Dr. Furious

Some of you know from experience and some of you don't but one thing I like to do in my free time is send postcards to people with drawings instead of writing. The problem with that is I can't post them on my blog until that person gets it in the mail, lest I spoil the surprise (assuming they even read this blog on a regular basis). Yes, I'm also vain and scan the postcards into my computer for my own records since I enjoy my work so much. I've been assured that the recipient of this piece of mail has received it.

The front of the postcard has an image of Darth Vader invading the rebels from the first scene in "A New Hope," where Leia tries to convince Vader that they're on a diplomatic mission to Alderaan. It was cut out from the record sleeve of the Star Wars soundtrack I found at the Bins. I still have some left and no idea who to send them to so if you'd like one you better speak up now and hope I have your address.

Tomorrow I start my first day of work wrapping burritos and I have to be there at eight am so I better get some shuteye. Goodnight!

E.T.

E.T. has been rather prevalent in my life lately, which is strange considering the movie is 27 years old.

Over 5 years ago I bought some ridiculous "E.T. Ultimate Gift Set" at Costco which includes a book on the making of E.T., two versions of the film, the soundtrack, a certificate of authenticity, and a frame from the film. Now, why I felt I needed to own the "Ultimate Gift Set" is beyond me. Especially considering that I never once watched the movie after I bought it until very recently. I also now have a thrift store E.T. puzzle (2 pieces missing), and a vintage E.T. pillowcase given to me for Valentine's Day (thanks Swoops).

For one reason or another this alien has stuck around and continued to have an impact on people throughout the years. A few things I've noticed upon the latest viewing:

- the added CG to the 2002 version is lame and completely unnecessary.
- Reese's Pieces should be forever grateful to the film for keeping them alive. Sales went up 65% after the movie came out. Do you ever think of the candy without thinking of the movie? I didn't think so. That's great marketing.
- E.T. is a lot of fun to draw and surprisingly easy.
- All the kids in the movie dress fucking awesomely and make me want to only dress like cast members of E.T. from now on. Following are the only pictures I could find that even partially illustrate my point.






I'm still working on that wedding invitation and will hopefully have something to post shortly.

Hey, they can't all be pretty...

I honestly have no idea where this came from, so don't ask.

Asher sits pensively in a Communist pizza parlor in Budapest on a rainy April day.

W is for Wistful Walrus

Aside from Bears, Walruses have always been a favorite of mine. Here's a Walrus looking wistfully into the distance as "Wanted for Life" by David Byrne and Brian Eno plays. Another animal whose appearance fascinates me: the Moose (no visual accompaniment... yet).

I'm currently making headway on the invitation illustration for the wedding of Erin Ferns and Andrew Lee which is pretty exciting, but aside from that I have no concrete projects lined up. I guess it'll be a good time to work on my own projects which I haven't done in a while. I went to "Last Thursday" in the Alberta art district last night and as always I saw some cool stuff, some terrible stuff, and a lot of stuff that made me think "I can do better than that." I've always shied away from studio art, but a lot of the stuff being shown over there isn't typical of how we think of studio art. It's actually more akin to band art, or something you might find at Giant Robot. My favorite gallery over there is the Together Gallery and Last night marked the opening of their new show, "Journey Through Bookland" which had some excellent pieces. Selections from the exhibition can be viewed on their website.

I also recently constructed a makeshift light table using an old frame+glass that I found in my basement, propped up on my speakers with my bedside reading lamp shined under it. Who needs a functional and well equipped studio?? *Sigh* I'm like the hobo version of a real artist.

Judy is a Zombie.

My friend pretends she is a zombie. The heart above was a sketch for a larger Valentine's day project.

Sock it to me!

A local sock company is looking for artists to create new "hip" sock designs. I've always been a huge fan of socks so I immediately jumped at the opportunity and came up with these pattern ideas as a sort of resume. What would YOUR ideal sock look like?

It Melts Like Butter

One of the reasons I haven't been blogging much lately is because I've been working hard to complete this t-shirt design for Bay Area band "The Buttercream Gang." This dog belongs to the drummer, depicted here as a wild and heroic snow dog.

You can check out tracks from their new self released album "Drumalley" at www.myspace.com/buttercreamgang.

Old World Correspondance

I decided to cheat a little bit and post something from this past summer. This is the inside of a letter I illustrated in the style of an old nautical map. I did a bit of research for this one using the ole' interwebs to find authentic looking Maritime illustrations and I combined the elements that I liked into the drawing below. If you click on the tiny image below it will take you to a much larger one. This is encouraged by management.



I really like this style and wish it wasn't so time consuming, otherwise I would probably draw in it more frequently. It would be more apt for an etching so that multiple copies could be made and sold as individual greeting or post cards.

A Fever Sleeves T-Shirt

Three and half years after its original conception the Fever Sleeves Squid shirt has finally come to fruition. Available at www.myspace.com/feversleeves. Also in black with green ink.
$12.00
Postage Paid.

And just so you can see how far it's come: Here is the original drawing.