Paul Newman RIP

My New Favorite Show!

The is the best history show I've seen in a long time, absolutely brilliant. I hope they keep making them; there are 4 episodes so far...watch them all!

My New Threadless submission...

Vote fer it here...

This makes me dizzy...

Baron Calm preview video

This Little Light of Mine...

I just recently was in a meeting with a potential client, and we were discussing a tee shirt line for his company. He was talking about what qualities he wants for this shirt, the fit, fabric, graphics, but then says "of course, I would never wear it, I couldn't wear my own shirt design". I hear that a lot...designers who believe its some sort of sin to wear their designs, like its tacky or self-promoting. I absolutely could not disagree more. My primary impulse to make art is for my own pleasure...I come up with an image that doesn't exist that I want to see in the world. My works are my babies, and they are dear to me...I love wearing my own designs...hell, I'm working on one now with a giant "JTO" logo that I will wear everywhere when its done and printed on a tee. I'm not new to making artwork (nonstop for 36 years or so) but I am relatively new to this design day job world so I am gradually getting familiar with the no-nos. One guy told me recently you NEVER refer to your designs in writing as designs (i.e. "the green menu design"). I like what I do...the first person I aim to please when I make something is myself. When someone makes something and averts their eyes, and can't bear to be near it, that seems less like creation and more like the bear dropping one in the woods. Phony modesty.

Roky Erickson live at the 40 Watt, Athens GA

I wrote this email update to my pal Chilly (of the The 10000 Things blog) about the Roky Erickson show I caught Thurday night:

"It was absolutely great.  I was a little doubtful going in...I was worried that the crowd would be sparse...I did not sense a lot of anticipation leading up to the show, a general indifference.  I also thought that slipping Gnarls Barkley (unofficially) on the PopFest bill a couple of nights before Roky's show would steal his thunder.  Man, was I wrong.   There was a very robust, enthusiastic crowd there when I finally got in, later on, just as Dark Meat (always killer) was taking the stage.  I didn't buy the Popfest pass, I cannot endure seeing more than a couple of bands in a row (I am old and tire easily). I saw a lot of local Roky fans, everyone was really charged...several folks brought records to get signed.  Roky hit the stage with a very basic band, the Explosives, very seasoned veterans, total pros.  Guitars, a bass, a drum kit.  No keys, special effects, no electric jug.  It was blast after blast of great songs, played and sung with tremendous ferocity and authority, high and clear and awesome.  Roky sounded incredible.  No fumbling, stuttering, or running out of steam.  No talk, no banter, no noodling and tuning.  This is a man who walked and played and held his own with giants like Hendrix and Love and the Doors, a pace-setter of that era, and his formidable chops were center stage at the 40 watt that night.  A mob of people cheering and singing along with Two Headed Dog, Demons have Pictures, Starry Eyes, Bloody Hammer, and, of course, You're Gonna Miss Me (plus lots more).  Kids were MOSHING,  it was apeshit, I l almost got knocked over several times.  I was having too good of a time to be pissed.   A couple of encores.   Roky didn't start until almost 1 AM, and played for quite a while.  People staggered out of the 40 Watt, grinning and shell-shocked.  I got home about 3:30 AM, and was gloriously late for work Friday."

Thanks to Roky Erickson and the Explosives, the 40 Watt, and the PopFest organizers for a mind-blowing rock show!!

T. Rex iron on party...

I've always wanted a T. Rex t shirt. T. Rex is one of my all-time favorite bands, but I never could find a shirt I liked. Growing up in a tiny town in the rural south in the 70s/80s, I lived in rock tees, most of which I mail ordered. No internet, no credit cards. Allow 6 to 8 weeks for delivery. I ordered a ton of Zeppelin tees and jerseys. I ordered one of those Union Jack Def Leppard shirts, but was too embarrassed to wear it because it was sleeveless. I liked T. Rex a lot even then, but the rare shirt I saw in the catalogs of vaguely sleezy rock tee sellers like Musicade never had anything I wanted to buy...maybe they looked too girly...it seems like lots of girls like T. Rex. Now that I have the computer at home I wanted to play with making purely digital graphics and logos. This is the first one I carried out completely. I am trying the super cheapo Office Max brand transfer paper, and it printed great in my little free Canon printer/scanner combo. The first try was kind of botched, luckily it was on a kind of awful, baby blue, thick, boxy, "Arizona" brand t shirt with a heavy, high collar. Ugh. I have printed lots of tranfer iron ons on grey heather and it always looks pretty good...they are the shirts I get the most compliments for. Hopefully I can make some designs for a ne screen printed shirt series soon.

Chew Rubber Crutch Rampage 1

This is the first drawing I have completed since I moved into the new studio/pad. I have so much to do, mostly getting on 20 billion projects I've been wanting to put together and can with the new mac. I have to make time to continue to draw by hand...I love making stuff on the computer, I'm not one of those technology hating guys who crab and whine about missing the good ol days, but I have to balance it with drawing, painting, inking by hand...it is actually very relaxing. I know some computer dee-signin' guys who haven't drawn by hand in years...some who can't draw at all, or think its a chore...

You Know...

I hate it when I punctuate my speech with "you know" and the person I'm talking to cuts in and says "no, I DON'T KNOW".  I remember several ex-girlfriends doing this.  Its probably an early warning sign of a relationship tanking...

Here's the lastest work in progress...

Roky design (work in progress)

Here's a piece of a design I'm making for fun-a graphic of Roky Erickson, one of my favorites...The 13th Floor Elevators and his solo stuff is all killer and I am so fired up about him playing in Athens at PopFest this August in Athens...I will probably make an iron on for a t shirt or something...its not finished totally yet, it will probably get a lot crazier.  I finally got around to working on the new Baron Calm series (a pink one with a girl and a robotic confederate bear falling to pieces and a cloud of muppet type eyeballs).   I have decided not to make any more stuff that is small and understated, its got to be bigger and/or crazier.   I hacked out a lot of filler from my website today too, a lot of stuff that seems like mediocre filler to me now...I'm also cleaning out the closets and dumping a lot of old pieces that I can no longer store...I will probably have some sort of flood sale/ritual burning of this stuff soon.

After the Flood

I've been preoccupied the last couple of weeks dealing with apartment floods.   The building I'm in has some major drainage/gutter issues that weren't that obvious during the scorching, biblical, arid drought North GA has been under since I moved in last Spring.   This new and normal cycles of gushing summer thunderstorms turn what was an occasional, annoying leaky window and small section of floor in a full on, splattering flood...it was isolated to the back room (my studio) and I hauled ass out to home depot at 6 AM Saturday morning and bought a wet/dry shop vac to slurp up the nasty tides of backed up gutter-water seeping and dripping into my place.   This is all happening right after I buy and install my beloved new Mac...my first real design computer and the nicest thing I have ever owned.   Luckily I was there when the dam broke, the Mac was at the opposite end of the pad, and there was a vacant, clean, DRY unit on the other side of the building.  It actually worked out for the best...the move was pretty easy, I don't own much, no pianos or marble statues, and it forced me to dump a lot of worthless crap that I have been sitting on and ignoring for the past 10 years or so...my life was flushed, pretty much, in a relatively positive, painless way.  The new pad is slightly better, and weird in a giddy, funhouse kind of way because it is exactly the same layout and proportions as my old place except EVERYTHING IS BACKWARDS, like a mirror, which totally flips me out first thing in the morning.   I got a book on Paul Rand and a tricks of the trade guide for Illustrator CS3 and I'm digging the clean slate.  The most regretable tragic loss was my pinball machine, made of particle board,  that was doused with water for an hour or so...not 100% sure but I don't think the old girl will pull through...RIP Star Explorer (1975-2008).

All Systems Go!

I'm back on the blog after a few months of turmoil.  Big changes and shakedowns at work (that were stressful but probably good for me)  I had no spare time to goof around on this thing at the office, and no internet at home, only my 1997 Systemax computer with Windows 98.  Surprisingly enough, the old beast still plodded on, and I managed to design a few posters and stuff on it this past year.  Last week I got a new Mac for my home studio for freelance design projects...it is shockingly awesome.  I have a feeling I won't see too much daylight (or moonlight) for a long time...all those projects on the backburner are moving to the frontburner.

wow! honored in a dictionary!

from urbandictionary.com...shockingly accurate!

athens townie:


An aging hipster in Athens, Georgia. Stylistically ahead of the curve, these are creative people who were hot 15 years ago, but are unfortunately stuck. Alchoholism and drug addiction is thought to be the primary stumbling block to the success of this otherwise friendly species. There is also the problem of big fish/small pond syndrome. The male townies are responsible for having brought trucker hats and mechanics shirts to the fashion forefront as early as 1990. Most townies are in a band, in a pretend band, or dating someone in a band or pretend band. They wear thrift store clothes and ride bicycles or crappy cars. All in all, they consume very little new goods, making them harmless to the environment. Typical townie occupations consist of working at restaurants, coffee houses, record stores, copy shops, video stores, or the local alternative publication. Ironically, many now wear their blue collar shirts literally, as they approach 40 or 50 and have construction or maintenance careers.

*That bar is so cute on weekends, but steer clear weekdays— it's totally packed with lecherous old athens townies.
*I know what you mean. It's so depressing how much they drink on Mondays!

Strayhorn Magazine Movie Night

Strayhorn Magazine is showing this overlooked revenge classic from 1977 for our April film pick at the fantastic Flicker Theatre and Bar here in Athens GA. All Flagpole Magazine readers please note this movie is replacing KID BLUE...I didn't notify them about the the change in time. ROLLING THUNDER is awesome, and its a free show starting at 9 PM next Monday (April 28)!

Yet Another Threadless Submission...

Yep, Ive got another in the running. I'll probably keep entering once or twice a week. If any of you folks vote over at Threadless.com on potential t shirt designs for printing and sale, click here. If I win this I'll get enough dough to buy me one of them dee-signin' computers.

My "New" Studio

I've had my current place for almost a year now but just recently I arranged it for optimum studio use. I have dedicated the whole back room for drawing, painting, and pinball. Here's a shot of mission control, including many of my beloved creepy exploitation and horror movie posters. I had a few slack weeks of Springtime idleness, but I'm jumping back in saddle with some freelance album cover design and new, large (4 ft. wide) drawing.

Movie Weekend (with Pinky)

Here's the latest weekend movie list...the Altman stuff I've seen before. I really love 3 Women especially. I'm too busy right now to go into much detail about these. I liked all of them, and totally flipped out over a few.

Throne of Blood
The President's Analyst
The Big Bounce (the first one)
Donkey Skin
Three Women
Variety LIghts
The Southerner
Pepe Le Moko
Nashville
Closely Watched Trains

Some Black Velvet Morning...

I don't really collect art for the walls (I have tons of my own stuff to deal with-no money or room for much else) but I do prize my small collection of black velvet paintings. I misplaced the snow owl piece while moving from apartment to apartment, but here are some other favorites, including a version of Frazetta's Death Dealer...