Had a pretty packed labor day weekend that that started on Saturday after finishing a bunch of shirts for Vans and a new one for Iron Fist. First, Joshua Smith (Hydro 74) and I hit up the Tried and True Tattoo Expo in Orlando. Josh got some dope type inked on his forearm and wrist by tattoo artist and type master BJ Betts. I also got to catch up with a bunch of tattoo artist friends who were in Orlando for the weekend. Shout-outs to Jason June, Greu, Nick Stagall, Dave Cavalcante, Denise Pase, Dan Loose, KnuckleDown, Scott White and all the other dudes at the expo.

On Sunday, my girl Michelle, Emily Dwyer and I went over to check out the surf rock inspired art show over at the Vitale Gallery. The show was dope. Along with the great artwork, they themed out the space, had a live surf rock band and a bikini fashion show to put it over the top. Props to Johnny Vitale for another great opening. I had a small hand in currating some artists for the show. Thanks to Dan Loose, Rob Schwager, Mike Siezmore, Daryl Mosher, Gary Brickel, Greu and Sara Greubel for being in the show! Click here for some more photos from the opening.

After the Vitale show and eating way too much sushi at Samurai Blue, Michelle, Emily and My friend Matt headed over to the Sweat Shop art show at the Czar in Ybor City. The exhibit featured visual artists, Fashion designers, DJ’s and a few bands. Emily and I got wasted and partied like creeps while Matt and Michelle pretended to be civilized human beings. Props to Nessie for putting it all together. It was a great turnout. Filling all 3 giant rooms at the Czar is no small feat. Above are my three finished pieces in the show. They came out really dope. If anyone needs local large format printing check out Simple Living off 1st Ave and 11th St. in Downtown St. Pete. Great quality and nice prices.

Check out this rad art show of Darth Vader helmets that opened at Celebration Japan. Here’s some links to see more: Flickr Rebel Scum

I’ve just finished the third illustration for the Sweat Shop art show. This piece is based on the half elephant, half dragon, mythological, Thai creature named Taktor. This piece will be printed on archival paper at 36×48″, mounted to a wooden box and acrylic, clear varnished. I also did a shirt version of this creature for Steadfast Brand Clothing. I believe it’s sold out right now, but you can check their site here to see if it’s available. Come see ‘em all in person on Sunday August 31st (Labor Day) The Czar always does a great job with there shows, so It should be a good time. Let me know if your coming out and we’ll party

I’m working on a series of 3 – 36 x 48 in. illustrations for the “Sweat Shop” art show opening on August 31st at the Czar in Ybor City. This is the second in the series to go with the Tiger Samurai piece and another one I’m finishing now. Should be a pretty cool set of work for the show. I like printing my pieces large and mounting them to wood. It’s nice to see all that detail that can get lost when printing on t-shirts. Color is a bitch though. It takes twice as long to add all of the shading and multiple colors. It always seems fun at first but after a couple hrs. of adding shading I’m usually over it. Check this one out and let me know what you think. You can see the images bigger if you click on ‘em.

I just uploaded this to Design By Humans, a pretty dope site for T-shirt artists. It’s much like Threadless, but a bit more sophisticated in designs and printing capabilities. I originally created this piece for Burton but it wasn’t picked up. Go check it out and vote for it.

So, I’ve finished the Samurai Tiger piece up in Photoshop. I think it’s looking pretty cool. I’m going to put it on hold for a bit and come back to it to see if there are any more updates I need to make before printing it out at 36in x 48in and mounting it to a wooden box. Leave a comment and let me know what you think

Just finished the vector drawing of this piece and am getting ready to place it into Photoshop to add some texture and background patterns to really make it come alive. I really like working in vectors but they always look a bit to clean for my taste, especially when color is involved. You can click on the image to get a bigger view. I’ll post the final illustration when it’s Finished.

Here’s a link to the opening pics from the graffiti show. Check ‘em out!

Just starting a new personal illustration for The 2nd Annual Circus Show &Other Atrocities at A Bitchin Space in Sacramento, CA. Stoked to get this piece going. I’m planning to do this tiger with the body of a samurai, full color on an old paper texture background. I’ll post updates as I get time to work on this in between client work. I’ll most likely have prints for sale when it’s ready. Also gonna be workin’ on two other personal pieces for some shows coming up. I’m going to be creating a big piece for a show for the Avant Garde/Tampa Museum of Art real soon. That one’s going to be a badass robotic piece. Then The Czar in Ybor city has the Sweatshop Show coming up soon after. Keep an eye out for that new hot shit!