Despite having a really bad cold this week, I was productive… I posted a new illustrated photo as well as two new works for the automotive photography page.
To see a bigger version of “Recumbent”, as well as a couple of behind-the-scenes photos, click here. To see a bigger version of the Chevy Malibu pic, click here, and to see a bigger version of the 911 Targa (I want one so bad) pic, click here.
More later. I ate too much cheese, and now my lactose-intolerance is giving me a stomach ache 🙁
So this one’s a pretty different style for me. This piece was inspired by Japanese Takarazuka theatre, in which every role is played by women. I find such androgyny interesting, so with my model Katie’s help (she plays both the guy and the girl), and the very talented makeup artist Aiko, I wanted to try my hand at the aesthetic.
I’ve included some examples of Takarazuka Revue posters, so you can see how the real thing looks:
I just finished a new illustrated-photo work, called “Tree”. It’s pretty NSFW (lots of nakedness), so if you want to see the actual piece, click here, or on the preview pic.
I’ve been wanting to do this idea for a couple of years now, but never quite had the right logistics. I’ve always liked the look you get when you blow ink around with a straw, and one day, my mind started wandering, and I thought “what if a human grew like that?” I’ve also had mutants on my mind a lot lately, since I’ve been playing so much Fallout 3. haha…
Probably won’t have much new art here for a little bit. I’m scurrying like crazy on stuff in preparation for my move back to California, but I will see you soon!
PS: Ryan started a blog for Electric Ant recently, and I post some fun art there occasionally.
Just finished a new illustrated-photo piece, and this one marks the return of the Robot Army series…
This piece features my friend Dawon, as a chromed-up android. The previous series featured a military theme, with very rough & tumble, gritty looking machines, loaded down with gadgets. For this piece, I wanted to channel a little of my fondness for Hajime Sorayama, and go with a smoother, more shiny aesthetic. Since Dawon is my longtime muse, and a natural model, I was lucky to have many good shots from that afternoon, but unfortunately, those all went when my hard drive died this past fall. Luckily I had a few left over – enough to make one piece. This year should bring many more robots!
Sleeeepy… about to go to bed, but I thought I’d mention that Detroit Free Press / Metromix photographer Tracey Nawrot documented the CPOPpor2nity show on Metromix. See the pictures here. (It’s funny, I’m actually on the front page of the gallery, and the site. *egostroke*)
The show was a lot of fun. I saw a nice selection of art from some talented people, and met some cool folks.
Still wading through pics from my road trip – I took many photos en route – but the documentary work has kept me a bit busy since I got to Michigan. I’ll have more fashion stuff for you kids to check out soon, and then some new illustrated-photography!
So I’m back in Michigan,and I’ve been busy. Doing photography for a documentary about a car designer / fine artist, and also getting ready for a show…
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 13th, 7pm at C-Pop Gallery (4160 Woodward Ave, Detroit MI)
I have three pieces in C-Pop Gallery’s show, “©POPpor2nity”. This is an honor for me, as I used to frequent C-Pop as a high schooler / college student, and it inspired me quite a bit, growing up. It was thanks to C-Pop, that I got into Yumiko Kayukawa, Shepard Fairey, Niagara, AWOL, Mark Ryden, and many others.
The opening is on December 13th, but the show itself goes on until January 31st, so be sure to check it out if you’re in the area!
Anyway, more later. busy busy busy…
Hey everybody. Things have been very hectic with packing up for the LA move, but there’s a big event you should attend this weekend if you’re in the Bay Area… Alternative Press Expo (APE, for short)
SATURDAY November 1st 11am – 7pm
SUNDAY November 2nd 11am – 6pm
The Concourse – 620 7th Street, San Francisco (Directions here)
More info here.
This will be my third year tabling at the show, with my usual gang of comic-making buddies… Ryan Sands, Hellen Jo, Anthony Wu, Derek Yu, and Calvin Wong. We will be at table #415, listed in the program as “The Bang Gang”. That’s in the back-left corner of the main exhibition floor (here’s a map). Ryan and I will be showcasing our two recent big projects:
Electric Ant issue 1: Our baby. A collection of comics, short stories, nonfiction, art, lists, etc. Some of the many awesome contributors include Hellen Jo, Aaron K, MC Lars, Gea, Derek Kirk Kim, Anthony Wu, Michaela Collette, Derek Yu, Eric Nakamura, Julia Wertz, and many more. Ryan created, edited and published it. I did much of the layout and illustrations. Also edited by Alice Kim. The official launch date is November 1st.
Tokyo Zombie: Yusaku Hanakuma’s slapstick zombie judo bonanza that we adapted into English. Ryan was editor and translator. I did lettering, touch-up art, and book design.
Also, I will be selling prints of my illustrated-photography.
Hope to see you there! Come on by and say hi 🙂
EDIT (from the fuuuuuture!): Click this photo of my buddies and I to see a ton of photos from APE 2008!
Hey kids. I just finished a new illustrated-photograph, the third in my post-apocalyptic series… “Lone Wolf”:
I did this shoot in Detroit with the lovely alternative model & Suicide Girl, Vivka, during my recent visit home. It’s been a while since I got a chance to explore an abandoned building (not as many of those in the Bay Area), so this was super fun. Vivka and I did another shoot while I was there, but I’ll probably be illustrating that a couple months down the line, as life is super busy right now.
Another recent thingy, although I didn’t blog about it before… I took some publicity shots of a local rapper, “Venom”, and his car. Here’s his car:
Other than that, I’ve been doing product / lifestyle shots for the fall lineup of Infectious. I’ll post some of said shots when the product lineup is live.
In other – major – news… I’m planning on moving to Los Angeles at the beginning of November. I, and everyone else in my company, got laid-off a month ago, since the company is shutting down. (thanks recession!) I’ve been doing freelance photography and graphic design this past month, but I’m thinking if I really want to benefit my photography career (especially for automotive photography), I need to get down to LA. Right now seems like a better time than ever to take a chance. Thus, after tabling at Alternative Press Expo in SF (more on that later), I’ll be moving. Life is crazy, as usual!
Here’s my newest illustrated-photograph piece, hot off the Wacom….
“Sniper”. It’s the second in my post-apocalyptic series (as started with The Equestrian )
This is the result of the third shoot I did with Katie Soo. We shot in Alameda, CA, with a loose idea, but luckily, her boyfriend had a huge collection of air guns for me to choose from for props. It was a lot of fun…
Also, my apologies to anyone on Safari or IE for whom there might be oddities in the CSS layout. I’m really not a programmer by trade, and until I can get someone to help me fix the layout weirdness, for now it looks best in Firefox & Chrome.
Hey kids. I just finished a long and laborious new illustrated-photo work… “Automaton JDM“.
JDM stands for “Japanese Domestic Market”. This is the sequel to “Automaton Classic “, which I made in spring 2006. With this one, I really wanted to make a significant jump over the last in regards to detail, setting, atmospheric lighting, and impact. This piece is made of 26 different Japanese cars & motorcycles (production and concept) that I shot in Japan and in the US. Bonus: the main red car in the chest plate is actually my Mazda3. A few other vehicles includes are the Nissan GT-R, Honda Evo 6 concept, Nissan March, Mitsubishi i, Mazda Demio, Mazda Furai concept, Mazda Taiki concept, etc… The background is at the Ebisubashi Bridge in the Dōtonbori area of Osaka, Japan.
If you’d like to see a detail of Automaton JDM, go to its gallery page…
I’ve been so busy this past few months, and I’m finding myself not being able to just focus and make as much free-time art as I’d like. However, even though I don’t have the time to make the quantity of work I once did, I’m trying to compensate for that by making very deluxe illustrated photos this year. (quality over quantity).
Aaaaanyway, on to the next piece …as well as back to work on the zine (more about that later). See you soon!