My Update Weighs a Ton.

I want to explain a little bit.

It's been since April that I updated this thing. I fell off the blog roll. Straight off the back of the blog bus, took one bounce, and landed in the blog ditch where I sat for months NOT blogging.

My computer is old. It's a dinosaur. When I pull up Flash-intensive websites it stares back at me blankly as if I were playing some hip hop for my grandpa. So, it's just been a bit since I've made the time to do this on a computer that knows what's up.

Well, so here you have it. I'm going to lay this mother out like a smooth bead of summer hotdog mustard stretching from Asheville to Flagstaff. Just because I haven't been webbing it does not mean I haven't been out fighting the good fight. In fact, it's been the most insanely productive and celebration-worthy 4 months of my life. Sit. Cha-click open a cold one. Let's hang out a little.

First of all, this gnar-rad computer programming company in Durham known as Relevance hired me on to hijack their sweet new spot in a sweet old building downtown. I got my faux finish on in a major way.




When I finished hundreds of linear feet of 12-foot tall walls with nobody but Dick Gordon to keep me company, I went even more nuts and put a weathered mural on the wall. It's new. It looks old, but it's not. Psych. Joke's on the viewer. I think being hired to paint stuff like this for Disneyland would be extremely killer, aside from the $7 an hour paycheck and daily "Whistle While you Work" seminars. Anyhow - here's a quick blow-by-blow:









a little letter shadowing, and... done!


Thanks, Relevance!!!

Speaking of Disneyland, this rules:



Wearing a 4 year-old out at the most magical place on earth is the best. I don't care what kind of evil you think Disney is made of, a 4 year-old girl doesn't know jack about that, and when you let her get a peek at a "real-live" princess after making her cry on Mr. Toad's Wild Ride, well, the special gets huge and memories are made.

What else? sheeeeeesh. Tons. I feel it's time for a commercial break. All kinds of wrongness hovers over this shot:



First of all, yes, we were at Target. Big whoop. Everyone goes. If you don't go to Target, you're probably the kind of social justice hardcore that also doesn't believe in computers or laundry detergent, you won't even read this, and I will completely avoid your admonishment. The real jacked-up thing is the fact that I was packing a cam. What kind of mallrat packs a camera at Target, right? So how could I not snap off a couple of shots of the --- wait for it --- 3 wheeled Segway? Couldn't help but think of this. Assets protection, it says on there. Pshhht. It made me want to fake stealing some crap just to see that thing light up. It definitely would have made for the most exciting day of someone's life next to the day they got their GED in the mail. In any case, it just seems like throwing another wheel on an already built-for-totally-helpless-americans "vehicle" seems to make as much sense (and is probably as common amongst its users) as ordering a bucket of Diet Coke with your SuperSize lunch. Whatevs. Break's over.

Next up - Some signage! First, for one of my in-town faves, Back Alley Bikes. The dewdz there run a tight shop giving the people of Chapel Hill and Carrboro what they need for successful and joyful 2-wheeled locomotion. That in mind, I worked up a little door signage that seemed fitting for their old-school-bent tastes. The step-by-step, briefly:

A printed-up cheater paper. It's good to be as exact as possible.



An inside-the-window, parallax-defying Frisket stencil:


A quick couple of coats of gold spray paint before removing the stencil:


And backed-up with a little burnt umber japan color. Werd.


And let's throw a T-shirt graphic in there for them while we're at it....
They're the best shop in town, betta reckognize. And what's a pile of bike parts without an empty 40 bottle hanging out of it.

Hmmm. What's next..... okay. For another friend of two-wheeled devices, this -



They got married towards the end of a bike tour of the bride's homestate, Iowa. RAGBRAI, a rolling bike tour-party-goodtime week on bikes! And they threw a little wedding in there, too! Nice one, dewds. The art was used for their party-favor pint glasses.

Speaking of weddings........ Allison is not just my girlfriend, not just my best friend, not just my girl forever ..... she's my WIFE!!!! I told you the update weighs a ton! check it!!!!



It was the most beautiful day ever, and we had friends and family showing up from all necks of the wood. We keep talking about the joy and satisfaction that came from us putting on the most wonderful party of a lifetime. Allison and I tackled everything ourselves which made the whole celebration even MORE special. I even made our cake topper! LOOK!



Like I said, the best day EVER.

I got all macro on the spice cabinet. I really need to work on growing up a little.


Okay, back to work. New bar in Downtown Durham, WHISKEY. Great dudes. Great interior. Takes me to the era of Gentlemen's Clubs, maybe in NY or Chicago. Great name. Gold leaf surface gilded window graphics for them:





... and a little mirror work for them, too. They're keeping the local draft beers flowing, and they wanted to show them off by listing them on this badass mirror made from a copper window frame that came from the Cooper Union building, NYC. Ah, the history.

Lines is tight........




STILL GOING! (told you it's been a shredder summer....)

ICE CREAM BIKE!!!! So - sweet idea, having an ice cream bike in this town. The streets are sleepy enough to be noticed, but busy enough to rake in some bread if you are cruising a tight joint like this one. I was the most excited to be busting out some serious fancy for the project. The letters are outlined in 2 different colors, and the dots added serious flair. In addition, freestyling some filigree around the "whiteboard" zones in which she will be keeping the feet on the street in the heat posted as to the flavors of the day. Cap it off with a slightly irrelevant (but meanigful to the owner) eyeball on the front, and I think we have a pretty top-notch vendor cycle. Heather is a proud owner of her ice cream bike, and the popsicles she is selling are strictly the business. Get some.



I like bikes. We like riding them. Sometimes we pack up the little puppy, Scof, and go for a little ride. It ends up looking like this:



I also made this sign for the side of Back Alley Bikes, though not this summer.


And I think I'll round out the professional portion of this ridiculous update with a project for local cabinet makers, Aventine Inc. They are all awesome people and as a group, the most incredibly skilled and intelligent tradespeople I've ever met. I admire them tons, so working to beautify the facade above their building meant a lot to me. I really screwed up with my potential viewership by not taking "before" shots of this, so you'll have to take my word for it - it came a long way. I faux finished the bottom 3 rows of brick, as you used to just see nasty black asphalt above the roof flashing. I also fauxed brick over about 4 feet on each side of the weathered white field. Then, to top it off, the ICE sign as you see it was a more traditional teal color with a blue border around it. To raise the harmony levels between the graphic and the newly renovated front of the building, I tweaked the color palette to a warmer tone. Well, here it is. Fun times on a tin roof in the NC heat. Thanks, Aventine.




And for the last splash of personal greatness: Please welcome Ella Rae Robertson into the world. Born August 3rd, a little early, a little little, but a LOT cute. We couldn't be happier.

This is Bull City

OH MAN!!!! It's been waaaaaaaay too long, I know. I'm sorry. I was busy, but I DID to get this whole art show together! My little way of loving something often times means poking fun at it, and making it as ridiculous as I can. In this case, it's Durham that I'm loving. When you drive around downtown Durham, you get the sense that there was a TON happening there at one point, and that maybe there is a ton of stuff happening there now that will lead to a bunch more stuff happening soon. That's the case. Durham's been pushing and fighting and struggling for years to bring its soulful downtown landscape back to life. I'd say they are doing a damn good job of it. There are countless old buildings, tobacco warehouses and mills to revitalize and convert into the ever-popular "urban loft" or office space. With those types of buildings come vital stuff like music venues, art galleries, restaurants, and more. It's how cities got started in this country. They gave folks that didn't have farms places to live close to where they work, and BAM - city. Well, the suburbs came along and offered middle-class americans places to all live for reasonable rates so as not to need to rent and a beautifully homogenous landscape, and the hearts of cities everywhere fell in to the pantcuffs, eventually getting flung into the gutters.

Now these cities are experiencing huge amounts of interest. They're cheap to move into, offer the alternative of homogeny - soul, - and are rapidly getting dusted off and ready for whatever type of crash lie next. No one around here has a farm, so they should probably ought just move to Durham. It's one of those old towns, and it's a visually amazing place. Old ghost signs peek out of alleyways, art deco era buildings stand next to pockets of green space, and the bustle of the sidewalks is ever-increasing.

To pay tribute to this city on the mend, I decided to make up a bunch of crap about it and poke fun at it. the show is a bunch of images that are inspired from my drives through town, and from the city's past, complete with museum-style plaques explaining all of the nonsense.

For Example:

King Kong in Durham

Durham’s original sign painter, Kong, could reach the top of most any wall or building in Durham at the time and had a brilliant command of all current trends in visual advertising. It was thanks to him, that during the 1910s, Durham’s visual identity blossomed. Unfortunately, he couldn’t resist the idea of further developing his skills and reputation in New York City. As most know, it was there that Kong faced harsh criticism, ridicule, rejection, and ultimately, his demise.

and.....

The William “Bummer” Wall Sign Company

Because of the continued boom of the tobacco industry and the absence of King Kong, the city needed someone to pick up where he left off. William Wall, or “Bummer” as he was known, was the best Durham could muster. To this day, in most any direction one can still see a Wm. Wall Sign – brilliantly painted but not so brilliantly worded. Nonetheless, his work remains a valued part of Durham’s rich visual landscape.

which described these images:

Legends of Durham Athletics

Durham was home to many noteworthy athletes in the early part of the 20th century. Tom “Shakes” O’Bailey was the undisputed lightweight champion of the Golden Leaf Boxing League until he suffered a career changing injury during a match in Richmond, when his cigarette was knocked into his eye by a mean left jab. He then went on to master the gun sight bottle labeling machine at DT & BAC.Chet “Ace” Duke, a legend in his own mind, was strong, swift, and tough as nails. He was also, as they said in those times, “One letter shy of a Model A.” He was never seen wearing anything but his favorite dress-up costume, a football uniform. This gave the depression-era Durhamites a real laugh and propelled him into a position of admiral local esteem, albeit for different reasons than others in the Duke family.

Chas H. Puffington was an amazing cyclist during the time of the jazz-era’s 6 day races. There’s not too much else to report on Chas, other than his ability to keep a cigarette burning evenly during sustained speeds of up to 35 kilometers per hour.

Walter P. McMurdoch was born in Hillsborough and was known (in addition to his considerable fame as a distance runner) for his tireless promotion of the health benefits of smoking and drinking.

Dirt Town Bottling And Cappery

Riding the popularity of Durham’s new turn-of-the-20th-century nickname, Dirt Town, DT & BAC (the ampersand is silent) enjoyed much success as the city’s top distributor of spirits – so long as your spirit of choice was dry gin. DT & BAC simply bottled gin from an undisclosed source in different vessels, each with a different name. Marketing pioneers, DT & BAC were decades ahead of the wits of their customers. “Beauty” gin was a town favorite and its effects had generally great effects on the all-around beauty of Durham’s womenfolk, especially if considered from the point of view of the men consuming it. “Strength” gin suffered a different reputation as it was indirectly to blame for more broken noses and collarbones than early prototypes of the American roller skate. Thanks to “Strength,” Durham enacted prohibition one year earlier than the rest of the nation. DT & BAC switched promptly to bottling seltzer water for a few months before going out of business.

Failed Bluesmen of Durham

Durham has long enjoyed a rich Blues heritage, but there are many musicians who have failed to garner much credit for their contributions. Wm. Wall took on the recording and documentation of many lesser-known bluesmen. His collection of “Failed Bluesmen of Durham” trading cards have recently served the Durham Historical Society as a crucial resource in unearthing the vast amount of Blues talent that Durham had produced.

Pictured below: from left, clockwise: Unsung Hero Number Whatever, Kevin "Captain Happy" King, and The Drunk Brothers.

Below: from right, clockwise: "Whoops" Willie Williams, Jimmy "Take 12" Taylor, and Deaf Tommy Tones.

And lastly, these cretins:

The Streets are on Fire: Durham Motorcycle Gangs in the 1970’s

During the 1970’s, lawsuits against the tobacco companies began rolling in like waves and resulted in the loss of massive amounts of Durham commerce. Its residents desperately sought steady income and safe neighborhoods, which they found by joining or organizing motorcycle gangs. These gangs almost immediately started warring with each other and mayhem ensued. The 70’s were not just a dangerous time in Durham, they were a time of drastic social reconstruction. The constant battle for control of their neighborhoods and the freshly deserted buildings therein served as a model for future real estate developers. Soon, though, the whole charade grew tiresome. Many residents simply chose to stop being afraid of them and move to Cary. Shown are several jacket patches from various gangs.

The sign, by Wall Sign Co., was originally posted in Duke Gardens, a popular place for gangs to gather, read books, play disc golf, and plan brutal displays of dominance. In its original location the sign was useless. It was proven most effective after being stolen by the Dirt City Chopper Thiefs and remounted outside their hideout to inform the Durham Police that there was no funny business taking place inside. It worked.

And there you have it. That's why I've been a lazy blogger. Anyhow! if you're down to stop by, you can get directions and more info here: http://www.goldenbeltarts.com/newsEvents_Details.php?event_id=41

While you're there, take a stroll around. It's a GREAT example of one of the afforementioned mill-turned-hotspot places I was talking about. Good stuff, for sure.

C'mon, feel the noise . . .

A little follow-up on a plan....

The piece from the post down below got tweaked a bit and is now gonna be the cover for the newest Bomb Snow magazine, a little indy publication out of Bozetucky, Montana. It'll look like this:



as the cover artist, i get to include a page inside the mag. it'll look like this:



you'll also notice (maybe) that the passed out dude there says "www.seventysicks.com." that's because arizona superbro Dave Herbold is constructing me a website with his bare hands. killer as hell. it's going to look like this (and then some):



i'm sure all 5 of you are thinking "crap. what about this awesome blog?" well, childrens, i'll be able to really cut loose with this blog and post more crazy whatever i like to do during not-art-making time stuff, which means - snakehawk.blogspot is gonna get a whole more FUNNER!!!!

oh - and baby? i can't wait to marry you in a couple months....

Just Sayin'.

Just trying to get some things done around here. Drawings, vectorings, paintings - the show draws ever closer.

newness.

turn it up, bro.

oldies but goodies...?

no particular reason, really. just a little spice in the blog stew.