up until February 24th.
If you are in the Chestnut Hill area you owe it to yourself to check it out!
Above: One of my two comics that are on display at the Woodemere.
Below: My favorite piece from the show by my best friend and fellow instructor Kyle Margiotta. This piece is titled “Embrace” and belongs in a Museum.
Above: The invite for the exhibition designed by Antonelli Design alumni Mike Hrebin.
Below: My second comic that currently graces the walls of the Museum. The same walls that displayed the works of Violet Oakley!
Introducing the Thumpskeetch.
This Holiday Season beware the Thumpskeetch!
Above: Brush-pen sketch in my Moleskin sketchbook with digital type.
(Click on image to enlarge.)
Wrasslin’
CHOKE SLAM!
After the folks at Blank Canvas saw some of the wrestling pics in my book they asked if I wanted to participate in a Wrestling Art Show at PhilaMOCA. It took me maybe 2 seconds before I said “Hell Yeah!” I am a longtime fan and have fond memories from my youth of going to the Civic Center to watch my heroes The Road Warriors kick butt! The opening reception is this Friday, November 30th!
Should be a good time, looks like the guests of honor are the Chikara Pros, Philly’s local Luchadores! The info for the show is listed below.
Above and Below: Detailed photos of my contributions to the show. I took two pen and ink pieces from my book and had them laser-cut into wood. Big thanks goes out to Amanda and the UArts Print Lab for making this happen!
Wrestling Art Show at PhilaMOCA
Located at 531 North 12th St. Philadelphia, PA 19123
Doors open at 7:30pm.
