This is a self portrait using ArtRage. I was sort of inspired by “What I Wore Today” posts that I see on various blogs but found that taking an iPhone self portrait in a mirror is a little more challenging than it seems. I have one of my Batgirl Moo stickers on the back of my iPhone and I’m still thinking of having a new case made up with one of my designs on it.

This is a portrait of Andrea RX for Julia Kay’s Portrait Party. Her original photo is in black and white so I decided to use a green and yellow palette. I did this version using Inkpad but also did a second version using PicGrunger and Sketchbook Pro.

I decided to take some quick self portraits before going to the Mark Mothersbaugh show at Blast gallery. I love this Betsey Johnson dress and wear it whenever I’m going some place fun or art related. I find that darkly lit rooms and the Blur Fx app is a good (and inexpensive) alternative to plastic surgery.

Growing up, did you:

Watch reruns of the 60′s Batman show and want to dress just like Catwoman or Batgirl?

Walk to the candy store to buy comic books?

Want to be like your favorite tv moms, Morticia and Lilly?

Spend Sunday afternoon watching old black and white movies? (The Bowery Boys, Abbott and Costello, Martin and Lewis to name a few)

Watch Saturday morning shows like Josie and the Pussycats, Scoobydoo and the Banana Splits?

Did you line up around the movie theater to see Star Wars?

Did you buy your favorite clothes at a thrift shop or Goodwill?

Did you eat Jiffy Pop, Pop Rocks or Pop Tarts?

Did you go to roadside amusement parks and county fairs?

Did you go on road trips listening to you favorite tapes? (8 tracks?)

Did you try to tape your favorite songs off the radio?

Did you visit record stores and spend hours looking at the album art?

Did you go to the Spencer’s at the mall to look at the day glo posters in the black light room?

Did you have paintings of children with big eyes in your basement?

What kind of things did you do or see as a child/teen that shaped your artistic vision? I find that my subject matter for my art always finds itself revisiting things that I was interested in during my youth.

This is a portrait of Bettie Brosmer, a cheesecake model who was one of the first super models. She married body builder Joseph Weider and is now known as Betty Weider. She has her own website that focuses on women’s health and fitness.

Last weekend I went to the sneak peak of Blast Gallery’s new space and Mark Mothersbaugh’s exhibit of Rugs! Rugs! Rugs! The new, larger space is a great place to hang out, see some art and have some coffee and other delicious goodies. I don’t think there is another gallery/coffee bar quite like this one in Bergen County (or even New Jersey). Throughout the opening night there was a constant crowd of people viewing the artwork and the excitement in the air was electric!

I really loved the graphic quality of Mark Mothersbaugh’s colorful rugs. They seemed to create a narrative on the wall like a giant sized comic strip. You can read more about the artwork in this article from the NJ Star Ledger

Here is some more info on Mark Mothersbaugh from the Blast website:

Most of Mark Mothersbaugh’s life has been dedicated to his most prolific music endeavor, DEVO—a college art project that blossomed into a career for the Akron quintet.

DEVO is widely known and respected as one of the most important bands to emerge from the 70′s & 80′s. Starting with their debut LP in 1978, Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo!, DEVO continued to release nearly 20 albums over the next 20 years, and spread their controversial message about the devolution of the human race to a worldwide audience.

With DEVO, Mark was able to showcase his artistic abilities on a large scale, and to millions of people. Through their films, videos, costumes, LP covers, stage shows, and printed materials, Mark and DEVO forever altered commonly held preconceptions of how a rock band should function in popular culture.

During his downtime on early worldwide tours with DEVO, he began illustrating on postcards to send to his friends, which he still creates, and has been creating every day for over 30 years; A very obsessive habit which still yields anywhere from 1 to 25 new images per day. These cards were originally created as his personal diaries, and were never intended for public viewing. That all changed when Mark decided to share his postcard works in his critically acclaimed solo shows during the 80′s & 90′s, and then with his gallery tour in 2003 titled HOMEFRONT INVASION!. This marked the beginning of many solo shows to come.

“Rugs! Rugs! Rugs! The Visual Art of Mark Mothersbaugh” will be on display from January 7 thru January 31, 2012.

Tooncamera iPhone photo

This is a Inkpad vector drawing of French actress Corinne Calvet. I was experimenting with using outlines on the shapes and keeping the colors transparent to give the picture a watercolor feeling. I imported the image into ArtRage and used the watercolor paper to give it more texture.

This was taken at the sculpture garden at the Museum of Modern Art in NYC. The sculptures reminded me of plastic saint statues that I had in my house growing up.

I started using Inkpad in March 2011 and I have fallen in love with vector drawing. I have done about 50 drawings and discover new things with each one.

This is one of my favorite Joni Mitchell songs:

Words and music by
Isham jones and gene willaden (1942)

So here’s to you
May your dreams come true
May old father time
Never be unkind
And through the years
Save your smiles and your tears
They’re just souvenirs
They’ll make music in your heart
Remember this
Each new day is a kiss
Sent from up above

With an angel’s love
So here’s to you
May your skies be blue
And your love blessed
That’s my best to you

Remember this
Each new day is a kiss
Sent from up above
With an angel’s love
So here’s to you
May your skies be blue
And your love blessed
That’s my very best to you