raw blog

the haves

2012-01-17T06:13:00.000-08:00

The top 1% owns 42% of the wealth in the US...so don't ask why I designed this

30 foot time machine

2011-09-23T07:58:00.000-07:00

I want to let you in on a little secret. I kinda hate doing collaborations with other artists. Yes, the guy who help start an art collective isn't too fond of working with other artists. Reason being is I've had some pretty bad experiences with collabing or watching others do it. Either the chemistry and timing isn't there or one person is doing all the heavy lifting while other use him or her as a crutch. So now I'm pretty selective about who I choose to work with. I don't want to create some horrible decrepit monkey fetus and call it art ( Sadly a monkey fetus in a gallery would sell like crazy). So I'm always a little apprehensive when beginning to work with someone. But this wasn't the case with the project below titled 'Here's Hoping it Rhymes for a Reason" which is now on view at the UNCC Center City Building until Oct. 11th.. I've know John since college and we've both wanted to do a project like this. Plus alot like me John worries about getting better with is work. In turn this forces him to push himself to new heights so I can respect that because I'm constantly trying to do the same. So the entire process was quite enjoyable, we painted, talked about life and art, made stupid jokes (really stupid jokes), all while listening to late nineties hip hop... just like in college when life made a lot more sense. It felt good.

me talking about me

2011-09-22T07:44:00.000-07:00

Here is an interview I did for Creative Loafing Charlotte produced by Brooks Newkirk (she's great). In it I'm fake painting while talking about what inspires me, my influences, and process. I've always love hearing other artists talk about their process so it surreal to hear me talk about what I do.

Rhymes for a Reason: Day 4, no 5...does it really matter?

2011-09-15T09:43:00.000-07:00

Sleep. Is it really that important? The whole 8 hours a night thing was most likely invited by Serta and those damn sheep. I've barley slept this week and I'm still sahrp as a tcat.
Hree is waht we hvae so far. I'm raelly ecxtied. Pelase come thrgouh Sat and wacth us fnish it.

Pceae!!

Rhymes for a Reason: Day 1ish

2011-09-12T08:01:00.000-07:00

If you were a unversity with a new building downtown with a gallery and a 30ft blank wall you wanted brightly painted within a week what would you do? No, not that?! You would call me and this guy.

So Jago 13 and I have been commissioned by UNCC to do an installation in their new gallery downtown. We have a week to go. And I will be posting through out the week to document our progress or slow descent into madness, whichever gets paintings sold. (Probally the madness). The name of the show is "Here's to Hoping it Rhymes for a Reason". You can come out this sat to see us finish the piece while listening to late 90's hip hop. Feel free to stop by. In the meantime check out the pics below from day one.

Success is in the eye of the beholder

2011-08-22T06:15:00.000-07:00

I just finished this one Sat morning at about 4:30am. This painting has been staring at me for the past 4 or so months. I have a few symbolic elements here that may become reoccurring: the pedestal, the barbed wire and the doll with it's soulless black eyes.
I plan on doing a companion piece to this one, hopefully by the fall.

I see a pattern developing

2011-06-23T04:46:00.000-07:00

Recently I've taken an interest into patterns and ornaments. This came about after admiring the work of Alphonse Mucha. I love his use of ornaments with the human figure.Soo I pretended I was the Madlib (fans of Madlib will appreciate this link) of art and sampled what he did and try to make it my own. Above are some ornaments I designed in Adobe Illustrator. I found the source material from a book of tile patterns from around the world which I came across at a used book store. I added in my own symbolism in each such as the burning book and the mother bird feeding the chicks dollar signs instead of your pet hamster that got loose.

Be sure to look for these designs and a couple of more in the backgrounds of my future work.

they grow up so fast a work in progress

2011-06-22T12:27:00.000-07:00

This pic was taken late last night. It's a quick shot of one of the new pieces I'm currently working on. If you recall the line drawing I did of miss lady a few days ago. Now she's all grown up...next thing you know she'll be too good just being black and white and insist on being colored...I blame rap music.

The Problems We all Live With

2011-06-16T07:07:00.000-07:00

Here is my latest painting that I finally finished titled 'The Problems We All Live With" it was inspired by Norman Rockwell's painting of the same name. I'm just trying to make sense of life right now. I think we can get too tangled up in happiness or the ideal of happiness too pay attention to whats really going on around us whether it's good or bad for us.
I'm pretty happy with it. I used more colors in this palette that I have in the past so that's something I'm working toward.
Well on to the next piece.

The Worst Of! Vol:I

2011-06-16T05:58:00.000-07:00

In a time long long ago circa 2002-2003ish in a land call UNC Charlotte Rowe arts building I meekly roamed the halls making what some called 'art'. (and a brief time after graduation) It was a time when Cobra Commander was president and I actually thought Blackstar would make a second album. (silly me).

I've come a long way since then. From time to time I like to look at my older work to see how I've progress. An artist once told me the difference between a good artist and a bad artist is that a good artist has more bad work. (form all the hours of pratice). The work below is bad....REALLY bad...I mean like Spiderman 3 or Sarah Palin using the English language bad. But I'm confident enough in the work I'm making now to show these. So before there was this I was making what you see below.

Sidebar: The reason all these pieces are colorpencil and bad photoshop is becasue I'm what science refer to as 'poor' (Look it up. Its a real thing), So in college I couldn't afford paint but prismacolors were way cheaper so I just learned how to use them. It wasn't until after college I was able to buy paints on a regular bases.

Go Go Gadget Capitalism!

2011-06-15T07:49:00.000-07:00

Remember this? Oh, you don't? Well, it doesn't matter because I have what you now see above. I want to do a series of digital illustrations and transfer them onto wood panels. The panel above is 11"x14". People have been asking for prints of my work but I've always wanted to do something different.

I plan on posting more in the coming months but if anyone is interested in purchasing the design above just contact me.

Next on deck may be a rehash of good ol' Rup

about ink

2011-06-13T10:01:00.000-07:00

Here's an ink line drawing I did last week for a new piece I'm working on. I know what you're thinking. "Why is she wearing rain boots!?" Well first let me say I hope you weren't really thinking that. But for those of you who were (nobody) I originally drew her with an umbrella but decided I didn't like the shape the umbrella made with her body. The flag hanging down by her side makes a nice dynamic shape. And I like the boots so much I decided to keep'em.

I'll post the other pics later.

it was a pleasure to burn

2011-06-13T09:44:00.000-07:00

Illustrator plus Photoshop plus procrastination equals obscure references to social science fiction novels that no one really cares about but yourself.

vector death grip

2011-05-24T06:47:00.000-07:00

So I lose my flash drive last Thrusday. And which everyone knows the loosing of ones flash drive is a sign of the apocalypse. ( I think it's in revalations somewhere) So I rush out Fri and got another. That was a close call. Hopeful I don't loose this new in a few months, then the world will really end. I'm sure of it.

On my old flash drive I had about 1000 pics and photos of things that inspired me. Now all gone. So last night while taking a break from painting I began looking through old files on my computer. I came across a illustrator file that I didn't finish of this WWII graphic I found online that I wanted to update. So I finished drawing it in illustrator then decided to take it into photoshop and give it a weathered old timey WWII look.

So tonight I'll continue to look on my hard drive for old crap then post it as new crap.

No one expects pop lockers!

2011-04-20T09:23:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I was at JCSU's new Art Factory to work on a mural that I'm in the process of working on with some of JCSU's art students. While there the always lovely Donell Stines stopped by with some breakers to practice for their event at the Levine on May 1st. and before they begun she snapped this photo. The dancers were really cool and I can't wait to see them perform. After the photo they went inside and did there thing.

As for me I stayed outside sweating and getting paint on my shirt...

work in..."progress"

2011-04-18T06:51:00.000-07:00

So uh, remember when I said I would have this finished in maybe a week? Yea, that's not going to happen. Who know painting faceless armed henchmen was so time consuming. I though the the little girl would give me a lot of trouble but I'm almost finished with her. The gunmen aren't difficult they're just taking longer that expected. I want to make sure they are dark enough but not too flat but also with enough detail. I still have a ways to go on this piece, I need to complete the figures and add some imagery to the fore and background to tie everything together.

But I might have to put this to the side for a while. I need to get started getting my Super Powers to work properly and like two other projects I'll be posting about soon.

book for the fall

2011-04-13T09:04:00.000-07:00

I'm not the most photogenic guy (in other words I'm wierd lookin') but when the lovely Miss Valaida Fullwood asked some of the god city peoples and myself to be apart of her book 'Giving Back' published by these guys with photos taken by Charles Thomas to highlight the tradition of black philanthropy, I thought it was a great book idea. Even though I hesistate to put myself in that tradition just as of yet. I think what I've given back thus far is a tear drop in a really big bucket. But it's always a pleasure to talk with Valaida, she has a lot of great ideas and I look forward to helping her with them.

This summer go buy a bookcase and this October (hopefully you'll have the book case put together by then) go purchase the book. Check out all out the people in our community who are trying to make a difference. You know, the ones the 6:00 news never highlights....only when we are doing this

Bored lika mug

2011-04-11T08:06:00.000-07:00

First let me say that I think my camera phone is slowly dieing. She's begun to make her final plans with the death panels this week.

In the process of painting multiple pieces one will often come to a point when you are waiting for a painting to dry so you can continue working on it or start on it. This usually gives you some down time. But for me this can be very stressing especially when I'm in a creative mood. In the past I would spend this free time scoffing at peoples post facebook (don't act like you don't) or screaming at my girlfriend why 'The Twilight Zone' is THE GREATEST TV SHOW EVER!!... sorry. But lately when I'm confined in this awkward space I've been making random pieces of art. Like the piece above. No real concept but it does help me flesh out ideas for other pieces I may want to do. The piece above gave me an idea for a painting called 'Reign Dance' but it's still just an idea ...for now.

everything is politics

2011-04-07T06:22:00.000-07:00

Here is an insane poster design by Marcus Kiser for a show of which him and I are joining forces to do titled 'Super Powers'.
People tend to look at politicians as the god-like entities who we seek for salvation or who we fear as if they are super hero's and villains. This show takes a look at that.
We are trying to show this at as many places as possible .

More info soon to come.

end of the road

2011-04-05T10:03:00.000-07:00

Here is more bad cell photo imagery of another piece. ( I either need to buy a larger scanner or batteries for the digital camera)
This a sketch for a mural project I'm working on with some students from JCSU. These are pretty much all their concepts I'm just putting it together for them. Angry lady liberty, ravenous mobs, Molotov cocktails, a bleak future unless things change....yes it's hard for me to believe I didn't come up with this either!
Hopefully we can get started painting this week and finish soon.

apply paint. repeat

2011-04-04T11:50:00.000-07:00

Here is bad cell phone footage of a painting I'm working on in a series called 'Social Science Fiction'. I have a lot on my plate at the moment but hopefully I can finish this in a couple of weeks.

Ahh. Nothing brings a smile to my face quite like the sound of kids at play and tactical assault teams.

sketchin'

2011-03-09T06:16:00.000-08:00

Here is a sketch for a part of a painting I'm working on. It feels good to draw again. I haven't made anything new in a month or so. I was starting to get antsy like a soldier who hasn't killed or a douchebag director when having not made a horrible remake in a while.

Subversion of the mind

2011-02-25T09:57:00.000-08:00

I haven't created any finished pieces thus far this year. (new work on the way) But what I have been doing is letting other people's subversion wash over me. Lately I've been trying to expand my scope of inspiration. I think from now on I will try and pick at least one artist from different fields to investigate or let inspire. The artists below vary from painting (of course), literature, film and music. Some I've just discovered others I've been a fan of for years.

Alan Moore

Lupe Fiasco

Alphonse Mucha

Stanley Kubrick

liberated extremist

2011-02-21T08:47:00.000-08:00

So I was thinking about something to blog about when it hit me, riiight. I have a show tomorrow. It's at JCSU with poet Kirsten Hemmy. It's a project we've been working on for a while. I really enjoy doing show at universities/colleges. I enjoy speaking with the students plus the work is valued for what it is art and not it's worth in the market. Sooo, come out look at some art and bore some students with tales of when you were in college...I know I will.

Alphonse Mucha - Art Nouveau Visionary (Trailer)

2011-02-20T10:45:00.000-08:00

home grown

2010-12-12T19:30:00.000-08:00

Here's a piece I finally finished 'home grown'...*sigh

Banksy Couch Gag

2010-10-10T17:39:00.000-07:00

My favorite artist and one of my favorite shows made my night.
Banksy did the couch gag for the Simspons tonight.

new site!

2010-10-07T09:49:00.001-07:00

I kinda sorta revamped the site. I put new art work up emptied the litter box and changed the sheets... enjoy. www.rawgoods.org

Sight Beyond Sight

2010-08-26T08:01:00.000-07:00

Let's go back way back...well actually only 3 or 4 months ago when I first started this painting. Which by the way is titled "Not Louder Than Reality" I asked the lovely and super cool Elisa Covington if I could use some images of her in a couple of paintings from some pics she had recently shot of herself,one of which was use in this painting. (I have one more painting with her as the model which I will post later) I wanted to do something about mothers and raising kids in this crazy world so I decided to make her pregnant, but didn't know how Elisha would react to seeing herself painted as a pregnant lady. But I did it anyway hoping she would be cool with it.

So fast forward to about 2 weeks ago at an art show there I see Elisha for the first time in quite a while...and what do you know she (the real Elisha) is pregnant! That's crazy. I didn't know how she would take the news that painted Elisha was also with child. But she's cool with it. So congrats to her on the new addition and now if you'll excuse me I'm going to go paint a picture of myself with a million dollars.

just finished

2010-08-17T09:49:00.000-07:00

Here's a quick shot of a piece I started like four months ago and just finished last night. I'll reshoot and clean it up then give a little background on it later.

The Ain't Gots: save the date

2010-08-11T07:34:00.000-07:00

Here's a teaser flyer for an art show I have coming up in Sept with poet Kirsten Hemmy...save the date in your head space and know that more info is soon to follow.

Sketch: Marquita on a soap box

2010-08-10T08:04:00.000-07:00

A sketch I did last night. The final will be a diptych. Hence the cord going off the page. BTW tracing paper is great!

Janelle Monae: Cold War

2010-08-07T15:03:00.000-07:00

You're Gonna Reap: FIN

2010-08-05T19:44:00.000-07:00

Here's the end result of 20 hours of ice tea, various hip hop and soul albums, paint fumes and a dusty white scillating fan so the paint fumes won't kill me. I just finished this piece a few hours ago. It's the first large piece I've done in a few months.

I'm pretty happy with the end result. Hopefully by this weekend I can post my next painting (Home Grown) that I'm taking a break from to post this...I think I hear it calling...gotta go.

Sketch: You're gonna reap

2010-08-05T07:54:00.000-07:00

Here's is a sketch of a painting I'm currently working on. Hopefully I should be completed with it tonight sometime. I just need to finish working the grenades and bring out some highlights in the flower. I will post the final as soon as it dries...but for now back to the salt mines

keeping it real

2010-07-29T03:43:00.000-07:00

Art Beats Lyrics...everytime

2010-07-27T07:41:00.000-07:00

On Fri. July 30Th if you just so happen by some strange array of events end up in the western hemisphere of the southeastern United States (pretty much anywhere around here) I highly suggest you come out to Art, Beats and Lyrics ATLANTA at the Compound. I'll be showing work there along with other members of God City as well crazy dope artists like Dubelyoo, Fabian The Occasional Superstar, Goldie and Craig Flux.

Come through look at the alcohol and drink some art.

Home Grown: sketch

2010-07-26T07:44:00.000-07:00

So here's a sketch I did for one of the pieces I'm currently working on. It's called "Home Grown". I spent this past weekend working on the final which will be 36"x48". I had to redraw Lady Liberty on the painted surface. Tonight I will work on the boys toking. I will take picks of the process and post. I hopefully will start painting it by the end of the week.

Sketch

2010-07-23T05:05:00.000-07:00

It's been a long time. I shouldn't left you . Without some obscure blog post for you.

Here is a sketch for one the paintings I'm currently working on. I'm pretty excited about this piece...well pretty much this entire new body of work I'm doing. (I officially don't give a fuck)

I've yet to come up with a title for this piece. But this is my frustration with class and race and a host of others things that I shake my head at.

I'll post the the other sketches soon.

Different Spokes. FREE downloads

2010-05-13T12:35:00.000-07:00

Ike Turnah is an emcee a met a few years back. I first saw him when he opened for KRS-ONE but the mics were crappy (like they always are at hip hop show). So afterwards I copped his CD and has been a fan ever since.
Different Spokes is one of the best mix tapes I've heard in a while (It's Little Brother mix tape good) and Ike isn't even paying me to say this. Better yet it's FREE. So if you like soulful beats and dope lyrics ... !!!!!!!!

Baaaad Moma!

2010-05-10T14:56:00.000-07:00

As promised here is the final result of the sketch from my previous post. I originally did this piece to show at ABL but due to niggas and corporate hypocrisy the piece was never displayed. But that's fine...it's really no biggie when you look at it in the long term.

I'm just really glad I got this piece completed. It's apart of my new effort to try new things and push my abilities. I really wasn't sure of how this was going to turn out. Luckily it turned out pretty good. But don't fret I'm working on new pieces the entire summer and will have plenty of opportunities to screw up.

BTW the this piece is paying homage to Emory Douglas. One of my favorite artist. He has a huge influence on my work.

Plus thanks to the lovely Jasiatic for modeling for me...now go buy her stuff!

early sketch

2010-04-27T03:42:00.000-07:00

Here is a sketch I'm working on for the ABL show here in Charlotte. So far I'm pretty happy with it. I'll continue to post pics of my process along the way.

sketches

2010-04-14T08:03:00.000-07:00

Here are a couple of sketches of two pieces I'm working on. The finally pieces are going to be 40"x40" each. I think these two are either going to be really dope pieces or Sarah Palin on canvas.

Right now I'm probably working on about six pieces in various stages. So everyday I have at least a few different things I could do whether it's drawing, painting collage or researching. Plus this way I seem to never get board. However, everything can get a little jumbled (first time I've ever spelled the word...jumbled) in my head as long as I make a little bit of progress each work day I'm cool.

work in progress

2010-04-13T19:15:00.000-07:00

OK, I know it's been a while since I've post any of my work. That's because I've been trying to add new elements to it. Anyway, here is a sketch of a piece that I'm currently working on. Plus the unfinished background.

I'm trying to really challenge myself artistically, so I'm not sure how this is going to turn out...but hey, that's art!

Erykah Badu. Window Seat

2010-03-29T03:17:00.000-07:00

I know I'm probably the one millionth blog that has posted this already but I just love this video. They way that it's shot as well as the old grainy look it has. I'm trying to capture that same feel in my work.

Hells yea Vetica!

2010-03-25T07:55:00.000-07:00

I recently got a chance to check out this film Helvetica. It's about the font...Helvetica...yep the entire film is about one font. The most widely used font in the world. If you are into typography like I am then I think you will really enjoy this film. You learn about the history of the font and the philosophy behind it as well as different designers take on it. It's really cool to hear different designers take on the font even though most designers are known for being pretentious. So if you're a graphic designer this maybe one you need to check out.

Star Wars Sainthood

2010-03-25T07:42:00.000-07:00

I love when two really different things are combined to make something that seems as if it was meant to be together. Star Wars and Medieval Religious panting. Well it doesn't seem too different seeing that most hardcore Star Wars fans act as if George Lucas is Jesus anyway.

Basterds!

2010-03-16T18:55:00.000-07:00

Here are a few poster design for the great film Inglourious Basterds. I really love GOOD movie poster design...and really HATE bad design.

Saul Bass #1

2010-03-09T19:28:00.000-08:00

four women...for women

2010-03-08T20:56:00.000-08:00

I feel like doing something to this...give me a month or so. I may call it "For Women" however.

Mayor Foxx Creative Loafing Cover

2010-02-02T12:25:00.000-08:00

Here's an illustration I did for the cover story in this week's issue the Charlotte Creative Loafing written by Mary C. Curtis about the new Mayor Anthony Foxx.

I drew this piece in Illustator and colored it in Photoshop. It felt good to do a digital piece again. (even if my computer qualifies for medicare) One of my personal art goals for this year is to expand and do more digital artwork. So be on the look out.

gil scott heron 'me and the devil'

2010-01-19T09:54:00.000-08:00

This came right on time. I'm in somewhat of a creative block. His new album drops next month. This video is amazing. I love the dark visuals in it.

I'm Impressed

2010-01-12T12:24:00.000-08:00

They Might Be Giants, "I'm Impressed" from Bent Image Lab on Vimeo.

For this music video, Rob Shaw took his robot minions quite seriously. In an early section of the video you'll notice soldier robots popping out of paper sheets and folding themselves into three dimensional shapes. This was actually how each robot was made. Rob Shaw created a design with which he could print out paper cut outs of each robot, which would then be folded into the characters.

Known for his character animation, Shaw used an all paper set and cast of characters in a combination of techniques to create this robot-ruled Rome. You'll notice that many shots were created using 2D techniques, while others utilized 3D paper puppets.

Rob Shaw's music video for the They Might Be Giants song, "I'm Impressed" won a gold plaque at the Chicago International Film Festival.

Youth Olympic Vote

2009-12-21T09:44:00.000-08:00

My former illustration professor Jamie Franki, who pretty much taught me everything I know about illustration is an amazing artist and even better person. You want to see some of his work? Just look at any nickle made in recent years as well as the “Order of Ikkos” medallion... that's Jamie.

Well now he is back at it again...the Youth Olympic Metal. I think his design is amazing. If you do as well, please show him some support and vote for his design at medaldesigncompetion.com.

The Atrocity of Water book cover

2009-12-15T17:18:00.000-08:00

Here is a book cover I've been working on for an upcoming book of poetry by poet and professor Kirsten Hemmy. This is the first illustration I've done in a long while. I had allot of fun making it...so much fun I decided to post a bit of the process, from conception to completion.

inspiration

2009-12-15T10:00:00.000-08:00

I've been looking for something to inspire me latley...and here it is.

Tim Burton at MOMA

2009-12-07T18:43:00.000-08:00

Check the site here

Taking inspiration from popular culture, Tim Burton (American, b. 1958) has reinvented Hollywood genre filmmaking as an expression of personal vision, garnering for himself an international audience of fans and influencing a generation of young artists working in film, video, and graphics. This exhibition explores the full range of his creative work, tracing the current of his visual imagination from early childhood drawings through his mature work in film. It brings together over seven hundred examples of rarely or never-before-seen drawings, paintings, photographs, moving image works, concept art, storyboards, puppets, maquettes, costumes, and cinematic ephemera from such films as Edward Scissorhands, The Nightmare Before Christmas, Batman, Mars Attacks!, Ed Wood, and Beetlejuice, and from unrealized and little-known personal projects that reveal his talent as an artist, illustrator, photographer, and writer working in the spirit of Pop Surrealism. The gallery exhibition is accompanied by a complete retrospective of Burton’s theatrical features and shorts, as well as a lavishly illustrated publication.

Burton's films include Vincent (1982), Pee-wee's Big Adventure (1985), Beetlejuice (1988), Batman (1989), Edward Scissorhands (1990), Batman Returns (1992), The Nightmare Before Christmas (as creator and producer) (1993), Ed Wood (1994), Mars Attacks! (1996), Sleepy Hollow (1999), Big Fish (2003), Corpse Bride (2005), Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005), and Sweeney Todd (2007); writing and Web projects include The Melancholy Death of Oyster Boy & Other Stories (1997) and Stainboy (2000).

Chile Estyle

2009-12-07T07:36:00.000-08:00

Chile Estyle: A Group Exhibition of Chilean Urban Art, Curated by Pablo Aravena

Carmichael Gallery of Contemporary ArtOpening Reception: Thursday, December 10, 2009, 7-10 PMExhibition Open Through December 23

For the first time in North America, Chile Estyle will showcase work from several of Chile's finest contemporary urban muralists, including Cekis, Inti, Horate, La Robot de Madera, and the duos Aislap and Agotok.

From the end of the Pinochet dictatorship in the early 90’s until now, Chilean street art has literally exploded into a highly developed style, bearing strong influences from Mexican muralism, 60s – 70s political mural brigades, wildstyle graffiti and Brazilian graffiti and pixação (a unique stylistic cross-pollination with street art from Sao Paulo in the mid-90s). These influences, paired with Chile’s distinct history of propaganda art and muralism dating from the 40s, give rise to the myriad of strongly developed personal visual languages and artistic self-expression seen on the streets of Santiago, Valparaiso and other cities in Chile. The exhibition will consist of new works on canvas as well as site-specific individual and group mural installations in the gallery.

Helvetica Documentary

2009-12-03T12:15:00.000-08:00

Here's the trailer to the documentary Helvetica. If you didn't know Helvetica is the most widely used font in the world...here's proof. It's all around us. Helvetica is like the swiss army knife of fonts.

FYI this post was done in Arial however... the don't have Helvetica on Blogger

Gallery Primary Flight

2009-12-02T12:05:00.000-08:00

Gallery

Artists for Prmary Flight

2009-12-02T11:56:00.000-08:00

Artists

Shafiq Husayn: Lil Girl

2009-12-02T09:23:00.000-08:00

Great Song you should go buy the ablum HERE!

Lil' Girl from Plug Research on Vimeo.

Art Basel 2009 Preview

2009-12-01T07:51:00.000-08:00

I want to be here so badly... this is one of the goals. Big up to Dubelyoo who will be there this year.

Sam Weber

2009-12-01T07:11:00.000-08:00

Here's an illustrator I stumbled across last week on the net while not working on something I should have been working on. I really love this guys ghostly somber style with the right punches of color here and there to make the piece work.

Illustrators like Sam Weber are a great inspiration for me right because I plan on starting back doing more illustration work. I have two jobs I'm starting on today. I'll post the progress if I remember to take pics.

website link

Rufus Crisp

2009-12-01T06:10:00.000-08:00

Here are some really cool, nicely designed vintage folk music album covers. Very minimal, reminds me of the Blue Note covers. The Rosco Holcomb cover is my favorite. Nice angle on the photograph plus I like how the photograph is slightly off center.

Plus, isn't Rufus Crisp the illest name ever.

We are Indie-Visuals

2009-11-29T18:55:00.000-08:00

The Charlotte Observer interviewed me about our God City group show at UNCC titled Indie-Visuals.

Ask UNC Charlotte grad Antoine Williams to describe the influence of hip-hop music in American culture, and the 29-year-old can show you his paintings.
They're large, colorful and rife with political and social symbolism. The paintings also open a door on the often enigmatic urban youth point of view.
Williams also points to works by 10 colleagues, all members of the art group God City, artists who find creative inspiration in hip-hop music.
Their works, some of which are featured in an exhibit at UNCC through Dec. 19, acknowledge feelings of being powerful, powerless, conflicted, disconnected or plugged in.
The 15 works in God City's "Indie-Visual" exhibit certainly are not mainstream art, sometimes portraying comic book and movie-character figures and employing graffiti-style art techniques.
But the collection defies prevalent images of hip-hop culture, which often gets recognition for preoccupation with money, profane lyrics and unflattering portrayals of women.
That's why the exhibit is important, Williams said. These artists argue that today's hip-hop music and the international youth culture that sustains it are multidimensional and not easily categorized.
Within the culture, there are mainstream, alternative and underground movements, each with distinctive art and music. God City represents a glimpse at one part of the whole.
"Art is a way to let people see different perspectives of the world," Williams said. "We want to show the creative and intelligent aspect of hip-hop. Those are things that our community does not often get to see."
Williams graduated from UNC Charlotte with an art degree in 2003 and works as a graphic designer in city government. He and four other art-school grads formed God City in 2004 as a way to build an audience for their work through exhibitions and other projects.
They formed the first part of the group's name from letters corresponding to the local 704 area code. (G is the seventh letter in the alphabet; D is the fourth.)
As young African-American artists, their views on this era in history are largely absent from commercial galleries, Williams said.
"It was NASCAR or landscape painting," Williams said of themes in popular collections. "We didn't see many cultural events that reflected our world or our perspective on society. Rather than whine about it, we decided to bring the type of events we wanted to see to Charlotte."
The group has grown to 10 members, still mostly local art school alums. It has had exhibitions at Davidson College and Winthrop University. Williams and John Hairston Jr. have works in the permanent collection at the Mint Museum of Art.
"They're contributing to the dialogue of the art community," said UNC Charlotte art professor Jamie Franki during God City's exhibit opening reception last week at the new Student Union gallery.
About 50 students, faculty, staff and other guests attended the event, many in jeans and sneakers. At the front of the room, an image of a young woman holding a boom box took shape on Hairston's canvas. Music by alternative rapper Mos Def played as Hairston worked.
God City members Donavan Lions, Ryan Williams and Jen Woods mingled with guests.
UNC Charlotte senior Brian Barker, an illustration major, described the event as contemporary and compelling for younger audiences. That is especially important, he said, for inspiring the next generation of artists and art enthusiasts.
"A lot of people see art as stagnant and boring," said Barker, 24, as he watched Hairston's demonstration. "This turns that on its head. He's creating an atmosphere to go with the art."

gone paintin'

2009-11-23T07:41:00.000-08:00

Sorry, It's been a while since I've posted regularly. I've had 2 solo shows 1 god city show and 3 benefits were I made and donated art all while trying to shake off the cold and I'm still not finished. But next week everything should be back from warp speed to a normal calm hectic pace.

Until then please enjoy this hour long in the actor's studio style interview with Shepard Fairly at USC where he speaks about art, politics, his pending court case, and getting arrested in NY.

Crisp Lines

2009-11-11T14:05:00.000-08:00

I agree

2009-11-10T12:00:00.000-08:00

I want to scream this from the rooftop of every gallery, coffee house skate shop, pub and bookstore in Noda, SouthEnd and Plaza Midwood here in Charlotte.

They ask me want I'm writing for...

2009-11-10T10:17:00.000-08:00

I'm writing to show you what we fighting for.

Man, my life is so crazy right now. I'm starting to question even why bother...whenever I get like this I need a reminder.

Herakut live painting Berlin 08.10.09

2009-11-05T12:05:00.000-08:00

Facebook, MySpace Divide Along Social Lines

2009-10-30T07:59:00.000-07:00

Very interesting article on how facebook and myspace users are divided my race and class.

Swiped from NPR.org

Talk to students at The Urban School, an elite private high school in San Francisco, and they will tell you that they used to be on MySpace, but not anymore. Facebook is where it's at for them and their friends.
Facebook is taking over more and more of the social networking space in the U.S. It had an estimated 95.5 million U.S. visitors in September, according to marketing research company comScore. MySpace still has a healthy share — around 65.7 million people — but numbers don't explain it all. If you listen to young site users explain their social networking decisions, the story of the two sites gets more complicated.
"No one uses MySpace," says 17-year-old Halie Pacheco, a student at The Urban School. She likes Facebook. "It's safer and more high class," she explains.
"By 'high class' I think she means organized," adds 16-year-old Olivia Block. "With MySpace there's a lot of clutter."
MySpace pages do look busier than Facebook; on MySpace you can customize graphics and music while Facebook is limited to one spare blue-and-white design. The MySpace clutter seems to symbolize something more to these kids. Sixteen-year-old Nico Kurt lays out his view of the MySpace users this way: "It seems trashy to me. The only people who use it are trashy people."
Well, then there must be 65 million "trashy" people, all hanging out on MySpace. Some of them are teenagers who take an art class at a San Francisco community gallery called Southern Exposure. They are Latino and mostly lower-income. They have their own ideas about who uses which social networks. They are all on MySpace and some of them have Facebook accounts, too.
I have friends who are white. ... They are mostly on Facebook. That's why I use Facebook. My brown people are on MySpace.
- Diego Luna, age 19
"I have friends who are white," says 19-year-old Diego Luna. "They are my white people friends and they are mostly on Facebook. That's why I use Facebook. My brown people are on MySpace."
The class laughs nervously at his description, and then they agree. Benito Rodriguez, 16, adds, "Not to be racist or anything, but there's more white kids on Facebook."
Social media researcher danah boyd (she doesn't capitalize) has heard a lot of conversations just like this. In her work for Microsoft she's spoken to teens all over the country about their use of social media. She thinks the online social world is dividing up — just like the real world — into neighborhoods.
"Young people — and for the most part adults as well — don't really interact online with strangers," she says. "They talk to people they already know. You have environments in which people are divided by race, divided by class, divided by lifestyle. When they go online they are going to interact in the same way."
Business analysts have been writing off MySpace lately, and boyd thinks one of the reasons is that the analysts don't belong to the social groups that use MySpace. Boyd believes MySpace is actually in a great place for advertising because, she says, low income people are more likely to click on ads.
"You don't want to brand yourself as the network for low-income Hispanics, or low-income, or some other similar segment," says Ray Valdes, an analyst with Gartner who follows social networking sites. He agrees that low-income people click more, but that doesn't necessarily mean that they buy what advertisers are selling.
MySpace also has a very strong user base among artists who are drawn to its tools for decorating home pages and musicians who use it to promote their music.
"MySpace has done such a good job of serving their core audience," says Charlene Li of Altimeter Group. She says if MySpace wants to compete, it's going to have evolve the way Facebook has. Facebook has added more features in response to the new people who are coming to the site as it grows. Li explains, "The reason they have not peaked and fallen off is that they have not remained still."
However, the teenagers at the private Urban School say they don't have any particular loyalty to Facebook.
"Teenagers ... always like to go from one thing to another," says Nico Kurt, 16. "Facebook is that thing [now], but I think it is going downhill ... There is going to be a new cool thing sooner or later."
In case anyone is thinking maybe the next cool thing is Twitter, think again. Kurt says Twitter is for old people.

Monica Cook

2009-10-29T07:48:00.000-07:00

Here are some amazing oil paintings by artist Monica Cook. Once I saw these I knew I had to post. I love her attention to detail. Some may say her work is disturbing but I love it. It gives you a little jab to wake you up and draw you in. I guess I enjoy her works so much because it reminds my of Bailey Doogan's paintings which I first saw at an exhibit while she was a visiting professor at UNCC.

Super News

2009-10-26T10:50:00.000-07:00

Current TV is the greatest

The Baader Meinhof Complex

2009-10-13T07:35:00.000-07:00

Ok. This is my type of movie. I got to check this one out... who's coming with me.

Swoon

2009-10-12T20:37:00.000-07:00

Swoon is taking street art to another level.

José Parlá

2009-10-12T08:33:00.000-07:00

Love this guys works. Love the movement and texture not to mention the scale of his paintings. Check out this profile on him

stripes

2009-10-05T08:58:00.000-07:00

'Babies Ain't Watching TV No More'

'They Mad 'Cause I let the Polkadots Touch the Flag.

So here are my first two contributions to the Polkadotted Stripe Project which first event takes place this Thurs. in Atlanta. I'm really feeling the album so I had a good time painting these. I'm going to also but them in my art show "Game Theory" this Nov.

Radio Do Canibal

2009-10-04T18:44:00.000-07:00

modern propaganda

2009-10-02T06:13:00.000-07:00

Here is an amazing poster from the Mc Carthyism Today blog spot comparing Glenn Beck to Joseph McCarthy...
Glenn Beck is a modern day propagandist who through Fox News under the guise of journalism spreads lies that ignites fear and hatred... this is serious business.

He prompted many of his followers called "Teabaggers" to go on a 9/12 march to Washington to protest against Obama and anything else that scares them (like health care for all Americans who are struggling ...like themselves). These people get most of their information from Glenn Beck... notice just how misinformed they are.

The Polkadotted Stripe Project

2009-10-01T08:36:00.000-07:00

A really cool event by an amazing band... The Jaspects. All the art work in the show is inspired by the new album Polkadotted Stripes. I have two pieces in the show that I've been working like a mad man on.

Plus the proceeds from the show is going to a good cause.

I get it... but I don't like it.

2009-09-16T09:18:00.000-07:00

I recently attended the Charlotte Literary Festival were I had a booth. Even though attendance was low it was still pretty nice meeting people and making connections. At my table I had some promo materials and a few paintings for people to see.

One of the painting was the one pictured above titled " Or No Peace" Some of festival goers ran up to the painting claiming how much they absolutely loved the painting. And that was pretty cool.

However, there were also some people people who slowly crept forward to let me know that they didn't like the piece or that it made them feel uneasily. One guy said to me "So you shooting our sisters in the back uh brother!?" then walked away (classic) Many people after a minute or so staring at it uneasily asked "Can you explain this... I don't get it. It says peace but you're shooting a sister in the back. You wanna shoot black women? After explaining the peace most still were a little uneasy with the image of a gun and a black woman. One lady explained "I get it... but I don''t like it"

I'd seem to have sent quite a few people away puzzled and disliking or uneasy about my work... and that's pretty cool too.

It seems that most people had a response of loving or disliking my work... but at least it was a response. I've always been told that good art evokes some sort of emotion, it at times is suppose to get you out of your comfort zone.

Even though I'm still stumbling around in the dark trying to find my place as an artist in the art world that entire experience gives me hope that maybe I'm on the right path to one day making great art.

nice figures

2009-09-10T11:52:00.000-07:00

Kazuki Takamatsu

yo what happened!

2009-09-02T09:45:00.000-07:00

A few of you my have seen the pic above on this weeks cover of Creative Loafing. So far that's two covers in one year. I feel really blessed/lucky for the opportunity. It seems as if some of this hard work is beginning to pay off.
When I got word CL was going to run with the piece I started thinking how that piece came about. The piece is about 3 years old and the first illustration I'd ever done in Illustrator. I was commenting on the war in Iraq and US dominance. Later this art print group call Yo! What Happen to Peace!? saw it wanted to include it in there traveling anti-war show. But it needed to either be a screen print, lithograph or stencil. I chose stencil. SO I had to redo the piece into a 3 layered stencil. I was at the time the biggest and most complex stencil I'd ever done. It took forever but it finally was completed and shipped to Cali. To my surprise I got word they were making a book of all the pieces in the show and my work was in it. I'm still having a hard time believing that.
But stuff like that keeps me believing that if I keep working hard something good will eventually come from it.

Battle of the Algiers

2009-08-27T08:10:00.000-07:00

I've heard about this movie for years and have been wanting check it out for a while now. I heard it was a great film so normally I figured it was over hyped. But I was wrong....really wrong. This movie is amazing. Pretty much everything about it was top genius, the story (which is a true story base of the Algerian revolution) the acting and the whole look of the film. (Which was purposely shot in grainy black and white to mimic a newsreel. This is one of those films the directors watch to learn from.

This film has been watched by governments and rebels groups the world over to learn how to carry out a revolution/ insurgency or how to dismantle one. This movie was screened at the Pentagon before entering Iraq while Taliban used this film as a model of how to carry out attacks in Iraq. This movie was also screen by the Black Panthers. You can take this film and superimpose it with the War in Iraq.

Great film that's beautifully done with a message... human life is valuable and people just want to be free

In my spare time...

2009-08-26T09:57:00.000-07:00

A few days ago I was going through my old cds and came across this.

The year was 2001. (if I'm not mistaken) This was before god city. I was still in art school at UNCC. It was a Saturday morning and one of my roommates Abdi told me about this party he'd went to the night before. Ab himself was an emcee and enjoyed going to various parties and starting ciphers. He came in my room and handed me a cd then told be about this white kid who looked like Stephen King that jumped in the cipher and completely destroyed everyone. Ab was still geeking off the whole experience. I looked at the cd and it read Johnny Madwreck "In My Spare Time" I gave the cd a listen and was blown away by everything lyrics, beats, story, samples...everything. I played the cd until... (I let my tape rock till my tape popped- biggie) you know.
Then a few months later I met future god city brotherJohn Hairston (still before god city was even thought about) At that time time John was just a guy I would see from time to time that always sat on the steps of the art building and rant about comics and music. At that time he was in the group Potter's Field and invite me to their show at The Hungry Duck. So finally I start going. Then one night Madwreck gets on stage and rips it. First I thought... man he does look like Stephen King... but then I was like damn this is hip hop. I finally can put a face with the cd that I had loved so much. I've been a fan ever since of him and The Others. This was one of my first introductions to the underground hip hop scene here in Charlotte

gig

2009-08-19T09:12:00.000-07:00

Here are some cool poster designs from gig posters

ghost photos

2009-08-15T13:24:00.000-07:00

Alexey Titarenko 's "City of Shadows" is a series of haunting, gorgeous long-exposure shots of street-scenes in St Petersburg, Russia. The long exposure-times turn the people in the shots into ghosts and suggestions of motion.

failing

2009-08-12T14:11:00.001-07:00

"7th class citizen"

2009-08-11T15:10:00.000-07:00

Fellow god city member and all around hoodie enthusiast Marcus Kiser is a 7th class citizen... don't believe me. Well then pick up his new book where it says so on the cover. Not only that, I also heard inside there's lots of really cool hip hop and comic book inspired arts going on. Clllliiiick ..... HERE! to find out more... and here.... marcus kiser!

The Good Fight: The Delicate Balance of Terror

2009-08-09T16:15:00.000-07:00

Here is a shot of my newest piece "The Good Fight: The Delicate Balance of Terror". (let me know if you want the meaning behind it) The piece is 5'x 3'. I'm really happy how this piece turned out... it actually turned out allot better than I expected. I had allot of fun painting this. It took me about a week and a half and lots of music to complete this. Below are progression shots of the process.

Using newspapers clipping and photocopies of various images along with house paint I made a collage for the background. I wanted to use warm colors because it gives a sense of urgency and tension.

An outline of the figure done in Dioxazine Purple. This is done very quick and loose. Just trying to find the right placement of the figure. I didn't want her to be too close to either edge of the painting. Also wanted to make sure her pose was fluid enough, like it was in my original sketch. By the figure being directly in the middle of the piece you run a risk of it being very boring hence the organic flow in her pose.

Here I blocked in the shapes using Dioxazine Purple and Burnt Umber in order to start building the volume of the figure. In my original sketch I didn't give her a jacket I was just going to go with green pants and a tank top. But I felt the jacket would give her more of an organized "rebel" look plus having it open and flapping in the wind gives the piece a sense of movement and would make it more dynamic.

I'm beginning to apply color to the appropriate areas. I felt the green would be a nice complement to the yellow. There is yellow in her outfit and green in the background to help tie the overall painting together.

Here is also where I stop and start to really notice problems with the piece. I'm really not liking how the face is developing. Plus the arm on the right is too long and the fore arm isn't connecting to the bicep correctly. Also the arm on the left is waaaay too big.

I shorten the arm and made the other arm smaller. Plus I just started from scratch with her face.

You can also see here I went ahead and developed her body and clothing. Adding colors to build her form.

After a couple of attempts her face is starting to look the way I intended. It's beginning to look more organic as if she has a personality.

While continuing to develop the face I'm now starting work on the liberty torch and the Molotov cocktail (my favorite part) The torch and the cocktail are really important. They are the punctum in this piece. (I've always tried to have punctum in every piece I do ever since I read Camera Lucida in college) So it's really important I get these two aspects of the painting right.

Tightening up the face and clothing. Pushing the colors in the flames. Adding highlights with Titanium White and Cadmium yellow and shadows with Dioxazine Purple. (I never use black) The yellow and purple are complements and can make a piece really pop if used correctly.

The finished piece. Added details like buttons and rebel band tied around her arm and the red star on her belt buckle. I made the flames brighter and there shapes more fluid also I outlined them in (say it with me) DIOXAZINE PURPLE to make it pop against the yellow background. Brown Krylon spray paint was added with drips and spatters to the background. I chose brown because it would contrast against the yellow. The halo was a last touch. It only made sense to me seeing that this piece is a play off the Baroque paintings of the Crucifixion.

Over all I'm pleased with the end result... oh well on the the next one.

works in... process?

2009-07-28T18:56:00.000-07:00

Here are some quick shot of two pieces that I've just finished... I guess they are finished. I can't think of anything else to do to them. I don't yet have a name for the one on the top. The one on the bottom is in a series called "Write Your Wrongs" (I'll explain later)

Daptone download

2009-07-27T11:16:00.000-07:00

I love it when I discover new music... well at least music that's new to me... aaannd free. Yesterday while on the Daptone Records site I noticed they finally got there media jukebox page together where they post monthly podcast of soul and funk music from various DJ's.

I love listening to soul music while I paint. It's like my art work jumps off the canvas and starts dancing around the room... or maybe it's the paint fumes... I have horrible ventilation in my studio. Either way they have 8 podcast about and hour long each free for download.

This will be great painting music for my two solo shows coming up this fall. "Game Theory" and "Black on Both Sides"

Here the link to the Jukebox page. Enjoy.

District 9

2009-07-21T09:17:00.000-07:00

If someone gave me a camera and told me to make a sci-fi film this would be it.
The marketing for this is crazy also d-9.com

It comes out Aug 14th

work in progress

2009-07-13T21:13:00.000-07:00

I know I haven't been posting like I should in a while. I 've just been trying to get some things together and have been somewhat busy. So I apologize to all five of you who read this blog...well three if I don't count myself and my imaginary friend.

Here is a progression of a piece I'm currently working on. It's taken waaay longer than it should. Hopefully I'll be finish within a few days. I still need to do some touch ups on the figure, tone the background down a bit because I'm spraying stencils and I don't want them to get lost in a busy background.

I have three solo art shows coming up in the fall sooo I maybe should get to work. So within the next few months except to see me post plenty "work in progress" and at the same time watch me slowly lose my mind.

web cam

2009-07-10T12:21:00.000-07:00

Here is a really cool and creative vid by the Japanese group Sour for their song “日々の音色 (Hibi no neiro)” . The video was directed by Masashi Kawamura.

Check it out. also click the links to see more cool stuff

ill bill ft. immortal technique

2009-06-29T20:30:00.001-07:00

how dope is this

sketchy

2009-06-28T19:35:00.000-07:00

Here's another sketch I did about a week ago.

My computer's needs to be taken out back and shot like Old Yeller, the screen color is weird. So the contrast may be high on your screen.

rip mj

2009-06-26T13:46:00.000-07:00

In one interview Michael said that if you really wanted to know the real him just listen to this song.

Iran: A Nation Of Bloggers

2009-06-24T14:04:00.000-07:00

Iran: A nation of bloggers from Mr.Aaron on Vimeo.