Illustration for Blue Man Group

I got to draw some cardboard cut-outs for the Blue Men to play with for their Safe Driving PSA for the state of Nevada!

My new graffiti tag:

rough rectangles of a slightly different color    {on tumblr}

Sketchbook Project - Infinite Monster

I mentioned previously about taking part in creating segment of a 750 segmented monster through Sketchbook Projects project based on the the exquisite corpse idea of blind collaboration.

they've posted a few of the results here and on flickr!

This one is mine

4D / Naive Melody

This month, I made a series of gifs inspired by The Talking Heads - Naive Melody (This Must Be The Place). This has always been my favorite song and, I think, one of the most beautiful love songs ever written. 

"out of all those kinds of people, you got a face with a view"

"sing into my mouth"

"I'm just an animal looking for a home and, share the same space for a minute or two"

Looooooooong Monster!

I'm excited to be a part of another project put together by Brooklyn Art Library. This one is a great extrapolation of the surrealist blind-collaboration drawing game exquisite corpse they call Infinite Scroll | Monsters. THIS time, there are 750 folks collaborating and we are all creating one looooong monster! I sent in my submission today. I can't wait to see the complete monster!

4D Drawings 2012 - favorites week

I began drawing GIFs in february of 2012 and have amassed over 50 to date. It has been wonderful distilling a moment and finding how it cycles. Exploring the fertility of being limited by file size and a weekly deadline. Then watching those few that got some exposure around Tumblr. Without highlighting any of the usual trappings of who that might be in terms of age, gender, geography etc., you can see a pure distillation of someone’s tastes and imaginations and how your bit fits in with it.

In celebration of all that, I’m posting my ten favorite GIFs from the past year over this week.

Enjoy and thanks for looking.

Zea

     

Tumblr has featured the first two posts on their "artists on tumblr" page

New art book featuring my work

Amanda Palmer commissioned over 30 artists to make pieces for her new album either inspired by specific songs or featuring a portrait of her.  These works made a six city international gallery tour this past spring and have been compiled into a big art book available for purchase.

The song I chose to do a piece for was 'Want It Back' and in the book I included some thoughts about the piece itself, ruminations about time I've spent with Amanda and a guessing game of associative inspirations for the different tableaus in the piece.

The piece for Want It Back:

and the game of pop culture references in the piece:

This the portrait:

Some of the other artists include: David Mack, Kristin Hersh, Neil Gaiman, Frances Bean Cobain, Hans Rickheit, Molly Crabapple, Michael Pope and Shepard Fairey.

Here's where you can get your copy.

Moving the Still: GIF Festival

I'm very excited that a couple of my submissions to Moving the Still have been featured on their site.
I'll have to see whether any will be shown at Miami's Art Basel in December. But, in the meantime, many folks are seeing my stuff and liking it, which is pretty fantastic.

Check it out here and here and spread it around.

New Blockprints

I've made a few more blockprints for my friends at City Feed and Supply in Boston. This one's for the new fresh fish they have at the store. It's such a wonderful project to keep going back to over the years. See a selection of my past prints for them or go see them in action in Jamaica Plain while getting a coffee or a sandwich.

Minicomic Update

In honor of young master Dave Grilli's birthday, I'm posting some more progress photos of the minicomic he wrote that I've been illustrating for ... ages, so he will know I am still actually doing things to get it finished.

(perhaps this should be kickstartered, so I can devote time to finishing it AND eat food and sleep indoors...hmmm)

Happy Birthday, Dave!

Sketchbook: august. september. where have you been

Between all the projects, all the day job and all the new library card, my sketchbook has seen some neglect in the late summer. The four+ aforementioned projects will be popping up here shortly I expect.

In the meantime, here are some sketchbook snippets...

...and be sure to check out tumblr for all the latest 4D Drawings.

Also, check out Beauty is Embarrassing. Encouraging film with lots of wonderfulness. I got to make these folks when they were is NYC. Nice to find new role models.

x

A Foray into Patterns

I have wanted to take a crack at making patterns (for fabrics, wallpaper, giftwrap anything) for quite some time. I have started the process and, naturally, it's a bit rocky and I'm not loving everything. I feel like there is a musical click that happens when it works and I'm still practicing my scales. But, my intentions are good and honorable and I will keep working at it.

Most excitingly, I've stuck my toe in over at spoonflower.com and have my first pattern up for sale. There's a bunch of different types and weights of fabrics. A friend may be reupholstering some chairs with this one. I got a bit of the cotton poplin:

Go look! {I think people looking helps it be seen more. ...whoa}

Sketchbook: Who Woke the Beast

Sketchbook: The moon in June falls noonly on the...

june 9th

june 13th

june 13th

june 18th

A Paper Zinnia

 I made a paper zinnia.

 

 I don't have it anymore because I gave it away tonight on stage to David Byrne after dancing like a banshee during the encore at Amanda Palmer's show in Brooklyn.

photo via @drawnfrom

Here is the paper flower still in my hair as I do my best gogo dancing to Burning Down the House {pink shirt on the left}

photo via @marciocaparica

here, he's holding it in his left hand with his guitar (you can't see it, but I saw)

I can't even begin to describe my gratitude for David Byrne being on this planet doing what he does.  I will say Talking Heads Speaking in Tongues was my first album ever... at age 7.  From there on, words fail and paper petals pick up the slack.

much gratitude to amanda palmer and superkate


UPDATE - :)

Art Hanging in London: Amanda Palmer Tour

Amanda Palmer ruffled everybody's can-of-worms when she raised 1.2 million on her Kickstarter for her new album with The Grand Theft Orchestra called Theatre is Evil.  Part of the bundle she was promoting was a bunch of art commissioned by a bunch of artists inspired by individual songs from the album (or not). That art is being collected into a published book later this year and is currently accompanying her rock tour with a gallery tour in six cities across the globe as we speak.  I did a couple pieces for it.

here's a shot from the London show at Underground Village taken by @Emily_pink

second (top) and third from right

The art comes stateside at the end of the month to Brooklyn NY.
check out the side bar for more info

Sketchbook: life study

The fidgety relaxer. McCarren Park. June 7th.

I challenged myself to keep up with his fidgets.

Ray Fenwick's Infinite Logo

Ray Fenwick sent out a call to help him get closer to manifesting infinite variations of his logo.

I scanned in my hankie and got to work. Here's my contribution to the cause:

Sketchbook: Spring?

march 25th....

......

may 25th.. 6th.. 7th....

"PublicEnemy/Lambchop"

 

Maurice Sendak

I'm not one to speak out loud when I'm alone, but with the news of Maurice Sendak's death today, I did. I said "no" and tears welled up in my eyes.

I started a new project yesterday. new method. brush ink, cut out the good bits, collage. I kept ending up with little monsters. I thought of Maurice Sendak and smiled and forged ahead.

I dedicate yesterday's monsters and today's tiny airplanes to him.

The Saddest Stache in the World

 A tribute to the memory of Moustache May. A wonderful community brought together from around the world in flagrant display of upperlip barbarism. Many thanks for the years of work put in by Michael Eades in both Whiskerino and Moustache May.

This tribute to the ubiquitous video by facial hair grower extraordinaire Ryan Hale from years ago:



you can still follow Whiskerino on twitter  and on tumblr for the odd post


Also, I've got more wiggly drawings on my new tumblr. I call them Drawings in the 4th Dimension. New one posted every tuesday: http://zeathefourth.tumblr.com

Secret Project Revealed!

Amanda Palmer is releasing a new album! She commissioned over 30 artists to make artwork inspired by certain songs or to do portraits of herself. There will be a six city international gallery tour of the original pieces over the summer as well as a book published with the artwork in it.

I am one of those artists.

here's more info about the project on her kickstarter

homegirl funded her project in 6 hours. on her birthday. brava.

Berlin - June 12th

London - June 18th

NYC - June 28th

San Francisco - July 12th

LA - July 19th

Boston - August 1st

here's the company:
Amanda Palmer, Barnaby Whitfield, Blake Brasher, Cassandra Long, Conrad Keely (...And You Will Know Us By The Trail of Dead), Cynthia von Buhler, David Mack, Desi, DJ Spooky (Paul Miller), Empire SNAFU Restoration Project, Hans Rickheit, Heide Hatry, Judith Clute, Kristin Hersh (Throwing Muses), Kyle Cassidy, Lee Barron, Meghan Howland, Michael Pope, Michael Zulli, Molly Crabapple, Neil Gaiman, Nicole Duennebier, Rick Berry, Robyn Hitchcock, Sarah Beetson, Shepard Fairey, Steven Bogart, Sylvia K, Tao Lin, Tony Albert, Vladimir Zimikov, Walter Sickert, and Zea Barker.

here's a couple more peeks at the detail parts

 

hooray.