Joss Whedon X Gallery1988

Joss stopped by the opening and I was able to snag a shot of him with my artwork!

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A few years ago at San Diego Comic Con, during a Q&A in ballroom 20, someone asked Joss Whedon a question about his favorite fan art. During a very awesome and thoughtful answer, he mentioned that he hoped Gallery 1988 would one day do a tribute to his work with an art show. Well everybody... get ready.

It's no secret that i'm a huge fan of the man. A few years ago I created this tribute to the crew of the Serenity with "River Tam & The Fireflies". That piece really kickstarted my career as a pop-culture artist. As I was working on that idea, I never imagined the places it would take me... The following year for the next Crazy 4 Cult show, I made another one for "Dr. Horrible".  And Then... my amazing wife (girlfriend at the time), Kristin got me hooked on Buffy. I created this "Buffy and the Scoobies" piece for her.

I'm so happy to be a part of this show. I've been a Joss fan for years, and I can't wait to see all of the artwork at the show! When I was planning out what to do for my solo show "Storytime", the first three things I wrote down on my list of MUSTS for the show was Firefly, Buffy, and Dr. Horrible. When I presented my list to the gallery, they suggested that maybe I put those aside as they had something in the works that those would be perfect for. I got VERY excited, and i'm happy that I finally got to do them.  Without further ado (about nothing)... here's my artwork for the Tribute to Joss Whedon show at Gallery 1988!

Shiny! Get this print by clicking HERE! SOLD OUT!!

Scoobies! Get this print by clicking HERE! SOLD OUT!!

Balls! Get this print by clicking HERE!

This show is going to be amazing, so if you're a fan of Joss Whedon, Buffy, Firefly, Dr. Horrible, Angel, Cabin In The Woods, Much Ado About Nothing, or anything else this creative genius has been responsible for... please, come. You won't want to miss it. Fingers crossed for a Dollhouse piece :)

Also... though it's not a part of this show, my "Avengers" print from my solo show "Storytime" will also be available to purchase at the gallery! Again, this piece is only available through the gallery (at Marvel's request) and not online. So if you're coming out to the show, you can pick one up (unless they're sold out).

The show opens this Friday, September 5th from 7-10pm. I'm sure the turnout is going to be insane, so don't miss out on the fun!

"Joss Whedon X Gallery1988"
Gallery 1988 (West)
7308 Melrose Ave.
Los Angeles, CA 90046
http://www.gallery1988.com

Crazy 4 Cult: 4

It's that time of the year again! Gallery 1988 is holding their 4th annual "Crazy 4 Cult" gallery show. I have participated in several previous shows at Gallery 1988, and they were kind enough to invite me to participate in this show.

Crazy 4 Cult is a gallery show celebrating the unique love for cult movies. According to Wikipedia, "A cult movie is a film that has acquired a highly devoted but specific group of fans.". They kindly provided me with a list of movie suggestions, and as I went through the list, I felt that a lot of them didn't necessarily add up to cult status. Most of them were films that I loved, but I felt there was a sub-genre of space western missing from the list.

I remember seeing the ads for the show Firefly but I can't say that I ever watched it when it was on the air. I guess I wasn't alone in this because the show sadly didn't make it past one season. The show left on somewhat of a cliffhanger, and luckily there was a rabid enough fanbase that someone somewhere at Universal decided it would be a good idea to greenlight the movie "Serenity"

So, when I sat down to think about what movie I wanted to illustrate for the show, I decided I wanted to join the Browncoats . As with the show, I didn't see this movie in it's initial theatrical run, but instead on DVD... which i immediately purchased after blowing through season 1 of Firefly over a weekend. Anyway, one of the things that always seemed unique about the show was the opening theme song. It's a great little ballad written by show creator Joss Whedon that sets the tone perfectly for the entire series. Apparently the NASA astronauts are fans of this song as well, in February of this year they used it as a wakeup call on one of the last shuttle missions. Click HERE for a cool little article about that, including video from the shuttle!

A few years ago I got into collecting Vinyl records with artwork on the front. I've never really had a chance to design an album cover, and when I started thinking about what would be a fun illustration to do for Serenity, I thought since music was such a strong component of the show, that an album would be perfect. I was always a fan of old vinyl art of children's music so I wanted to incorporate a retro feel. It is a known fact that River Tam is a badass, but for now things have taken a lighter direction with "River Tam and the Fireflies"

And here's the back of the album

and the record itself

Since the soundtrack to Serenity wasn't actually released on vinyl, this record contains something special for whoever decides to purchase the full item from the gallery. Here's a quick shot of the finished product

Prints of the cover art will be available to purchase through the gallery as well as my etsy store HERE

So if you're in town July 9th and want to come check out some great artwork by over 100 artists, do yourself a favor and come check out the gallery opening for Crazy 4 Cult at Gallery 1988. Kevin Smith will be there as the host for the evening as well

Crazy 4 Cult: 4 "the case of the redundant number"
July 9th, 2010
7020 Melrose Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90038
http://gallery1988.com/

p.s. I got to meet THE creative genius Joss Whedon last year at a comic-con party... and I just wanted to share this picture because it's awesome! Beards unite!