MUNICIPAL WASTE IS GONNA FUCK YOU UP!!!

Municipal Waste, for the uninitiated, is a crossover thrash metal band from the great state of Virgina. For years, they have built a loyal and dedicated fan base here in Philadelphia, and have played at the First Unitarian Church to countless applause and moshpits!

Thursday, December 10th at 7:30PM, they will take the stage yet again at the First Unitarian Church and destroy all in their way!

Make sure you download and hand out the original poster, which you can get here!

GET YOUR TICKETS NOW NOW NOW!!!!!

And check out the video for their latest song, "Wrong Answer":

GOVERNMENT CENSORSHIP Mug Sale: But One, Get One Free!

GOVERNMENT CENSORSHIP Mug by LuvataciousSkull
Make a custom travel mug with zazzle

Zazzle is having a deal where you can buy one mug and get a second free! Check it out, and enjoy! :)

Coupon code: 12DEALS2MUGS

Authority Is Love. Feel Secure.

Authority is Love by LuvataciousSkull
Browse more art available on zazzle

Back when Obama was about to take the oath of office, I had an idea of printing out a ton of these posters and posting them around Philadelphia. Sadly, I never got the chance.

Inspired by all the pro-Obama hoopla, I decided to take a subtler approach against it. The idea was to put up posters that, on first look, would appear to be simple slogans most likely directed at Bush. Upon further inspection of the Presidential Seal, it would show that the seal, in fact, had the Obama campaign logo on it.

Why Modern Art and Design Sucks Part 1: Whats Wrong?

I'm 24, and I already feel like the old man on his porch complaining about why things were so much better when he was younger. I can only imagine how bad I'll be in another 40 years.

There are a lot of things that, frankly, piss me off about modern art and design. I hate using generic fonts for everything, I hate that people seem to have forgotten that seeing an image is more important than filling the space with typography. I hate the fact that non-sequiter images next to words and logos are celebrated and not ridiculed for being stupid, pointless, and detracting from the actual message. I am sick of bubble-esq effects on everything, and the idea that a great big white world is the best way to layout and design things.

I'm sick and tired of no one daring to be creative where it counts. There are countless inspiration websites and blogs, but in the end, the ideas and concepts are either overdone or not applied in ways that would work. If I see one more fucking "exploding person" effect, I will punch the designer who did it in the face as hard as I possibly fucking can and piss in their face. I'm sick of automatically trying to re-create the style of Def Leopards album covers using modern effects, and in turn losing all the fun and creativity that was made there because the designers and artists doing it bring NOTHING to the table.

I'm sick of animation being boring. Animators not picking up pencils and learning and understanding character design and traditional techniques and rules, and then learning how to bend and break them to create something brilliant for themselves. I'm sick of cartoons not being daring, trying to do anything new or different, and I am sick and tired of those fucking assholes at Williams Street Studios trying to pass off another shittly-animated and poorly-written cartoon as "brilliant" down the throats of people who actually LOVE animation! I am sick of ABC, CBS, and NBC not trying to create new programming for children, new animated shows, and instead play it safe with shows that only meet the E/I standards and that SUCK.

What's wrong with modern art and design? NO ONE HAS THE BALLS TO SAY IT SUCKS AND DO SOMETHING DARING!

We're at a point where we have some of the most powerful and dynamic artistic tools in the history of mankind at our disposal, and we are forced-fed mediocrity time and time again. In truth, it would be arrogant and foolish to pretend that this was never the case; truly, the history of all mankind means mediocrity rises while creativity falls to the wayside. The problem now, though, is that thanks to the world we live in, thanks to the cohesive nature of the world we live in now where anyone can get their idea to the world in a week if they try hard enough, it is easier to spread crap and praise it and harder to praise genius and creativity.

So what's wrong? No one is willing to take a chance and really follow their dreams.

Who am I? Who am I to come out and try to act like I know what I'm talking about, like I'm some big shot? I'm not. I'm just an illustrator/designer from Philadelphia who's pissed off as hell about what he's seen and dealt with and wants to create things and help everyone make this world a better designed place. Or at least more interesting.

IN FLAMES Poster Up For Sale! EXTREMELY LIMITED PRINT!!!!

For sale until Sunday on eBay is a print of the EXTREMELY-LIMITED run of In Flames tour posters! I only made 10, and right now only 1 is up for sale!

Make sure you check it out

Drinking Coffee Liberally - New Poster, Awesome Group!

Back in March, a group I periodically attended called Drinking Liberally decided to do something different: Instead of meeting at a bar at night, why not meet on a Sunday afternoon over coffee? The result was a larger group, lively discussions, and a lot of fun!

But it was at that time that we discussed a new poster. We were "sponsored" by the national group, and they didn't have anything for coffee drinkers. While talking, I took out my sketch book, worked out a quick idea, and everyone agreed it would be great for me to do it.

Well, time passed, and the idea simply sat around, periodically being mentioned and me groaning about time or something or other. But since I was being so productive and creative, I decided now was the time to take a chance and work on the poster and see if the national picked it up.

The version I did relied on the imagery already used by the organization and the original idea was to do a radial as I've done in a lot of my work. I passed on that idea because it just couldn't work with the font, space, and limited color I wanted to use.

This version plays off Art Deco and the same ideas and concepts used for New Deal programs under FDR.

If you live in Philadelphia, namely the Mt. Airy area, please come out to Drinking Coffee Liberally! The group meets up Every Sunday at 12:30PM to 2:30PM at Infusion Cafe at 7133 Germantown Avenue. Tell 'em Larry Sent 'Ya!

Feel the Realness of Your Convictions! - In Flames Tour Poster

This is another poster I did for fun: Again, not commissioned by the band or the venue, but me trying my damnedest to help both.

I was on the train home this time around when I started sketching out the layout of this piece. I threw on "Come Clarity" and just started to draw what came to mind. A big-horned Demoness with flames coming out her eyes.... man, I wonder what THAT means? Seriously, I wonder what my subconscious was trying to scream out at me about.

I'll post the sketch soon, but I was really happy with the way the sketch came out. On top of that, I had already done a quick sketch for the Obituary poster that I've already posted, so when I got home I went straight to my art studio and cranked out the pencils in about 30 minutes. No, I'm not kidding. 30 minutes. The Xecutioner took about an hour or more because the pose was hard to get, along with the proportions... but that's another story.

The next day I went back to working, this time inking everything. I had wrapped up inking on the Xecutioner, and I was a little worried about this one (again, another story), but there was a really nice, easy flow to this one. The fact that this one wasn't even close to being as urgent helped. The inks on this were about an hour or more, and it involved doing the logo on a separate piece of paper. If you look at the pencils, even my scanned-in inks, you can see I had plotted out the logo. I took a piece of copy paper and a light table and inked the lettering onto the paper.

Scanning in everything was easy, and coloring it was fun. I made it as simple as possible and decided to stay as true as how I would do it by hand as possible. I'm contemplating doing a "painted" version one day, but for now, I'm thrilled with this.

Behind the screaming demoness is a symbol. Now, those familiar with In Flames will see something familiar yet strange. In Flames has adopted a few symbols over the years, and there was a sort of tribal one used back in 2006 for Come Clarity. I decided to take the idea and make it my own. In this case, it involved turning it into the symbol of chaos as well.

There's some writing on the original piece, but I had to take it off the smaller versions of the posters because it didn't read well. I was listening to "A Sense of Purpose" while penciling it in and one lyric in particular came to mind: " Feel this up your conviction!" To me, though, it sounded like "Feel the Realness of Your Convictions!", thus the name of the piece. The lyric is from the song "I'm the Highway".

But while I was listening to the album, another lyric came screaming out to me: " Thought I was unbreakable, but this is killing me!" This lyric is from "Delight and Angers", and it just felt perfect. Now, as soon as I wrote it, I was worried about the way people would interpret that. I didn't want it to look as if I was saying, "Oh no, Satan is evil and will betray you!", but its more along the lines of two old sayings: "Pride comes before the fall" and "Be careful what you wish for."

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IN FLAMES is playing The Trocadero October 4th at 7PM. They will be joined by Between the Buried and Me, 3 Inches of Blood, and The Faceless.

Download and hand out your own flyer HERE.

OBITUARY - The Troc, 9/28, 6PM - Be There!

"Stop Bitching and Start a Revolution". To me, these are words to live by.

I love metal shows, and I love concert posters. So its always a shock and annoyance to me to never see posters or flyers for metal concerts coming up in Philadelphia. The local blogs seem to tend to ignore them, instead opting to post (as I've ranted a million times before) about some indie rock or trance/electronica band.

On Monday, September 28th, Obituary, Goatwhore, Krisiun, and Warbringer will play The Trocadero at 6PM! Tickets are only $17.50, $20 at the door, and it should be a good show!

You can download the awesome flyer yourself to print and hand out by clicking THIS LINK.

So go out, spread the word, tell your friends, and jump in the pit!

---

I'm really am happy about this piece. I did it over the week, and I'll post the full-color version soon. This wasn't commissioned by the band, venue, or anyone: This was 100% ME. I got the idea back in August to do this. Obituary was originally called Xecutioner, and I liked the idea of having a female executioner posing with an Axe. The idea went from her having a sort of metal-chick head to... well... this. The idea quickly became more about making a woman with a hot body, but looked like she would destroy you. Basically, tempting you to get close, but watch out!

The X on her shoulder was also based on the bands old name. I'm a big Pushead fan and I wanted to use a similar font style on something, so I picked this.

I hope you enjoy it!

After 11 Years, I Finally Found my Drawing Style... For Now

Well, it took 11 years, but I finally found a drawing style that I think works.

What am I talking about?

When I was 13, I had been drawing for about 3 years. At that point, I was just copying drawings of cartoons in magazines and I had both run out of things to copy and reached a point where I wanted to express myself personally. Over 11 years, I sketched, painted, inked, and got into habits and routines I enjoyed to create and crank out pieces.

What I mean by "I found my style" is that I finally found a way of drawing at my desk that works really well for me.

I've spent the last 2 years doing a lot of sketching in my sketch books, and I've found starting with a 2H for sketching, a hard lead pencil, that I can lay out everything I need. I went from using Ticonderoga 2B pencils to simply using a Papermate 2B Mechanical Pencil. I've found that, in the end, it makes sense since my finished tend to be fairly matriculate.

Today, I added something else that made sense to use a million times before: A 4B pencil for the outline. Since a large number of pieces I do have a thick black line around them, using a really soft lead to get the line weight makes a lot of sense.

In a previous post, I wrote about how I ink my work now, so combined with this, I feel really confident in my work to a degree I haven't in years!

I want to give some advice to anyone who reads this and is struggling with sitting at their desk and drawing: Don't give up. I spent years having an on-again off-again love with my drawing desk, and for me it was because I couldn't get the same sense of emotion in a finished piece that I did with a sketch. My advice to you? Experiment, experiment, EXPERIMENT! Don't give up, keep on trying, and keep going until you find something that works for you.

Octopus in a Jar

Octopus In a Jar by LuvataciousSkull
Poster printing by zazzle

Last weekend I did two different conventions: A Crafts Fair and a Alternative Comic Book Convention. In the end, this was the top-selling print I did. Cool, huh? I did this last year based on a photo of an octopus in a jar.

Cyber-Goth Chick

Cyber-Goth by LuvataciousSkull
Browse Cybergoth Posters

I did this back in 2006 and at my first art show in 2009, it was a big hit! So I thought I would share it with the world! I did the image based on an image I saw in a magazine at the time, and had some fun with it. I haven't done a piece like this in a long time, and I really wish I did again. Who knows, maybe this is the start of a new series for me.

Logo Design is Lot Like Car Sales....

"I need a logo for my band! $20.00 in it for you."

These were the words spread across the message board to alert the members of the metal music forum of a need for a designer. Someone, somewhere, needed a logo for their band. In return, they showed they were willing to pay someone to do it for the sum total of $20.

Some people joked around, and some basically said that he was nuts for offering so little.

Me? I was polite but blunt. "No offense, but $20 for a logo? Bump it up to $100, you'll get more bites and a better logo. Anyway, my 2 cents on that and if you can bump it that high, give me a call."

Fair enough if you ask me. Just some advice from someone who does it professionally. Well, the peanut gallery just loves to chime in, and this was a fun bit of retort! Someone decided to point out that "Dude, in this Effing economy work for whatever. It's just art. Get over yourself and make a quick $20."He ended it with this little pearl of wisdom: "Don't try to price your stuff as a BMW when it's a used car economy."

So I made a rather blunt point about how it cheapens the work and the field, but if someone was desperate enough for it, more power to them!

But the last point they made stuck with me. Pricing yourself as "high-end" in a tough market... that's a damn good point! In this case, it was total bull (since $100 for a logo tends to be less-BMW and more, say, used Honda), but it was still valid.

In this modern market, we've seen logos go from $10,000 corporate identities to $120 symbols for a small store. In a lot of ways, its always been like that, but today there are even websites that will give a small web start-up a logo for free based on generic text and clip-art. All the while, graphic designers around the world get angry and mad at this practice and how it "cheapens" what we do.

Does offering something for free cheapen something that normally would cost anywhere between $250 - $1000 to do? Well, yeah, it does. It takes it away from being a skill and turns it more into a commodity in the sense that its almost worthless. Yes, The Sistine Chapel was a commission, but he got paid well to make it. That's basically the entire point I'm trying to make.

So, as designers, what should we do? If you are at a BMW-level of quality and demand, do you keep your prices or do you lower them to stay competitive? Well, its up to you, really. If you find keeping a fairly decent price tends to attract a better type of client or you're able to keep it up, then stay there. If its getting to the point where your prices are just too much for people, even those who have been faithful and love your work... well, now is the time to start lowering your price.

What is the main key in this? What is the secret formula? It's simple: Never got lower than 20% what you would charge for the job.

You get a client who wants a logo for their web start-up. The logo they described to you would cost them $1000, all rights included. They can't afford it and want to go lower. If you can, you go down a little based on what you think works. If they want it for less than $800, think about if the logo will add to your portfolio, if this possible client will result in more connections that will, in turn, equal more work, or if this is just something that's going to sit there... or pay a bill.

Most designers already know this, so this article is more for the people... well, like me.

Say you're semi-well known. People have seen your stuff, they like it, and they want to hire you. The problem, though, is that they can't pay you much, if at all. Here's a good example: There's an artist named Christophe Szpajdel who has done over 7200 logos in his nearly 20 years as an artist. His rate? Anywhere between $50 to as much as he thinks. In return, he's garnered a reputation as a workhorse and the man in the field of death and black metal logos. It pays the bills.

In the end, working with people to get a price you're happy with, as well as one the client is happy with, means more work and exposure for yourself. Does that mean sometimes lowering yourself to make yourself about as affordable in a used-car market when you're a BMW yourself? Sometimes. Then again, if you're already a semi-used Volvo, you don't have far to go.

Photo courtesy of the blog Miss Pink Slip

The Demoness Said KILL! - My Sweet New Skateboard from Zazzle!

I came home yesterday to my custom skateboard deck made by Zazzle.com. I've trusted these folks with helping to spread my art and designs through merchandising, and they've yet to disappoint. This morning I finally cracked open the package of the skateboard I ordered and, well, it was AWESOME!!!!

For the skateboard techs, here are the stats:
Independent Stage 1 Trucks
Ricta Natural Wheels
Bullet Bearings

Really happy with the deck! Took it for a test run, and it ran smoothly out the box! No lie! Easy glide, nice turns... it was basically fine-tuned out the box! SWEET!



Make sure to get your own here:

The Demoness Said Kill! by LuvataciousSkull
Browse Demon Skateboards

DIE, RABBIT, DIE!

"Die, Rabbit. Die!" Print by LuvataciousSkull
See other poster designs on zazzle.com

I want to say that this piece is "out of the crypts", and to a degree it is. I did it back in 2004 and its a fairly rare expressionist piece I did with pen and ink. I've been asked a lot what the piece means and, really, I don't want to say it. Its a deeply personal piece in terms of that.

I posted it online after I finished it and a lot of people liked it so I decided to turn it into a poster. It's a piece and style that I've gone away from as of late, but I thought it would be nice to just put it out there again.

Well, enjoy!

RULES! - The Larry West Snearker!

RULES 2 Sneaker by LuvataciousSkull
Browse other Rules Keds Shoes

I originally designed this a year ago, and I've finally had a chance to bring it to life!

These are a pair of sneakers designed and based around my series of propaganda-based pieces called RULES. This is in a series of sneakers I personally designer!

A Few More Notes on My Piece "False Messiah"

What you see before you is a piece I did in May of 2008 called "OBEY False Messiah". I wanted to explain my piece a little bit. I created the piece in a time where I felt mixed in my opinion both about Obama and the direction of the nation in terms of support of this man during the election and what I felt this all meant.

I was, admittedly, afraid. Not of what Obama would do as president, but what it would mean in terms of being able to criticize and lampoon him. Not only was he going into this as the man of Hope and Change, he was going in there with a large number of people who also had faith in him. When people put so much stock into someone, I feel there is a need to remind people of one simple fact: They are, in the end, only human.

During the election, I wanted another Teddy Roosevelt, another FDR, someone to go in there, clean up Bush's mess, and get America strengthen out. I didn't feel like Obama was that man, although little-by-little I think he might. Its still early, very early, to tell if he is. We'll have to see.

But one thing I didn't think about when I created this was the overall reaction. One goal, one hope, of this piece was that it would become viral and get people to just ask what, exactly, did I mean by this. I wasn't being anti-Obama; I was being pro-independent thinking. That's always been who and what I am.

I wanted people to remember that he couldn't do everything he wanted and that he didn't have some sort of magic wand. What he was saying, to me, wasn't entirely common-sense stuff and nothing new. I didn't see him as a beacon, and I didn't see him as making himself into one; everyone else did that for him. He remained humble through most of the election, elevating himself only when he saw a need to. I respect him for that.

Sadly, my image never spread during the election and still hasn't to this day.

Over the last few weeks, an image of Obama as the Joker with the word Socialist has popped up and gotten viral. Some has taken it as anti-Obama. To me, it's just funny because it is and it isn't. You, the viewer, don't know if the joke is that he is a Socialist and you fell for his trick, of if he's trying to say you're a fool for thinking Obama is a Socialist. To me, it's incredibly clever, smart, and funny.



To others... well, why so serious?

Which brings me to today. I saw the image the artist created used for hate speech today. I saw his image defaced and used, not to spread the original intent of the message, but racism, pure and simple:



It may sound cheesy, it may sound lame, but I honestly cried a little when I saw this.

I thought about my piece and how people react to it. I want people to think when they see my piece, I want them to question their leader, to ask if he is doing everything that's right. I want people who show dissent to enjoy the image, and I want those to dissent to the image itself to at least respect the intent.

I don't want my piece to ever be used by hate.

What I Learned about Philadelphia on First Friday

In a previous post, I outlined, in very blunt terms, what I thought about the Philadelphia Art Scene and why, in turn, I despised it.

Last night I did my 3rd First Friday and my second of the year, and it was really interesting seeing people react to my art. I was surrounded by basically what you would expect: Framed photos of buildings, silk-screen t-shirts with abstract designs, and hand-made prints. Across the street from me was Geek Boy Press, setup not too far from Brave New World's comic book shop who was holding the "8-Bit and Beyond" show for the Autumn Society.

Then... there was me.

I was set up next to Christ Church, mainly because it was the last spot I could get on the lower-half of 2nd Street. Since my pallet is mostly primary colors... well, it's hard to miss me. I had all my prints mounted and on display, and the star of it all was my "False Messiah" piece hung in the recessed side of the church, creating a sort of alter for it. Reaction was generally positive, and whenever anyone asked what the piece meant, I was able to explain it pretty easily. I was a showman through-and-through, doing my best to sell myself and personality to people who were interested in my work, giving out my card and whatnot.

It was refreshing. The previous month I felt largely ignored, but looking back, it was largely because I wasn't on a good side of the street more than anything else. Getting positive feedback is good, ad even negative works well. I had some lady say, "You suck!" because of my Obama piece and then run off. Coward.

I came back home to a bunch of hits on my website and some e-mails. I've gotten a few requests to do gallery shows in the coming months, some for interviews, and from people who liked my work and wanted to buy prints. Working since February on my art show in May was a big deal and June was a fairly quiet month in comparison. In a lot of ways, it was the only month I had off and now I'm doing as much stuff as possible.

I wrote in the pass that the Philadelphia Art Scene annoyed me for one reason or another and, in reality, I now see what the problem is. I learned that it isn't the art scene that's the problem. No, that isn't it. The problem isn't with the galleries, either, and I'm willing to admit off the bat that I haven't tried to do a "gallery" gallery show yet since I don't have the money to get Gicelle Prints and a lot of fancy things. No, the problem is with what certain people think is "good" when, in reality, they seem to be out out touch with what people like.

People like a pop-artist who will tell them to their face that the person they admire suck and is willing to actually be himself. Who knew?

DON'T! (Tread on Me) - New Piece!

Don't! (Tread on Me) by LuvataciousSkull

I did this piece back in July and finally got a chance to post it today. The piece is called "Don't! (Tread On Me)" and is based on the Gadsden Flag that was flown at the birth of America. In my version, it's a recoiled snake skeleton ready to pounce on any and all who dare to cross it!

This piece was a lot of fun, and work, to get done. The research drove me up a wall and the inking took hours. I really dig this one!

MAJOR SKATEBOARD SALE! 40% OFF ALL DECKS!!!!

OK, this is just plain AWESOME!

Zazzle, the company that produces my skateboards, has a sale going on where you can get 40& OFF ALL SKATEBOARD DECKS! No kidding! 40%!

Basically, the decks cost about $25 - $30, which is the CHEAPEST you'll ever find these for anywhere!

The sale is going on until Monday, August 10th! In order to get the deal, just type in the coupon code BTS40OFFSALE.

Order today and get one soon! Who knows, maybe you can shred around Philadelphia on one of these! Skateboard shops Nocturnal and Exit: GET THESE DECKS NOW! This is basically a wholesale price for you guys, and if you get them now, you'll be able to buy them cheap!

Please check out the selection, I'm sure you'll be amazed!

Now You're Playing With POWER!

I did this piece for an upcoming art show called "8-Bit and Beyond", which is being held by The Autumn Society of Philadelphia, a group of illustrators from Philly and the surrounding areas. It was really humbling to get to do something for it, and I was really psyched to get it done! My friend posed for this and, well, it was a ton of fun! Mixing illustration with pop-art techniques and elements of 80's graphic design... good times!

Special thanks to everyone who supported me in this, and I can't believe what I went through to get it done! From taking risks by just doing the sketching and seeing what happened, inking it a lot more loosely than I normally do instead of being incredibly rigid, the adventures of going to Center City to get a reduced copy only to realize I left the original on the copier and being forced to get it back, to coloring it.... Just so much fun!