Ward Jenkins' "Sorrow"

Man, he totally knocked last week's Illustration Friday topic outta the park. Damn.
http://wardomatic.blogspot.com/2005/02/illustration-friday-sorrow.html

Random Thoughts: February 26th, 2005

• Many thanks to all the folks that came out to our social and made it a success. It was an opportunity to re-accquaint ourselves with old comrades and talk sh** about a certain RRC higher-up. Good times.
• If you get a chance, visit mcenroe's junk drawer to wish him a belated happy birthday and download some MP3s. Word!
• I took a short trip stateside (Grand Forks) yesterday with Sarah. I've got enough Peanut Butter Capt. Crunch and Nutter Butters for several months. I must consume the prime rib at Whitey's the next time I'm there...it's ORGASMICALLY good.
• Minus the half-assed bacon (or as Sarah calls it, "fake-on"), the Hardee's Monster Thickburger does me right. So there.
  
• I gotta thank all the folks that visit this weblog and my gigposters.com peoples for emotionally proping me up the past couple of days. I've got enough fuel to keep me going. Peace.
  

I'm Number 10! I'm Number 10!

The last time I checked, I was #10 with a bullet at gigposters.com top 150 referrers! Many thanks, folks.
http://www.gigposters.com/links.php

Illustration Friday: "Sorrow"

Wallowing In It, 2005 • graphite and Photoshop®

Y'know when you're busy beating yourself up, and all you hear is white noise in your head (or some mental equivalent)? That's what this is about. I've spent many late nights bitching about my lot in life (minus the bottle this dude is holding, I don't drink). I try not to do that anymore. Yup.

Free Sexy Negro Desktop

I was bored.

Illustration Friday: "Flight"

Muta Slays Another, 2005 • Graphite and Pentel Brush Pen

Just like my man Troy, this was an opportunity to mess with shading, and bring some volume to stuff I usually rock in a flat way. I'm also trying to get the thick/thin line quality going. I'm really digging the Pentel Brush Pen, it's quite reliable. The reference for this piece can be found here. It's the Great Muta (aka Keiji Mutoh) attempting a moonsault on the late (and also great) Eddie Gilbert. It's like I'm in grade 5 again, and everyhing reminds me of wrestling, including this week's topic. I think the actual blame lies with Jaime Hernandez's Locas: The Maggie and Hopey Stories, which I've been reading at home for more than a week. My love affair with Jaime's work first came about with Whoa, Nellie!, but until I read Locas, I didn't realize just how big a part wrestling played in his Love and Rockets stuff. I just finished it last night, and I'm gonna start it again. There's so many subtle things in his work.
For kicks, here's a similarly-themed piece that I did almost two years ago:



Props to ImageShack for hosting my images. Use 'em...they rule!

EDIT: In the Muta illustration, I forgot to mention that Guy Burwell's use of foreshortening was a big influence on me, too.

The Match That Shaped Pro Wrestling

Cool article on Hackenscmidt vs. Gotch:
http://www.wrestleline.com/columns/plancha/plancha021605.shtml

There's other shit that needs to be done...

...but I gotta shed some light on some fellow gigposter-rers making noise:

• Whitey Houston is a damn good poster-maker and one kick-ass musician. Here's his latest killer poster, his other posters, and his website, where you can download some of his MP3 treats. Word.
• The Nein (featuring Casey Burns and Dale Flattum) now have a video for their single "War Is On the Stereo". See it on their site, or go to sonicunyon.com for a higher quality version.
• Have you see Jay Ryan's cover for Michael Chabon's new book? Act like you know!

Now, if you'll excuse me, I have some long-overdue DVDs to return. Peace.

Type Assignment Part Two

This is part two, here's part one.

Hop on over to POP77...

...and grab this mix while it's still up. Pure dopeness.
P77 - 024
A fitting tribute to Ossie Davis and the film that brought him to my consciousness.

Illustration Friday: "Year of the Rooster"

El Pollo Loco or The Ladies Love The Cock, 2005 • Graphite and Pentel Brush Pen

I just had to do this, even though there are more pressing issues at hand. Several influences on this one:

• Joel Trussel's Cartoon Cockfight
• House of Buggin'
• Ong-Bak
• the recent stories about cockfighting in Louisiana
• My ever-increasing 312 pound frame (yup, it's self-caricature)
• Foghorn Leghorn (of course)

Now I can truly concentrate on other stuff. Happy Chinese New Year, y'all!

P.S.: On an unrelated note, do yourself a favor and pick up Jaime Hernandez's Locas: A Love And Rockets Book. I'm in love with it, totally.

Pip Skid/mcenroe MP3s!

Just under the scathing review of Buck 65's latest material are some MP3s from the Pip Skid/mcenroe double EP. For anybody that's asked me about how stuff on the Peanuts and Corn label sounds, here's your chance to sample the goods.
http://razorbladerunner.cadenceweapon.com/2005/02/bucky-done-gone.html

Social Poster

I'm such a sucker.

http://www.gigposters.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?topic=30573
*sigh*

Illustration Friday: "Friendship"

My Old Lady Is My Best Friend, Eh?, 2005 • graphite, ink, stolen photo and Photoshop®

People like this still exist in Winnipeg. You don't have to look hard, one of them will appear eventually.
The female of the "banger" species in her 40s is often referred to as a "cougar" and can be found at almost any dive bar. I kinda like 'em.
I was thinking of Heavy Metal Parking Lot when I was doing this. I've only seen clips, but boy, is that s**t hilarious!
I had two prelim sketches for this one. The second had the guy grabbing the girl's breast, but I didn't think that was appropriate for something as family-oriented as this.



I'd like to give props to ImageShack® for hosting my images. Give 'em a go, they're cool.

Press Happenings!

• In this month's URB, peep page 96 for a four star review of mcenroe & Birdapres' Nothing Is Cool!
• Grab a copy of Exclaim! this month to check the handiwork of my friend and mentor Stephen Boychuk on page 35. Rockin'!
• Oh yeah...you might see my name in that issue of Exclaim! a couple of times. No biggie.

EDIT: I neglected to mention that my man Greg Oakes has his train from the "Tag The System" show in the latest issue of Juxtapoz (page 53). Way to go!