LOVE

I love art. I got a box of crayons, a lead pencil, and in 3rd grade I discovered the joy of creation. I kept on doing it. Could never really part from it. Drawing mazes, creating comics, imitating the styles of artwork I would see on arcade game systems, everything. I loved it and yet I was scared to declare it my path for financial gain. Society tends to tell you that your chances for success are slim doing it.

After graduating high school I found myself an undeclared student at UCSD. I walked around the halls of the campus and sat down on lonely benches scrawling the days’ memories into my black book. Sometimes I would walk to the Tower Records store on Nobel Dr. and absorb the inspiration from the cd racks and magazines. Brisk nights were the best nights for a smoker. I’d walk around everywhere, pack of smokes, sketch book, and youth in my step.

I finally dedicated myself to art after my sophomore year. Packed my stuff and left SD to prepare a portfolio. 8 months later I was a new student at Art Center. The next 6 years was a blur of learning a trade, playing music, drinking coffee, and being completely immersed as a student. Not just a student of art, but really a student of everything. I graduated feeling like my educational foundation had finally been laid down, however I wasn’t quite ready to be a professional.

I picked up a job as a designer at an apparel company and picked up every single freelance gig I sniffed out in the Los Angeles air. I worked, I learned, I stressed. I eventually quit my position at the company a year in, and got seduced into starting up a company with some friends. On paper this has been a dream job. While in school I always said that it would be ideal to fuse 2 of my biggest passions, visual art and music. Now here I was doing exactly that.

However it has been a daily struggle. I had no savings whatsoever. My monthly bills are scary. Yet I threw myself into a situation with no plan for any source of income. I just threw it into the air and had faith that somehow I would be able to get the money I needed. I’ve been lucky to find ways to pay my bills every month. Sometimes I have to email, call, and eventually knock on peoples’ doors to collect checks. I have a car that threatens to blow up on me every time I drive it. I have parking tickets that exceed my utility and insurance bills! If I’m not sleeping, I’m working - and I don’t even sleep much. I’ve been so immersed in my work I’ve finally looked up from my monitor and realized that I haven’t met or spoken with good friends in years. Along the way I’ve quit smoking, drinking, socializing. Some friends have starting describing me as a robot.

Why the change Daniel? It’s because I’m focused and hungry. I’m fucking hungry. I see the goal in the horizon. Just a year ago I couldn’t even see the finish line. I’m running as fast as I can, trying to pace myself to be a champion. If I haven’t stopped to talk to you, please understand me. It’s because I’m in the middle of this race. I won’t lie though, I’ve glanced over to the side and seen you with your wife and brand new house. I can’t even fathom affording that. Seems like something my parents do. Yet my peers are doing it all around me. But I need to turn my head and keep placing my left foot down, and now the right one. It’s painful, it’s thrilling, it’s depressing, it’s stressful, it’s rewarding. I love what I do, I just hope it doesn’t kill me.

*Yes, I will have new work up. I’m actually gonna re-do the whole site. Coming Soon.

Love Grenades

Love Grenades play music.
Love Grenades wanted to make a new music video.
Love Grenades needed a painting in their music video.

I made one for them.

*painting based on album cover work by Laura Gerster

Flash Test, 1, 2, 3

So I’m trying to develop my Flash skills and put this little mp3 player together for KO:

Slowly but surely…

Bentley + 944

I got hit up to do some emergency Illustrations on Fonzworth Bentley for the upcoming issue of 944 Magazine. I sent them two different comps:

1.

2.

Don’t even know which one they picked, but that was the quickest turn around I ever put together… 1 hour? The rush was fun, but I definitely don’t wanna make this into a normal thing.

Ace of Spades

Here’s a particular design for Republic In Peril that I like:

This is the spec sheet that I have the printers look at when developing.

This is what the file looks like for the silk screening process.

And because Republic In Peril is all about applique, this is what the spec sheet for the front applique looks like.

Lots of stones and bones!!!