Self-Portrait

Here's a self-portrait I've been working on in my spare time. I liked how Roy Lichtenstein drew from the style of early comics and made it something else, but what I realized was that the original tiny panels he was ripping off are marvelous on their own without needing to be elevated to fine art paintings! Check out Deconstructing Roy Lichtenstein to see some gorgeous panels from mid 20th century comics blown up so you can really get a look at them and their printing process. There's just something about seeing the delicate and cheap balance of the halftones mixtures and registration in your face like that that makes me feel the same way I do about a great, sloppy punk band live- like it could all fall apart.

Appreciation: Queens of the Stone Age "Era Vulgaris"

It’s been a year since Queens of the Stone Age’s Era Vulgaris came out, but I just got around to really listening to it this summer. It’s not fair how underrated it is.



To start, just look at the cover. The title is Latin for “The Common Era” and the art features a smoking cartoon lightbulb and a pirate cartoon lightbulb. Genius. The rest of the album’s art campaign- spanning 7’’ sleeves and posters- has more crazy cartoon characters and artwork along that retro-sleazy Grindhouse vein (check out the artists, Morning Breath). The “You Have Mono” phony-monophonic label makes it for me, though.




But what’s important is what’s inside- the music. I will admit that the first time I heard the songs nothing stood out, but repeated listens reveal by far the sexiest Queens of the Stone Age album in recent years. It is a much closer match to the band’s manifesto of making rock “heavy enough for the boys and sweet enough for the girls”, unlike the macho Songs for the Deaf and the snoozy Lullabies to Paralyze. A lot of the vocals are softer and falsetto, and every single song on Era Vulgaris is danceable as far as heavy rock goes and sounds perfect at 70 mph. And within those parameters, there’s a surprising diversity of sounds: it’s got southern-flavored psychedelic (“Turnin’ On The Screw”), heavy irony (“I’m Designer”), rhythm n’ blues (“Make It Wit Chu”), really spastic ("Sick Sick Sick") somber introspection (“Suture Up Your Future”), and what can only be described as car-chase ("3's and 7's"). I’m going to say that this is my favorite album so far, but I admit I haven't listened to the first two in a while. Any of the ones I mentioned are highly recommended, but everything is good. And while you're at it, check out the fantastically titled b-side "The Fun Machine Took A Shit And Died".

La Fea

As far as TV goes the only shows I could be bothered with lately were Arrested Development and Ugly Betty. So, here's a spot-type illustration inspired by Betty from a few weeks ago:

Von Bondies

The Von Bondies were supposed to be the next big thing out of Detroit, but they haven't released anything in four years, which is an eternity for a band their size. They do have a new record coming out soon, Love, Hate, and Then There's You, so they're poised to get back on the map.

They have a new lineup, but it's still two guys and two girls, which is what inspired the colors on this illustration. I've been reading Batman and Superman comics lately and got the idea that I wanted to try and do something with the old screentone look.

...and the band liked it enough to post it on their MySpace page! Thanks, guys and girls!

Art Review: Centrifugal Force

Wrote a quick review for TheDetroiter on a show called Centrifugal Force put on by some Cranbrook students at the Russell.

Car Trouble

My first extracurricular illustration. I tried another Threadless submission. Check it out through the link below, and if you like it, vote for it!

the artist

I walk away with my illustration degree from CCS on Thursday. 

It's finally hitting me how hard the work has been these past four years, and I'm proud of myself for getting through it. But I got all the validation I needed when I greeted my girlfriend's niece at the door and she said, "Hey, it's the artist!", remembering some doodles I did in her High School Musical 2 notebook. 

For what it's worth, congratulations to all the graduating seniors!