On Sale and Going Fast!

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I'm very pleased to announce that the Advanced Style coloring book is now available for preorder. This is a limited pressing of 150 and there are only 28 left! I'm blown away by the response to this project, especially since we only put it up for sale last night. I can't wait to see these drawings in color.

The book contains 20 original full page illustrations based off the photographs of Advanced Style creator (and old pal) Ari Seth Cohen. Get one while you still can HERE.

Advanced Style: The Coloring Book!

This gent looks like he's ready to ride on into the sunset, and with that protective eyewear we know he'll be just fine.

I'm really excited to be working on the Advanced Style Coloring Book, based on the blog, book, and images of Ari Seth Cohen. 

Advanced Style is blog based in New York City devoted to capturing the street style and vivacious spirit of men and women 65 and older, proving that things really do improve with age. 

Check it out!

I'm currently working on a series of drawings and will post a few more teaser images when I have them. Stay tuned.

Dead Lady Has No Idea What Is On Her Face

I've got piles of old timey portraits lying around and I still haven't figured out what I want to do with them. Here's an experiment using bright colors and a minimal palette. I'm guessing this woman probably wasn't that into face paint in real life. 

Scribble Dancer is All Strung Up

Awhile ago we got a pamphlet from the Oregon Ballet in Portland advertising their new season. I was inspired by the well lit photographs it included of their dancers and decided to use one as an exercise. (Something can only sit on my drawing table for too long before I draw it)

I love when one of my pens begins to run out of ink because it allows me to experiment in "scribble shading" where I can achieve a wide variety of shades, building up thin layers of ink over time. I wish I could figure out how to achieve a similar effect on a much larger scale without using a tiny pen. Any ideas?

"And that's why, thanks to Mickey, we have cake every morning"

 Did I mention that I made a second pumpkin for Halloween?

The pumpkin, carved

For the past three years I've been carving pumpkins to commemorate a celebrity that passed away in the past twelve months. In 2009 I did Michael Jackson, in 2010 I did Dennis Hopper, and last year I did Macho Man Randy Savage. 

This year I decided to commemorate one of my favorite illustrators, Maurice Sendak. He's best remembered for Where the Wild Things Are, but when I did a google search I found plenty of WtWTA pumpkins and I wanted to do something a little more original. Another of my favorite books of his growing up was In the Night Kitchen, which has some amazing drawings and is also totally weird. I decided to depict the iconic picture of Mickey holding his jug of milk from the final page of the book. I also decided to try another new technique. This time just scratching away the skin of the pumpkin to let the candle light glow through the meat. It was a pretty tedious process. 

Fresh Air did a great retrospective show on Sendak when he passed away which included clips of Terry Gross's interviews with him throughout his career. I highly recommend listening to it, and you can do so here.

Lit up!

The best part was hearing a small child exclaim to his parent as he walked up to our house for candy, "Look, it's the boy from my book!" 

R.I.P. Maurice. 

The Fresh Pot of Bel-Air

Here are a few pics of my show up at The Fresh Pot on the corner of Mississippi and Shaver in North Portland. 

So nice to see my name is white vinyl. These guys had no idea what was happening.

Unbeknownst to these cafe dwellers, sipping their soy lattes and americanos, my old Jewish relatives are quietly judging them from above. 

No word on when it's coming down, but now that October's over it could be any day now. Go in and take a look while you still can!

"He slimed me, Ray"

For this year's pumpkin I wanted to try my hand at "pumpkin sculpting." I've always admired pumpkins created this way but never actually attempted it myself. After watching some youtube videos and marveling at the pumpkins of Ray Villafane, I decided I was ready.

He's an ugly little spud, isn't he?

For my subject I decided on Slimer from Ghostbusters. His body shape and exaggerated features seemed ideal for a pumpkin, plus he's an old childhood favorite of mine. (Sidenote: we just went to see Ghostbusters in the theater here in Portland and were once again blown away by how good that movie still is. The Stay Puft Marshmallow Man was meant to be on the big screen)

The process is incredibly time consuming, though I imagine it goes quicker the more times you do it. I think a major failing on my part was not picking a pumpkin that was already suited to the shape of his face. This would have made the important features like his cheeks come out even more.

As you can see I can coffee with Slimer this morning

I think that the pumpkin came out alright, but isn't immediately recognizable as Slimer, which is kind of a bummer for me. I really wanted to nail it my first try.

Big stupid grin

Below you can see what he looks like lit up in the stairs leading up to my attic. This is the darkest place in my house right now. 

Gotta remember to get some candles before tonight

I'm not giving up on the process though. Its too bad pumpkin carving only happens one month out of the year. Any suggestions on what else I could carve in this style?