I’m going to start updating again. To start, I’m having another sale on doing posters for events. $50! Fifty bucks! Fitty books! You can’t argue with that deal. Some restrictions apply, of course.

- Nothing too extravagant. No custom photography, heavy duty illustration or monster amounts of retouching.

- Limited time only! This offer will expire soon!

- Considering how affordable these are, I’ll expect money up front before I get to work. (People like to try to scam freebies all the time)

And that’s it! Go forth and advertise!

Nix

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What could be more Detroit that pistons, skulls and rust? Not much, I think. That being said, when speaking with Detroit’s Mound Road Engine about their record art for their forthcoming self-titled EP, it only seemed natural to create a “real life” version of the logo I created for them. The challenge? Making everything look like it’s rusted metal. Enter my buddy George Charbeneau from Graveside Manner. George makes it a habit to create and construct sweet special effects for haunted attractions. You know, the hydrolic jump scares in those haunted houses that bloom from hell come late September?

Anyway, I enlisted George to help me create the pistons-and-skull piece, and he did not disappoint. The technique he used to make an average, replica skull look like rusted metal is actually fairly simple, but messy. And something I’m gonna keep a secret.

I also have a feeling that this image is going to get stolen. A lot. Which is why I’m not posting it in the usual glorious high-resolution (well, for the interwebs). But that won’t stop people, for the most part.

So to sum up, most of this is “practical special effects” versus mostly digital. Yes, there is lots of compositing and color treatment and such, but if you took all that away, it’d till be bad-ass.

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Here we have the new logo for Detroit/Dearborn Heights’ own Calling All Sinners. A horror/punk/psychobilly/cowpoke band made up of the remnants of other great locals like Blood Bricks N’ Booze and Nuke & The Living Dead. A Frankenstein’s monster, if you will, patched together by alcohol, pom-ade and guitar strings. Check them out if you haven’t already. It’s okay, I’ll wait.

…

I know, right? So anyway, after having talked with the band’s vocalist and guitarist, Rik Miller over the span of what feels like years at this point, I finally convinced them to take the plunge and relinquish their death-grip-like hold on their limited cabbage and have me do some art for them. What you see here is the result. I can’t wait to see this on shirts, stickers, patches and the like. Oh, and I already have ideas for their album art, if it ever comes to that.

Funny note, I hadn’t actually seen any of the art they made themselves (or however they worked it). Or if I had, it didn’t sink into my brain tissue. So I find it amusing that I created a piece of art, unbeknown to me, that actually looks like a sweetened up version of something they already had. Weird.

As usual, click the image above for a larger version.

Nix

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What you see above is a labor of love. Which isn’t to say that other projects I do aren’t. I put my all into everything I do. But I really like this band, the Memphis Morticians. They’re awesome garage punk rockabilly; a decidedly Detroit sort of sound. Though they’re from NYC, they definitely have that dirty, grimy, Detroit-ness about them. Plus they have a song for us drivers of dead sleds. ‘Nuff said. If you’re in Detroit when the show’s on (Friday, April 1st), I highly recommend you shell out the ten bones to see these primitive trash men from outer space.

As for the inspiration, I went through a lot of steps to get to this. Originally, I had wanted to do a full-on illustration of a 1955 Cadillac hearse, all black and lowered and lookin’ evil with these big pipes coming out back belching smoke. And inside said smoke would be all the copy. But that turned out to be way too labor intensive, once I got into it. So I scrapped that for the time being, and thought about some sort of imagery with a toe-pincher in an open grave… but then I realized I’ve done something similar twice before. So what to do? Well next I started with the idea of an antique bottle of embalming fluid. Then that evolved into just using the labels themselves as inspiration, and making the whole poster look like a giant label of embalming fluid (hence the cross bones).

And as always, clicken to embiggen.

Nix

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So, through bingo, beer, cheap burgers and a few friends (Dana & James, Sean & Angela), I got to know a couple by the name of Tom and Anni. Coupla sweet kids, lemme tell ya. In any event, some time last year at Drunken Bingo, they hit me up asking if I’d donate my time and skills to do a poster for a benefit they put together to help the Michigan chapter of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society. It’s for charity, and for good people, so how could I say no? Besides, how often does one get to illustrate an evil, hot rod wheelchair outta Hell? Well, I guess one could do it as often as one would like… but anyway…

What you see here is something that I feel is actually kind of different than my usual fare. Though it, of course, has my flavor permeating throughout. I spent quite a few hours on this, making this, I think, the second or third most expensive piece of poster art I’ve done. Well, if it was a paying gig, that is. Anyhow, that’s not important, really (’till I do 2011′s taxes that is). I feel I should point out a few small details since you may not be able to see ‘em.

The Hoosier-type rubber says “Dead Tread”, in case you couldn’t read it. Though it’s pretty big, so I can’t imagine not being able to. This is a nod to a guy named Jeff Garstecki whom I knew ever-so-briefly back in my college days. He was an automotive designer who rocked the coolest Fiero ever (tall order since they’re not cool at all). It was totally a home made cyberpunk machine. Killer. I think I have a photo of it buried somewhere. Anyway, back to my point. He did the immaculately detailed automotive renderings (on vellum, before computers were mainstream), and he frequently put “dead tread” as the brand on his tires. That’s pretty much it.

On the side of the wheelchair, like the side of a Spitfire, are how many pedestrians have been bulldozed in this hellacious wheeled machine. Actually using the “do not walk” sign as a base. Five… so far.

There’s also a “Hell on Wheels” sticker. And a lovely “Mr. Horsepower” sticker, too. And of course, you can’t have a devilish hot rod without a hat-tip to the master, Coop. Now that’s a shift knob. Anyhow, I hope you dig it. A lot of time and heart-n-soul went into this piece, despite how simple it looks. And if you find it irreverent, don’t blame me. I was told to make it as bat-shit crazy as I wanted. (I wanted to put a plow on the front with the word ‘killdozer’ on it – but then it wouldn’t read as a wheel chair.)

As always, clicken-to-embiggen.

Nix

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Nix

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What you see above is the first part in The Odyssey of Doctor Wax, a new record from Seattle hip-hop producer Doctor Wax and his compatriot, Odyssey. The music is an uplifting mixture of late-60′s and early-70′s soul samples and current, positive hip-hop trends. I have loads of fun doing work for these guys, as you can see by the art above. The second part will be the back-side of the record’s release. That will come eventually, as the music gets completed. Should be a blast!

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In a short, but humorous, history of spoofing The Beatles’ original record cover for “Yesterday and Today”, we can add The Meatmen to the echelon of those that have poked a little fun at the drab Fab Four. In the above links, you’ll find the original image this is based upon. Apparently peoples’ panties got all in a twist about this record cover back in 1966. People needed better shit to do back then.  Anyway,what you see above was probably the most gut-busing, dry-throat, I-gotta-stop-laughing-or-I’m-gonna-fucking-puke photo shoot I’ve ever done. These guys are the jolliest bunch of assholes this side of the nuthouse (gold star if you can identify that quote). I’ve shot them before (in their Tesco Vee’s Hate Police iteration) and that was, at the time, the most I’ve ever laughed during a shoot. ‘Till this shoot, of course.

I wish I could remember some of the quotes. They’re pure, off-color gold. The one that comes to mind, while reviewing shots on the big screen, TV blurts out, “Hey, who’s that old Jew hanging out with Chapstik?”

Pure gold. I’m sure, at some point, many of the out-takes will be posted purely for hilarity’s sake.

Enjoy!

nix

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Remember those old Wacky Packages cards from the late 70′s or Garbage Pail Kids cards from the 80′s? Remember how you could combine those puzzle piece back-sides of some of the cards? Well Crud’s releasing their Sophomore album on four, 7-inch records, and the inside of the record sleeves combine, a-la collector cards, to form a giant 14.5″ x 30″ poster that’s exclusive to these releases. The cover art has been remixed to reflect the low-tech feel of vinyl to look like spot color printing that’s been worn and torn. The back-sides of the sleeves have additional photos and design, as well. It’s an art-splosion! As usual, click the above image for a really, really big version of it so you can see the wicked detail.

nix

Below are a couple of the new pieces of art used for the records in their full-color format.

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I have finally got everything hammered out (mostly) for this first installment of COMING SOON. As it states above, the set (sold only as a set, by the way) is limited to 50 copies, signed and numbered by yours truly. The price for the set is $30 USD plus shipping and handling. S&H is as follows:

Within the US: $3 USD

To Canada: $4 USD

Rest of the world: $10 USD

They come shipped in a sturdy, eco-friendly triangle shipping box (seen below), so please, no P.O. Boxes please. I’ve already sold a number of these, so don’t hesitate!

Follow this link here to be taken to the store-front to purchase this awesome, first set!

Nix

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