Human Torch

Urgent flyer for this sweet Chicago band, Cacaw, this show is gonna be great. Graveyards, from Michigan. Steve Hauschildt, from Emeralds, and Rot Ton Bone. Now That's Class.

I slammed this one out quick, like, in just a couple hours. I think I colored it in less than an hour, which for me is insane. I'm pretty pumped on how it came out, I'm into the lettering at the top. If I could send it out into the world as a font, I would call it... BEYONCE CLOWN.

Bling Bling Bazaar 2

The Bling Bling Bazaar at Now That's Class, last December was a pretty big hit. I think this one's gonna be even more banging. They even set up a Myspace Profile.

I'm pretty sure I'll have Shiner #3 done and ready to debut for this event, but I'm not positive. Either way, I'll have a lot of posters and other zines and maybe some original art.

On the art side for this, even though I used a photo of my own car and made a reference for this from other sources, it's kind of an homage to this one image I always really really liked from this one Japanese comic called Tokyo Tribe, by Santa Inoue.



The comic is awesome, and crazy, and hyper-influenced by mid 90s East Coast Rap Music. It's been a long time since I read it, but the story is about all these different gangs in Tokyo going all out in street fights and over the top madness. Especially as the series progresses, I think. Here's another image I always liked:

Pray For Rain

This band Yardwork, from Charlotte, NC is coming to town. I don't think I've ever done a poster with The Dreadful Yawns before. Weird. Also, St. Ohio... probably could have spelled that Saint Ohio. Well, you get the point.

Make is Sizzle

Yes, Chairlift, from Brooklyn. JJ Magazine from Clevelyn. The third Summer Session at The Rock Hall. Part Dos... Part Uno.

Look, here's a desktop of components before I made them into this poster:


What a mess!
John G

Thrash Legends

This bill is totally fucking insane. You've got 80s Thrash Legends Hirax, Dallas Grindcore Kill The Client, Houston Grindcore P.L.F., Austin's Metalheads Mammoth Grinder, and Hardcore Thrashers Streetcleaner. At RED 7, in Austin Texas.

Here's the B and the W artwork:


I looked at a bunch of Illustration Legend Frank Frazetta's artwork to get into the vibe for this one, and thought a lot about Gurren Lagaan as I worked on the colors. I've only watched a couple episodes yet, but man, that show is a great ride.

Speaking of Legends, over at Maximumfun.org, The Sound of Young America Podcast has an incredible
Interview with Soul Legend Bill Withers. I really like The Sound of Young America in general, but this interview is Beyond Thunderdome.

I got some more stuff coming up, so stay tuned.

Double Dagger in 3D!

Double Dagger, NOW in 3D! I'm going to be selling this poster in two different sizes at the show. Printed a dozen that are about 16 x 24 printed on glossy indoor vinyl (hypercheap: $10), but I'm not going to limit the run, so I'll have more if anybody's interested that can't make it or wants to mail order them. There's also 11x17 prints in both 3D and Full Color (Bargain Basement: $5). These posters will come with 3D Glasses!

Here's some less than awesome photographs I took:




Double Dagger has this video for Vivre Sans Temps Mort, one of my favorite songs off their new record, MORE.

Double Dagger - Vivre Sans Temps Mort from Thrill Jockey Records on Vimeo.

Make it Rise

So, here's the second poster in the Summer Sessions series at The Rock Hall. Akron/Family from Williamsport, PA, and Black Swans from Columbus. I bet these two bands are absolutely bonkers to see live. I've heard nothing but good things about how that Man Man/Mystery of Two show went last night. I couldn't make it, but I guess it was quite the banger!

I went with my favorite food ever for this one, Pizza is an absolute staple of my diet. Sometimes I go days without eating anything else. If I ever get sent to Death Row and I'm gonna be executed, my last meal will be a 4 pack of Virgil's Root Beer and a large deep dish pizza with fresh mushrooms and onions from Angelo's in Lakewood.

BUT- I recently took a trip out to Highland Heights with some amigos y amigas and we got down to business at Crostata's. This place is a seriously serious Pizzeria. Got hip to it by way of THIS ARTICLE in the Cleveland Scene. We shared two different pizzas and they were both absolutely killer. We also split appetizers and deserts and I can assure you, everything was Beyond Thunderdome levels of awesome. Highlights include a smoked mozzarella cheese and the San Marzano tomatoes. Crostata's: HIGHEST POSSIBLE RECOMMENDATION.

Lean Mean Hand Burning Grilling Machine

I think this show is going to be a blast, these Philly bands are all killers. Normal Love gets the Goat Cheese treatment. Hulk Smash has easily one of the best band names of all time. Many Arms, also good name, also good band. The last time I saw The Flat Can Co., my brain was rattled, shit was bonkers. Clan of The Cave Bear and Jack Smiley are playing a collaborative set! All this with DJ Ron Kretsch playing music between bands. Best part of all this? FREE. This show is free. Only at Now That's Class.


The best thing about Goat Cheese is the escalating levels of self-cannibalism. I wasn't sure where to take it next, but then I accidentally burned my own hand on my George Foreman Grill. Which, how much of a dummy do you gotta be to burn your hand on a George Foreman Grill?


Before I drew this, I took a picture of my hand in the Foreman Grill. Then I did a google image search for "metal head", and "abdominal cavity" and slammed out this mock-up. Personally, I was amused.

Blood Swamp

Shellshag, Vietnam Werewolf, Sakes Alive!!, Thousandaires, Al Scorch and The Cold Dead Hands, and Mike Hunchback's Weird Fantasy Band.

At Now That's Class, if not here... then where?
Sunday July 19th, 2009, in not then... then when?

UPDATE: Just a head's up: I haven't listened to it yet, but you can download Vietnam Werewolf's record Ohio's City. Why not?

B•Amazing on MTv

Whoa, here's a video of my bud Becky Cloonan, I guess, on MTV... gripped from Comics Reporter. Weird. Yet not entirely surprising.

MTV Shows

The Firecracker Chicken!

The Firecracker Chicken is easily one of my favorite Specials at MELT. It's the first Sandwich Special I think I noticed as being different from the rest of the menu, that I made a point to actually go there just to get it. I like it as much as I like the Pig Roast.

The official quote from the Melt Newsletter (sign up for it on their website):

Cleveland

Our July special embodies the 3 great elements of summertime.

The super heat of the summer sun, the refreshing coolness after jumping into a neighborhood swimming pool or running through the sprinkler and the sweetness of a Popsicle right out of the freezer.

THE FIRECRACKER CHICKEN

Spicy Diablo Blackened Chicken - the heat

Fresh Creamy Avocado - the cool

Grilled Pineapple - the sweet

Pepper Jack Cheese

Vegetarians and Vegans Rejoice!!
Vegetarian Option available featuring Diablo Spiked Fried Tofu

Come Celebrate The 3 Elements of Summer all July at
Melt Bar and Grilled

So, there ya have it! Another awesome sandwich, another poster! Fireworks are really hard to draw, and then I obscured them with text, so here's the poster, minus the text just to show off the amount of texture and colors that are happening on this thing:



I'm pretty happy about how this came out. I like that all of these posters have been pretty different. It's been a great challenge, and a lot of fun to stretch my brains and capabilities. It doesn't hurt that I genuinely love Melt, and find myself eating there all the time. I like to think that in doing these posters, I'm getting to visually portray my personal experience and affinity for the place. It's not just some gig I'm doing for some client I don't really have a full knowledge of. I'm pretty invested in it all. I think that might be how most my gigs are, though. I usually genuinely like the bands I agree to do posters for, or I don't know them, I usually like the venue and the people involved in it enough to give the bands the benefit of the doubt.

More to come, much more. Back to work.

Get Your War On

It's for a Scrabble Tournament!

What Big Eyes You Gots

This bill is made up of all relatively new Cleveland rock bands. Casual Encounters, I think this is their third or fourth show. Stimulus Package, pimps, killers, Lotto League veterans. All Dinosaurs very first show.

Bela Dubby, bring the kids, drink coffee, then beer. Booya.

I kinda knew exactly how I wanted this to look, which was to look suggestive, kinda sorta implying sone kind of kinky weird wolf/riding hood "encounter"... without being gross, so I had to start kind of gross with the sketchy foundational stuff so's I know where things go:


I knew how I wanted to crop it, so I blew that smaller rough up, and boxed it in and roughed it in further details before inking. I've been trying to expand upon my usual "mid shot of a charter centered over a background" layout. I love doing this shit, but... yeah, it's good to try new stuff and flip things around.