From Pencils to Paint

The final version of my James Coburn portrait:

12" x 12" Acrylic on Masonite

In Like Flint

Coburn, again.

Much closer to what I had in mind!
.
.

Now that I look at it again several days later, it's painfully obvious how
much the great Mort Drucker has influenced me. Not that this is at his
level, but I can see stylistic details picked up from years of marveling
at his work in Mad. He's a national treasure, I tells ya!

Evolving Caricature

I'm doing some sketches for a portrait of the late great James Coburn.

The first one above was done while looking at a reference photo,

and I did it pretty much in one shot, without erasing, then traced
over with a fine point Sharpie.

The second one is a stylized version of the first.
It has a little more flair and personality.

Next, an attempt to tighten it up. I decided that I wanted to change it
to show his enormous, immaculate teeth.

Getting there, but not quite. From the nose up, I'm pretty happy with
this version, but the lower half needs more work. I'll scan it and do
some manipulation in Photoshop, playing around with size and position
until I'm happier with it. Then I'll print out a lightened version of the
new composite and re-sketch from there.

Actually, I like the top half of that very first rough. I think this is still recognizable as JC.

Press Release: Stubble & Smoke opens July 12 at Zombo Gallery

Zombo Gallery
4900 Hatfield Street
Pittsburgh, PA 15201

June 4, 2008
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Zombo Gallery Celebrates its First Anniversary with
Stubble & Smoke: New Works by Wayno

PITTSBURGH -- Zombo Gallery, Pittsburgh's quirkiest art space, celebrates a year of eccentricity with its first anniversary show, Stubble & Smoke, opening July 12, 2008.

Gallery owner, entertainer, and impresario Michael Devine has created a welcoming home in Lawrenceville for artists of unique vision with his brainchild, the Zombo Gallery. In the past twelve months the gallery has hosted a dozen art shows, musical performances, retro-kitschy flea markets, benefits for Democracy Now! and The Wildlife Center, and the burlesque life-drawing class, Doctor Sketchy's Anti-Art School.

The featured artist for the anniversary show is Wayno, whose 2007 solo exhibit, Squaresville, opened Zombo Gallery with a bang, drawing an overflow audience of 300 art lovers, and selling out on the first night. To celebrate the gallery's anniversary, Wayno returns with a new collection of paintings in his unique cartoon-pop style.
Wayno is a cartoonist, illustrator, artist, and writer based in Pittsburgh. His clients include The New Yorker, Nickelodeon Magazine, Rhino Records/Warner Music Group, McGraw-Hill Books, Entertainment Weekly, The Guardian, Pittsburgh City Paper, and The New York Times. He is a member of the Pittsburgh Society of Illustrators and the National Cartoonists Society, and is a founding member of the Board of Directors of the ToonSeum, Pittsburgh's museum of the cartoon arts.
Stubble & Smoke evokes film noir moodiness, and feature images of tough guys, saucy dames, down-on-their-luck chumps, and that staple of the hard-boiled mug's diet: red meat. The show also includes the artist's Chinese zodiac series, animaliA Astrologica, first previewed at the Gypsy Café in February, which recasts the traditional zodiac signs as westernized party animals. In response to many requests, Wayno is now offering several limited edition prints, including portraits of Rat-Packers Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra and Sammy Davis, Jr., East End Brewing beer label art, and a Stubble & Smoke show poster.
Devine said of the exhibit, "After the incredibly successful opening of Squaresville last July, the first thing Wayno said to me was 'Same time next year?' I can't think of a better way to kick off our second year in "Larryville" than having a show of new stuff by Wayno."
The Stubble & Smoke opening reception is on Saturday, July 12, 2008, from 6:00 to 9:00 PM, and is sponsored in part by East End Brewing Company and Tony G's Delafield Winery.

The exhibit will run from July 12 through July 26, 2008, at Zombo Gallery, 4900 Hatfield Street, in Pittsburgh's Lawrenceville neighborhood. Gallery hours are Fridays from 5:00 to 7:30 PM, and Saturdays from noon to 4:00 PM, or by appointment.
Buyers will be invited to pick up their paintings at a take-down party on Sunday, July 27, from 3:00 to 5:00 PM.

The Zombo Gallery is Pittsburgh's home for hip lowbrow art, rooted in 50's and 60's pop culture and kitsch. The gallery houses a retail area with unique wares such as tiki mugs, custom T-shirts, DVDs, CDs, and recorded air checks of Zombo's radio show, which is heard Fridays from 10:00 AM to 3:00 PM on WRCT 88.3 FM. The gallery also houses a custom screen printing shop.
For additional information, visit Zombo's Website

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06/04/08 ndp

Stubble & Smoke! July 12-26, 2008

July 12 - July 26
ZOMBO GALLERY'S FIRST ANNIVERSARY SHOW:
STUBBLE & SMOKE

All new works featuring hard-luck mugs, saucy dames, The Rat Pack,
plenty of red meat, and the entire Chinese zodiac.

A detailed Press Release will be posted here the first week of June.

Signage (Hot Lunches)

A beautifully lettered and distressed sign spotted on Chartres Street in New Orleans, May 2008.

Signage (Please Do Not Change Mango)

Spotted at an Indian food mart in Monroeville PA

Sure enough, inside the store was a stack of mango boxes, and a customer looking over her shoulder, changing mangoes.

Bendix 2.0

This sketch is getting closer to what I have in mind for my William Bendix painting: crazed and homicidal.

Blue Plate Special

April 2008 Sketchbook Page
Study for one in a series of meat-related paintings

Way Down Yonder

We just spent five days in New Orleans - our favorite place to visit - attending the Jazz & Heritage Festival and enjoying the city's fine food, music and people.

These water meter covers have become one of the city's signatures. They show up on t-shirts and hats, and recast as plates, trivets, and ashtrays.

First stop at the Fest. If you're buying cracklins, trust a vendor named Fatty.

Street food, outside Vaughan's Lounge around 2:00 AM, after a late Thursday set by Kermit Ruffins. The pork chop sandwich was absolutely out of sight.

The final day of the Fest, enjoying a fresh cigar, hand-rolled that morning at the factory on Decatur Street.