Move to Brooklyn

My best friend Jon (artist/film maker) and I recently moved to Brooklyn to pursue our dream. To put it in the most simple terms possible, it is a very interesting, but complicated music project/band we have titled, "Fashions". Fashions will consist of the best up and coming songwriters/vocalists around the country willing to collaborate. Although "New Wave" based, all different genres will be used and each song will sync up to a strong video/visual element that corresponds with the concept. I do not want to give everything away because there is a lot we have planned, but eventually once everything is completed our touring live show will consist of everything from collaborators to short films during the set, to light shows to a traveling art show (with the best artists work from around the country), and many more surprises we have up our sleeves for this collaborative live spectacle...MUCH more to come in the future.

Old Class Portrait

In late 2009 I created a class portrait over night of my painting class at WVU. I used prismacolor markers and did a caricature of every person in the class, including the teacher and myself. I gave it to my teacher as a present before I left school but she finally just sent me an image of the piece. Here it is...

PORTRAIT BATTLE!

I recently competed in a really awesome competition where 24 super talented artists went head to head, using different mediums, to see who could come up with the most interesting portrait. This "Portrait Battle" gave the 24 chosen artists a random model and 2 hours to complete each portrait. At the end of every 2 hour battle, a few artists would be eliminated and the remaining competitors would go on to the next round. I some how managed to finish in the top 6 and was finally let go after the 2nd to last round. This was an amazing experience because every artist was so different that I was just plain honored to be in the same room as all of them. Creating an entire portrait in 2 hours of a random model, while a giant crowd stands around you watching every move, is something every artist should experience. Here are some photos taken from the event.

Keith Richards Commission Painting

I was just commissioned a very nice fee to paint a stained glass portrait of Keith Richards from The Rolling Stones. Here it is in all of it's dark glory...

Stereotype film photography

About 2 years back I did a series of B&W 8mm film photographs depicting different stereotypes. This has absolutely nothing to do with the direction I have taken in painting but they were sitting around and I thought they were pretty entertaining. I have never claimed to be a photographer, nor will I ever claim to be a photographer so these photographs really aren't that good, but I still think they're pretty humorous and am only half way done with my Keith Richards painting so here you go. Enjoy!

1 last poem for Halloween!

Last year I wrote quite a few poems that were written as "Childrens" inspired poems but were so inappropriate for kids that I never even put illustrations to them. At some point I would love to put some incredibly inappropriate poems and illustrations into a book but until then, here is my favorite one.

(This poem is not directed towards anybody so if you would like to get angry over its content, please go cry to somebody else, not me. Thank you!)

As I’ve become older, Ive been shit out of luck

So for this years costume idea I don’t give a fuck

I went to the store and bought some fake tits

With a skanky ass dress, lets hope it fits

Made a bottle of medicine for some STD’s

A plastic fake ass that some bros can squeeze

Applied plenty of cheap make-up and went out the door

With a trail of broken condoms behind me on the floor

Made out with fifty-five guys in one single night

With some nasty high heels to add some height

Took a few colored markers and drew some tattoos

If she’s reading this now, I hope I amuse

Asked my neighbor if she had a blonde wig she could lend

Cause this Halloween I’ll be my disgusting ex-girlfriend

#13 "Monsters Have Children Too"

Here is another illustration that has no poem to go with it. I actually like the idea of this illustration for kids so much that I had trouble writing a poem in which I thought fit. The Banner was supposed to say "Class of 87", but I wanted to do all the words digitally in photoshop. I'm sure that someday I will put a poem to this thing. Happy Halloween Everybody!

#12 "The Halloween Ogre"

I illustrated this with the intentions of writing a poem about a fat bully that steals everybody's candy on Halloween. I hated the illustration so much that I never bothered to write the poem. This is one I would definitely like to redo if I go through with an entire book.

#11 "Mr. Nosferatu"

I once had a teacher who didn’t speak or smile

He was also quite tall and had a bad sense of style

His name was Count Orlok and he always seemed odd

Rumor goes he sucked the blood from my classmate Todd

He always seemed to stand there with his eyes open wide

And kept the curtains closed so we never saw outside

He only let us color with crayons black and white

His desk was a coffin, which he slept in through the night

Instead of routine detention he bit my best friend Drew

Worst teacher in the world, also known as Nosferatu

#10 "The Picasso Spell"

The kids all laughed and told her that she was no good

When she tried to cast the right spell, she never could

Until one day she tried harder than she had before

Said the spell and sent the kids crashing to the floor

They all rolled around and began to look strange

Into Picasso Paintings, they all began to change