 |  |  |
|---|---|---|
 |  |  |
 |  |  |
GG#4
Gorillia Painting Exercise
Nebula / Galaxy
This mural was done with my good friend Marcel Blanco (@SELDOG) (punkrockzen.com)
for Franklin Elementary School in Santa Monica California over the course of 2 days.
​
We used well over 45 thousand milliliters of Montana Spray Paint and several gallons of high quality exterior paint to get the job done.
​
There are a few progress shots included below as well as a breakdown of how I made the final image by stitching photos together in Photoshop.
Soto De Neuron aka:(Circle)
NOCHE DE CALAVERAS 2.
International Artists Blend Urban & Fine Art at the new Regime Contemporary Gallery
This piece is the second piece I made in a series of artwork that combines nature, humans, and graffiti/street art.
This piece has been on display at the Mayfair Hotel in downtown Los Angeles for several years. It is part of a hand picked collection by internationally renowned street artist Kelly “Risk” Graval who has curated a multi-million-dollar collection that beautifully reflects L.A.’s vibrant and invigorating contemporary art scene.
Life
This piece is the first of a series of pieces that combine nature, humans, and graffiti/street art.
This mask was a gift I purchased with an Amazon gift card given to me at Christmas by Jon Favreau while working on the set of Disneys "The Junglebook". It has traveled with me to Europe, up and down both American coasts, into tunnels in the underbelly of Los Angeles, and train yards across the states. It has seen many interesting scenes unfold and had a few close calls with becoming a memory itself.
When I finally got the chance I thanked Jon on our last day of shooting. I told him what I had used his gift for and he said you're welcome and that he hoped he had helped to save my life.
This is my favorite memory from that show. There was no way I was going to toss it into the garbage when it came time to retire it.
PINK ELEPHANT
Hand Painted: The pink elephant is something I did for fun on large shed doors. I was practicing a new technique I learned from my friend Rasmus Balstrom from Denmark. I had been worried about some friends who were struggling with alcoholism and thought a pink elephant in the room might bring us all some good luck. I never got a chance to finish it because I had to go to work and earn money. I finally did get to go back and try to finish my painting but it wasn't possible to continue working on it. Everything in life is temporary.
These two images were digital paint-overs that I was playing with. I never got to go back and paint more on this which is a bummer. I think a few more hours would have made all the difference.
SUBLIME MURAL
I assisted SEL with hand painting the SUBLIME Mural at the Gaslamp Music & Bar in Long Beach.
​
This mural was the backdrop for an all ages benefit with Bradley’s House, the Nowell Family Foundation who are helping artists in the industry overcome opioid addiction.
Long Beach Dub All Stars, LAW, Burritos, Corn Doggy Dog, Kyle Smith, Simbala, Back-Bone, DJ Product and merchandise sales helped to raise proceeds that went to the Nowell Family Foundation. Rumor has it that Jim Papa Nowell the father of the late lead singer and guitarist of the ska punk band Sublime was in attendance.
​
SNOWFALL
brought me in for a really fun project- custom hand painting Converse Chuck Taylors and painting murals inside the Hudson Loft located in downtown LA with their talented group of artists to promote FX networks new show "Snowfall".
"Respect" Mural
The "RESPECT" mural I painted with the team. Designed by Marcel Sel Blanco.
"TAPE JAM"
The "TAPE JAM" design was inspired from the boomboxes and tape cassettes from the 1980s. I remember sometimes my tapes would get eaten by the player and when you pulled the tape out it would rip the guts out of your cassette. So I screwed up the laces to mimic that situation and painted them black like the magnetically coated, polyester-type plastic film (magnetic tape) that played our music back then.
​
"YOU'VE BEEN WARNED"
This design is inspired by a quote from the show that says "The game's rigged" and uses the theme word: TRUST. The laces are bar laced in a white line pattern to represent lines of cocaine. ("Snowfall" was an FX Networks show about the rise of cocaine and the crack epidemic in Los Angeles)
​
The blockbuster letters that read TRUST are the first thing you notice and then if you look more closely you notice the orange graffiti handstyle inside the word reads: the game's rigged. I chose these quotes from the show because I feel that in many ways the system is designed to carefully divide the American people- keeping the rich rich, and the poor poor.
TRUST- THE GAME'S RIGGED!!!
​
Dancing Bird
I played around a lot with composition...I chose the top image as my favorite, but here are some others I considered.
Deer Skull
I like to juxtapose nature and humans as much as possible. Its insane to me how we are one in the same yet we continue to destroy the planet by putting corporate greed, or simple convenience over the sustainability of our fragile ecosystems.
