Beautiful Decay

So pumped. I just got an email from Beautiful Decay telling me my artwork is being featured on their site. Check it out!

RIPT Apparel

Hello, I'll be featured on RIPT Apparel this Saturday, all day, 11-7-09. Pick up a shirt, only $10 bucks, after Saturday, it's gone forever.

Press!

Got some good news the other day. I'm going to be featured in DPI Magazine, based out of Taiwan. It's similar to Computer Arts magazine I believe. They showcase designers and illustrators from around the world. They asked for 10-20 pieces of art so I'm assuming it's a couple pages worth of an interview. Stoked on that! Above picture is not my artwork, just a preview of what it looks like...Also, I was lucky enough to be published in a book called Just For You. Here's what it's about...

'Just for you' features numerous work pieces and stories by designers, illustrators and artists from around the world, whom exhibit their most intimate creations.

The book includes different ways of saying 'I love you' through objects, cards, logos, posters, graffiti, photos and illustrations.

These pages display the participants' most personal work - a result of love other than responding to commercial uses for brands or clients.

Trail of Dead

So I went to the And You Will Know Us by The Trail of Dead the other night at the legendary Casbah and had the chance to meet Jason, Conrad and Kevin. They signed a poster I made for them and a set list. I know, kind of dorky but they're one of my favorite bands. Here are some

terrible pictures courtesy of the iPhone.

PacSun Magazine

Picked this up and found a few shirts I designed.

Trail of Dead Poster

Designed this little diddy and will have it signed by Conrad himself! Trail of Dead rocks the socks off of any band!

Finroo!

New design up at Finroo! Check it out, give it some love. Portions of each sale go to the Animal Society.

Poster Work

Made this little diddy today. Going to see Atmosphere tomorrow night, sold out show, San Diego, House of Blues! Click the picture to see the detail...

It's About Time

Lately I've been wanting to do something creative but away from the computer. Sometimes I feel that I'm constantly on a computer whether it's at work or freelancing at home. Either way, it's not good to have only a computer as your medium. So I was thinking I should start learning photography, really get into it even if f-numbers still confuse me. I just need to get a better camera, something like a Nikon D70 DSLR. 

I also want to start painting again. Recently, I stretched some canvas, about 7 frames total, with a friend of mine. It was nice to actually stretch the canvas myself instead of paying extra for it. It's super easy too. Now I've got all of these frames in my room just collecting dog hair. I haven't been able to go stock up on paint but one of these days I'll do it. That's two creative things away from my desk that I can start doing, hopefully on a regular basis.

For my birthday, my father got me this great book called Print Liberation - The Screen Printing Primer. This book has got me so excited I can't stop looking at it. Now my big plan is to clear out some room in the garage and set up my own little space to Silk Screen some prints. It's something people have been doing for years. Warhol started making silk-screen prints because he said they were "slightly different each time...simple quick and chancy." The month he became obsessed by silk-screening, Marilyn Manroe suicide happened hence the reason he started making the now famous prints of her. Anyway, which one do I start first? 

So 3 things I can do away from my desk and still do something creative, I just need to start doing them. Or I can go to the beach...

Shepard Fairey

Shepard Fairey from Arkitip on Vimeo.

Hung Out To Dry Shoot

Get some here!

Jolby + Portland = Awesomeness!!!

The team of Jolby make up Josh Kenyon and Colby Nichols. Both are super interesting and very talented people. Just take a look at their work. The amazing details, imaginative characters, interesting themes/stories, crazy color palettes, and overall skill level truly show that they both stand out from the crowd of todays illustrators and designers. I know this because I went to school with them and watched them both grow into an amazing team. These two guys have pushed me so much and I owe a lot of gratitude to both of them! 

Please take a minute and check this out to get a killer preview: JOLBY MADNESS

If you can make it to Portland you're lucky! If you can't, get their zine and prints before they sell out, trust me, they will. 

ZINE RELEASE & NEW WORKS FROM JOLBY

August 7th, 2009 - September 2nd, 2009

at Artful Goods 1233 SW 10th Ave. Portland, OR 97205

Opening Reception with the Artists: Thursday August 7th, 5-8pm

Them Thangs

I came across this site today via ffffound.com and was blown away. So much inspiration, sick graphics, beautiful photography...I could look at this stuff for days. Them Thangs is tasty.

Warning: NSFW - contains nude images.

You can see how the shirt is placed and the details are a little bigger by checking out the design on DBH. Please go here to vote. Again, thanks for looking.

Sunday Downtown San Diego

Got out of the house and went downtown just to walk around and discover stuff..

Saw some of my shirts in Pacific Sunwear, cool packaging in the World Market, had a tasty brew at Maloney's followed by a stop at the top of the Ivy Hotel where this killer artwork hung inside.

Quick - No Thought Experiment

I just tried this out as an experiment. Sometimes, some of my better work comes when I'm not really thinking too hard about what I'm doing. Just letting the ideas flow out in a chaotic matter. Not sure what this means but I like the randomness of it. This probably too less than 

5 minutes to put together..I was literally going as fast as I could.

Nordstroms

Just got word that some of my shirts are being tested at Nordstroms. If it goes well, they'll pick up a boatload hopefully...Check it out next time you're at the mall!

Birthday Poster

Made this little diddy up for my friend Kelli. Click it to see the detail!

For The People will be printed on June 29 over at Teefury. Shirts are only 9 bucks! That's dirty cheap and would make for a nice gift. Here's the postcard I'm getting printed to promote this inspirational shirt. After 24 hours, the shirt is gone forever so don't miss out.

Type-Patterns

Working on some of these for a younger female market. All-Over shirts....Just ideas so far...

CityBeat Covers

Hoping CityBeat picks up one of these for a future cover. Cross fingers now! 

SHRED Clothing

If you're into t-shirts and beautiful websites, Jonathan Kruse is your man! He's the brains behind How To Start A Clothing Company and it's a definite bookmark for any t-shirt fan or designer because of the loads of information and resources. There is a slew of interesting articles and interviews that you need to check out. He's covering topics that other blogs are overlooking such as SEO secrets, social networking advice, tips on advertising and the legalities of starting a clothing company, just to name a few. 

His new project is SHRED Clothing and I must say the designs look amazing. The detail and illustration style is very unique and just overall insane! My favorite one "Cerberus" is a multi-headed dog which guards the gates of Hades, to prevent those who have crossed the river Styx from ever escaping. Pretty interesting concepts over at SHRED. Do yourself a favor and snatch up one of their shirts before they're sold out!

Artist I admire - Eric Otto

There is tons of great work to check out by Eric Otto hailing out of San Francisco. I especially enjoy his paintings using house paint, pencil and acrylics usually using pieces of wood that he finds in random places. He's got some pretty cool installations too. Check him out!

Fonts I Want

Some lovely fonts I came across via qbn.com. Haven't checked out how much they are but they look beautiful. 

Urban Outfitters Music for Free

If you go to the Urban Outfitters website, you can download around 107 tracks for free from a bunch of different artists. Some of the artists include: 

1. Thieves Like Us

2. Black Lips

3. Crystal Stilts

4. White Rabbits

5.  Mos Def

CBGB's Virtual Tour

Check this out! It's pretty cool.

New Postcards Coming Soon

Back

Front

Just made these today, trying to get a little more advertising going. I'd like to get rid of the shirts I currently have because I have a bunch of good ideas for a new collection. So head over and get a shirt! Hung Out To Dry 

Thursday Art

Just messing around at work. 

Pacific Sunwear

Was at the mall a while back and spotted a shirt I designed for Pacific Sunwear.

Artist I Admire

She's making me want to start painting again. I'm really loving her work. Here's a little more about her. Check her site out!  Angel D'Amico is a Chicago based Freelance Illustrator and Designer. Loving life and living her dream, Angel has a unique sense of style and a wide range of skills from drawing to painting, digital art, graphic design, playing and composing music, hand screen printing - AD LOVE Clothing and accessories, book making, sewing, photography, crocheting, cookie making, and some other random skills. She Combines her fine art skills with her digital artwork, to create beautiful, unique, and exotic environments of work.

Skate Decks by DESIGNByRDS

Check them out!  Designed these babies, go get one...

Jimiyo!

Jimiyo is an amazing designer, mostly doing t-shirts but this guy has mad skills when it comes to detail. Check his portfolio out here and definitely check his blog out here. Plus, he's involved in the 2009 Back in Black T-Shirt Exhibit. The best part is that he's wearing my shirt in this picture! Jimiyo, you rock! 

Back in Black 2 - Preview from Joshua Smith on Vimeo.

Video Credit: ChangeTheThought

Dan Henderson UFC

Poster I'm working on for Dan Henderson. I was given the shot on the bottom, and the file on the top has been modified big-time, the file is around 1gig. It's about 75% done...Sneak Peak!

Nazario Graziano

Here's a designer I really enjoy keeping an eye on. He's the founder of Anti Magazine and RevolverLover. I was lucky enough to be featured on RevolverLover some months back so that was an honor for me. Check out his work, kind of a mix of hand-drawn, photo, collage, type etc..

Coachella 2009

I finally did it. Drove out 2 hours into the middle of the desert for a 3 day music/art festival called Coachella. The camp grounds are located on a polo field so it's really clean and comfortable. We camped for 3 days and saw about 24 bands, my favorite being Atmosphere, a hip-hop legend from Minneapolis. Here are some shots from the weekend. 

Crazy Fonts

YouWorkForThem has a nice free font up right now. Get it here!

Some nice fonts for free here:

Drawing

Drew these up for a client last night. T-shirt graphics for young demo..

New Music

Couple albums I'm currently obsessed with.

SilverSun Pickups - I know, their music sounds like old Smashing Pumpkins and the male singer sounds like a little girl, but I can't stop listening to it..The album art is pretty refreshing too.

DJ Premier - I love listening to this guy while I'm working. So basically he's on a lot! He's got a bunch of instrumentals that just put you in the zone.

SuperChunk - They've been around since the late 80's and they still bring it. Just saw them at Coachella this year so I've been bumping Cup of Sand and No Pocky for Kitty.

Other bands getting the spin:

The Valley Arena

Portugal the Man

A Skylit Drive

Doves

Sage Francis

Loving these

Just a few photos of some nicely designed houses/apartments. 

Credit: ffffound.