Diana Ross

It's been a while since I posted something on here. Sorry about that. There were a few performers I wanted to paint since the last time I did a portrait for TGIF. Sadly, it just didn't work out. Some just slip through the cracks and sometimes stories get dropped. Some big regrets. But I was glad to do this one of Diana Ross.

Here's some details —

Here's the full cover —

See more on this story at honolulupulse.com

Bill Cosby

Comedic influences when I was a kid: Robin Williams when he was doing stand-up, Eddie Murphy, and Bill Cosby. His stand-up, The Cosby Show—everything he did I loved. His show introduced me to Ray Charles. He even reminds me of my grandfather. I grew up with this man. I love this man. So why wouldn't I paint a cover when I had the opportunity to.

Here's a detail:

And here's the full cover:

This has to be my most favorite portrait so far. Very fun doing this.

Hold These Truths

This is one of the few TGIF covers where text is the star. If I had it my way, it would have been black and with text and nothing else. You can see what I mean below.

It would have gone against the grain but I think I could have made it work. The Star-Advertiser has a policy where photos are king. But recently, this trend of text being the center of attention is hopefully something I can build on in the future (without getting a mouth full from people on the top floor.) Still, one of my favorite covers yet.

Jake Shimabukuro

There are certain local artists that I've been waiting on to do a portrait for TGIF. Certain factors have to line up to get an event or person on the cover. I got lucky in this case because Jake Shimabukuro is one of my favorite local musician. I was a fan of his first band, "Pure Heart," and being able to do this TGIF cover on his upcoming "Jake Shimabukuro and Friends" concert was a big honor.

Here's a detail:

And here's the final cover:

The Nutcracker

Hawaii Ballet's "The Nutcracker" has a really great logo they've been using for a few years now. Designed by Wall-to-Wall Studios, it features a brilliant double image (http://www.walltowall.com/news/view/71), which is something I love doing. This was most evident in my TGIF cover for Phantom of the Opera, pictured below.

For "The Nutcracker" cover, I tried the same approach. I don't think it was as strong as the Phantom cover, but I think it was decent enough for a blog post.

Here's the final version with text. It feels more complete with a font on there:

I really think Wall-to-Wall Studios designs are far more superior. Sadly, I only had an hour or two to work on this decent cover. Trying for better next time.

Melissa Etheridge

This cover really helped me establish how I wanted to treat these portraits. Simple color(s) contrasting with the detail of the subject. I think I'll be experimenting with that more.

Click on the photos see a larger version. Here's a detail.

Here's the cover. For the story, visit honolulupulse.com.

Smokey Robinson

Normally, it takes a day for me to hate a piece of art I've done. Everything you see on this blog I pretty much look down on. This piece makes me happy. Maybe it's the scarf done in a different style? I think mainly it's because I changed my process in making this one. I did this all in grey tone then colored it.As always click the images to see in full. Here's a detail of the face.

The eyes were really fun to do! Hell, everything was fun to do. And below is the full TGIF cover.

Visit HonoluluPulse.com for the full story.

Paula Jack and John

Jack Johnson. He's one of my favorite musicians. I met him once and got to tell him how much I loved his music. What a nice guy! So when the opportunity came up to do a TGIF cover for his interisland tour, I had to paint him. Then I decided to paint Paula Fuga and John Cruz too. Man, was that an overshoot. It took me 10 hours to complete this piece.

Here's a detail:

And the full cover:

Neil Diamond

Neil Diamond is performing in Honolulu later this week. This was the TGIF cover I produced for last week Friday.

Here's a detail:

And here's the original cover:

For the full story and more content, visit www.honolulupulse.com

Bill Maher

This is probably the most well thought out cover I've done so far. I had a plan and I didn't stray away from it. That's amazing and new to me. Most of the time, I'm just pulling ideas out of my ass on the spot.

Here's a detail:

And here's the final cover:

There were a few problems in printing (wrong information and elements unexpectedly dropping off), so what you're seeing here, only a few thousand were made. The other two hundred thousand or so had a typo on the event's location. There are a few other prints with no logos and substitute fonts. As Rick Perry would say, "oops." Eh, it's Bill Maher. I had to add a little politics.

www.honolulupulse.com

Kevin Hart

Kevin Hart is a fantastic comedian and he's coming to Honolulu. Sadly, I couldn't find anyone that wanted to go to his show. For those going, have fun!

Here's a detail of the piece:

One of my favorite jokes: