Made in the USA

Here's the results of my first week-long painting exercise. I'm a bit disappointed with the execution. If I had more time, I would have changed the composition within the white spaces -- either use a fragmented image or something with more densely packed text of different sizes and types.






The idea was to mirror the technical transformation in the shift in subject matter (i.e. natural to urban environment). I've been wanting to try and replicate the effect of a ripped poster on a wall for a while, but I'm not entirely happy with these results. Might try again further down the road.

Evidence Locker

An exercise from my printmaking class (to be used in a future project) in which we had to trace around objects using ink and a wooden skewer. See if you can guess what they are.





From top to bottom: a knight from a chess set, a crumpled leaf, a razor, and a palette knife.

The Corner

More college stencil art. But a painting is on the way -- honest!

Fast Times

Classes just started! Our first exercise was to wander around campus and find some negative spacing. I was drawn to the diagonal slash of light created by these branches.


The exercise did give me some fits, possibly because I haven't painted in about a month and a half. But probably more so because I'm not used to this style of teaching (i.e. "You've got two hours to make a painting ... GO!"). I guess I was also intimidated, to some degree, by my desire to make a good first impression.

I'll post the painting later (my camera's recharging). We're actually required to paint over and evolve it at least three times this week, so if you bear with me I might just wait and post the sequence in its entirety.

A Thinking Man

Sorry, I didn't want this to become a graffitti blog. But I've just moved to upstate New York and haven't had the time to sink my teeth into anything too artistic. Hopefully that will change when class starts next week. For now, enjoy this little postcard -- I found it whilst looking for the cafeteria.

Mean Streets

Cool street art in an otherwise vanilla-looking city.




I'm still trying to figure how the third painting was done. Is that crayon??

Sgt. James

Here's a ballpoint sketch I did in an A5 notebook (to make up for the lazy Live Traced images in the last post). Whenever we had to do a book report in elementary school my teacher made us draw a picture for it, too. Good practice, I guess.

"Maybe just one thing ..."

Go and watch "The Hurt Locker" (unless you're going to Iraq or know someone in Iraq). Easily the best film I've seen this year. It almost made me forget that Kathryn Bigelow directed "K-19: The Widowmaker".


Jeremy Renner plays Staff Sgt. William James, the newly appointed leader of an Explosive Ordnance Disposal unit in Iraq as they near the end of their in-country cycles. A series of nail-biting turns leads to one of the saddest and most poignant endings I've ever seen.


Also, Anthony Mackie, who plays Sgt. JT Sanborn, does a far better job in this than as Tupac Shakur in "Notorious". Who's responsible for that casting? They don't look the same at all!

Crocodile Tears

I'm in Toronto for a week. I've just been walking around and taking some photos, trying to find something I can work with.


This wall texture is pretty cool -- looks like half komodo dragon, half crocodile. I'm hoping I can somehow transfer it onto a woodblock or at least make a large scale print on photography paper as the basis for a future painting project.

Sky Doodle

Sketchbook stuff from over the Pacific Ocean. I "scanned" it in by taking a photo of it and then uploading it onto my laptop at LAX.

Licking Numbers

Translation: I like math.

Probably because it's so much like art.


I'm flying to Toronto in a few days before I head down and start school in upstate New York on a six month exchange. Exciting stuff, but please bear with the inconsistent posting while I try and get my footing.