Posts Tagged ‘tentacles’

Free Work Wednesday – 10.20.10

Wednesday, October 20th, 2010

Thanks again to everyone who participated in last week’s Free Work Wednesday – 10.13.10. If you appreciate and/or like what I’m doing with Free Work Wednesday, do me a HUGE favor and spread the word! I running out of places to promote this event. Facebook, Twitter, Indymojo.com, MySpace….anyone remember MySpace… Seriously though, the last thing I want to do is over saturate you social networking site with my shameless self promotion. ‘Word of mouth’ is awesome. Also, if anyone knows of a site where I could list this event and others in the future, don’t be bashful, and send me an email to nathanmonkart@gmail.com. Thanks!

The winner of last week’s Free Work Wednesday – 10.13.10 is Brandon with “Bitter Tweet”. Congratulations Brandon! It’s all yours.

This week’s piece is mixed media on handmade paper. I made a decent amount of handmade paper a while back and I’m glad I am finally using it. I might get over zealous and make some bigger sheets in the future.

8.5″ x 11″

The materials I used in this piece are as follow: ink, watercolor paper, watercolor paint, glue, collage on handmade paper.

If you’re not sure what to do, it’s simple. Come up with a title for this piece. If it’s creative, fits well with the work, and I like it more than the others: YOU WIN and receive the original piece of art for free. Because the best things in life are free. I don’t know if that applies here but I heard it somewhere…one time or another.

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Run & Hide. The GORILLAPHANT is on the loose!

Wednesday, April 28th, 2010

My good friend Ryan Lee aka ‘Defame’ is a super talented musician. Not only has he played guitar in multiple bands but he spends all his free time creating sick beats. The dude has amazing skills and makes music to nod your head to. He has been in the process of fabricating and gathering up material for a legit release for a while now. Well, the time has come. The ‘Gorillaphant!’ is out of the cage and now available online for FREE DOWNLOAD!

Ryan was nice enough to let me design all the album art for the ‘Gorillaphant’. I loved the way it turned out and can’t wait to see it printed up.

Front Cover Art

CD Art

Back Cover Art

You HAVE to download this. Not only are the beats insane but he has some of the best local MC’s on the album. It’s definitely not anything you’ve heard on the radio, that’s for sure. And that’s a good thing. We need more unique and creative individuals pushing what they do best out there for everyone else to see. Indy has many examples of that and Defame is definitely one of those guys. Get to know this dude and his musical creations because it won’t be the last time you hear about him.

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Busy, Busy, and Jam Vs Jelly

Saturday, November 28th, 2009

I know it has been almost a week since I have done a blog post. I have been super busy lately and with Thanksgiving thrown in the mix, it has been interesting. I currently working on:

1. a 12 panel cd insert for a friend

2. Creating work for the Holiday Sale

3. Creating work for the “Both Sides of the Beat” show

4. Framing up a 4 ft. x 5 ft. painting I did recently

5. Photographing ALL of the work I have done recently and get it on the site

6. Much more….

If you would have asked me a little over 6 months ago if I would be this busy I would have said No. Don’t get me wrong, when I say busy that is a good thing. It is a great thing! I have never been this motivated before and had this much on my plate. I have met so many amazing individuals through the process and I know it is only just getting started. My art is getting out in the world to other people and that is what makes me most happy.

Speaking of the Holiday Art Sale, here is an example of the size work I will have for sale. This is roughly 5″ x 5″. There are two more just like this that together create a three piece series. For more information on the Holiday Art Sale you can visit HERE and HERE. It is on Friday December 11 from 10am – 9pm. Mark your calendars! There will be over 20+ artists there!

BirdFrameCollage

There is more great news. Recently I contacted Scott from JamVsJelly about possibly getting my work on his site. JamVsJelly is a “comprehensive, content rich and multi-discipline online arts publication. With its focus primarily focusing on fine art, photography, design and short stories.” Not only did he respond back saying he would like to have a feature article on me and my work but also be a contributor to the website representing Indianapolis. I cannot tell you how excited and honored I am to have this chance to reach such a vast audience. The possibilities are endless and JamVsJelly is only going to get bigger.

Scott has been working all day and night to get the site ready for launch. He received over 1,500 submissions of artwork/short stories last week. He had to sort through it all and get everything organized. Make sure you bookmark JamVsJelly and become a fan on Facebook.

Be sure to keep checking back to JamVsJelly. Once we are up and running, there will be new artists and material rotating through the site frequently. Check it out! Tell your friends!

Here is a logo I drew up last night for the site. It was my first attempt at using my tentacles as letters to create words. It was definitely a lot different than what I am used to as far as process goes. It is spray paint, acrylic, marker, and ink on watercolor paper.

jamvsjellylogo

JamVsJelly

Don’t forget to mark your calendars!!!

Friday December 4 (7pm – 10pm) First Friday at P.U.P. Studio 213. Murphy Building. Fountain Square. Indianapolis, IN.

Friday December 11 (10am – 9pm) Holiday Art Sale at the Artsgarden. Downtown Indianapolis. Connected to Circle Center Mall.

Saturday December 12 (6pm-10pm) “Both Side of the Beat” HipHop/SpokenWord/ArtShow at Indy Hostel. Broad Ripple. Indianapolis, IN.

Friday February 5 – First Friday event at Bootleg Exhibitions. The theme of the show will be “play”.

Without you guys, a lot of this couldn’t be possible. So keep supporting art, keep supporting local art, and come out to have a good time! Thanks again to everyone! I am a lucky guy.

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A Tooth With A Crown Of Teeth

Thursday, November 19th, 2009

I recently acquired some pretty big sheets of peel-n-stick sticker paper from work. (Thanks Stephen) I was throwing a couple ideas around like printing on the entire sticker as just one print but finally decided to print multiples of one design on a full sheet. I haven’t done the math just yet (it is too late in the evening) but I can fit a decent amount of smaller stickers on these huge sheets. I wanted to get them printed in time for the Holiday Art Sale at the Artsgarden on Dec. 11.

I am usually working with found objects, tools, etc. and not sitting behind the computer illustrating designs and such. Although I am usually happy with the end result, the process almost feels like homework sometimes. Maybe that’s because I have to sit still and be painfully tedious.

StickerDesignBLOG

The design I came up with was based on a sketch I drew up for my forearm tattoo. Nick McNulty ended up adapting it and it looks even better on my arm with his changes. His design is more organic while mine is very static and symmetrical. I tweaked the levels on PS and added some text. I tried to have it a little rough around the edges so it would look cohesive with the rest of my art.

I am looking forward to seeing how they turn out. Hopefully they can get printed soon. We shall see. I will let you know when the final product is available.

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I Saw an Aerial Attack

Monday, October 26th, 2009

If you read my last blog post, you would know that I have been in the process of creating a piece of art using a spray paint can as the canvas. Like I said before, nothing ground breaking here but I thought I would have a go at it. Well, I finished it last night and I wanted to share it with you. The piece contains minimal list of materials including:

1. (1) spray paint can

2. (4) blank stickers for the tentacles

3. (1) piece of scrap mail paper for the buildings

4. glue, ink, spray paint

TheAttackInTheAirISawBLOG

Here is a close up shot of “The Attack In The Air I Saw”.

If you have seen the titles to my work, you would also know that I tend to use a lot of tongue-in-cheek, play-on-words type phrases. They amuse me and I hope to get at least a giggle out of the viewer if not a chuckle. That is why “The Attack In The Air I Saw” is not “The Attack I Saw In The Air” because ‘air I saw’ = ‘aerosol’. Follow me? This explanation isn’t meant to insult the viewer by assuming he/she doesn’t get it. We all think differently so sometimes a quick little explanation helps each other meet at a common point.

I had a lot of fun working on this and I’m very satisfied with the end result. Sometimes it is nice to go back to the origins of drawing because unfortunately, I tend to rarely do that these days.

For a 360 degree shot of the entire piece, you can click here to view it in the portfolio section.

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Awesome Aerosol Art

Saturday, October 24th, 2009

Tonight, I started creating a piece of art out of a spray paint can. I know this definitely isn’t an original idea. I use spray paint a lot in my works but never thought of using it as a canvas until recently. My friend James Quebbeman had created a custom can for me a couple months ago and recently encouraged me to try it out for myself. So this weekend I embarked on the journey.

VaporCan

Custom can created by Vapor aka James Quebbeman

My theme is going to be based around my building and tentacles that I tend to draw a lot. People have asked me before why buildings? Why Tentacles? Well, do you really want to know? Then I guess I will fill you in.

Being raised in the city until second grade when we moved to the small rural town of Danville I think shaped my fascination with the scale, purpose, and aesthetics of skyscrapers or just tall buildings in general. Obviously, small towns aren’t known for massive architectural pieces so visiting the city was always an event. I remember even driving downtown to Herron everyday for school from Danville was great because I got to experience the skyline from varying degrees of size and detail along the way. I still think one of my favorite views of the skyline is the drive through ‘Little Mexico’ right after 36 and 40 combine especially when the sun is setting in the fall.

SprayPaintCan

Progress shot of my spray paint can creation, stickers, utensils, etc.

Big buildings are just down right cool. The insane amount of money and work that goes into them is enough to appreciate them. Not only are they a functional part of cities across the world but they become an iconic image. I think taking that concept and using my creative license to depict buildings in my own way helps me create a certain type of iconic image in the context of my own artwork.

As far the tentacles go, once again…they are cool. Not only that but they are fascinating to look at. Whether it be an earthworm or a tentacle on a giant octopus, I have always found these digits to be way more interesting than human limbs. For me they represent the unknown, the odd, the dangerous, or the down-right creepy. I think the tentacles leave themselves open for interpretation to the viewer because they are just as iconic as buildings. Unfortunately, it seems as of late tentacles have been the cool thing to do in design and illustration. At the same time, just becacuse others on are the same creative tip as myself doesn’t mean I should stop doing what I’m doing.

So there you have it folks. It might just look cool but there is always more to what you are looking at regardless of what it is.

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Rainy Day Go Away

Sunday, April 5th, 2009

Stuck inside all day and was barely able to work on anything new other than this guy.

BlueTentacles

I am debating on where to go next with it, especially the background. I want to incorporate some found objects but I don’t know if I want to add collage to this piece.

I was really productive yesterday as far as cleaning up my studio while my son played in the back yard. I am very messy and chaotic when I am creating and tend not to put things back when I am in the zone. Because of this, I spend a lot of time reorganizing and cleaning up after myself. I know it sounds crazy but it is almost therapeutic. I am the same way when it comes the interior of our house. We are always moving some piece of furniture around.

Here is another piece I recently finished entitled, Cephalic Hematoma. I am really happy with the way it turned out. Some relief going on. It is painted on donated wood from a friend and co-worker, Andy Owens. I appreciate all the help I can get.

Speaking of help, thanks again to Nikki for the Gift Cards to McAllisters! My wife and I are going to have a date night this week and we are definitely looking forward to it.

All of those who have Twitter, you can follow me (Nathan Monk or Molaropus) for random thoughts, and I mean random… Also, I am trying to get connected with more artist on there as well so if you know anyone good to follow let me know.

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Off To Las Vegas!

Sunday, March 1st, 2009

Well, I finished framing up the two pieces that I will be sending to Las Vegas to be displayed at The Great Pit Ball show. I didn’t have much time to do any more pieces for this show because I have been getting ready for my solo show and that deadline crept up fast.

The one on the left is entitled “Through The Vibrance” and the one on the right is entitled “Damien’s Worm.” They are both 5” x 7” gouache, colored pencil, acrylic, and ink on paper. Matted and framed in a 8” x 10” frame.

GreatPitBall

Check out Villalobos Rescue Center to see what the show is raising money for.

Once again I am glad I was able to do this and hopefully will get some response and interest from an audience across the nation. Pretty awesome.

I will leave you with a little piece I was working on yesterday. I am not quite sure of the title yet but if you have any suggestions just shoot me an email at nathanmonkart@gmail.com. Thanks!

TimeToStopTheGob

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