The Big Enchilada

Yeah, I might have overlooked why i started this blog. In February I had my first solo show (see first post). I have yet to fully put together my thoughts on the event as I got pretty drunk, but the whole experience was maybe the highlight of my life.
So maybe three months prior, Russell Etchen of DOMY BOOKS invited me to do a solo show there. I had kinda been expecting the invite because friend Rene Cruz had said he would suggest it. I had been really putting in the effort to sharpen my drawing skills as well as grow a body of work for about four years. If ever you asked what i was doing on any particular night and i answered "art night", that was pretty much the standard answer to all of my friends for about four years straight. I basically dropped any other opportunities to do anything else. It's hard to really take something seriously and keep your friends and work a full time job but I was passionate about art and I understood some sacrafices had to be made. My best friends understood this and even supported me through it and came to see me! I fucking love them!

But I digress. Lets fast forward to a few days before the show. I took the week off of work and showed up at Domy right before closing time. I had been asked to paint a mural and i was so nervous. After penciling a projection on the wall and straightening out crooked letters (thanks Bucky) I was ready to paint. I am not an acrylic man. I am an ink and watercolor man. I had done all this work and this little mural scared the shit out of me. I didnt even know to add water to make the paint much more workable. Thanks to Brennan Burch for setting me straight. So three days of work and this thing looked better than the abomination i was expecting.

A couple nights before the show the dream team of Rene Cruz, Angel Garza, Sebastian Forray, and myself began work hanging my 100 peices of art. This went suprisingly smoothly and didnt take nearly as long as i thought it would. We had some laughs, jammed some Maiden and ate an incredible pizza from Brazil next door.

Now for the nerve racking part. If you'll recall (if you heard about the show) there was quite a bit of online buzz about this show added to the blurb in the houston press. i really didnt know what to expect but i was hoping this show would have viewers and viewers that enjoyed what they saw. This was afterall my first solo show and i had put in the effort to do the best i possibly could in every aspect i had control over. looking back i really dont know what i was worrying about. everybody was so fucking cool and my whole family showed up. all my friends old and new showed. even people from my job came. But the badass thing is, tons of people i didnt know came! and i met and talked to a bunch of strangers that night! i even made some new friends that i love to death!
All in all, my first solo show was a huge success. i sold a couple dozen works, made the gallery some bucks, made enough to fix my ride, and pretty much used this as a launchpad to do everything else! its also ignited a passion and drive that i had really been lacking in my life. i mean, i've always drawn but its always been a casual thing. this whole experience really has changed my life for the better and i welcome the hard work to come and any other opprtunities that come my way.

Art Crawl 2011

So i fanally wiggled my way back into Houston Art Crawl. El Rincon Social was kind enough to host me in their gallery show and give me a couple of tables to exhibit my wares! They are a great group of people and i really cant say enough nice things about them. Good vibes the whole time i was there!

So in preparation for this big show i once again wanted to do something really special and i had been rolling around the idea of packaging my new 1.5 inch button in a matchbook cover. It took some developement and some late nights of cutting and folding and stapling but i think they came out pretty nice! I call the button: Yetti/Bigfoot Alliance. They fly the flag of tresspassers!

 I also had a huge stock of single 1" buttons that i broke into sets of five. Packaged in big matchbook style bag cover thingies. Luckily i had the help of my very smart girlfriend or i would have been in trouble.

I had picked up this little shelf off the side of the road a couple years ago. A few days befor the show i spraypainted it blue and hand painted the lettering on it. This would have scared the shit out of me had i not already painted my first skate deck a couple weeks before.

So overall i'd say it was a pretty good showing. I offered original art to the right, and the "gift shop" on the left. People were very friendly and lots laughed and had a good time looking at my work. I made some bucks to fund the next thing and maybe even made some new friends. I love art crawl. It allows artists direct access to people there to appreciate the art. I'd do it again in a second. 

PS, seeing my stuff in different formats makes me feel happy. Its a lot of work but i genuinely love giving fans an affordable option to buying original art. I've been comparing myself to Gene Simmons but the difference is my stuff started and will end in imagery. Should i start a band as a vehicle for my art? hm...

TEXAS COMICON 2011

San Antonio highways are pretty nuts so obviously we're going to get messed up even with a GPS! What a happy accident to come uppon Carlitos Way! "lets get the fuck outta here!"

So we load in and get set up after getting to the show and being moved. No problem, I've never done this before, but I'm sure it happens all the time. In a couple of hours i have sold a bunch of toys and my Frankenstein display making almost enough to cover the cost of the trip. Thank Christ i brought my junk because my art sure didnt sell! By the third day we were laughing at everything. Probably stoned off of our own success, but I digress...

Ok I'm only human, i get bored like anybody else. The nice lady that bought Frankenstein was missing four bucks so i traded a pack of horror trading cards from 1987. They were pretty sweet but more importantly there was a stick of gum that was broken into three pieces. There just happens to be three dudes at my booth! We all pop a piece and the pain begins. First it felt like i got tazered in my jaw, then my face started hurting, so i followed a boothmate to the trash can in the middle of the floor and we spat in the can for a bit.

This is Brennan Burch. Boothmate and brother-in-law. He kicked so much ass drawing zombie portraits! All of his customers were really pleased.

Friday night after the con i laid plans to rule.

When i saw this crowd the adrenaline started pumping and i got that nervous tornado in the pit of my stomach. Time to show some love! My self appointed job was going to flyer the shit out of this crowd and make peole smile and laugh. My costume is good for doing that. Little did i know this would be an orgy of awesomeness!

This guy was in a KISS cover band and was stoked to see me for some reason. He might have been wasted.

GOODY GOODY TWO SHOES! GOODY GOODY TWO SHOES! For such enlightened futuristic people, they looked at me like my dick was hangin out!

Best enseamble cast of characters ever! Chaplin being there blew my mind!

This young lady was hot as hell!

"i like your costume"

"i like yours too"
*giggle*

This guy's cool. Marching around owning his costume!

I met a dude named Jon David Guerra and his wife Nicole. He was drawing some little cards at his table. I had to pick some up. Dope.

www.nightmareprowrestling.com

I bought these rad prints from Mike Fisher Saturday. Sunday i heard there was a UFO documentary showing next door. So I go over and guess who created it! I wanna be just like Mike when i grow up!

Check out his stuff at

www.goofaman.com

Finally, i came across this guy and his work. Pretty good stuff. This piece hit me so i bought it.

www.nassodesign.net

GEARING UP!

Guess who's doing their first comic convention! I'm teaming up with some fellow artists this coming weekend for Texas Comicon in San Antonio under the guise of my sub-official Ghostfish Publishing company. rumor has it Lucha Madre will be promoting with flyers and taking pics with people, and Brennan Burch will be doing Deadite portraits of convention-goers. I've been working my ass off to make our booth THE place to go for limited edition art goodies. We will be looking for after-parties to go be obnoxious at. This should be a blast!

biz cards and stickers!

1"buttons

me as deadite

i think i've printed about 150 art zines to sell! STOKED!

insert present time here...

so this young lady right here says she's moving into a new place, and would i drive to austin and paint on one of her walls? i tell her "sure" so off to austin i go. i would only be there three days so it left little time to be all scumbag and ruin a fresh reputation *snork!*.

First thing when i get into town is scope out the space and made a list of supplies i need to get the job done. On the way out of the store what do i see? its a freaking u.f.o.?!!! it looked like some kind of flame that stayed stationary at a 45 degree angle. those two dots i didnt see and i think are a reflection of those lights. this was already an awesome trip at this point.

i tried to get as much done as possible the first night i was there but it was pretty hard when a Parks and Recreations marathon is going in the next room. i love ron swanson!

apparently this was a good location to be painting because cars were slowing down to gawk. i should have been dancing in clown make-up or something.

this guy woke me up with his snout right in mine. it was the best!

time for a break you say? video store you say? the "best video store ever" i say? that would be an understatement! go to I LOVE VIDEO now! they have EVERYTHING!!!

so i did the gig. it only took a couple days and i had alot of fun doing it. if anybody wants something done i work for food and lodging...for now!

this town needs some new duds...

For some reason, i mean, i KNOW why, its because being half mexican i share a fondness for all things badass. i like rattlesnakes, roosters, grim reapers airbrushed on carhoods, etc. this also includes Predator and Heavy Metal. a match made in heaven...or hell? so after completing my paddleball project with a couple weeks to the show i decided i needed yet another thing to add.

i had an itch i had to scratch...

For those that might not have noticed, a lot of my work revolves around toys as the subject. In particular toys from my own childhood, so i was thinking with that theme in mind, what could i create in a few months for this show? figures? too hard. i wouldn't know where to start. i had the idea of paddle balls years ago and it never manifested into anything, but i had three months to figure it out and it seemed like a simple enough project to pull off and maybe have some kind of impact. little did i realize at the time that since the majority of actual art was finished months ahead of the show i really had the time to get lost in this project and by the show i had created over 80 pieces.