(more sketches)

Sketched this between answering phones for several hours today at work. started it with nothing in mind, wound up drawing an oddly proportioned zombie and a hobo/voodoo doctor/grave robber.

Flyer: 07.28.2010

This show is tonight, and it was sold out before I even turned in the flyer.
Good luck getting into this!

Drawn a while ago...

Burrito isn't down with Taco. Taco is indifferent, if not a little annoyed.
I drew these two guys a while ago, and never got around to posting them. They will probably wind up on a flyer or a piece of gnarboots merchandise soon.

Music Monday: From Monument To Masses

Vietnam To Iraq from Adam Davis on Vimeo.

The first time I saw From Monument to Masses was Novermber 12, 2003 at the Hemlock tavern in San Francisco. They performed this song, and completely blew me away. The middle part is killer. In that tiny venue, standing close to the stage, it felt like the weight the words they were screaming was going to bring the ceiling down on our heads.
I made this video 2+ years ago for a class project, going well above and beyond what the other students in my class would turn in. That's community college for you. I had a pretty awesome time making it, and it even wound up on FMTM's blog.
The last time I will see From Monument to Masses is August 28th, 2010 at the Great American Music Hall in San Francisco. I doubt they will play this song, but you never know. Either way, they leave behind several albums of awesome music they can be proud of.

I started my weekend early...

(warm-up/concept art for an upcoming project)

• I plan to spend a good chunk of this weekend drawing, painting and working on art until my hands cramp up. However, I did these at my desk today at work.
• Drawing Challenge #3 was a lot of fun, let's do it again really soon! 
• Stuff From My Desk is still going on. Let me know if you want some random crap!

Drawing Challenge #3 - 10/10

"Teenaged tax-avoiders running rampant in the streets in support of Net Neutrality." - Jason Schupp

Drawing Challenge #3 - 9/10

"A grasshopper resting upon a ripe red tongue" - Amy

Drawing Challenge #3 - 8/10

"A ballerina sloth!!" - Allison Voss

Drawing Challenge #3 - 7/10

"Toe Jam Wiggles in the Magic of the Night." - Nnekay

Drawing Challenge #3 - 6/10

"A pig made of bubble wrap popping his own bubbles. In a volcano. Of doom." - Ryan Christo

Ginger Beer Review #3 - Fentimans Ginger Beer

*since I don't drink, I've found that ginger beer is a nice change from having a Coke when you're out with your drinking friends. There's a bunch of different varieties, and I'm going to start reviewing them here!

I like the way the bottle looks, and the label doesn't make me feel like a jerk with a boomerang when I hold it. That's what initially made me pick it up, the old-timey look.
SO! There's some fine print on this label: "Less than 0.5% alcohol by volume". Not sure what that means, I drank it anyway, and it was alright. It's "Botanically Brewed" like the rest of their sodas, which I guess means "Medicinal Aftertaste"? It's better than their Curiosity Cola (which is pretty rank, the aftertaste is way more noticable with that one), but it'd definitely fall toward the bottom of my list. I'll probably try some of the other sodas they have available though: Dandelion & Burdock? Victorian Lemonade? Sure, why not!

Drawing Challenge #3 - 5/10

" a clown punching a mime in the balls." - Mark Nelson

Music Monday: For.The.Win.

(Click to give it a listen, streaming via Punknews.org)

Last year I played a show with For.The.Win., and it was the first time in a long time that I could remember having watched a band's entire set. I thought they wrote really strong, catchy, abrasive punk rock that veered toward hardcore without the usual tough guy trappings. Through the miracle of the internets, I became friends with these guys and joked about coming over to do guest vocals on a song. Long story short, I wound up singing* on tracks 1, 3, 5, 6, 8, 10, 12, and playing guitar in the band at their CD release.

Buy this record here at Asian Man Records

*by singing I mean screaming my head off until I gave myself a piercing headache.

Drawing Challenge #3 - 4/10

"The gates of 1980's sitcom hell manned by none other than John Waters in pug form." - Dante 3000

Drawing Challenge #3 - 3/10

"A hippo hipster baby smooshing its face against a glass while laughing at the viewer." -Christa (sort of)

*Remember kids, one sentence. I get easily confused. My brain translated "window" to "glass" while I was drawing this thing.

Drawing Challenge #3 - 2/10

"A zombie eating Del Taco." - Peter Sullivan

Drawing Challenge #3 - 1/10

"a lucha libre cat wrestling an exquisitely dressed pot-bellied pig." -Chris Walters

Drawing Challenge #3 + Stuff from my desk!

I have been feeling something similar to writer's block.

I keep thinking about wanting to draw, but I wind up not drawing due to a lack of inspiration. This is not from a lack of having projects to work on (it's about to get really busy over here if I don't finish a few things up shortly!) rather my current surroundings (this cubicle) have filled the creative part of my brain with swaths of beige nothing.

So in an attempt to knock myself out of this rut I present:

:::::DRAWING CHALLENGE #3!!!::.;..

Ok, so here's the run-down:

-Post something for me to draw in the comments below. For this to work, it requires some group participation: in the comments below, write one line that can be illustrated. (example: Buddha getting his lights punched the frick out.) I will take the first ten that are posted, sketch them up, and post them. The one that I like the best, I'll turn into a painting, and the person who posted that idea gets the painting for free!

In the past, I've left this totally open to anything, but I feel the need to reign y'all in slightly...

• 
  
  Keep it safe for work. I'm drawing these at my desk.
• 
  
  None of the usual stuff I draw (dinosaurs, robots, etc.).
• 
  
  No more ideas involving AJ. His beard takes too long to draw.

Also, part two of this exercise:

STUFF!! FROM!!! MY!!!! DESK!!!!!

(not what my desk actually looked like. this is an exaggeration.)

I have a bunch of crap that I have accumulated at my desk at work. Yesterday I started kind of freaking out about it. I don't need all of this crap! I want to send it to you! Either post your address in the comments below, or send it to me in an email (xadamdx@gmail.com), and I will post a package containing something (or multiple somethings) from my desk to you! This offer stands until my desk is empty!

Music Monday: Hard Girls

(click the cover to go to the download page)

San Jose, CA is an urban sprawl that looks like it was mostly built in the 70's and 80's, left to bake in the sun, and forgotten by the freeways that surround it. The streets are lined with pawn shops, adult book stores, gun shops, strip malls and fast food restaurants. There's not a lot of beauty in San Jose, but the songs Hard Girls write paint the city in a rose-colored light.
Hard Girls is made up of Mike (Shinobu), Max, and Morgan (Ptedadon). These dudes make up 3/4 of another band called Classics of Love, fronted by Jesse Michaels (who used to sing in a little band called Operation Ivy). The seven songs here go by fast, leaving you wishing for a  full-lenth. It sounds very much like late-ninties indie rock, Superchunk and Pavement come to mind.

Flyer: 07.17.2010

I like this flyer for two reasons:

1. I don't know what these animals are suppose to be, but I imagined them in my head and then drew them. They came out just how I wanted them to.
2. I got the idea for the background from another illustration I saw online. I figured out how they did it and made my own. Yay me!

Commision: Art for one of my favorite artists

(click picture to make all big n' stuff)

Lindsay Docherty is an awesome photographer. She took the pictures at my wedding and did an amazing job. She also wound up being a great friend, but due to San Francisco being ridiculously expensive she moved back east.

Recently she moved into a new place, and needed some art for her walls. Lindsay asked me to do a painting of a creature with blonde hair and a camera. I hadn't touched my brushes and paints since the 100 Robots project, and I was on a dinosaur kick, so this is what came out. Unfortunately, I didn't scan it, so hopefully Lindsay will send me a shot of it closer up and I'll update this post with it.

If you're getting married, I'd like to give one piece of advice: Hire an awesome photographer. The day goes by really fast, and these pictures will help you remember all the special moments that you might otherwise miss. It'll be money well spent, I promise. Also, if you live in California, hire Lindsay so that she has an excuse to come back out here and hang out with us.

UPDATE: Here's an image of the painting.

(Lindsay was awesome enough to scan this for me)

Ginger Beer Review #2 - Bundaberg

*since I don't drink, I've found that ginger beer is a nice change from having a Coke when you're out with your drinking friends. There's a bunch of different varieties, and I'm going to start reviewing them here!

This really should have been the first review, since Bundaberg is by far my gold standard for ginger beer. Aaron Nagel brought some to a BBQ at my place, and I've been hooked on it ever since. It's balanced, refreshing and good to the last drop. Not only does it have the best flavor of all of the other ginger beers I've tried, but i find it to be more aesthetically pleasing. Sure, there's a kangaroo on the label, but the whole thing doesn't look like it was cobbled together by someone using MS paint and word. It's capped with a pull tab top, making it incredibly easy to open, and hey, something different than a twist off cap! The bottle is similar to the ones they use for Red Stripe, and it seems to stay cold longer in my hand than a regular bottle would.
The only downside is, that of all the ginger beers, this is the hardest one to find. Usually bars stock it, but grocery stores like Trader Joe's and Whole Foods haven't picked it up.

Music Monday: Tera Melos

Pin the tail on the picture, win a free song!

Tera Melos originally were a four-piece instrumental musical assault. They were hands down my favorite live band, melding improvisation, reckless abandon, musical prowess and a healthy serving of chaos into a terrifying, exhilarating 30 minutes. Just hanging out with those guys was totally ridiculous. (I rode along with them to a show they played in some lazer tag place where we stole cake and pizza from some kids party. They annihilated the place and then we played a few games of lazer tag, harassing the balding referee. He wanted us to call him game master and we kept yelling "gaybasher!")

Anyhow... time passed. They got sick of having to have their guitars put together every few shows. Jeff quit the band to work on his beard full time, and to ride giant motorcycles. They bought a bunch of weird samplers and keyboards that didn't like being knocked over or unplugged. They started setting up on stage rather than in the middle of the audience. All of their songs got really long, and then Vince quit to go be awesome at something besides drums. I still thought they were a good band, but I was having a hard time following the songs, and it wasn't because I was trying not to get stabbed in the face with a guitar headstock.

So, here we are, 2010, and Tera Melos has a new album coming out soon. I honestly wasn't super jazzed on the news... until I heard this song! Frozen Zoo, the new track, has CHORUSES!! Holy crap. It's three minutes long!! WOW! It's catchy!!! While I'm told this track doesn't represent the album as a whole, I hear that the songs have quite a bit of structure. I'll for sure be picking this up the day it comes out now.

While Tera Melos may no longer be the wall-climbing, gear-destroying, energetic, mean kids from Roseville anymore, there's a good chance that their new direction will find me listening to them again a lot more.

(This video will give you an idea of what their shows used to be like)

Your Friday Awesome: Joey Alison Sayers

Music Monday: The Fierce Face

Click on the Fierce Face to download the whole album for FREE!

Aaron Davidson (Brilliant Red Lights, Compassion In Action, The Soft Comas, Huge Black Man) put together an interesting take on the traditional mix tape. He reconstructed a batch of his favorite songs, sang new vocals over them, and then let it loose onto the internet for free. The whole project fits together very smoothly, although the standout track for me is Leave The Jetpack (Hot Chip Remixed by Fred Falke). I'm hoping that he's working on a second Fierce Face recording, and that I'll get to draw the cover of the next one.

 I'm going to borrow the idea from my wife's blog and start posting either free music that I'm really into,  or music that I had some hand in helping to create.

Ginger Beer Review #1 - Buderim Ginger

*since I don't drink, I've found that ginger beer is a nice change from having a Coke when you're out with your drinking friends. There's a bunch of different varieties, and I'm going to start reviewing them here!

The "authentic australian" marketing that proliferates much of the ginger beer I've drank makes no sense to me. Honestly, I don't think anyone is out there, scratching their head going, "Man! I sure am thirsty, I could really go for something australian!" I don't really give a crap where it originated from, I just want to drink it without getting the stink-eye from a bartender. This label is ridiculous. G'day Mate! Limited Edition!
Also, people who don't drink usually don't carry a bottle opener. All ginger beer should be able to be opened with your bare hands. No fun trying to pry one of these open, especially if I had been out on a walkabout looking at koalas, right!?

So... how's it taste? It wasn't the worst tasting ginger beer I've had, but it also wasn't the best. I thought it was a little syrupy. I did like how gingery it was, but I could see that being kinda gross to most people.
I definitely won't buy one of these again, but I'd drink one if it was free.

Flyers - 08.03.2010 & 08.04.2010

UPDATE: Classics of Love had to cancel, so now Gnarboots are opening the San Jose show! Yes!!

I really like the idea of doing two flyers that look similar to each other for a similar show happening on two different dates. I've never met Jeff Rosenstock, but I'm a fan of what he's been doing with his record label, and I hope he digs these flyers. All of the dudes in the other bands are all long-time homies, especially Mr. Potthast, who I have probably seen play over 100 shows.
Hey, fun story: MU330, Link 80 and the Chinkees were all in a bus on tour, and we stopped at this weird truck stop in Germany that was built out of all these abstract shapes (bonus points to anyone who tracks down this place online). We didn't have anywhere to sleep in the van after we got out to use the bathroom, so we climbed up on top of all the bags that were stacked on top of all the equipment in the back of the van. We were up about 20 feet in the air. We were moving around and giggling so much that we woke up everyone in the van.

PS: Am I misspelling "flyers"? Would it be more correct to put "fliers"? Please let me know in the comments.

Flyer - 07.14.2010

Click the flyer to buy your ticket in advance!

GNARBOOTS at Bottom of the Hill! Hopefully it being a Wednesday night won't deter people from coming out to this show. I'll definitely have some prints of this available at the show. I'm really happy with how this turned out, especially considering my initial sketch.
Haven't seen Gnarboots yet? Check out this video to get a taste of what we do:

Robots don't like Swimming

Indie Mart Teaser #1 - Dinosaurs going swimming

Flyer - 07.12.2010

100 ROBOTS - 101/100

I kept track of my 100 ROBOTS using a piece of paper at my desk at work. Not the most exact means, and I wound up double selling a robot. So, I had to do an extra robot:

Name: 0000kurt

Serial #: X320204AD77-00101

Function: CUDDLING, LAUGHING AT JOKES, EATING ENGLISH MUFFINS

You may notice that this robot bears a striking resemblance to 0000karl, which is part of why I held off on posting it. However, I just looked at it again and thought it would be fun for people to look at. The nice folks who bought 0000karl bought a few other robots, so when I told them about the double-sell, they just asked for another similar to him. It's interesting to look at the difference between the two, since I did 0000karl in the at the beginning of the project, and this one at the very, very end. You can really see the difference.

Flyer - 06.26.2010

I made the black and white version of this a while ago, but I just colored it. This definitely pops a lot more. Ben from the Trophy Fire (who I've known for years and years and years... and through multiple bands he's been in) was looking for someone to make a flyer for this show and I jumped on it. My friend Lauren plays drums in Minipop. All in all, should be a pretty killer show.

SUNDAY! SUNDAY! SUNDAY!

Hey, what are you doing this weekend? No, not Friday... No, not Saturday... Sunday, in the afternoon. Nothing? Awesome. Come hang out with me while I make art!
I have a booth at this event, which I'll be sharing with my friend Renee (http://briskknits.blogspot.com). I'll have a bunch of new paintings to sell, along with zines, buttons, music, and whatever other odds and ends I can pull together to expel out into the world. I'll post up a few things you can snag at this event this week to hopefully interest some of you into coming to visit me.

Flyer - 07.14.2010

Portraits of the Undead

Zombie #2 - 2.5" x 3.5"

Here's the next zombie. More of them are taking shape, I'll be posting them later this week hopefully...

G.N.A.R.B.double Oh!T.S

(click the taco truck to download)

A few months back we played a show at a Tuesday night at the Stork Club in Oakland, CA. We were supposed to be opening for a group called Punk Bunny. They didn't make it to the show, so we made the best of the evening by going all out and being awesome. Unbeknownst to us, the sound guy (Xtian, pronounced Christian) recorded our whole set. We decided to release it as a live album, so if you haven't heard it (or Gnarboots for that matter) go give it a listen.

It's pretty representative of how I like to spend my weekends.

Portraits of the Undead

Zombie #1 - 2.5" x 3.5" 

This is the first of a small run of tiny paintings I did as an experiment. In addition to the usual cute subject matter (dinosaurs and robots), I also love zombies. So, here's my first attempt at a painting with no black lines, no black paint. I have a couple more that I'm working on and I will post them as I complete them.

Flyer - 07.03.2010

Here's a flyer I just finished for an upcoming Gnarboots show in San Jose. I rushed the coloring last night, but overall I'm happy with how it turned out.

"You look familiar..."

Daaaang! It's been over a month since I've posted anything on here.

I'll change that real soon.

All 100 Robots have been finished and posted, and I've been thinking about what to do for my next art project. Meanwhile, I've also been taking some classes at the community college, making music, playing xbox, gorging myself on burritos and coffee, and generally being awesome. Speaking of awesome, did you know I have a twin? Her name is Renee and this is her blog: http://briskknits.blogspot.com/

I could believe it myself at first but the resemblance is uncanny!

Here's a visual quiz with answers. Let's see how many you get right:

I know you thought that was me flashing the piece sign but I'm on the right, holding the giant plate of carne asada.

It's hard to tell, cause we're both sitting down, but I'm on the left.

I know you thought that was my bad-ass karaoke rock-face... I'm actually on the right! crazy, huh?

Again I'm on the right. See? You thought I was the one being awesome.

I know the weird apocalyptic lighting in this one makes it hard to tell. I'm on the right, AGAIN!

You thought I was on the left huh? NOPE. I'm wearin' a wig, on the right!

This one's a toughie, huh?! ...I'm on the RIGHT!

Ok, this one was a trick. I'm not in this picture. Renee is being strangled by a robot! That's not me!

Ready? I'M ON THE R.I.G.H.T!

I know, optical illusion. The little hat makes it look my giant head on the right... BAM! I'm on the left!!!

Don't beat yourself up too badly if you didn't get any of these right. I mean, I can't even tell the difference sometimes!

Anyhow, WHY AM I TELLING YOU ALL OF THIS!? Well, check this out:

BOOM!

Renee re-created one of my robot paintings while teaching herself how to embroider! First try! How awesome is that?!

Read about it HERE: http://briskknits.blogspot.com/

Also, she has made me:

• A "Team Awesome" Hoodie, with Halo 3 Unicorn emblem on the front
• A rad t-shirt based on this guy from "Heavy Metal Parking Lot"
• An awesome bad techno mix CD that is perfect for parties
• Another rad t-shirt with this guy on it!

Basically, Renee is super bad-ass. She can walk on her hands, knows how to blog (yes, everyone has a "blog" these days, but Renee actually does it right), is really good at video games, and is an fabulous dancer. You should go visit her blog, leave a comment, buy some rad knitted fingerless gloves from her, and try to be more like her. You will undoubtedly fail, but you know what they say: Shoot for the stars, that way when you miss, you at least wind up on the moon. What? No one says that...

http://briskknits.blogspot.com/

http://briskknits.blogspot.com/

http://briskknits.blogspot.com/

http://briskknits.blogspot.com/

http://briskknits.blogspot.com/