Storytime 2 @ Gallery 1988!!!

Last year I held my first solo exhibit at Gallery 1988. It featured 50 pieces inspired by some of my favorite Movies, Music, TV Shows and Video Games, all done in the Little Golden Book style. Well, it was a huge success, so they've asked me to come back for "Storytime 2"!!!

Opening Friday, November 6th, 2015 and running for 2 weeks, Storytime 2 will again feature 50 BRAND NEW pieces inspired by more of my favorite Movies, Music, TV Shows and Video Games. This is a very exciting time of year for me, with a few more fun announcements coming up. Stay tuned here and i'll be posting previews of the new artwork from the show! You can also follow me on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook where I'll also be posting previews from the upcoming series!

Preview images will be added to the post leading up to the opening, but mark your calendars, and come on by!

"Storytime 2" @ Gallery 1988 (East)
Opening Friday, November 6th, 2015 7-9pm
7021 Melrose Ave.
Los Angeles, CA 90038
http://www.gallery1988.com
http://www.jo3bot.com

Crazy 4 Cult 8: Back In LA!

Another year has flown by, and it's time for Crazy 4 Cult to return, but this time, it's returned home to the loving arms of Los Angeles.

A few weeks prior to the show opening, I was asked by Gallery 1988 if I would be interested in creating the poster for this years show. 4 years ago I was first invited to be a part of this show that I loved attending. I never imagined that 4 short years later, i'd be creating the main image that encapsulates this renowned gallery exhibit.

My first pass at a title treatment.

It's a huge honor that they would ask me to create this poster, so I knew I wanted to do something very different than what i'm known for in the Gallery. Something that looked unique and iconic, something that subtly referenced the 80's, but felt at home in 2014. Normally, i'd start with a sketch or writing down a list of movies I wanted to include in the piece, but I started with the title, to get the feeling across I was going for.

Character lay-ins for composition

Next up, I gathered some iconic images of characters from movies that I wanted to include in the poster image. I laid them all out in the composition that I felt worked best. The next step was to then create the final artwork over this "sketch". The final poster image is hand drawn (in photoshop...) using this image as the template.

To purchase this 18" x 24" poster, click HERE

After cleaning up all the line work, I added in some Los Angeles specific elements as well as lightning bolts because lightning is AWESOME!

In addition to creating the poster image, I have another entry in my "Storytime" series based off of one of the weirdest, deepest, and most interesting movies i've ever seen...

To purchase this print, click HERE

Crazy 4 Cult is a Gallery 1988 tradition that i've been thrilled to be a part of for the past 4 years. If you stopped by the opening, thanks for coming out! If you're in the Los Angeles area between December 12th - 28th, and you love unique film art, you'll definitely want to check it out!

"Crazy 4 Cult 8: Back In LA"
Dec. 12th - 28th
Gallery 1988 West
7308 Melrose Ave.
Los Angeles, CA 90046
www.gallery1988.com 

"Storytime - A Little Gallery Show" at Gallery 1988!

This is something I never in a million years thought would happen; I had my very own solo show at Gallery 1988 in Los Angeles. I'm a little over a week late in posting this, but it's been such a busy, crazy, exhausting, and time consuming experience, that I'm just now finding the time to sit down and write about it.

Prints from the show (that aren't sold out) are available to purchase by clicking HERE

The show is now in it's last week at the EAST location in Hollywood, and it's been so wonderful to have such a great response to the show.

Late last year, I was asked if I was interested in doing a solo show of my Little Golden Books series. My first thought was, "seriously?". Just over 5 years ago, I left full-time employment, stability (to some extent), a consistent paycheck, and above all, a wonderful group of friends who are all beyond excellent in their respective fields of Video Game development. At the time, being a gallery artist wasn't even a glimmer of a dream, but here I find myself... Interesting how sometimes the best things in life are the things you never expected to happen.

On Friday, August 1st, Gallery 1988 and I opened my first solo show "Storytime" where I took 50 of some of my favorite Movies, Music, TV Shows, and Video Games, and turned them into artwork inspired by the Little Golden Books series. For several months, I worked in secrecy, not even my Wife would see what I had done until it was hanging up on the walls at the gallery.

I'm very proud of this collection of work. The responses I have received from people and press have been overwhelming. I can't thank Gallery 1988 enough for their continued support of my work, and of the work of independent artists from all over, and most of all, if you're reading this, thank you. Thank you for following my work, for supporting what I do, and for helping to allow me to do what I do.

As part of my show, I wanted to do something special with a focus on charity. With the help of the awesome folks at Marvel, I created this one-of-a-kind framed album artwork featuring "The Guardians of the Galaxy". For $5 you can buy a raffle ticket, as many as you want, and when the show closes, we'll draw one winner, and you'll get to take this home! We'll even ship it to you if you live far away! The best part of this is 100% of the proceeds from this raffle with go towards Child's Play Charity.

To purchase a raffle ticket to win this piece, click HERE

Without further ado... here is a small sampling of the work from my show "Storytime - A Little Gallery Show":

To order this print, click HERE

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There's plenty more in the show, so if you're in the LA area, head on down to Gallery 1988 (East) to check out the show! It runs until August 16th! More info below.

"Storytime" at Gallery 1988 (East)
August 1-16th
7021 Melrose Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90038
http://www.gallery1988.com 

Adventure Time @ Gallery 1988!! Mathematical!

Adventure Time

C'mon grab your friends,

We'll go to very distant lands

With Jake the Dog

and Finn the Human

The fun will never end,

It's ADVENTURE TIME!

Gallery 1988 is teaming up with Cartoon Network for an extremely limited time, a gallery show of artwork inspired by the amazingly incredible show, "Adventure Time"!

I remember seeing a clip of Adventure Time a few years back on a blog. The headline was something to the effect of "Adventure Time is your new addiction". How do you not click on that? The show is right up my alley. Inspired by a combination of Dungeons & Dragons (CHECK) and Video-Games (CHECK!) It has such an excellent style that is totally unique and (at the time) completely different than anything i'd seen before, and all of that is thanks to the creative genius, Pendleton Ward.

I'm very excited to be a part of this show. The great thing about Adventure Time is that it inspires creativity not only in children, but in adults too, or like in my case, adult-children. It has a great sense of fun that I hope shows through in my work.

Here are my two prints for the show: 

"The Little Adventurers - Finn and Jake"

To purchase this print, click HERE

"The Little Adventurers - Fionna and Cake"

To purchase this print, click HERE

Both of these will be available in prints that are signed/numbered, as well as framed artwork to purchase at the Gallery!

So, c'mon grab your friends!

To attend you must RSVP! rsvpgallery1988@gmail.com 

"Gallery 1988 and Cartoon Network presents: Adventure Time"

Gallery 1988 (West)

7308 Melrose Ave.

Los Angeles, CA 90046

http://www.gallery1988.com

For The Love of Nintendo - Little Video Game Books Vol. 3

I got a really nice little write-up on one of my favorite game sites Kotaku!
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Nintendo has been going through a rough time lately. This isn't the first time they've found themselves in this position, but this time, something feels different. I have been holding out on picking up an Xbox One or a PS4 until some better games come out, but I recently purchased a Wii U because it has some great games RIGHT NOW.

It's a good little system with some major issues (i'm looking at you gamepad battery life and overall uselessness) But the games... oh the games! They're fantastic! Nintendo has created some of the most memorable characters. I would say that Mario is as important to our culture as Mickey Mouse. I hope Nintendo can get out of this slump they're currently in because their characters and the worlds they have created deserve to succeed. In an industry overrun with space marines and brown post apocalyptic wastelands, Nintendo has injected a much needed sense of adventure, color, and joy into our world. 

In honor of Nintendo, I created three new prints in my ongoing "Little Video Game Books" series. See Vol. 1 HERE and Vol. 2 HERE.  Let's hope Zelda and Metroid get their turn on the Wii U before the sun sets on the embattled little console. 

"The Little Plumber Bros."

To purchase a print, click HERE

"The Happy Little Hunter"

To purchase a print, click HERE

"The Little Hero of Time"

To purchase a print, click HERE

You can also buy all three prints together at a discounted price and save some money that you can use to put towards buying awesome video games! Because who doesn't need more video games in their life?

Order all 3 prints by clicking HERE

Crazy 4 Cult 7 Back in New York!!!

**UPDATE**
Prints are now available to order!! Click HERE
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Gallery 1988 is bringing "Crazy 4 Cult" back to New York City!!! You East Coasters seemed to have a great time at the show last year, so it's happening again (this time in slightly cooler weather). I'm honored to be a part of the show again and i'm blown away by the amazing work coming out of so many talented artists!!

Here's my piece for this years "Crazy 4 Cult 7" show based on the incredible film "Akira"

"Little Akira"

There will be one framed AP (1 of 10) available at the show, along with a limited run of prints! Whatever doesn't sell at the show will go up on sale online the next day, and i'll post that info here as soon as it's available.

So if you're in New York and are a fan of film, art, pop-culture, or large crowds that gather in small spaces, then you won't want to miss Gallery 1988's Crazy 4 Cult show!

"Crazy 4 Cult 7: Back in New York"
Gallery 1988 New York
355A Bowery
New York, NY 10003
http://www.gallery1988.com 

"The Little Hero of Time"

Greetings Internet!

I'm back... I've been pretty busy, so i'm sorry we haven't talked. Next year is a busy year for me, so i've been preparing in the background, setting the table and getting things ready for a delicious feast! Speaking of delicious feasts, Thanksgiving is here! In honor of the holiday, i'm releasing a new print!

"The Little Hero of Time"

To purchase a print click HERE

"The Legend of Zelda" came into my life when I was 6 years old. Released in 1986, this was not just a video-game to me, Zelda was a revelation. My world had changed, and it's future was all about video-games. Zelda games are a great way to mark a specific time in my life. "A Link To The Past" took up a lot of my early teenage years and carried me through High-School. "Ocarina of Time" was a pretty awesome way to spend my first Christmas break from College. "The Wind Waker" congratulated me on graduating from Art Center in 2003, and was my only friend when I moved up to San Francisco and away from my family for the first time. And here we are at the end of 2013. I'm replaying through The Wind Waker in HD on my Wii U. A 3DS sequel to my 2nd favorite Zelda game, "A Link Between Worlds" has just been released and I can't wait to play it. Zelda is awesome, and I love it a lot! I still have my original NES cartridge after all these years:

If you're new to my work, this is one more piece in an ongoing series of prints where I combine some of my favorite video-games with Little Golden Books.  You can see more of them HERE and HERE.

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This part of the post originally contained info about my Black Friday - Cyber Monday sales, but since that's over, i've removed it..

Don't be a stranger! You can always follow me on Twitter and Facebook! Stop on by, I'd love to hear from you.

"Crazy 4 Cult: Say Hi To The Bad Guy" at Gallery 1988

Crazy 4 Cult is back home at Gallery 1988 in Los Angeles, CA! For this show, they decided to change things up a bit, and so the artists are focusing on villains from Cult movies.

The first two villains that came to my mind are actually the real heroes of the movies in my opinion. Stan Winston has created some of the most memorable characters ever to appear on film, and these two characters in particular are among his best. His brilliant knowledge for making incredibly realistic creatures come to life made my childhood just a little more terrifying since watching those movies at an inappropriate age. Thank you Stan Winston for scaring the crap out of me as a kid, and for inspiring a generation of young people to pick up their pencils or clay or a keyboard or whatever we could get our hands on, and start creating.

Here are my prints inspired by the films "Alien" and "Predator" that will be available at the gallery:

"Facehugs For Everyone!"

To purchase a print, click HERE! 

"The Hungry Little Hunter"

To purchase a print, click HERE! 

If you're unfamiliar with Crazy 4 Cult, it's an awesome series that Gallery 1988 has been doing annually for several years now. There is a new book that just came out that compiles a lot of incredible artwork from some extremely talented artists. You can pick the book up by clicking HERE.

"Crazy 4 Cult: Say Hi To The Bad Guy"
Gallery 1988 West
7308 Melrose Ave.
Los Angeles, CA 90046
http://www.gallery1988.com

Little Video Game Books Vol. 2

Hello internet!

Earlier this year, I created a series of prints where I combined Little Golden Books with what I felt were a few video games that were instant classics. You can read more about those by clicking HERE.  The response was excellent, and because I had so much fun creating them, I went ahead and made a few more!

This generation of consoles has lasted much longer than any of the previous ones and with that, we've had some incredible gaming experiences. More so than I can remember with any other console generation. As I said before, I wanted this series to look back at games that have had a huge impact on not only me, but on the industry as a whole. I felt Red Dead Redemption, Half-Life 2 and Mass Effect were a worthy follow-up to my previous series. I hope you guys and gals dig 'em!

I love video games, I love Little Golden Books... and I loved combining them into the artwork you see below.

"Don't be too eager to grow up. It ain't as much fun as it looks."

To purchase a print, click HERE

"So, wake up, Mister Freeman. Wake up and... Smell the ashes." 

To purchase a print, click HERE

"I'm sorry, I'm having trouble hearing you- I'm too busy playing with my toys."

To purchase a print, click HERE

             

You can order all 3 prints together! Click HERE

I hope you enjoy these as much as I enjoyed making them!

Edgar Wright @ Gallery 1988!!

**Update**
"Shaun of the Dead" prints are available to purchase by clicking HERE **SOLD OUT**
"Hot Fuzz" prints are available to purchase by clicking HERE **SOLD OUT**
"The World's End" prints sold out at the show opening!
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"Shaun of the Dead", "Hot Fuzz", and now "The World's End" make up what writer/director Edgar Wright has deemed "Three Flavours Cornetto Trilogy". They're three relatively different films in that their only main connection is that they're written/directed by Edgar Wright, they all star Simon Pegg and Nick Frost, and at some point, Cornetto ice cream cones are eaten in each movie. That's an excellent basis for a trilogy in my opinion.

With "The World's End" opening next week, Gallery 1988 has teamed up with Edgar Wright to celebrate his career with artwork portraying his various projects. I adore his films, and I absolutely cannot wait to see what he does with Ant-Man for Marvel in a few years. The footage he showed off at San Diego Comic Con last year was incredible, and I think there's no better director than Edgar Wright for that project.

When I started working on ideas for what I wanted to do for this show, I felt drawn to doing three pieces, based off of the trilogy. I love combining things that are clearly not for kids with things that clearly are only for children. So what better way to take these three films, and turn them into children's books!

Limited signed/numbered prints of each piece will be available at the gallery! I'll also have framed #1 prints on the wall.
(I'll provide links for online sales whenever they're available)

There will be some VERY special guests showing up to the opening, so if you can make it, please come early, as the line will no doubt be insane. 

"The Official Edgar Wright Show"

Gallery 1988 West

7308 Melrose Ave.

Los Angeles, CA 90046

http://www.gallery1988.com