Kawaii Kon 2014

I haven't posted in a while. Sorry about that. But here are two items going up for auction at Kawaii Kon this year. Hope you enjoy. The first was inspired by the anime "Kill La Kill" and the other by the animated short "Paperman."

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.

Equal Marriage Rights and Bacon

Just supporting equal marriage rights and my love of bacon at the same time.

Kawaii Kon 2013

Every year, I participate in Kawaii Kon's art auction. I rarely sell my work during the rest of the year because, honestly, I don't like to. I'm too attached sometimes and other times, I think no one will like it. This year I had three pieces for sale, and all three have found happy (I hope) owners. The piece above, "Wheel in the Sky," sold for the most. It was my favorite of the three and is based on the video game, "Journey." (I hope you get the 80's music pun.)

"Adventure Time" is a show I got into because of my nieces. And guess what. They grew out of it. I didn't. I still love the strange, adult (sometimes dark) humor. No other show can pull off their main character liking faux meat meant to taste like humans. Kids are lost to it. Eccentric adults love it, like the one that bought this. It was the smallest of the bunch, but the one I had the most fun making.

I reviewed "Portal 2" for my newspaper's video game blog when it came out in 2011. Next to "Uncharted 3" it was my favorite game of that year. This one had two pieces to it that played off the game's concepts. The main character, Chell, was porting from one picture frame to another. This is the piece that got the creative train going on the rest of the other pieces. It was sold at silent auction and the last time I checked, it was going for more than I thought it would go for. In total, I made enough to renew my car's registration. One last thing to worry about.

I'm glad other people were so excited about these pieces that they went for what they did. I suppose I will never know what others will like until I put it out there.

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.

Return to Sender

Sometimes, when I'm cooking, I have way too much time on my hands.

Manti Te’o

Manti Te’o was nearly awarded the Heisman trophy. As a tribute, we ran an extensive profile in a special section by the Star-Advertiser Sports staff. They asked me to do a cover and this is what they got. Not very happy with the left side. Would have been remedied if I had more time to work on it. Though the same could be said about Notre Dame's offense. OH!

Here's a detail:

Andy Narwhal

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:

Myriad Joe

I love doing ambigrams. I also love the font, Myriad Pro. Why not combine the two? So I did with my name. It's a constant battle with myself and my ego. Conceded.

EDIT: Guess I should put my last name up here too. Different styled ambigram.

Wampire!

Anyone else look at a "w" and think "vampire teeth"?

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.

2012-2013 Ilima Awards Cover

The ‘Ilima Awards is a yearly restaurant guide printed by the Star-Advertiser. I had a very clear idea on how I wanted this year's cover to look like. I was very surprised at how accommodating some chefs were at providing elements for the cover, though most of the food we bought and brought in. Photos were shot by the fantastic Craig Kojima with design and photo manipulation by me. It turned out much better than I expected it would.

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:

Titanic Illustration

I've never posted a layout package. A special occasion here because I was comically twirling my 19th Century, Irish mustache with such pride ("Mwahahaaa, oh clever me") as I designed the centerpiece for Sunday's Today section. Here's the original illustration below:

It really shows how text and the illustration are sometimes nothing without the other.

Fallen Shadow

Last year at Kawaii Kon 2011, I sold at auction a tribute art piece of the video game classic, "Shadow of the Colossus," which I mention here and here. Proceeds went to relief efforts for the Japan tsunami. A year later, I saw it fitting to create a thematic follow-up entitled "Fallen Shadow."

I think it's fitting to create the aftermath—a hollow victory—of the battle depicted in the first.

Here's a detail:

UPDATE:
This is Daniel. He was the lucky bidder to win this and last year's auction piece. I'm glad that the owner of the first was able to get the follow-up. Congrats Daniel and thank you! Proceeds go to the Red Cross for the Japan tsunami relief.

"Sherlock" Valentine

If I paint something besides a cover for the Honolulu Star-Advertiser, it's usually on something I love. I think "Sherlock" is one of the best shows you can get into. Trust me, by the first three episodes, you'll get into it. Geeky art for the win.

Happy Valentine's Day!

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