Bird Beak Recap

Thanks to everyone who came out Saturday night for the Third Annual Bird Beak show.
From all I saw and heard it was a great success all around. In case you missed it, here are some photos of the event and my work.
Look out soon for some better scans of these paintings on my site.
Anyone know a place in NYC to get high quality oversize scans done?
Until next time…

(Oh and the tattoo is one of my design for my buddy Mike. Seen here freshly un-bandaged from the parlor!)

Happy Spring NY!

Here is a quick sketch I made today in Central Park. Its a small justification for taking the afternoon off, but it was too beautiful to be stuck inside. The only drawback was the herd of children I attracted, chorusing, “Is it done now? How about now? Can I have your painting?”
I think I got it covered for next time though… Perhaps this will make mom and dad take more interest in doing some real parenting. Anyway, I hope everyone has a lovely weekend out in the sun. And keep your children on their leashes!

Natural History Museum, plus: Proof I’m not Evil

Here are a few quick sketches I made today at the American Museum of Natural History. I was in a bit of a rush as we had an appointment with Butterflies:

This was a unique experience and though a bit pricey, as is the case with all special exhibits at the Natural History Museum, it was worth it. An artificial jungle, with 500+ butterflies while adults and children alike, giddy with delight at the rainbow clouds of flapping creatures, attempt to coax a gaudy moth onto their arm. To be honest it felt a bit like this:
We spoke with one of the Museum specialists in charge of raising the pupae. As butterflies only live for a few short weeks, the museum receives shipments of pupae from all over the world on a weekly basis to keep the exhibit fully stocked at all times. On a grimmer note, rather than preserving the dead fallen specimens, they must follow a rigorous protocol to destroy all the bodies involving apparently both freezing and incineration, by order of the Dept. of Health. Something about infectious disease… a bit discomforting.
Less frivolity to follow… ahem.

Jessie Murphy in the Woods play The Livingroom!

Hey folks,
I made this gig poster for Jessie Murphy in the Woods, who are playing this Thursday, 4/9/09, at The LivingRoom, New York City.
Come check them out at 154 Ludlow, between Stanton and Rivington. 8:00pm.
See you there!

London (View over Bathurst Mews)

Here is the view of Bathurst Mews that greeted me outside my hotel room window. My friends and I stayed at the Barry House, its small, but I highly recommend it. You will be very well cared for. This particular view delighted me more than a flat overlooking Hyde park could have. The cramped narrow buildings prickling with chimneys is the exact image that London has always evoked for me. This sketch was started in the hotel, reworked on the plane home from memory and detailed at my desk from a photograph. I am embarrassed to have had to resort to reference, but the truth is we just didn’t spend any time in the hotel beyond sleeping and breakfast… a decision that yielded many happy rewards.
More soon.
Note: Not a moleskine… its a hand.book.

Storyboards!

I’ve added a storyboard page to my website. Here you can see some of the commercial work I’ve done over the past few years.

The Woods in the UK

Later this week I will be traveling to London with “Jessie Murphy in the Woods,” the band my girlfriend has been playing with for the past 8 months. I designed their logo, above, and the artwork for their forthcoming album “Eight Belles.” Stay tuned for sketches from my trip and keep an eye on The Woods‘ site for their album drop.
Cheerio!

Site Facelift (or maybe rhinoplasty?)

Joyous News! I’ve responded to the many complaints about my site, and rectified… a few of them…
Anyway, I think its a bit slicker. Please let me know if you have any further nitpicky/abusive remarks to burden me with, and I’ll look into them once I finish crying in the shower… I’ve also added a few pieces I’ve had lying about wanting for some attention (Like the piece above which I did for my friend Nick’s film.).
Enjoy!

New Illustration!!!

Here is a rather large (for me) oil painting I did on canvas. The leggy carnivorous one is Sekhmet, war goddess and protectress of the Pharaoh. My point here, I think, is that grief, empathy, guilt and conscience are the sole provence of humanity. I doubt there is such a thing as person who can be indifferent to all suffering… but Sekhmet, at least, is.
More and varied things to come…

P.S. Apparently the Egyptians put on a really incredible pisser each year to celebrate the goddess’s act of mercy (passing out drunk before she could finish slaughtering them all). Where do I sign up?

New Illustration!!!

Here is a piece I worked on, on and off while working on other jobs and projects. Its a snapshot of dream I had in which I visited the Seawater mines on Russia’s frozen beaches and took the Trans-India Monorail to Bombay… Here we see a long forgotten prisoner lecturing a troop of monkeys on matters of Philosophy I think.

P.S. Sorry about the website short-outs (in fact as I write this, you may not even be able to reach this blog from my site) I plan on bringing in some big guns to help me polish it up… Thanks for being patient!