Octo Corporate

I remember seeing this color scheme used somewhere (probably on a flier), and jotted it down. I liked the black against the purple, so, when I went and sketched up this illustration I did for an editorial cartoon, I had these colors ready to go.

Here's the somewhat finished artwork (octopus armbands were added later).

Merry Christmas!

From the TFU crew!

1985 Display 2

Another display, this one a bit more ambitious. The prints on this guy were a bit muted, and the paper was thicker than usual, so, cutting this out made me and up butchering the cardboard more than I'd liked. And some of the print got warped when glueing which looks pretty bush league.. Great learning experience though, and inspiring me to make a new one for every book:

Backgrounds

One of my favorite parts of a project is development and painting of backgrounds. These can be the most relaxing part, in that you can get lost in them, and not worry about how incidental these will be to a piece as opposed to foreground elements which are focused on. Here's some examples:

Biz Puncher

Here's another old GIF used waaaay back for an old video. Scroll your browser down keeping your eye on the top of the screen.

The Bay Bronx Bridge REMIX

Just got through turning out label art for the new Kutmasta Kurt Remix single. It's gonna be a limited release and features some great guest producers, Pre-order here:

The Cliftons!

I was commissioned to create this about a year ago. I'd never seen the band in person, but, from what I've heard, they live up to their namesake (being Tony Clifton). Pure mayhem. I'd heard that since I'd finished this, some of the band members had left or been replaced, but, the band was greatful nevertheless.

Waltz With Bashir

Though I've always been interested in the look of this film, especially the use of familiar techniques of animation,, the story told here stuck with me. It's a first hand account of the 1982 Israel/Lebanon conflict, and, in particular, a massacre that occurred in which scores of civilians were slaughtered.

The main character hold s a series of interviews and somewhat surreal re-enactments of the actual events that occurred back in 1982, being that he's been struck with amnesia since, and is tormented by a pack of 26 dogs.

In watching the 'making of' parts on the DVD, they use a system of animation that involves multi-layered Flash elements, 3D enviornments, and interesting compositing methods. The combination gives the story and surreal look and really captures well the fog of war and the denial that comes along with it. A very brave story along with an interesting medium makes this an unforgettable movie.

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Meltdown Comics who were cool enough to give me a pole position in the shop. Very cool indeed! A lot of competition in that neighborhood!

Chinese Factory

A friend of mine just got back from Beijing and took some great photos. Never before have you seen a place so old, yet so new. A place with thousands of years of history that isnt taking one nostalgic look back. Some of the factroy photos (that I guess he snuck) we're amazing. Ever wonder where you're stuff is made?

China

I worked on a project once that involved toy packaging. The toy was a 'finger skate' that we would place our own artwork on, and the vendor was in China. That basically meant sending any and all art files to China, which was always a bit nebulous and chaotic. This back in the 90's so, our systems of trade weren't exactly 100% yet.

The project ended up being canceled, and an actual toy company ended up released the 'finger skates' , now called 'Tech Decks'. My original package design had included a somewhat silly instructions on the back that were more of a 'I wonder if they'll actually print this?' type of thing.

Years later, I'm living in  another city, and I'm at a '99 Cent store'. I just happen to stumble upon a generic looking finger skate toy on the shelf with some cheesy design on the front. I look at the back of the packaging, and lo and behold, it's my artwork! My guess is, the disc the art was on floated around a Chinese factory, and ended up being up for grabs.

Chris Cunningham

This man is filed under my "why don't we see more stuff by him!!" file. Of all the perpetual crap that adorns our culture, it was nice to discover this man's video work. My first exposure was the 'Squarepusher' music video. Which still gives me that tingly feeling, like being on a first date. Truly amazing.

Initially he was brought on by David Fincher, then, Kubrick to develop designs and concepts for 'AI. Most know his video work for Aphex Twin and Bjork. There was a rumor flying around for a while that he was set to direct a film version of Ranxerox (I couldn't believe this news when I heard it), but apparently the film was scrapped after studios had concerns of the films "market viability".....

Anyways, the work from this man never ceases to amaze me. Lately he worked on a photo shoot for the hip magazine Vice. As far as I know, the last actual video he created was the short film 'Rubber Johnny". See below:

And while you're at it, if you're a fan of horror films, and I ain't talkin Lost Boys here, do check out "Let The Right One In"!