Hootie Hoo Pumpkin Carving

My wife and I decided to carve a pumpkin for Halloween. We thought a owl would be cool. HOOTIE HOO! Happy Halloween Everybody!

Who is Bozo Texino?

About five years ago M. Sacks turned me on to hobo art better known to the world as Hobo Monikers. He showed me literally hundreds of hobo moniker photos he had taken in the Fort Worth Train Yards. We made 1/4 size zines of them and sold them for $2. They sold like hotcakes. That was January 2000 this is now October 2005. Today Skwirl a friend that works on 4th Avenue gave me a handbill (the one above) to a film about these very things we took photos of. If you are in the neighborhood Thursday night check it out.

The info:
"Who is Bozo Texino?" - The secret history of hobo graffiti
A film by Bill Daniel
Tramp/Filmaker in Person
Itl Cafe, 4th Avenue, Tucson, Arizona
Thursday, October 13th
7:00p.m. / Donate!

I hear through the vine that the dude who made the film is from Texas. Full update with pictures after the show. I will also try to find those pictures Matthew and I took back in 2000 and upload them for you to see

Tucson Roller Derby SaddleTramps Logo

Derby! Derby! Derby! This is the logo design for the Tucson Roller Derby All-Star Team "SaddleTramps". Jezebelle the Saddletramps team captian wanted something unique and western. After consulting with Bradley Zimmerman (the TRD Poster artist at the time who also designed and built the TRD website) We all agreed that boots on skates would be the logo. I combed the book stacks in the UofA Library to find a book of western clothing. After finding that right pair of boots to draw I then focused on the skates. I hand drew the skates and boots seperatly. I then scanned them in to adobe illustrator and turned them into vector art. Then it was time to put it all together and choose a font. The end results are above. From all accounts it is a very successful design and made a great T-shirt. (T-shirt screenprinting by Downtown Dave. He is a TRD annoucer on bout night.)

If you would like to see the design in person come out for a TRD sanctioned bout at Bladeworld in Tucson. Upcoming bouts include the Black and Tan bout (Full on bout between the Black Saddletramps and the Tan Saddletramps) and the 2006 Dust Devil National Championship by the TRD in February. There is also a bout against the Texas Rollergirls in Austin this December. So yea plenty of chances.

TRD website link

Music for all you homesick Texans

I promise this is the only time I will talk about country music. I understand most of you can't understand or appreciate it so why try. However if you are a homesick Texan who just happens to be reading this here is a quick fix to those Honky Tonk Blues. It's KHYI - The Range "Home of Americana" out of Plano, Texas. Thats right! On North Central Expressway in the Wells Fargo Bank building in Plano a few of the best Texas Music DJ's Brett Dillion and Bruce Kidder are cookin' up some mighty fine train tunes and trucker athems. They play everyone from JR Cash, David Allen Coe, Robert Earl Keen, Willie, Waylon and many local favorite like 1100 Springs and Ed Burleson. Oh yea they have a pretty sweet looking website to boot. (this is a art.design.illustration blog after all)

Here is the link. After your on the front page hit the listen now link in the upper left corner.

Gang Press + Jakprints = Very Happy Customer

I don't usually talk about printing companies. Just like everything else in life there are exceptions. For the last year I have been printing my 4 color design jobs from work with Jakprints. I have found that Jakprints by far exceeds the local printing houses (pricing and options) when I need doorhangers, postcards and one off business cards. I originally found them in the back of Juxtapoz and after my last gang press out of California dropped the ball on a trifold brochure and imbarrassed me infront of my boss I decided to give them a shot. I will never look back. Now no printer in the world can make your design work better but Jakprints sure can put on the final touch and finish it out.

Besides the great pricing and easy ordering process Jakprints also has something I love. You can follow your order online from the production stage to the shipping stage. They then send you the UPS tracking number and you can watch your job until it land at your front door. Now that is service, especially when your boss is hounding you for those brochures he needed yesterday.

Here is the link again.

Desert Beast

One of my most recent drawings. It is inspired by the Tucson vibe. With all the cactus and Day of the Dead Parade (called all souls procession here in Tucson) it seems to work. It is roughly 18x24 on drawing paper. (click the picture for a bigger view)

Tooth Talent

Kelvin Tooth is a British citizen with a hidden talent. His drawings are amazing! Via his personal web site and Flickr page I found hundreds of pieces. Kelvin says in an Email when asked if they where for sale, "I basically like the idea of giving them away because I think it trains me better to remain unattached to them." Well Kelvin, anyway you look at they are great.

Erotic Squiggles

Who knew that squiggles could be erotic. Rachel Bachman knows. Her website of handpainted squiggles proves it. From restaurant walls to canvas and body parts she has squiggled them all. Overall a very refreshing original individual. Simple and beautiful.

Here is the link.

Personalize Your Sharpie

You have all used one atleast once in your life. I am a big fan. Sharpies are a staple for Designers right? Well now you can stop the office trolls from stealing them with a little personalization.

Here is the link.

Big Apple "T" Party Crates

Back in July and the first of August, Jezebelle, Marisa and myself screened 20 crates on 5 sides for the Hanes Perfect T launch party.The party took place in New York City at the South Street Seaport on August 16th. Here is the press release. (click on the photos to see the other pictures).

"The Miro's"

(click the photo above for more pictures)

Cool Joan Miro inspired handmade creatures by Denize Barros of São Paulo, Brasil. I am a lifelong fan of Miro and its great to see how he inspires other.

Check out her blog The site is written in Portuguese but there are a lot of cool pictures.

Proctor

I know the word "Proctor" means to supervise. I think of a pastor or
preacher as the same. One who supervises the church and congregation. This
piece is of a Pastor or Music leader and the choir. When I was a kid I grew
up in the south. Church definitely left an impression on me as you can see.