Coachella 2013

Original untitled painting for Coachella 2013 t-shirt design

6" x 6"

Acrylic on Panel
2013

This year I had the good fortune of being invited back to contribute another t-shirt design for the 2013 Coachella Valley Music And Art Festival. While my first design focused on the unbearable heat of the Palm Desert, for my second I wanted to create something that felt like "Rock 'n roll" and complimented a music festival such as Coachella.
To achieve this "Rock 'n Roll" style and have it gell with my personal visual aesthetic, I took a bite from David Bowie's iconic "Aladdin Sane" cover art, and slapped a red/pink lightening bolt across my bear's face, I then modified the bolts point, and turned it into tears dripping from its right eye. 
I still don't know what I'm trying to say with the illustration, but I want to believe that the graphic looks good on a shirt. I hope attendees at the festival will think so too. 
This, and all the other custom artist shirts will be available for sale during the festival at the Coachella Boutique (NOT with the regular Coachella t-shirt venders).
Coachella runs from April 12th - April 14th, and again from April 19th - April 21st.

Finished design for Coachella 2013 t-shirt design
To be printed on dark grey t-shirts

Bartholomew Punchyface

Sometime around 2012, my friend & colleague Scott Tolleson and I decided it'd be fun to try collaborating on a toy project. Tolleson, a stylistically eclectic artist, is probably best known for his "Nosellot" plush toy line. A collection of cute stylized characters, almost all of his Nosellot's don his signature glasses and argyle. Taking some of these elements and combining them with my signature bear and tragic narratives, and the end result became "Bartholomew Punchyface".

When we decided to design a plush toy, one of the things we wanted to incorporate was "playability". We accomplished this by giving it underwear from which you could give him a "wedgie". We also incorporated the classic school yard prank, "kick me", sign on his back, and roughed him up with blemishes on his knee and elbow, decked him out in argyle, corduroy, glasses, and topped it off with bowl cut. The coup de gras is a black eye on its right and a tear from his left.
"Bartholomew Punchyface" was three dimensionalized by the London based A Little Stranger and produced by 3D Retro. It will be released on April 13th 2013 with a release party hosted by Giant Robot (Saturday, April 13th 2013 5pm - 8pm). Afterwards Bartholomew will be available for purchase at 3D Retro's online shop.
The original version of Bartholomew Punchyface is limited to 400 pieces.

The Thing From My Dystopian Future

 

The Thing From My Dystopian Future

Pencil and Paper 

9" x 12"

2013

"The Thing From My Dystopian Future" was created for "Futurology" a group show hosted by Copro Gallery (March 23rd - April 13th, 2013). When I first heard the title of the show, I instantly thought, "the study of the future". Taking this into consideration, I started creating a piece that suited a futuristic theme. 
I don't know about you, but when I think of the future, I think of technology, and from that, robots, or mechanized creatures become the logical progression. "The Thing From My Dystopian Future" is an obvious nod to James Cameron's classic movie, "The Terminator". If you're not familiar, the movie features a robot assassin that comes from the future, disguised as human. Underneath its human dermis hides ghoulish robot killing machine.
Creating "The Thing From My Dystopian Future" was a lot of fun for me. When I was in high school, my drawings were undeniably inspired by manga and anime. I drew a lot of giant robots / mecha, and I loved incorporating hyper detailed mechanics. However, sometime around college, I felt like I lost the ability to render things this way, maybe because of a change in priorities, or maybe because I destroyed a good portion of my mind with my self destructive lifestyle. Fortunately this drawing has helped me reconnect with that illustration style, and I hope to incorporate more of it into my future works.
You might have also noticed that this was just a simple pencil drawing. I would have loved to have finished it with ink, or made it into a painting, but the details are so fine, I was afraid of ruining the drawing with ink, and I honestly didn't feel like I have the skills to recreate the image with acrylic paints.

Panda

Panda

12" x 12"

Acrylic on Panel

2013

"Panda" was created for "The Art Collectors Starter Kit", a group show hosted by Corey Helford Gallery (March 23rd - April 10th, 2013). It's a painting about wanting to be something you're not. This is the second time I've worked with this specific narrative, the first time being my painting "Everybody Loves Panda". I actually was planning on naming it "Everybody Loves Panda (Revisited) / Yearning for the East", but I figured "Panda" summed it up elegantly.

Smile

Smile

Acrylic on Wood Panel

12" x 12"

2013

During the month of March, 2013, I was invited to contribute a painting for "Kindred", a group show curated by artist Nathan Spoor and hosted by Bold Hype Gallery NYC. The only parameter we were asked to consider was that the artwork be 12" x 12". 
"Smile" was my contribution to the show.

Target (Alternate Colorway)

On Saturday, March 16th 2013, Munky King will debut the alternate color of our third major release, "Target". Based on previous releases, "Target (Alternate Colorway)" features the black gold and red colors I regularly use.
This version of "Target" is limited to 500 pieces.
There are also plans of having a limited edition print of the "Target" box art and a black & gold "Target" t-shirt to be available during the signing.


Release/Signing
Saturday, March 16, 2012 (1pm - 4pm)
 
Munky King
4505 W. Jefferson Blvd. Los Angeles CA 90016
www.munkyking.com

Crotch Talk - Year of the Snake

CROTCH TALK (YEAR OF THE SNAKE)

Acrylic and Ink on Panel

9" x 12"

2013

On February 2nd, 2013, Giant Robot hosted the "Year of the Snake" themed group show. As the name implies, February 2013 marks the year of the snake on the lunar calendar. 
Since the end of 2012, I've been looking for opportunities to try something different and create something a little more 'experimental'. Unfortunately I ran out of time, so I resorted to a series concept I've been holding onto for a while: the "Crotch Talk" series. 
"Crotch Talk" was going to be the sequel to "Head Space". Where "Head Space" is about the things inside my head, "Crotch Talk" would focus on my thoughts concerning sexuality. My original plan for "Crotch Talk (Snake)" was to incorporate something like the black mamba, or another venomous spitting snake. But for "Crotch Talk (Year of the Snake)", I thought painting the snake red and gold will be a nice nod to Chinese New Year. I guess I'll save the mamba for when I create the series to be displayed as a whole show.
I'm still not sure when I can bring this series to fruition, but I guess this as a preview of things to come.