Rocket World Rundown pt. 3

Alright, alright, last post on the Saturday Morning show, for real this time. Just wanted to get all the art on here from the show. The piece above, for those that don't remember some of those old Hanna Barbara toons, is my take on Penelope Pitstop and the Ant Hill mob. This one took a little longer than estimated. It's one of the bigger ones form the show measuring out to 20 x 24, if I'm not mistaken. You have to figure if they ever updated the cartoon, that old Penelope would be rockin' a big ol' Harley or something. Don't worry, the bike still has the same color scheme as the car, just, without those big ass lips that were on the grill.



This last piece is my take on Speedy Gonzales. Why? Well, a few years back, I remember reading about some rumblings within the Latin community that were specifically aimed at ol' Speedy and the way he badly represented Mexicans. There were also comments on how Speedy's friends were all lazy, and they thought that this was a bad portrayal of Mexicans.
At the time, I seem to recall that they even wanted ALL of the Speedy episodes taken off the air. One of the things they didn't like about Speedy was that he was also a womanizer, because he was always trying to hit on all of his friend's sisters.

Now, I'm not going to get into the whole part about how the parents should be on point with all this stuff. Talk to your kids for cryin out loud! It's just cartoons man! I never heard any French people getting all uptight because Pepe Le Pew was trying to jump every female feline that looked like a skunk. Bugs Bunny was a cross dresser, Pepe Le Pew was a horny French skunk, and Speedy had a few lazy friends. WHO DOESN'T?!?! Have lazy friends that is, or maybe your friends fit all three descriptions. I don't know. BIG DEAL.

Anyway, if the creators thought they were getting too much flack, they should have updated Speedy to look more like the cowboy/robin hood/badass that he is. That's the reason I put him in that specific pose. A pose, that only hard core Clint Eastwood fans will recognize, complete with the Clint costume. (poncho sold separately). The sign that's in the background is probably more recognizable if you're from Southern California. More specifically, near the Mexican border. I don't think the people that made the sign will ever fess up to what they meant it for, but when asked, I think they'll just say it's a caution sign for drivers to look out for pedestrians. Yeah, ok. If Speedy was around today, I think he'd be shootin' up those signs as he helped out his gente to get across the border. Andale pues!

Alright, this is turning into another rant, so I'll end it now. Stay tuned for more posts on the next show that goes down next weekend out in Neuva York. The Zodiac show! Also, the website's coming along as well, so, keep an eye out for when it goes live. And if you think there's any of these latest pieces that you'd like to see as prints, let me know. I'm working on getting a section on the new site to sell said prints, so any feedback would be great. 'Till next time.

Rocket World Rundown pt. 2

I thought I'd post some more pics (thanks Karin) from the Rocket World show last Friday. I also wanted to post some of the art from the rest of the show. The above piece of art is titled "The De-Evolution of Toons at 12 Frames Per Second." Long title, but a topic that seems to come up every now and then. With the success of 3D features, it seems that traditional feature films are getting pushed out (2D). People don't realize that it's the story that should matter, not the end result. Pixar's films are successful because of the stories, not because it's 3D. Then, what about the artists that can't make the transition to the 3D world, where do they go? More questions than answers, and I'm not the guy with answers for such big queries, so, moving right along....


The above pic will give you and idea of the size of these things. The painting hanging below mine is Dev's epic take on the old Cereal mascots. If you're wondering, the guy in the middle is "Crunch Berry".

The folks don't make it out to the big city, so here's proof. The familia came all the way up from Gilroy for the show and didn't get lost. I'm so proud of them. Here's me an' pops. That dopey grin on my face is half drunky, and half happy that they found the gallery.



Here's a shot of my sister Alicia on the left, and mom in tha middle. Glad that they made it up in one piece. Another person that made the long trek to the city was Zibby. Classic Zib face. I think she's constipated. Alright, there's some more art I need to dig up, and then that's it. Posting blog stuff takes time away from painting when you have a slow computer. Stay tuned though. More art posts, more show info (NY next week baby!) and more updates on the website. Stay tooned.

Rocket World/APE- the Rundown

Well, last Friday was the 'Saturday Morning' opening for the art show we had down in San Francisco, at Rocket World. Here's a picture of Dev, Karin , myself, as well as the man who was kind enough to let us even have a show. The owner of Rocket World , Patrick Ma. If you live in the San Francisco area, and haven't been to his space, you really need to check it out. You can check out more Rocket World stuff here.

Dumbass that I am, I totally forgot my camera, I'm lifting these pics from friends. I hope to get more in a few days, so maybe I'll post those later. Patrick actually has some good ones on his Rocket World website if you click here.

The turnout for the show was great, lots of family and friends showed up. Even mi madre showed up. I knew she'd overcome her fear of the big city some day. I was disappointed that my dad came all that way and didn't even climb up the sides of any buildings. There's always Vegas again Jorge, don't worry. You'll get to the top of the Luxor someday.


Here's a shot of some of Karin's paintings. Looks like some already have the dreaded red dot. "Dreaded" if you were too slow to buy one, that is. You really do have to treat yourself and go to her art blog. If anything, to see the plush Hostess Twinkie dude she made and put in a coffin. Brilliant! Click here for said brilliance.

Speaking of Karin, here she is, the next day at APE , and yes, that's a Pac-Man on her head.

Anyway, the whole trip was great, saw tons of cool art in and around the city, digested the graffiti on the buildings of SF, and met lots of old and new friends that had cool art that kicked my ass. Mission accomplished.

Check back on the Augblog soon. I'll be posting pics of the rest of the pieces I had in the Rocket World show. Maybe I'll dig up some sketches of 'em too. Also check back for updates on the new website. I'll be launching that really, really soon.

Don't forget to check back on Pat's Rocket World site as well, as he will be updating it with pictures of all the pieces that were in the show. You never know, you might end up being the future owner of the plush Twinkie dude......unless it has a red dot, suckas!


I do have to leave you with this. We went to the 1988 gallery opening on Saturday night. This beautiful painting of Chuck, was one of the pieces in the show. I apologize to the artist for not remembering his name, but, damn! C'mon! How f---n cool is that? I was too overwhelmed by the power of this masterpiece to remember anything! Kudos my friend. Kudos.

Chaka's Groove

Well, if you've been checking out this blog, you know about the Saturday Morning cartoon show that's going down in San Francisco.....I hope. It has come to my attention that in my last post I failed to mention the names of my fellow artists in crime that will also be in the group show as well. This was not overlooked on purpose, just a minor detail that got lost in the tumultuous (yes, I used that word. Its' appropriate this week) amount of crap that seems to be happening right around the time I'm getting ready for this show. If you didn't see the other names of the artists in the 'Saturday Mornings' flyer, their names are Karin Yamagiwa Madan, Suzanne Kaufman, and Dev Madan. They are the wind beneath my wings, and I am proud to be in a show with these mo fos. Check out their links to see some examples of their work from the show, and leave Dev a message to remind him to get off his ass and get a website/blog. He loves that.

Now, lets talk about Chaka. Who is Chaka? Who is Chaka indeed, and why did I pick him as one of the pieces to do in the show this Friday? Let's begin with Saturday morning toons. They were special when I was a kid, because they weren't on all the time like they are now, but it wasn't always just about the toons.

If you grew up watching Saturday morning cartoons in the 70's, there was another kind of show that was on back then. The acid influenced episodes of Sid and Marty Kroft. Some of the craziest characters came out of these live action episodes. One of them being, LAND OF THE LOST. A show about three explorers. A dad, his son, and his daughter, that got trapped back in prehistoric times. LOTL was one of the cooler shows Sid and Marty Kroft came up with. Why? Because it had friggin dinosaurs in it! The creators mixed live action actors in a prehistoric setting complete with stop motion dinosaurs. Yes! Crude animation back then, by today's means, but as a 5 year old kid, it was the coolest thing on Saturday mornings. It was a quick drug fix for young children when they couldn't get their Ray Harryhausen (respect) fix of stop motion creatures.

Not only were there dinosaurs chasing our three heroes, but there were also Sleestaks. Green iguana looking dudes with big black bug eyes that carried crossbows around chasing our heroes whenever they got a chance. Last but not least there was Chaka. Chaka was basically the show's take on prehistoric caveman. Chaka, lived in a grass hut, with three older brothers that would tease the crap out of him, like most older brothers do.

Now, every episode, Chaka would get teased and pushed around by his older brothers, but he persevered. He would get chased by big ass dinosaurs and green iguana looking dudes, but he was smarter than the average cave dude and would always escape. He had more hair than the average joe, but that didn't keep him from hanging out with Holly. He had a big forehead like a big bobble headed kid, but he walked with pride. He did what Marshall, Will and Holly told him to do, but he wouldn't complain. He lived in a grass hut for christ sakes while Marshall, Will and Holly lived up in the high mountains. Think about that for awhile. He lived down in the valley on the purple lame ass part of the 'Land of the Lost Monopoly board' (someone needs to make that) while the other guys were up in their pimpy Boardwalk, high rise cave. Hmmm.

All I'm saying is, sometimes, you have to be like Chaka. Persevere man. Whatever the world throws at you. You may not be chased by a t-rex, but your landlord might be after you for that last rent check. You may be even hairier than Chaka, but don't let that keep you from trying to hook up with your own "Holly". If you have one of "those days", just be like Chaka and go to your happy place. Put your headphones on and crank that muther to eleven. Put on that one jam, that one groove, that tunes out the rest of the world.

Sorry for the long rant. If you haven't figured it out by now, it's been a long week and I'm venting. My music is cranked right now, I'm painting, and I don't care what else happens. Bring it T-Rex. I'm Chaka, so you better get some back up. -I'm out

Saturday Mornings

Alright suckas, here it is. Friday April 20th is the opening for the 'Saturday Mornings' group show I'm in with three other local Seattle artists. The show is in San Francisco at Rocket World. Check out the store for updates here. If you're in or around the Bay Area, pass this around and spread the word. All four artists will be in attendance and some of us will be selling prints as well as the original art on display.


Above is a sneak peek of one the pieces I have in the show. This painting is kind of a two for one. On on hand, it's a fun interpretation of Muttley from the Hanna Barbara cartoons. On the other hand, if you happen to be an Iron Maiden fan, you'll totally recognize the Aces High album cover where I took the idea from. Growing up in the 80's, it was almost hard not to see an Iron Maiden t-shirt every now and then. The artwork that Derek Riggs did for that band was mind blowing and I don't know an artist that didn't draw Iron Maiden's mascot, Eddie, on their Pee-Chee folder. Anyway, call it an homage ,or whatever you want. Riggs's art was a big influence for me growing up, as much as the Hanna Barbara cartoons were.


Here's a quick shot of my painting set up at the old Corson house in Georgetown. Just wanted to give you an idea of the sizes. You can see the Muttley painting back there, next to the Goat painting for the Zodiac show that's coming up on May 5th. In the foreground is a 'Year of the Dog' painting in progress for that same show. If you want to see the finished, check back often. I'll be posting more as these shows get closer. -I'm out.

40 oz. Show

Yup, that's right. It 's a show with all 40 ounce bottles. Genius I tell you. Mike Gilbert of Vancouver is putting on the show. Check out the blog info here.




I'm just wondering how many people are going to do Colt 45 bottles with Lando on them , because, what else are you going to put on a Colt 45?


It was weird painting on such a smooth curved surface. It sucked even more trying to take pictures of the damn thing. It's transparent, so the light coming through the glass and the paint didn't help to take a good picture. Hopefully these pics will give you a good idea of the finished 40 0z piece.

I wanted to write "Cloud City Malt Liquor" on the bottle, but my lettering skills weren't feeling up to snuff that day. Nothing beats the saying they used in the old ads with Billy Dee. Colt 45 Malt Liquor: "It works every time." I think it only works every time if you're Billy Dee.

Year of the Pig Show @ Kustom Kulture Gallery and Tattoo

Well folks, here's a heads up on the Chinese Zodiac show that will be going down on May 5th in Baldwin, New York, at the Kuston Kulture Gallery. It's a two man show. Two different takes on the Chinese Zodiac. The other artist that will be participating in the show is Bill Mc Evoy. Check out his Deviant site here for a taste of his artistic, eye splitting work.



When Bill told me he wanted to do the Chinese Zodiac for the show, my first question was, "Sure! How do you want to split them up?" His answer: "We'll, I'm going to do all twelve." In hindsight, I think I should have tried to come up with a better answer than, "Yeah, cool, let's do it!" Now, I'm glad I didn't. Doing all twelve of these paintings has been a marathon, but I'm having a blast doing them. I'm dying to go to the show to see Bill's take on all twelve paintings too.


Anyway, here are two more paintings for you to check out. "Organ Grinder" (year of the Monkey) and, "Piggie Possie" (year of the Pig) I'll try and post more as the show gets closer. Also, stay tuned for updates on the Saturday Morning show that will be going down in a few weeks. It's the same weekend as the APE convention. Th, th, th, that's all folks.