Skullface Returns.

Parts + Labor, National Suicide Day, Tanked, and Lozer. Bring Your Own Ghosts.

Hood Weather

Things are getting thick, kinda. Busy busy busy. Gonna be posting a bunch stuff soon, so stay tuned. The weather is getting really awesome. I'm hoping it hangs on like this instead of just rocketing down into the depths of a shit winter forever. At least for a couple weeks.

At the coffee shop right now and some squirrely old weirdo is buggin' out about some computer software licensing bullshit and just yelling, while is ancient moms is hacking up a lung. I really need to get the internet back in The Cave.

Chalita:



She really loves that printer.

Typing

So, yeah, thing is, I've been awake for like, three days. This is the second time I've had to do this recently, the staying awake thing. I just semi- finished this big project and really really wish I had another day and a full night's sleep to get back in there and give those images a better chance to shine. I probably will, for my own satisfaction, but the deadline for the thing to print is here and I've sent the files. So, yeah, grab a Cleveland Scene Magazine next week.



I've decided not to try and go to SPX after all this madness. Bums me out to no end. BUT, there's good stuff going on here this weekend. Gonna hit Artchitecture later, after I rest my bones. Gonna go see The Mummy at the Cinematheque. Karloff The Uncanny. I've been in this Bagel shop for three hours, working. I think I'm finally gonna eat.

Speaking of Eating, have a DOOM SANDWICH:



This is a page from SHINER No. 2. If you're interested in an 11" x 14" print of that piece, I made an edition of 12. There's only 12. You can get one for $25 post paid. Hit me: jgritty@gmail.com

Popmaster + Sharky

Just a quick post today, I'm up to eyes in work, so... things are thick. Finally fished the colors on this piece. Again, really really dug Kick Drum Comics #1 by Jim Mahfood. These characters are Sharky and her dad, The Popmaster.



Jim Mahfood's Blog: http://foodoneart.blogspot.com/, go and look!

Warpath Power Post

Thanks to all the friends who came out to the Shiner Number Two release party. It was a blast, and we sold some comics! Check out the photos over at artchitecturegallery.com. ALSO, If you're reading this and you're in Cleveland on October 3rd, please please please do yourself a favor and hit Artchitecture to check The Approachable Darkness, a solo show by Matthew Ryan Sharp. This is going to be a great show, and it pains me to no end that I will probably be out of town.

Which, hey, if you're reading this and you're going to be at SPX in Bethesda, Maryland next weekend, please please please do yourself a favor and not hesitate to search me out and grill me about SHINER. I won't have a table, but I'll throw down for anyone, anywhere, at any time.

Hey, I've been fuckin' busy:



Seriously, Golden Error kills it. I love this band. Also, National Suicide Day? More like Global Homicide Decade.



This one I'm going to do up a proper full color version, but right now you get the BLOODY version. I know there's prints of this out there in Cleveland right now, so... yeah. Last time White Mice played Now That's Class, I had an out of body experience. Fucking terrifying. Also, pretty stoked to see old friends from Jerk in Johnny Utah and Own Weather for the first time. Hey look: Self Destruct Button!



I'm really happy about this poster. I never ever believed I was ever going to to a point to where I was happy as shit about my coloring, but this might be that point. Oh, and KEELHAUL is one of my favorite bands to see play.



It's a LOST-centric Halloween poster! Halloween! LOST!



Jim Mahfood's Kick Drum Comics rocked my motherfucking world. I'm currently coloring the shit outta this, so... stay tuned.

I'm super fucking busy, and showing no signs of that changing any time soon. More art and news to come! Sorry about the delay between posts, if anyone's ready this habitually. I'll try to stay on top of things more in the future.

SHINER No. 2 RELEASE PARTY (Part 2)

So, tomorrow is the big day we've been working towards. Over at Artchitecture Gallery, at 7pm, we'll be throwing the release party for Shiner #2 and showing the original pages. The artwork featured is by myself, Andy MacDonald, M.L. Wagner, Paracelsus, Kevin Fagan, Paul Rogers (who painted the centerfold), and Ryan Jaenke (who painted the cover). Here it is:

.

I'm really really proud of this issue. It's basically what I've been trying to do for a long time. It's 44 pages, of which 35 are comics, the rest being just awesome artwork. It's really eclectic, ranging from an autobiographical military piece to a totally esoteric weirdo joint. My story is a romance comic set in Clevelyn, featuring characters from my last few comics (which will also be available). All this for $5.

SHINER No. 2 RELEASE PARTY

Here's the poster art for this thing on the 19th! It's the release party for the second issue of SHINER. Artchitecture Gallery is easily my favorite gallery in Cleveland. This issue is a huge step up from issue one, and I'm so stoked at how things are happening.

Under The Gun

Just stopping in to send some emails and post this flyer. The clock is fucking ticking. The barista here laughs a lot. Arctopus, Self Destruct, Akron dudes called Co_Conspirator

Breakneck Worship

Here's the latest bangers out The Cave:




Human Eye, Self Destruct Button... really stoked about finally doing a Mohammed Cartoon flyer. They were one of the Lottery League bands that didn't hang it up after The Big Show, and have been playing pretty regular since.

Here's another flyer for the same show, I actually kinda like this... so, not to step on anyone's toes, but that goddamn Lizard thing needed it's head lopped off.



Here's the colors for that Scarcity show flyer:



I colored this super fast. Just busted through it with the Wacom tablet. I think it came out pretty wicked. Where's the brain?

Tiny Battlecat

I couldn't find a link for GRACKLES, but Scarcity of Tanks has a new blog. Still, wanted to get this bee and dubblya of this piece up tonight before I go offline. It's gonna be a fun show. Nine Eleven, y'all.

Also, I met a tiny little man last night. They call him BISOUS, pronounced BEE ZOO, but I named him BLOOD SWAMP.

Also: I have a giant face:

Don't Look Down

Hey, been really busy running around dealing with being successful. That "Challenger" series that I contributed to the show that's up RIGHT NOW at Vision Gallery SOLD. All seven pieces. Met with some out of town collectors yesterday and they commissioned a "Challenger" series of their own, and then bought a piece right out of my portfolio. Also looking at getting a very limited edition run of prints of the series that's hanging right now, due to popular demand. Thinking an edition less than ten. I'll post again when I know exactly what I'm doing.

ALSO: At Vision Gallery, you can now get copies of both SHINER #1, and a new booklet I made called HEART'S BLOOD. I'll post an actual announcement about Heart's Blood later in the week when I get the chance. It's also available now at ASTOUND! in Westlake.

ALSO: I had an illustration in the new Cleveland Scene Magazine, buried on page 87 or something. Right between the stripper ads and the Free Will Astrology! It's for an article by Jara Anton about going to the beach:



It printed super small, and I wish I had actually planned it better. I drew it at like, 200%, which in retrospect was a bum idea. LIVE AND LEARN.

ALSO: Dos Gatitos...



My tables are cluttered with a million gigs in various stages of completion, so if I owe you a flyer or something, hold fast... it will be done. If you're just watching this controlled wreck happen, also hold fast... more art and actual announcements very very soon!

Challenger: Two

Here's the remaining pieces that tare in the show at Vision Gallery. The show is pretty good, I checked it out the other day while it was still being hung.

I've been doing Batman sketches to try and pander to the hype at the Beachland Ballroom's Rock and Roll Flea Market.

Anyway, the first two are on 12" x 18" drawing boards, then the last one is 18" x 24".







Feel like I spent this whole week scrambling around and getting nothing done. The show at The Rock Hall was killer though. Lot of fun. Thanks to all my homies.

Also: Bobby Womack.

Challenger: One

Pretty happy with the work I've done for this show over at Vision Gallery for the Waterloo Arts Fest this weekend. I drew a series of 7 pieces of escalating sizes. The series starts off with four 6" by 9" drawings on 9" x 12" pieces of bristol board. Then there are two 10" x 15" on 12" x 18" boards, then the final 14" x 21" on a full 18" x 24" drawing board. The scheme is to hang them in a giant grid formation. I mapped it all out for the curators, so I hope it works. Show opens to the public on Saturday.

Here's the first four pieces... they have names but I forgot the piece of paper I wrote them down on!









This is the idea, when all is said and done:



I dunno what, if anything, I'm going to do with these aside from, y'know, selling the originals. If they even sell. I've priced them to sell, so... anyway. I'll post up the other ones later this week.

Saturaday, I'll also be at The Beachland Ballroom's Rock and Roll Flea Market selling zines, prints, and tons of original art. Please come out and say "hi"!

Died on Friday

Busy Busy Busy, but I wanted to post some shit. No flyers or anything. I'm mostly in the cave busting my ass on some pieces for this show at Vision Gallery that opens on Saturday August the 2nd. It's part of the Waterloo Arts Fest. It should be fun.

This piece has nothing to do with that though, it's just something I'm fucking around with. I think I'm going to try and bust out a new artbook style thing in time for this upcoming event I'm planning for September. Anyway, colors and textures:



Speaking of Art Books... HOLY SHIT. Derek Hess has just published an insanely great art book called Please God Save Us. I got it at the release/signing at the Natural History Museum and I'm super glad I did. You can order it online, here, or if you're in Cleveland, get it and get it signed at Ingenuity Fest on Saturday from 3 to 6. The book is really well thought out and full of tons of great, really clever, pretty overt Hess art.



Also, I wanted to say Hellboy II kicks The Dark Knight's ass in half, but more on that laster...

Born on Monday

Been fierce on the warpath lately, really happy with what I've been doing. This one is for my dude Dan Friel at The Grog Shop on August 8th. I'm really stoked to see Dan live, as all the times I've seen Parts & Labor have been really great. Also, his CD/LP Ghost Town is fucking incredible. It's very cinematic, but bursting with true hope and love. Just a great great listen.



aaaaand the black and white:



Here's the cover art for this Mix CD by Radio Dystopia:



It's full bleed and folds so the dude should be the front and that sphere thing should be centered on the fold.

Hopefully I'll get a chance, maybe tomorrow, to post about this new thing and some news and shit. Stay Tuned.

PEACE

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Cave Bear, Self Destruct, National Suicide Day.




PEACE!

Nietzsche-esque President Ghidorah

New flyer for The Deathers, We March, Necropolis, and Short Rabbits. The Tower 2012!

Here's the line art, which is entirely an idea from Jae Kristoff of The Deathers. He requested birds on a telephone wire, burning. I was pretty stoked, and feel that I fucking nailed it.



I had no idea if Jae wanted it in black and white or color, so... yeah.



Then with the colors, I wanted to go slightly more subtle than I usually so. Coloring is such a time consuming thing, and it's by far the part that I feel I could fuck up the easiest. I like it a lot though. The colors.



By The Way: ASTOUND! is having the dudes from Far East Monsters in for a signing of their new King Ghidorah statue, the second in the Destroy All Monsters set!

Nuns Plus Guns

This show is gonna be fun as hell. Yukon, Cutter, TMIBH, Cave Bear, and SEMPER FI (my favorite 2008 Cleveland Lotter League band).

EDIT: Semper Fi is not playing, but Crazy Dave Tape Crew IS doing visuals!




HERE'S A BORING RANT:

The trip to Chicago really kicked my ass. I left early Friday morning in an attempt to avoid traffic, which only sort of worked. I listened to an episode of Jordan Jesse Go! and the audio recording of Sun Tsu's Art of War. Also, Dan Friel's new record and once I got within range, WBEZ (which is awesome, but actually kinda sucked because it was pledge drive weekend, boo).

•I spent time at the Wizard World Comicbook Convention. Spent most my time at the NYC Mech table with Ivan Brandon, Andy MacDonald, and Miles Gunter. Saw a bunch of old homies and met some new wicked people like Nick Stakal, Chuck BB, and Nikki Cook. Met Nathan Fox momentarily. He draws comic pages physically HUGE, at least 18 x 24.

•There was a weird vibe about the whole comic-con experience. I used to go to this show, and others, every year. I stopped going to a lot of shows for a multitude of reasons about 5 years ago. Returning to this fold was strange and I'm not sure I liked it. Maybe it was just from not being at any big shows, but I felt like there was a "this is the industry and this is how it works and you absolutely have to be here if you want to be anybody" feel to it. It's easy to forget the world doesn't revolve around Marvel and DC at a place like that. Giant fucking 12 foot tall Hulk n' shit. Dudes dressed like Green Arrow. Then, a lot of talk about trying to do stuff for Marvel or DC. Everybody wants to get paid, and that's the best way to do it. Not sure where I fit into all that, if at all.

•It is strange to show new work to people who haven't seen my work in years. Overall it was really positive. People were stoked, I think. Also, my drawing process means I go way the fuck out of my way to make things more difficult for myself, and even though I'm fully aware of that and I wouldn't have it any other way, I think people maybe think I'm a goddamn idiot for doing things that way. Either that or I'm being overly sensitive to people asking me why I don't just cut corners.

•Friday night I hit Chicago's mean streets with my girl Erin (a Clevelander in exile), although, I was mostly in an exhaustion filled stupor. We ate dinner in some bogus bar then hit an AWESOME bar called The California Clipper, which is a big old timey joint. There were many cute girls, but I basically didn't notice them because I was half asleep.

•Both Saturday and Sunday mornings I took the plunge and drove an hour and a half out to Marseilles, IL, where my older sister and her husband bought a house. It's weird driving around the middle of nowhere. It all basically looks the same, and it always surprises me that most of America is this vast giant empty place that kinda goes on forever. Saturday on the way out there were wide screen thunderstorms most of the way, so I listened to Sleep's Holy Mountain, which was perfect. The sun was out by the time I got to my sister's house. I have a new niece, Mary Catherine, and she's really tiny and adorable. My other niece, Alison, is a giant 1 1/2 year old, and my nephew Ben is now 3. They're pretty crazy little humans. My little sister, from Alabama, was there too. That made things even better. Marseilles was having some kinda street festival, complete with a "Marseilles American Idol" with a stage set up on Main street. Shit was scary, son.

•Sunday night I spent more time with Erin, stretching out my stay, but the sky was gloomy and doomy. We did catch a break in the weather enough to eat outside at Lula's, which was fucking great. Nothing really all that happening was happening, so we ended up just hanging out in my car for 3 hours talking about shit and watching the rain accumulate on my windshield, not unlike the zillions of times that would happen when I would drop her off when she lived here. On my way out I got pulled over on the Skyway going 73 in the 45 between tollbooths. When I got home though, there was a check which I didn't even know I was waiting for in my mailbox from the Free Times, so... even steven.

Nostradamus Prefered Gypsy Girls

Leaving for Chicago tomorrow morning. Gonna hit that Wizard World bullshit to see all my people that I never get to see. I feel like it hasn't been that long, but thinking about it, I'm pretty sure it's been like, 5 YEARS since I last saw some of my best friends on earth. Also going to see my sister and her babies, including my new niece, Mary Katherine. She'll be four weeks old, and had a rough start. But she's finally home from the hospital and doing well. I think it's time she met Uncle Gritty.

Anyway, here's some pieces from this thing I'm working on. Wanted to have it finished for the show, but when it came time to choose between having to scramble to put out a less superior product, and sleeping on it with the result being a hopefully better joint down the road, I erred on the side of wisdom and called it a night. I realize now that this is an insanely mature move on my part, considering what I've always done in the past. I used to love that scramble to make shit happen in the zero hour and then show up all sleep deprived and bombed out the morning after. I was never able to achieve the levels of quality I sought after, but I was proud as hell that I had my books together and tangible at all. The fact that I've decided to hang back this time means I'm an old old man who has possibly learned from experience. Who knew that was even possible?

On with the show, SPEK:



WARREN:



GITTA:



CLEVELYN:



This booklet is totally shaping up into something I hadn't expected it to be, which is a good thing. I think. I keep adding content and pages, but I like what I've got, so.. there's that.

I've got a whole bunch of posters coming up, so... stay tuned.

Numbing Posthumous Greenhouse

Here's the flyers. I'm busy as shit0. I like it, but I feel like I should be busier. I'm starting to really like the way I work in photoshop, coloring these things. I also like having stacks and stacks of original art laying around my apartment. My cats like to sleep on them.





Loook, they go together:

DOOM, I guess.

Neverending Passive Goofoffage

Half busy in The Cave putting things together on some things. I'm also half distracted by ...stuff. Been reading Gandhi's The Story of My Experiments With Truth. I like it a lot. Been watching a shit ton of movies, and trying to eat more often than 1 to 1.5 meals per 2 days. I've actually been doing pretty good at that. Also trying to sleep regular hours but that gets blown to shit every couple nights. Last night I spent the night out in the far off lands of the distant "East Side" after having a weird day of everything going wrong. Having to put out a thousand tiny fires is only annoying if you have to put them all out at once. Anyway, my travels lead me to finishing this little piece in preparation for the weekend.



I got beefs but overall I'm pretty proud of how gross that came out. Also, I have it on good authority that Gay Beast is killer, so you all need to go to this show. Bring Your Pals.