Joey

I wanted to get in the habit of regularly doing just straightforward stuff to sharpen up...portraits, animal studies, etc. This is another rock legend portrait (I drew Joan Jett a while back, I want to crank one out every week or so now). I'll probably make iron ons of all of them. Lux Interior will probably be next.

New Experiment...

Whoa, really heavy blog guilt...its been ages since I posted.  Stressful stuff at work was a big distraction, and getting bogged down Facebook with really low energy levels has kept the old Graveshifter blog frozen for a while. Excuses, excuses.  I have been working on this stuff...I'm not talking too much about it yet, but its gonna be fun, with some mass production involved!  Here's a small sample....

Christmas poster for the Flicker...

I haven't really been participating this year AT ALL with the Athens GA holiday festivities...not one single party, show or arts/crafts fair.  BAH!  I DID do this because an old pal asked me to...but that's it!

Strayhorn Movie NIte...

An out-of-print treat from the great Hal Ashby...free admission and popcorn...

Treasured Books from the JTO Studio Collection™ part 2

This copy was made in 1978.

I Shall Destroy All the Civilized Planets

Comics by the mysterious, tragic pioneer Fletcher Hanks. This book is really fantastic.  Insane and weird, with beguiling art that is totally goofy and totally haunting.  Most stories feature an invincible superhero (usually Stardust the Super Wizard) who thwarts plots of mass destruction by gangsters, then doles out complex and brutal supernatural punishments!  I saw one of these strips a couple of years ago and was blown away, and was thrilled to stumble on this book at Borders this past weekend.  Buy this book, for the sake of humanity.

Treasured Books from the JTO Studio Collection™

On my old Graveshifter website I did a "Book of the Month" feature which was totally sporadic, not at all monthly, but fun.  I focused on stuff I found at thrift stores with illustrations I liked...usually stuff that was unintentionally creepy.  As I dig through some of the surviving junk I have saved (I threw a ton of stuff away recently...paintings, books, etc.),  I'll post some covers like these.  No blabby commentaries, just scans of stuff I could not bear to trash...yet.

New Album Cover, sort of, finally,

Here it is! I actually finished this drawing a while back, but I didn't want to post it until the record was officially released (which is happening as I type this, the release party is tonight). I was planning on going but I feel ill and old tonight. The local entertainment and news weekly, Flagpole, actually posted a pic of it with a review on their site a few days ago, but I grimly stuck to my promised timeline...although once I took the drawing downtown to show the guys in the band what it looked like "in person" and wound up flashing it around to a ton of people...a shining moment. This is a milestone of sorts because this is the first cover art where I put together the whole package...layout, logo design, everything. I didn't really have the gear until recently to do that stuff...man I love my new computer. I looked back at the earlier version I started with no studio or spare time with a borrowed computer and god how terrible-I'm so glad the first version didn't see the light of day. I have another cover coming out this winter for The HEAP, another band here in Athens, but its still top secret and can't be seen, but here are some shocking and enticing clues : monsters, foxy girls with knee boots, and pinball machines.

Album cover alert!

I'm very excited about this:

"Hello Everybody. On Oct. 17th at the Caledonia Lounge in Athens, GA, Mother Jackson will be hosting the CD release party of their much anticipated sophmore album Soundtrack to Your Damnation. Ginger Envelope will also perform. The album will also be available online. See ya at the show!"

I designed the album cover for this, my first time putting together an entire layout, as well as making a couple of drawings. I won't post any art until after the release...top secret! I was glad to hear yesterday from Richard from the band that the cds came in yesterday and they looked good! Killer!

Draw the Drums

I just got a hankerin' recently to do some drawings based on the machinery and structure of drum kits...using that as a starting point for some free form exploration (an ink equivalent to Spinal Tap's Jazz Odyssey, sort of). Here's a killer photo for inspiration...

Everyday, everyday, everyday....

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...