Our Peace Day 2011

Peace Day 2011 is right around the corner! August 14th actually, but close enough. The organizers asked me to do another poster, so I snazzed up the image a bit from last year, staying with the same theme, check it! Large scale prints are available through my Etsy store, proceeds donated to charity on Peace Day.

Oh, and check our their new website.

www.OURPEACEDAY.com

There's a Facebook event page as well.
HERE
Join up, spread the word, share it on your wall, invite your friends to participate.

Art Brut Comic

I was approached by the band Art Brut a couple months ago to do a comic for their upcoming album. Very cool. The new album is really good, came out last week. 10 different artists including Bryan Lee O'Malley (Scott Pilgrim series), Hope Larson ( "Mercury"), Jamie Mckelvie (Brilliant Tragic album illustrator and "Phonogram: Rue Britannia") and Jeff Lemire ( illustrated Satan vs Art Brut) and myself were each to interpret one of the 10 new songs acting as a companion to the release of their new studio album "Brilliant Tragic!" produced by Black Francis. I had total creative freedom to do whatever I wanted. I chose the album's final song "Sealand". It was a blast to do, much more to come about this project. In the meantime, here's a sneak peak...

American Illustration 30

This image I did last year "Japanese Snow Monkey Drinking Hot Tea #1" was recently honored by being chosen for American Illustration 30! The slide show of all the other winners was just released, check em out here. It's #271 out of 509. I'm thrilled to be hanging out with such high caliber company. To infinity... and beyond!

It's also available here as a print on my Etsy account, all proceeds to Japan Red Cross.

GHOST GIRL Custom Show

I got a mysterious phone call a couple weeks ago. A distorted bass heavy voice straight outta the movies said "You have been chosen to take part in the MATT SIREN Ghost Girl Custom Show at myplasticheart in NYC on Friday May 13th."

Ok cool, I was in. Got a succession of calls for the course of the next couple days with details about the event and I was off and running.

I got a big cube of compressed styro foam and magic sculpt, and started cutting and chipping away. Had a vision of snake body and kinda went from the there. Got the sculpture "bug" now big time and plan on doing a bunch of customs of my SHAPE characters this summer, 3D!

I deemed my piece "Salamander Girl"!

Before I dropped her off at the show, she took a quick pit stop in a local garden to freshen up.

The reception was really fun. Met a bunch of super cool and talented artists. There were so many great pieces from the likes of 64Colors, Royce Bannon, Steve Chanks, Chauskoskis, Darkcloud, Dril One, j*ryu & Brent Nolasco, Jester, Keely, Abe Lincoln Jr., Map Map, Marka27, Lou Pimentel, Reactor88, Marc Reusser, Todd Robertson, Robots Will Kill, Chris Ryniak, Matt Siren, Scott Tolleson, Julie West, Wheelbarrow & Wrona.

The show is up till June 12th, def stop on by if you are in the area. - 210 Forsyth St. in the LES. NY, NY. You have see them up close to truly appreciate them. Drooling is allowed.

Here are just a couple examples.

Matt Siren

Chauskoskis

Wrona

Oh, I also did a Ghost Girl gilcee print, riffing on Ms. Pac Man.
Limited edition of 50, signed and dated. Get me quick!

Bye-bye! Come visit me in person!

CRAZY MONSTERS Art Show Pics

Here's the collection I hung at the Toy Tokyo Underground Gallery last week. The Crazy Monster show will be up through this weekend so swing by right quick!


I created a SHAPES grid of 88 characters, including 20 updated ones from high school, the Magical Tales Gang of 28, The 34 New Brethren, plus 6 new ones from last month.




Then I started mapping out the Land in which the live. Locales include Castle Ramburger, The Puddles of Pain, Rizzakistan, The Bleeding Lake, Boca Ratoni's Radical Chamber, Mishroom City, Big Biscuit Canyon, Corriander's Puffs & Potions, Hallover Opera House, The Perfumed Meadows and many more. What fun! It took up over 2 GB of memory. Will post up some detail shots soon.

Psssst! I'm currently building a separate website for all my fantasy and creature based works. Check out www.castlemcquade.com for a sneak peak close ups of this imagery.

Then I framed some signed giclee prints of certain characters.

Top Row (l-r) Roja Serious the Clock Cleaner, Ramburger the Chancellor, Queen Nadya of Pollen Nation. Middle Row (l-r) Dr. Broccoli, Jerry Chops the Skip, Simyan Tong the Constable. Bottom Row (l-r) Figgy Fondue the Admiral, Boca Ratoni & Detective Snargent.

Oh, that's me, rockin a new beard! haha

I was really thrilled about how the collection went over. Most people really enjoyed it, but some were extra intrigued, just staring and pointing at the map and characters with bemused and interested faces, giggling with their friends for a long while, seemingly lost in the world before them. Their eyes slowly examining the various nooks and crannies of the landscape and characters. Was awesome to see. They get what I am doing and were really soaking it up.

It was a fantastic time, I met a lot of great new people and I saw a ton of inspiring artwork. See this previous post for details and the list of talented artists.

This summer I am going to be turning my attention towards the fantasy/childrens book genre. I have many tales of my own to illustrate and create comics of, but will also be doing interpretations of familiar fairy tales. Really excited towards returning to these roots.

SHAPES are BACK!

Detail of the SHAPES Map, just a little itsy bitsy taste.

Revisited High School SHAPES done in 2011

Pure 2011

WOW, what a great time at the Crazy Monsters Show tonight! Going to be posting a ton of artwork and photos from the show this weekend - Stay tuned...

Baby Portraits

"Francesca"

In other, more life-affirming, news...

BABIES!!! Babies, babies, babies! I'm doing custom baby portraits now if you are interested. This one is 10x13" inset on 11.75"x15.75". Done digitally, printed out on fine art photo rag with archival inks.

Osama Bin Laden is DEAD

I can't believe the news. Wow, we finally got him. Was so pumped I pulled an all nighter to get this done. "It's a feel good morning in America!" - John "Coach" Karbacz

I know!! You're right, America is not about stuff like this. I kinda shocked myself by doing it, at least this graphically. I started last night around midnight and by 9am this is what I had done. I posted it. What now? This is a very controversial image that I keep going back and forth on. Did I go too far? Yes, I'm a little ashamed of it, but then I think about 9-11 and the towers and the horror of that day, the feeling I had... the people that died. I currently live in Brooklyn, and lived in New York City on 9-11. I'm still kinda paralyzed by it, speechless. Sometimes I go by Ground Zero and just stare and remember... I am not a violent person but I did do this portrait. As an artist I must stand by it. It does go too far, but yes, burn in Hell bin Laden. In doing this I wanted to shatter the image of Osama Bin Laden as a untouchable force, an undefeatable monster, the boogie man - and replace that image with this. I wanted to show him beaten, broken, beheaded like the gorgon Medusa. As a catharsis for myself, for America and the world. For all to see. He is DEAD. Justice has been done.

"Bring me the head of Osama Bin Laden" has been in back of people's minds for a while. This is the realism of that, not pretty. Modeled after Perseus holding up the head of Medusa. Careful, he might turn you into stone.