Ashamed - Process from sketch to framed painting.



I was looking through my sketch book and I found this man, looking down at his feet. I don't remember when I drew him...maybe sometime earlier this year.

I'd forgotten him, but when I saw him again I suddenly wanted to be his friend.

He looked sad.

I asked him what was wrong, and he said in an invisible voice "I'm ashamed of all the things I can't remember."
I wrote those words down next to him, so that other people would understand
without having to ask him what was on his mind.

His name is Edward Tolby.
Edward Tolby is ashamed of all the things he is ashamed of. H
e is also ashamed of all the shameful things he has done in the past, but forgotten.
In fact, he is more ashamed of the forgotten shame.
I tried to cheer Edward up by telling him that there was no shame in forgetting.
I hope the next time I draw Edward Tolby he is smiling.

AFter the sketch, I copied Edward onto some fancier paper using a light box (putting the original drawing under the new paper and placing them both over a clear lighted area).






I then painted a few different versions using different colors and mediums (some with water color and some with acrylic ink).
I don't do this with every drawing. Sometimes I paint the first one and I am satisfied.
At least half of my drawing don't involve a sketch, but just go straight to painting...in those cases I only do one draft.









In this case, I wanted to see how other colors would change Edward so I did three different versions.

Which one do you like? Do you think Edward feels differently in each one? What is he feeling?


The last step in the process...I choose the Edward I like and put him behind glass. He will live there until someone or something frees him.


Vid Con, the Youtube and Vlog convention in Los Angeles




This weekend is the Vidcon in Century City, Los Angeles. It's a Youtube and Vlogger convention put on by the Vlog Brothers. It goes from today, Friday, till Sunday the 11th and if you are a youtube fan you can watch footage live at
this link.


There are panels about youtube, new media and how to use new technology for videos and vlogging. There are also many performances and talks with famous youtube celbrities like Shane Dawson, Phillip Defranco and Michael Buckley. If you are not a youtuber, you've probablyy never heard of these folks, but they are very famous in the youtube world.


If you live in LA and are a youtuber, you should stop by. Even if you don't attend the actual talks, you can have fun just meeting people in the lobby.

Split Watermelons not Atoms. Suika Wari Party!




Takeo-Kun and I celebrated the 4th of July, America's Independence Holiday, in Venice Beach, CA. It was a Japanese party, so we celebrated with a traditional Japanese game called Suika Wari (Watermelon Splitting). It is similar to a pinata party, but instead of candy hidden inside of a donkey or Pikachuu, you get to eat the sweet, juicy flesh that is hidden inside of a watermelon.

If you are a fan of Japanese manga or anime, you probably know Suika Wari. It's in almost every summertime story that takes place on a beach, especially in a romance comic. The player is blindfolded, and spins around until they don't know which way the watermelon is. The spectators guide the player to help him get closer to the melon. Once the player thinks she has found the watermelon, she gets one whack. If she misses, another person gets to play.

I hope you will get a chance to split a watermelon this summer, or at least eat one.

More Earthquakes in Los Angeles July 7th

Just a few minutes ago was a pretty big, scary Earthquake in LA. Apparently it was a 5.9.
This was a pretty long one. I got up and ran outside. There was no damage where I am , but it felt like it was big enough to cause some problems. I hope nobody got hurt.

It was followed by several aftershocks...at least seven so far. Oh no, I think there is another one right now...

Please stop shaking, Mr. Earth.

Stinky Tofu and me


Stinky Tofu is a Chinese delicacy popular in Taiwan, HOng Kong and parts of Mainland China. I did some research online and found that the stinky tofu atAy Chung Flour Rice Noodle is supposed to be the stinkiest and most authentic in Los Angeles' San Gabriel Valley.

Ay Chung is a Taiwanese restaurant which serves street style food and home made noodles that are highly yummy. The stinky tofu is served in little fried cubes and you would never know how severely stinky it is just by looking at it. When I first sniffed it I really did gag. It smells like it came from the insides of a farm animal and then sat in the hot sun for many hours.

I only ate 2 bites and then I got the rest to go. I had to wrap it in 3 plastic bags to hide the scent. I gave it to a Chinese friend and she got very excited when she saw it. She ate every, rotten little piece. It is hard to believe that Natto and STinky Tofu are made from the same friendly little bean.

Street Bird Art- Lost and Found



I saw this poster hanging all over a small neighborhood in Los Angeles. Many people think of street art as graffiti or silk screened posters stuck onto buildings and telephone posts, but this is my favorite kind of street art.
It's a very handsome drawing of a birdy. It made me sad to know that this birdy was lost, but happy that he was found and also that he inspired someone to draw this handsome portrait.

I would like to see a museum exhibit of Lost and Found animal drawings. Will some museum person please let me curate this show.
I think that Lost and Found is a nice theme in general. Are you a little lost bird waiting to be found?

100 artists see satan final piece -God Backwards



The 100 artists see satan charity show is being held at Cal STate University of Fullerton Grand Central Art Center starting this Saturday June, 26th. I blogged a bit about it before and showed some of the sketches I did for the show.

The above image is the final framed version of my piece "God Backwards". The image below is a scan of just the image without matte and frame.





The image below is a sketch and color test I did to prepare for the final piece.




HEre is the info on the show.

Exhibition: 100 Artists See Satan: The Fundraiser
June 26 – August 15, 2010
Reception: Fundraiser Event Preview June 26, 2010 7-10pm
Opening Reception July 3, 2010, 7-10pm. Admission is free.
Lectures & Events: *Free docent group tours of the exhibition and building 11-4pm every day (Closed Monday) Call 714.567.7233 to schedule.

Grand Central Arts Forum, the support group for Grand Central Art Center (GCAC) is revitalizing the hit exhibition, 100 Artists See Satan, a survey of contemporary artists and their interpretation of the supreme demon. Unlike the original exhibition, this iteration of the collection will be presented as a fundraiser, with works available for sale to the public. All proceeds will benefit future GCAC programs and exhibitions. An exclusive preview will be held Saturday, June 26 from 6-7pm with the public reception scheduled from 7-10pm. On July 3 from 7-10pm GCAC will host another reception to coincide with Downtown Santa Ana’s First Saturday Arts Walk. The exhibition will remain on display through August 15, 2010.

100 Artists See Satan was originally organized by GCAC in response to another exhibition, 100 Artists See God, curated by John Baldessari and Meg Cranston for Independent Curators Inc. New York. The two shows exhibited simultaneously in 2004, Satan at GCAC and God at Laguna Art Museum, and gained notable attention from the public and media.

This second installation of the exhibit will offer the public a chance to purchase works from acclaimed artists. To further raise funds, Grammy Award winning graphic and packaging designer, Hugh Brown has been commissioned to design Satan’s credit card, limited edition of 666. This collector’s item is available only at the GCAC bookstore for $50. Cardholder’s benefits include a discount on select merchandise in the GCAC Sales Gallery as well as the opportunity to win an artwork from the exhibition.

Artists: Kim Abeles, Rev. Ethan Acres, Robby Adams, Peter Adamyan, Shag aka Josh Agle, Kii Arens, Julie B., Ana Bagayan, Gary Baseman, Becca, Bigfoot, Chris Bradley aka SMASH, Scott G. Brooks, Mike Brown, Hugh Brown, Liz Carroll, Amy Caterina, Luke Chueh, COOP, Albert Cuellar, Bryan Cunningham, Dalek, Kelly Hutchison aka Dark Vomit, Bob Dob, Diana Donaldson, Richard Edson, Ron English, Korin Faught, Eric Finzi, Alan Forbes, Paul Frank, Camille Rose Garcia, Gregg Gibbs, Jeff Gillette, Mat Gleason, Alex Grey, Des Grisham, Don Ed Hardy, Alexander Harris, Andrea Harris, Dana Harvey, Laurie Hassold, Mercedes Heinwein, Tim Hendricks, F. Scott Hess, James Hill, Jason Houchen, Jim Jenkins, Michael Knowlton,Will Koffman, Charlie Krafft, Dennis Larkins, David Michael Lee, Joshua Levine, Bad Otis Link, Laurie Lipton, Tiffany Liu, James F. Lorigan, Danni Shinya Luo, Jason Maloney, Chris Mars, Sally Mars, Elizabeth McGrath with Brian Poor, Jeff McMillian, Tara McPherson, Matthew William Miller, Miso, David Molesky, Gary Musgrave, Scott Musgrove, Jessica O’Dowd, Skot Olson, Joe Ongie, Naida Osline, Nathan Ota, Sonya Palencia, Manuel Pardo, Joshua Petker, Gail Potocki, Matthew J. Price,Victoria Reynolds, Drew Roulette, Beau Roulette, Mark Ryden, Leigh Salgado, Krystopher Sapp, Kathy Staico Schorr, Todd Schorr, James P. Scott, Mike Shine, Skinner, Morgan Slade, Nathan Spoor, Tyler Stallings, CR Stecyk III, Cole Sternberg, Mike Stilkey, Eric Stoner, Ken Tanaka, Paul Torres, Christopher Ulrich, Jeffrey Vallance, NicolaVerlato, Marnie Weber, CW West, Mark Whelan (Kill Pixie), Eric White, Edward Walton Wilcox, Robert Williams, Witnes AWR, Christine Wu and others.

Tony Hayward is deeply sorry





I have been watching youtube a lot this week, and Tony Hayward's BP apology video is all over. It is advertised on almost every youtube page I look at. He really wants me to know that he is sorry.

People were upset with Mr. Hayward this past weekend because he took his boat to a yacht race and gave the impression that he is resting and relaxing.
He has a 52 foot yacht named Bob. I guess it's a pretty good name for a yacht.

I'm making a video that talks a little bit about it. It's uploading now...but won't be ready to view for another hour or so. I will post it when it's ready.

My stinky lunch. How to make Kimchi and Natto spaghetti




Today, I made the world's second stinkiest lunch. In the above video I show you how to make the famous Natto Kimchi spaghetti, a dish which combines one of the most stinky Japanese foods with one of the most stinky Korean foods to create a stink-tastic delicacy. In the real world Korea and Japan don't always get along, but in my skillet they do.

Natto and Kimchi are a famous complimentary combination. You can also make delicious fried rice with Natto, Kimchi and rice.

Natto kimchi fried rice..

Heat sesame oil in skillet (or butter)

add some onions, and /or green onions and cook for 1 minute.

add kimchi and natto and stir for one minute.

turn on very high heat and add cooked rice....

cook till rice gets a little dry.... and is coated in kimchi spice.

crack egg and mix in with the rice...

eat it up yum.

Improvised songs with Polo

I met my friend Polo surfing in Los Angeles. He is a guitarist from the band Nirf. Last week, we went surfing early in the morning. Afterwards we jammed for a few hours with his guitar and my harmonica, and vocals.




We had so much fun making these improvised songs. I think we made 6 or of them, some in Japanese and some in English and some mixed. I will be posting more of them over the next few days.

Atomic Atom episode 2-




Episode 1 if you haven't seen it.




Atomic Atom is a real live super hero with special powers like high speed slow motion running, and the Atomic Pour. If you are in trouble, Atomic Atom will do whatever it takes to help you...but he is allergic to cats, so it can't involve a cat...also, he is afraid of most kinds of insect.

100 artists see satan sketches...



I was invited to contribute a piece to the art show called "100 artists see satan", featuring work by Mark Ryden, Gary Baseman, Todd Schorr, Gary Musgrave and many other artists.

The show starts June 26th at California State University at Fullerton and benefits their art department. You can read about it here. and I will post more about it soon.

This is a series of sketches and images I made while trying to decide what to put in the show. I'll post the final image later.

The top image is a watercolor of heartbroken satan.




This is Nicholas Spider Monkey who I wrote about in an earlier post.






This is great Mazinga....I also made a Raidein. I couldn't quite get this image to work the way I wanted it to. I tried to have them both together with these words in between, but it just didn't work. But I have another idea for a Raidein and Mazinga portrait.




This is a mixed media of oil pastel and acrylic.



Another version in acrylic ink



.
A sketch of Satan and best friend Popo.




This demon is watching television. They only have reality TV in hell

My trip to the Great White North.





I visited Northern CAalifornia's Pacifica beach for memorial day and surfed with great white sharks....or at least near them. My dream is to someday surf on one's back, but not all dreams come true.


I also went to PT. Reyes National park and met a very handsome deer, and coyote. There are even more sharks there. Apparently sharks go there to have babies, I guess they have good schools there. It's a nice place for a shark to raise a family.

Ken Tanaka and Takeo Live



Last Saturday, Po-Lo from the band Nirf, invited TAkeo and me to perform our "No Job" song at 2nd st. Jazz in Los Angeles.
Here is a video of it.
The video also shows Shoko Watanabe singing a handsome version of the SAints go Marching in.


I also posted another video of Po-Lo and I doing a harmonica/guitar blues jam after the show.





We are all having lots of fun making songs. Takeo-Kun and I have 2 or 3 more we are working on and hopefully we will make videos of them soon.