School is over...

School and work's kept me on lock down for the past few weeks. Now that final projects are complete and break has commenced, I can relax a little.

Last week, I got a call from the Ravinia women's board saying that my submission to their annual poster contest won! Not only will I see my poster all over Highland Park (as well as various other locations across Chicagoland), but I also get a hefty $1000 check, plus an extra $100 for every time they use my design for adverts, catalogs, what have you. UIC's Graphic Design Faculty Advisor, Matthew Gaynor (an awsome guy), also gets a $500 check. What perfect timing, too! I get to pay off my credit cards and I'll have enough money for Christmas shopping and some Nikon swag. Maybe even coilovers... nah, that'll have to wait.

Anyway, here is the poster design. I have been asked to tweak it a little, so I'll post the final version when it comes time to send it to the printers.

The 24x36 poster is for their annual music festival, and this year's theme was the celebration of Abraham Lincoln's 200th birthday. It was hard to design in a style that I don't normally do, but Matthew said that I'd need to consider the judges first, and typographic/compositional elements after. I guess a literal concept and rudimentary balancing pays off in situations like these. Jennifer from Ravinia said there was over 220 submissions, and the fact that mine was chosen still surprises me.

The best part about all of this is I may be able to intern at Ravinia, or even get a job with them. They said they were looking for photographers and designers, so I may look into that in the summer. I'm hoping to get an internship at MorningStar Chicago to keep me busy next semester. I'll be making more money there while doing much less work.

With that said, introspectrumdigital.com will be up within the next few weeks. I'll be needing that site up for my interview. Wish me luck!

Kevin

wicker session

Went to wicker with my friend Rosanna and Saifra last Friday afternoon. We went to the silver room AGAIN. I needed to drop off business cards and Saifra wanted to shoot images down and immortalize them forever.
Just put up new tags with the titles and price I think last Monday. Haze G-shock watch. (lower left corner all white) If I didn't need to buy a bike that would of been on my wrist right now!
Going over business proposals AGAIN.
,..
.
.
.
.
.
.
.

..
.
.
.
.
..
.
.
naw just joking. This is Jolly and he interns at Metamorph a new tattoo shop down in wicker. He said he could get me tattoos for a good price. If you guys want tattoos give me a call I'll let em know.
I think my favorite was his Anarchy robot.
To be continued...


continued to Quimby's .. yeah books... kinda not my thing. There are two floors covered in books from the floors to the ceilings. Yeah thats the hallway to the bathroom. I feel like I was in Harry Potter when he was getting his books for school.

I'm not really into cats but this one was an exception.
Reckless Records. They still don't have Renegades by RATM...
photos courtesy of Saifra Kahn.

ROYAL REVELATION

respect

http://www.royalrevelation.com/blog/?p=249

on the side of the side of side projects.

this is what ADD cooks up. I just wanted to see how certain paint markers reacted with paint. Good old skateboarding, graffiti, and Japanese, how can you go wrong?
next to big red. "Last Breath." I made the skateboard trying to think of a meaning behind all the things I've done and I came up with "Last Breath." I remember finishing some work and I was getting frustrated and I just said, "Dude, I'll kill this like its my last breath." So i thought of a logo and cooked up a noose.
little dude fits right in with the fam. Gears of war... one.. if your wondering .

hello nasty

I stopped by reckless records in wicker today hoping they would have beastie boys: hello nasty.



Seek and you shall find....This is one of the most influential records I have ever listened to. I could listen to this from sun up to sun down when this first came out. There are 22 tracks on here each with its own style with a little groove, jazz, rock, and hip hop all rolled into one.

If I listened to this when I painted my last series I think it would of been a 10X more out there. On a side note: Buy CDs!! I think whats great about buying a cd is that it turns ears off listening to the radio. Listening to the whole album gives a better feel and understanding of the artist instead of a surface facade on the radio.

Next CD to find: Renegades by RATM

The Silver Room

I stopped by The Silver Room at Wicker Park on Friday night to check out Andrew's work. It was a pretty sweet spot.




You could see his work from the entrance. Seriously, his work never ceases to amaze me. I still remember all of the incredible stuff he did back in high school.




The genius himself:


Another set that was up for display:

GRIND AND SHINE

At first I went to The Silver Room and Eric (one of the workers) said I can hang up my stuff anywhere in the back. I chose behind the couches since I knew that was the main area where everybodys at. Looks great with the lighting and wasn't to hard to set up. Natalie who is in charge of all the events said I think it would be better to put your stuff up in the front since it would take up more room. I took it down and started all over again.
Grinding: I'd say I'm about 6 1/2 feet up. Thanks for the butt shot.Grinding: Just about right.
Shining: I think my favorite part now is hanging up the art (which is an art all by itself). Finishing a painting feels good, but I love when a series comes together and just hanging it up gives it that professional look. Side note: I was in the Silver Room about a year ago with my friend Kathrine and told her "One Day" I'll be up there. One Day = Nov. 14,2008

ConTAGious Cr8tivity: The meaning behind this series is to display what creativity does to my thoughts and mind. Inside each animal are TAGs. Tagging is the start of my creativity and then usually things build from there. The reason why I added a drip background and drip effects was to ephasize how creativity can be in your mind yet "drip away" at any moment. Its my job as an artist to paint it out asap. I added alot of calc. math and organic chem. in pencil to show even grunt work can be inspiring at times. I penciled in lyrics to certain songs that I listend to while I painted.

"Teething": Shark=Drive. Once creativity hits me, I feel this driving force to put down everything and pick up anything to show it. I think this was an important piece since alot of artist are creative yet don't have drive. Numbers are for Eph. 6:17-18. and Psalm 23:3. $100"Flapping": Baby Penguin=Joy. Once I have an idea for a new canvass or tag or anything I feel like I'm in first grade with a new set of crayons.-$100

"Mudslinging": Baby elephant in water= Playful. When I paint it's something that I do not to make money, make a name for my self, or get in galleries. Paint for fun not muns. Birthday 12/22/87.-$100"Unbearable 429": "I can't imagine what a life would be like with out creativity." -Matt Siren. 554 is BBQ pork eggs and rice at Seven Treasures. 429 is the price we pay for two hot dogs and E.Revs at THORTONS!!. Dorian Minor 4 life. -$100

Tool Time

Tools of the trade
K-66 - Thin tags with mad drips = dope combo.
Krink Dab Squeezy - A little tip to these guys is you can take off the nib/tip of the marker and add dot 3 brake fluid. The brake fluid makes it more staining so when good ol' chicago cleans it up it'll at least leave a ghost. Unless they just poo paint it.
Do Em Dirty Silver Mop

Multiple Measures = Great Job
Tool time son!! A little art on the wall livens up the place more than any electrical appliance out there.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.Sometimes..

baby steps

It all starts with a sketch in a little black book.

Then crossing the finish line. To the guys at royal revelation Hope it makes it safely to your office. Thanks for giving me the opportunity. "ROYAL REV"
It all starts with a sketch during work. Hope I can paint it on one of these 24X48 canvasses and murder it.
On a side note. Who said Chicago wasn't a tough city? THEY PUT A U-LOCK AT Baskin Robins (Roselle and Canal). Even ice cream isn't safe.

sneeky sneaky

A little teaser for Friday. Hope to see everyone there.

ON/OFF the wall

ITS FINALLY UP!!! I finished this Japanese series in the summer and my dad finished the frames. It took me two weeks to get up and finally put it up on our wall. Stop by our apt and check the alignment.

Gerry aka "Ger. Bear" aka "Ger Brizzy" and Dan aka "D.Money" setting up star wars toys for Dan's photo project.
Everything looks good when they are together.
Beautiful. These are still up for grabs. I had to use shoelaces to properly align the frames since we did not own Laser Straight . There is a pretty trippy color pattern for this series. Starting from the right. The main color is red/pink. The outline color is green which becomes the main color for the panda. the signature on the geisha is purple which become the outline for the panda. The main color is green the outline is purple which is the main color for the snake. The signiture is yellow which become the outline for the snake. The Outline of the snake is yellow which becomes the main color for the koi the signiture is pink which becomes the outline for the koi. the koi is outlined in red/pink which brings the main color for the geisha. The koi is signed in green which is the outline for the geisha. DID YOU CATCH THAT? 4 MORE DAYS TILL THE GALLERY!!

Cold and Old

This is a genuine Thorton's meal. Me and my friends come to this gas station after bible study Friday night and order two hot dogs and two "E.REVs." EREV is a new energy drink with grape flavor. All of this for $4.29!!! Beats IHOP anyday.
Kidrobot DUNNY SERIES 5

NATURE

BRINGSPEACE