Outside Lands Music Festival

It’s been a long weekend. I was hired along with a handful of other artist friends to do live painting for JUXTAPOZ at this 3-day music festival. I ended up painting with my buddy, Sam Flores on a couple murals. We ended up working on Friday and Sunday (resting on Saturday).

We got there before it all opened on Friday so we could set up and get a feel for it before all the crowd got there. We were set up on the Polo Grounds in Golden Gate Park here in SF. It was your typical festival with big crowds, constant music, more port-o-potties than I’ve ever seen in my life, $9 beers and so on.

We had a wall set up near these huge windmills which made for a pretty cool entrance.

 

The walls we were painting on were laid out in a triangle shape with artists on each side and each wall measured 8′x24′

 

The day before I decided I’d do a drawing, take it to Kinko’s to blow it up, wheat paste it and then just paint over it. I knew it would be hot and crowded so I didn’t want to have to think too hard there and rather have fun. I ended up doing a drawing of an orangutan hunched over and drawing on the ground.

 

I pasted it up and made Sam sweat a bit because by posting up the drawing I had instant results and he got to play catch up. The idea I came up with was this orangutan is drawing a bunch of chicken scratch but what he sees in his head is beautiful (Sam handled what he saw in his head). Here we are getting it going.

 

I didn’t get as many progress shots as I’d like because it was so easy to get caught up working and talking to people. SF Gate did, however. They are the local newspaper website for the SF Chronicle and they got a progress shot of it when they were covering the festival.

 

Here it is pretty much wrapped up…

 

Now for the finishing touch…

 

We almost always had a decent crowd around us hanging out and watching the progress..

 

On Sunday Sam and I returned and collaborated on a whole new wall. I stuck with what worked and made another orangutan poster. I stuck with the orangutan because people seemed to dig it and… because I had plenty of orange paint left from Friday. I didn’t get any progress shots on this one. We’ll fast forward to the end result…

 

Sam did a girl with a dragon head dress behind it.

 

Here was our view of the main stage.

 

 

More. People.

Mural Friday

So, this is a glimpse as to how I spent my afternoon. My buddy, Nick, wanted a mural in his bedroom because the room was sad and didn’t have the “I live here” look. So, I biked over to his house with tools in hand and fixed it up. He and his lady lounged and watched it go down. We had Indian food, drank Smirnoff Ice, listened to The Doors, Beatles, Fleetwood Mac, etc… and I just painted away. The swirls in the bottom left hand side is where his head will be on his pillow. Not a bad way to spend a day…

Pic proof that I was in Orlando

I’d make a crappy mother because I don’t take enough photo’s. In any event I figured I’d share some pics of my time in Orlando. It’s 4-something in the morning and I figured I’d get some pics off of my camera while drinking wine and eating cheese (no joke… I’m actually out of beer and whiskey… it happens). So… let’s get at it…

They had us set up outside in the back parking lot of a framing store. We were working on two sheets of sheetrock which measured eight feet square. This is the progress of my piece…

Here are some of the other guys making art happen…

More art stuff…

While I was in Orlando they rented a Lotus for me to get around town in…

As you can see it was a tight fit…

This pic may seem kinda random but it’s proof of something in a few ways. It’s proof of the hotel I stayed at as well as being proof of the second floor roof I jumped off of into the pool some 8 times in the two nights I was there. There should be a video of it soon to follow. I’ll be sure to edit out the fact that I was naked

Here’s a shot of my finished mural with a couple originals hanging on it at the show.

And for the final picture we have a group shot of a bunch of the artists after the show. I always thought group shots like these lacked interest so I decided I’d improve on it by dropping my pants. Why not? Life is too short to live it with a stick up your ass. I might point out that the only lady in the mix is taking notice. Everyone else feared it.

I’m heading to Orlando, Florida!

I’m really excited about this art show I am taking part in all the way over in Orlando at the Cameo Theater in Downtown. I’m one of 20-something artists who will be participating in this event. Each artist will be doing a 7′x7′ wall/mural and each artist will also be displaying other original art which will be for sale. This event is so damn big that it will have two opening nights. There is a lot of buzz around this event. I will only be in attendance for the opening night on Friday and will miss Saturday night. I’ll be more than happy to do sketches and talk shop so come on by if you are anywhere near it. All the info is on the flier below. I hope to see ya there!

Yet ANOTHER time-lapse video…

This one just got tossed up on the web so I figured I would share. This mural is nearly a year old and the video was put together by Ante UP. It’s from when I had a solo show at the Upper Playground Gallery  in Portland. Enjoy!

WATCH NOW!

Live Painting November 7th

Hey guys. Just wanted to let you know that I will be out doing some live painting on Saturday, November 7th. It will be for a Four G’s Issue Release Party. I was fortunate enough to be interviewed/featured in the magazine and am thinking it will make for a really fun night. It will be in San Francisco at Club 6 wich is at 60 6th Street @ Market. I’ll be showing up around 9pm when the doors open. If you are around, swing by and have a drink.

 

Portland solo show

Here I am again with some pics from another awesome solo show. This time I was in Portland, Oregon. The guys at Upper Playground took great care of me. I made a ton of new friends and got a little sauced in the process. Here are a few pics from my week there.

The show is up now and will run until the end of January. So, if you are in the area go check it out…

23 NW 5th Ave.
Portland, OR 97209
[503] 548-4835

Monday – Saturday: 11:00am – 8:00pm
Sunday: 12:00pm – 6:00pm

Let the games begin…

What good is an art show if it doesn’t have a mural?

Mo mural…

It was so damn cold in Portland that I stored my beer outside the hotel on the roof because I didn’t have a fridge in my room.

While walking back to my room I ran into the ceiling light in the walkway and busted it. It was a little odd to explain to the lady at the front desk that I busted a light with my head cuz I didn’t duck. I think it was a first for them.

The glass didn’t stand a chance against my thick head…

It’s show time!

Closer shot of the mural pieces…

Bring it!

Peeps start showing up…

I don’t know what this guy is saying but I bet it’s profound.

Explaining the process…

I always dig meeting guys who have been following my work. That’s the best part about openings. I’m also down to do the occasional sketch as long as I have a beer close by.

One of the many guys at Upper Playground that made drinking fun…

Me and the girlfriend…

Taking a little break the day after the show…

It’s a wrap. Thanks to the whole crew at Upper Playground PDX for a great time.

Time to cram into a plane and fly back home…

BOSTON!

We put our stink all over Boston last weekend. This was the second of three spots on the Sparks Ignite What’s Next Tour. Sam Flores and Alex Pardee were my pARTners in crime. In seemingly typical fashion we came, we saw, we drank, we head-butted, we arted… we enjoyed. Here is a video of the adventure along with some photographic proof… Phoenix is next… 10/04/08… get ready…

The tightest crew in town… L to R: Sam, Short Alex, N8, Tall Alex, Mickey

 

 

 Breaking in the hotel after dinner… 

 

 

Making it rain beer…

 

 

 Sam and I love our sponsor…

  

 

Boston’s finest…

 

 

The kids and our canvas…

 

 

Apparently Sam has nightmares of Alex and I. A dinky shot of the end result…

ATLANTA!

Hey guys,  I just got back from Atlanta. I’m one of the three art clowns on the 2008 Sparks Ignite What’s Next Tour. The short of it is to get three artists together (Sam Flores, Alex Pardee and that N8 guy) and go to various cities and promote Sparks while finger painting live. The first part of the three-part tour was Atlanta and damn is that place hot. People were super cool while we crashed their city on a mission to have fun and make pretty. Here is a small slice beginning with a video and followed by some pics. BOSTON… I’ll kick yer ass this weekend…

 

Sam Flores, Alex Pardee and N8 Van Dyke land in Atlanta (I’m clearly the teacher helping the kids cross the street)…

Time to teach the kids a pool lesson…

We got lost on the way out of the pool hall and ended up at a strip club called the Claremont Hotel…

This guy got a very sad lapdance and ran off to take care of business in the parking lot right afterward…

Sam get’s face deep in Blondie…

Sam with some well hidden Claremont nips… 

The three artists bid “Good Night” to The Claremont…

Time to get some extra supplies at the hardware store. Here’s a shot of my helper, Alex, and I. I rode that thing through the store for 20 minutes and nobody said a thing…

A very small sample of our weapons…

Time to make a mess…

My first mess…

Sam, Alex and N8 saying later to Atlanta. Boston… yer next…

 

 

 

 

Coming to a city near you (if you live in Atlanta, Boston or Phoenix)…

Hey all,

Looks like I’ll be skipping out on the day job, freelance and life all together to do some live painting. The live mural tour is being sponsored by Sparks and Upper Playground. Buy this tall chimp a beer and watch what he can do. Here’s a lookie at my add for the events…

And here is a link to all the details…

http://newsletter.upperplayground.com/product_newsletter/sparks_ignite_what_s_next_0