BAGS BLOG

2012-01-27T03:56:00.007-05:00

+++Cerberus Show NYC+++

Hello world. 2012 has arrived. Geez,... already. Hope all is well with you guys. Finally had a chance get some things together to post. I just got back from NY last weekend. I was part of a group show with fellow artist/good friends David Hoskins and Douglas Hoffman at Bold Hype Gallery. The show came together really well and the turnout was pretty grand! Thanks again for all the folks that were able to make it and hang out for a bit. It was a blast! Felt great to partake in a gallery show again. Over the past few years I've be chilling on the sidelines handling my corporate day job along with trying to enjoy my social life in SF in my late 20's. I'm happy I managed to pull together a collection of works that were created in between juggling everything going on in my life. I'll keep this rant short and just cut to the chase. Bellow are a couple of paintings I did for the show that haven't been previously displayed on this blog before.

This piece was created for our promo ad for our show. At the time we already decided on the name of the show to be "Cerberus". We had a tight deadline for the ad feature so all three us (Doug, Dave, and I) each illustrationd a dog head in our interpretation, pretty much in a night's work turn-around. We chose a limited palette and this is what I manage to come up with.

"Cerberus 1" 10x10 Acrylic and ink on Wood

This piece is brand new piece also created for the show. It's actually a diptych on two wood panels. I photoshoped the line in the middle out to show what it would look like together. This one was really hard to capture a reproduction of due to its wide format and colors. I tried to match it as close as possible to the original colorways. The pink is a lot more vibrant but hard to capture in photo form. I promise it looks way better in person!

"Twin Somber and Ms. Joy" 18x24 (x2) Acrylic on Wood

Here's a time lapse of our collaboration piece. It took us roughly two 9-10 days to knock this out. This was really fun to work on and it's rad we happen to get the process recorded.

"Cerberus" 48 x 60 (x2) Acrylic on Canvas

Here is a link to all the show pieces up for purchase: ---GO!---
Also here's a link to a nice little write up with nice sampler size pictures to view some of the work. ---GO!---
***show photos coming soon...

Thank you.

2011-11-07T03:04:00.003-05:00

+++Ms.Haze+++

4.75 x 6.5 Acrylic on Wood

Here's my piece for the "Power in Numbers" show: "an ongoing online exhibit of work moderated by Nucleus, this online gallery showcases quality original artwork at affordable prices. All work measures 5"x7" and is priced at $50 or $100. Proceeds from each sale benefits the artist's chosen charity. What used to be an annual event is now ongoing..."-Nucleus Feel free to view more info here: http://gallerynucleus.com/pin

2011-09-06T06:22:00.002-04:00

+++MR.TOMORROW+++12x12 Acrylic on Wood

2011-07-22T06:25:00.001-04:00

+++Mr. Weak End+++8x8 Acrylic on Wood

2011-07-12T04:02:00.013-04:00

+++REDSHIFT MURAL+++

A few weeks back I was contacted by the folks at Redshift, they had an interest in my work and extended an invite to partake in a mural project for their office space. I agreed to meet with them, and from there we discuss things further in detail. The brief I received is that they had this huge wall in a narrow passageway which led into their office space. They wanted a piece that started out small and grow into something big alongside guiding/leading you into their office space. They also wanted me to incorporate a list of inspirational phrases/quotes(that they provided) to go along with the piece in someway. As far as my artistic freedom to execute the project, it was pretty open ended. To help get a better idea of which direction to go, I asked them to share some example references of murals/pieces they liked. From what I gathered, they had an interest in bold decorative imagery, with expressive type, and limited color palette. They also had an interest in cityscapes as well. I took all that and mocked up a sketch for them. They enjoyed what I pitched and from there we moved forward onto the painting.
It was a pretty smooth transition overall in the project. The folks at Redshift were really great to work with, they were pretty lax and let me do my thing. To accompany this project, they hired Nicole Salmeri (pretty cool videographer) to help document the process in a form of a time lapse video. It was a pretty fun project, I'm glad I had the opportunity to take it on. I worked on it in my off-time from work(day gig) so roughly it took about 30-40 hrs of work. I'll stop ranting now haha. Hope you enjoy. Cheers.

Original sketch for the pitch

Pictures of the wall. The wall is pretty wide and the hallway is pretty narrow hence why it was kind of hard to get really good shots of the piece.

The timelapse by Nicole

RedShift Mural Time-Lapse from Nicole Salmeri

2011-06-03T06:30:00.002-04:00

+++Mr.Yesterday+++

12x12 Acrylic on Wood

2011-06-02T05:52:00.003-04:00

+++Mr. Foresight+++

10x10 Acrylic on Wood

2011-02-08T03:09:00.006-05:00

+++Mr. Diego & Ms. Suzie+++

20x20 Acrylic on Wood
Friends, Ben & Bianca's dogs: Deigo (the chiwawa) & Suzie

2011-01-06T05:59:00.003-05:00

+++Mr.Bread & Ms. Butter+++

acrylic 8x8 on wood

2010-10-22T06:52:00.005-04:00

+++Mr.Sour+++

acrylic 12x12 on wood

2010-10-12T07:33:00.003-04:00

+++MS.OCT+++

acrylic 8x8 on wood

2010-09-13T04:59:00.012-04:00

+++MR.SUN+++

acrylic 8x8 on wood

2010-08-04T11:01:00.001-04:00

+++MS. WEDS+++
acrylic 12x12 on wood

2010-05-13T04:42:00.006-04:00

+++MR.JADED+++acrylic & vinyl stickers 8x8 on wood

2009-12-17T04:15:00.006-05:00

+++MR.WEDS+++acrylic 8x8 on wood

2009-12-15T05:11:00.004-05:00

+++MS.MON+++

acrylic 8x8 on wood

2009-12-09T05:45:00.001-05:00

2009-11-30T00:52:00.005-05:00

+++OLD LIME STUDIES+++

Still getting my new apartment together. Was unpacking some boxes and found these old studies I did awhile back, oil on small canvases. Lime is an intense color haha. *New pieces to come shortly along with a current rundown on things. Hope everyone enjoyed the long weekend!

-bags-

2009-11-25T04:50:00.004-05:00

+++MS.TUES+++acrylic, 8x8 wood

2009-11-21T05:57:00.008-05:00

+++MR.THURS & MS.FRI+++

acrylic on 8"x8" wood panals

2009-09-28T19:34:00.007-04:00

+++NY LAB 2009++

Ajos world! I'm still around haha...the blog is kinda dry as of recent I know, but I promise to post up soon. My next post should run you guys up to speed on things along with work from my Chicago show. I took this pic of my studio the other day, I wanted to document my NY studio one last time before I have to start packing up everything. YUP, packing up!!! haha...just a hint: I just accepted a new job out in San Fran. More details on that once I get all settled again (which might be another month or so). In the mean time you can keep tabs on Klaimco. Hope all is well with eveyone and stay grand!

-bags-

2009-07-19T16:25:00.008-04:00

+++COMM ARTS, POPGUN, NAW, and KLAIMCO+++

Got these books in the mail the other day. Took a bit to get the Popgun annual, but it was worth the wait. In my youth, Image Comics and all its hype helped carry the drive for my love of drawing. A decade and some change later, I'm honored to have an small feature in one of their trades (As infinitesimal as it may be). Same goes with Communication Arts. In my early years of college I used to look through Comm Arts with hopes to one day share a spot amongst other fellow creatives and established artist. I slept on submitting over the years but finally sent an image in. To Comm Arts and Image, thanks!Its been a compelling summer so far, did a bit of traveling and have been going through some interesting life experiences, along side trying to balance living a bit with staying productive. The alluring summer festivities of NY really makes you want to set up camp outside. The abundance of it all makes it sooooo hard to stay in the lab and work, and I'm diff going through the motions!!! haha. With that said, I'm working on stuff for this upcoming show I'm doing with fellow artists/musicians Bryce Wymer and Mitchell Paone. Bryce and Mitch started a band/art collective called North American Wildlife. Byrce and I attend college together and we share a common interest in music and aspirations to create it. Long story short, Bryce extended an invited to partake in a past gig were I laced some vocals over or a couple of their jazzy melodic tracks. The gig went fairly well and now I'm a part of the crew. The skinny with this show in Chicago: we'll be having a art gallery show and sound tracking it with the three of us performing live. If your local in Chicago during Aug 7th, PLEASE do come out! I want to meet you people haha. The show will be at The Family Room Gallery. More info below:In meantime while I'll be bizzy cranking away stuff the Chicago show I recommend checking a blog i started up a few years back. Its a blog I run with fellow friends/college mates that I keep up with (its about 6-8 of us). Originally the aim was to create this art collective to showcasing/producing collaboration work along side sharing projects we create on our own. We still have that core aim but the blog turned into a central online hub were we share inspo, thoughts, photos, life stuff, and etc. I post pretty frequent on there, most of the stuff you've seen on this blog but a grip more life related stuff content and other things. We never really made it public, it was kind of just our group site we use to communicate to one another. Slowly the site spread through our connects and started collecting a small following. At this point we're like "why not get it out there?!" Well... here you have it, check check it and enjoy ((sidenote: All my post on the blog have "+++ +++" in the title, consider it my signature steez))

click--->> KLAIMCO <<--- click -be easy-

2009-06-12T18:14:00.048-04:00

+++Bags Mega+++

Ajos world, how does it go? Hope all is well. Spring/Summer finally hit NY and I'm embracing it one day a time. BBQ's, music gigs, people visiting, gallery shows, conventions, bike rides, movie watching, bar hop'n, park sun tanning, weight gaining, weight losing, long weekends, late nights, sleeping in, dodging rain drops, music making, socializing, exercising, Internet link hop'n, drawing, drawing, painting painting blah blah blah....sums up the days as of recent. Its been good, its just nuts the speed the days fly, truly nuts really. Finally took the time out to gather some stuff to share with you guys hope you enjoy for now, might be another couple months til I post another whopper haha.

Konni, Lace, & Leroy Brown

This is a four color silkscreen poster design I worked on a few weeks ago, the aim was to have this printed up in time for the Mocca Convention, but the printers backed out on me last minute. Instead I got the image printed up as postercards, doesn't have the same affect but its something. I still plan to get this printed up at 22x30, just have to dig around and find new guys to print them up for me.

MOCCA 2009

I was fortunate to get an invite from the guys at Calavera Comics to share a booth at this year's Mocca Festival (convetion). For those of you not familar with the event here's a quick skinny: The Village Voice calls the MoCCA Festival “the best small-press nexus (anywhere!)” Now BIGGER than ever! An incredible weekend of comic and cartoon art exhibitors, panels, lectures, sketches, autographs, and more! Thousands come every summer to meet and purchase works from some of the world’s best cartoonists, animators, and graphic novelists.

I had met Alexis via internet, he's based out of Florida and mention he and his crew was coming up to NY for the Mocca. He extended in invite to share a spot at his booth. Meeting up at the Mocca, was the first time we linked up in person. I got to meet the rest of his crew aswell. Really cool guys and it was great catch'n up and hang'n out with them for the weekend. Be sure to check out their work and sites, just click their names to do so (Thanks again for the invite guys!):

Alexis Ziritt

one of Alexis tee designs

Mark Malazarte

Its funny I didn't even know this dude hosted one of my fav blogs, be sure to check it, tons of eye candy-->waxin & milkin

Frank Gonzales

Be sure to check out the rest of this dude's paintings, really solid imagery

Mike Houlihan

funny thing about meeting this dude is we were born on the same exact day, crazy haha

There were two other guys in the crew but I don't have their info on hand, sorry

But yeah the convention was pretty cool, kinda slow but it was cool meeting a range of people and fellow creatives. I picked up a good amount of good aswell check check it! (sidenote: If you click on the artist's name, you'll be directed to their site)

1. A mini comic "Vague Cities" by Tomasz Kaczynski, I really dig the package and print of this, the story and art is solid too.
2. Mini comic "Neon Girl" by Dennis Pacheco.
3. Mini comic "Glad Optical" by Brett Von Schlosser.
4. Sketchbook by Alexis Ziritt.
5 and 10. Mini comics "Falling Sky" and "Gutter" by Victor Kerlow.
6. Artbook "Life After Black" by the famous/amazing Barron Storey. Really amazing artist/guy, I was flattered to have a portrait sketch by him on the spot. He's in town right now for his show at the Society of Illustrators which is actually going tonight, I'll prob check it out this weekend.

7. Really dope monster book "Eat World" by Peter J. Lazarski.
8. I meet this guy randomly on the fly while walking around. We had a book trade and he gave me this, "Strange Life Vol.1" A collection of works by Reuben Negron. Be sure to checkout his work, dude can paint too! here's a quick sample:

"roxy"

9 and 11. Now this guy's work is on the "WOW' tip, really really dig Conner's work, the comic, story, and art is just solid. I picked up these two mini comics: "The Middle" and "Real Bad" by Connor Willumsen. Be sure to check him out and support!12. This is an anthology comic put together by Alexis, "Mekano Turbo" I actually illustrated the cover art for this book. More info here.

cover work

posterI also cop'd this poster by Kent Williams. Yup, it is dope haha.

Got some left over copies of my books if anyone is interested, each comes with a original sketch. If you cop both I'll cut you a deal. Feel free to drop a line.Ecko steez

After a year and a half working for the Rhino, the time came to part ways. Yup, I'm a free man again!!! haha. Long story short the econmy really affected the retail market (along with everything else). The company dropped the work load dramatically so with that said there really wasn't enough work to keep me around full time. So I parted on good terms, and this actually happened a few months back. I'm still in contact with the team and I still help out with some projects here and there when help is needed. It was fun while it lasted but my current freedom is grand!

Aside from all that here's some product I worked on that's out and about as of recent. Like I mention before, majority of the product have a year turn around time, so even though I'm not working there most of the stuff I worked on will be coming steadily up until next year. Due to the spring/summer time frame I worked on a grip of shirts, hence the major drop of imagery below. For more info on the product check here.

Well that's about all for now, Its going to be a pretty bizzy summer from here on out. I'm still working on this large scale piece that I'm looking to finish hopefully this month. I'll be going home to visit fam for a couple of weeks. Then when I get back I'll be bizzy working on more paintings for a group show I'll be partaking in, in Chicago. The show will be in the first week of Aug. More info on that as it gets closer to that date. Looking to have all new pieces for this show. In the meantime, hope everyone enjoys the summer. If my blog is dry for the next couple months you know what's up.

-Be easy world-

2009-05-28T13:49:00.005-04:00

+++CONTENT & VALUE+++

When a person creates an image of a robot its quick to get slapped generally with the concept art or sci-fi art label. I think its safe to say people won't qualify a drawing like the one I'm sharing with you as legitimate art, or yet even valuable. I can share an image like this and the prop/praise value is in most cases next to zero. Now...why is that? I can easily draw a person, and 10 times out of 10, I'll have an immediate response from the viewer. Its my understanding people respond to figurative work as something gasp able. Most people like to see themselves in things, so when a human form is displayed it gives the viewer relative value to respond.

But what makes a robot secondary or even at times valueless? I know it's somewhat bias for me to speak on the behalf of robots considering its role in my upbringing (80s transformers/raised in Japan). Sorry for this rant, but the point I'm getting at is really this:

Content and its value

What makes a content valuable? How does this affect your choice in the content you chose to create?

Its something I think about from time to time.

Sidenote: I'm still around guys haha, just been really bizzy as of recent but I got a major post I'm putting together, feel free to stay tuned.
-Be easy world-

2009-05-12T05:21:00.000-04:00

+++North American Wildlife + bags+++

--->vid sampler<---

North American Wildlife

2009-03-12T20:29:00.005-04:00

+++GHOST, KAMEN, & BOOTH+++

Original mock up and colorwaysPrint version 22x30 SILKSCREEN four color manila cardstock

close ups

Just got these prints in the mail today. They came out alright. Looks better in person. I'm happy with the size and clean print, not to sike'd on the colorways not to mention the error in printing. If you look at the two yellows, its inverted=not cool. In general it looks alright, I'd still frame it up BUT it could be better. Its my first time working with these printers so this run is more of a trail-and-error run. I got a stack on standby is anyone is interested in one, you know how to reach me.

PS:!!!Background drawing is done by Franklin Booth, I found and crop and placed the image accordingly hence the "BOOTH" in the title!!!

duce duce for now
"fo'tre"

2009-03-01T16:42:00.002-05:00

+++Sara lee & Jack Frost+++

mixed media/12x16 masonite
Warm up painting, working on a few small pieces to get me in the mode for the bigger ones, I'll post stuff as they finish, nice to be painting again haha

2009-02-14T11:13:00.005-05:00

+++THANK YOU GIANT+++

Ajos, back in Nov I was contacted by Steven Psyllos at Giant Magazine to partake in this small feature were they spotlight young creatives usually around five or so folks that are proactive in their field. Heres the current issue and a scan of the page. Photo taken by grand photographer-->Ruvan. Out in about now at any local book spots. Thanks again Giant!

2009-01-16T03:28:00.007-05:00

+++SIDENOTE+++

Went and saw the James Jean show at the Jonathan Levine Gallery last Saturday. Lets just say it was pretty grand, period haha. But yeah, on the same note I've been wondering who's gonna be Jean's follow up for Fables. Ran into this just recently--->new cover artist? (more info)

---->!Joao Ruas!<----
(Flickr page)
Cheers! Been dig'n this dude's work for sometime, amp'd to see his take on the series.

2008-12-25T02:23:00.018-05:00

+++'08 IN REVIEW+++

Ajos world, Hope all is well. This has been by far the fastest year I've ever lived haha, truly nuts. What a year in general?! one for the books is for certain. I'm currently back home visiting family in San Antonio, and won't be back in NY until early next Jan. Fortunate to make it out of NY I must say, trying to fly out of NY this time of the year is an adventure on its own. I'm just glad to be away from it all haha. I mean, the grand apple is cool and all, but a break-away is always needed. Not to mention the cold front kicking in right before I left.

Summary of the year for me art wise: more good than bad I should say. Allot of working, more so the day gig, but allot of learning running parallel. Had to put my personal work to the side to make sure deadlines were met for my day gig. As much as I would rather be doing my own work, I put the priority of being efficient at my job to the forefront to make sure my place at the company(more so design team) was an appropriate fit. I do feel the job is good place for me for now. It feels more like grad school than it does a job. I work with a small team (four designers, two illustrators) of like-minded creatives, all relatively around the same age, and really talented folks to say the least. As far as the workload I'm done since i been at the Ecko, pretty heavy. I already have a solid portfolio filled ready for a exit if need be. With the work itself, I'm generally pleased. The work is more down to earth from my own personal taste but its interesting to see my own take on things i wouldn't normally draw for myself. There was also a bit of relearning that was on-going at my gig. Before I came to this job I had my own sense for how to illustrate a shirt. Which was more or less, getting a nice clean bold drawing and placing it on a shirt. After working on a range of shirts, I've learn the the process in creating a good shirt has more dept. Composition and application of imagery on a garment is a world different from creating imagery for print or a painting. The rules are slightly tweaked. Also the process of silkscreen has to be taken in consideration when thinking of how to render the image (pencil, ink, digital, etc.) and the amount of color you have to limit yourself is all so a factor (16 colors is the usual max). All in all the year was pretty progressive in building on my image making craft and learning.

The aim with the new year is try to find more of balance of my day work and my personal work. Traditional painting will be a high priority this time around so I'll be having some goals set along those lines. I'm not just talk'n paintings, I'm talking"BIG" Paintings haha...you'll see.

This is my last post for the year so I'll sign off with some imagery of some shirts I worked on last year, its kind of weird to be showing these knowing that i worked on these a year ago. My work has much progressed since then but thats how it goes with a one year production cycle. Oz well.

Currently out in the market:
Heres a rhino shirt I created using recycled imagery, I didn't created the art within in the rhino but I did draw the rhino and create/design the image as a whole.
We had a group themed under "The Seven Deadly Sins" All type was created by the designers.
This shirt below was created with the idea of the "good "and "bad" angels on your shoulders , hence the placement on the shirtJolly holidays to all, safe travels, and enjoy the days with close ones.
!!!Cheers to the New Year!!!
***-bags-***

2008-11-23T02:34:00.011-05:00

+++POPGUN VOL. 3+++

I was fortunate to receive an invite to partake in submitting to the Popgun comics anthology. The series is created and edited by Mark Andrew Smith and Joe Keatinge and published by Image Comics. The concept behind Popgun is a graphic mixtape of stories crossing the protected borders of every genre. Popgun showcases well known names doing work they're not known for, brand-new talent. For my submission I worked on a recap of a character I developed back in college name "Superhero Bobby". I have plans to develop this character further with an addition of other characters I've made up, with the aims to to create something more full lenth. But for now I'll share this 5 page short. Considering the book won't drop until next year and that the story being too short for just a preview, figure why not just post the whole thing haha. Plus, I got say, working on something outside of my day gig is really refreshing so you can only guess the eagerness to share <;O. sidenote:The all-time aim is to just work and eat off your own personal work right?!, one day right...haha. Anyways here's bobby:

Be sure to checkout Vol 1-2. Paul Pope hooked up a pretty dope cover for the 2nd one as seen below:-enjoi-

2008-11-23T02:27:00.004-05:00

+++Out on the market+++

A'jos world. Thanks for checking in. Things are well on this end, I'm in a lil grace period from my the day gig so I figure this would be a good time to post up. Awhile back we got a license from Paramount Pictures to work on The Warriors. We created a small set of clothes that consists of four t-shirt designs and a hoodie.I collaborated with my AD to work on a fight scene involving various characters from the movie that was used for a T-shirt and a hoodie. Its was cool working on this image and seeing the process run through production. The hoodie is interesting to see in person,due to the hits of flock and foil printing. More details here. Here's a few other things I worked that I noticed out and about. I provided the art for the hoodie and the folks on the garment end designed the body style, in general that's usually how it works when it comes to gear outside of t-shirts: World track jackets: We worked on a series of track jackets the rep certain spots throughout the globe. Below are a couple that I helped out on. My AD hooked up the graff and I worked on the collage of the cities. Having lived in Hawaii and Japan (both being my fav places) it was cool helping out on these. More info here

That's all for now as far as the rhino steez. Sorry for this post feeling more like an Rhino AD the a blog posting haha...

-fo'tre-

2008-10-28T02:47:00.010-04:00

+++TESTING,TESTING.....MS.LAUREN WINS!!! X 20+++Shay homage tee, silkscreen 18x24, on that fancy paper

On another note: Things have been absard on this end. Allot of crazyness going on at the "rhino", hence my lack of post, lack of any sign of personal work, hence my life haha...but I will continue to slang out one project at a time. In the meantime be easy world, the cold from NY says "a'low"

-Fo'tre-

2008-09-08T09:42:00.001-04:00

+++Patriarch On A Vespa+++

2008-09-03T02:05:00.009-04:00

Hey hey, chill chill now, I'm only kidding haha...well at least half way kidding. I was link hopping and found this image and felt I should post on the matter. The piece was made by Easily Amused found via ffffound. Haven't posted in a while, for one things at Ecko have been keeping my days pretty heavy. Kinda sucks I can't share what I've been working on until its out on the market. The lack of updates on my site and my blog make me feel like I don't work hard enough but yet all I really do is work hard! haha.... anyways, the rhino's got my time and after a long day at work sitting in front of the comp i feel the need to get out and make up for it. What do i do...Yup, my partner in crime: Bagzit Blu. A friend of mine DS who works for Cannondale helped build this bike for me. Its a roadbike racing frame from the 80's, heat treated and lite as ever (12-15lbs) The bike is fixed. Bikes run SF. When I was out there I got a road bike but saw madd folks rock'n fixies. I always thought they looked pretty dope, but never really key'd in on it til I got to NY. Soooo later......planned out making one with DS's help, few months later. I got my fix. Pure crack to say the least....all I want to do is ride.The only way you'll understand is if you try it. That and watching MASH SF

As far as side projects in the works, I'm currently working on a short story comic for Image's Popgun anthology, its coming along slow and steady, I'm liking how its going so far. I'll diff be sharing that within the next month or so. What else, a few things here and there, I'll be posting as stuff progresses. But yeah world, f$%k art, get a bike and mash out! j/p Gas an't cheap! Get healthy instead!

bikes are running my studio as of recent
Take it easy world
+++bags+++

2008-08-07T02:08:00.002-04:00

+++ALAN MOORE+++
genuine words

found via sidebar podcast

2008-07-19T15:24:00.004-04:00

+++OUT ON THE MARKET+++

My first rhino t-shirt design finally hit the market. I'm not sure if its sold outside of NY just yet but I saw it in Macy's the other day and also found it at Dr.Jays. This was my second freelance project for Ecko before I got put on staff. I worked on this shirt about a year ago. The assignment for the shirt was to draw an image using Ecko related elements (Graff, Hip Hop, City, Rhinos, etc). The finished image had to be one color. I had creative freedom but within working with the Ecko elements. This is what came of it. I drew all the images and all the text treatment were done by my fellow coworkerAD/friend Raff. Anyone interested in cop'n a shirt should be able to find it at your local Macy's within the next month or so. Apparel that i've worked on will now be hitting the market every season here on after. I'll be posting the samples as they come out.

Original imageSampler I found onlineOn a random sidenote: Just saw BATMAN last night, Hot damn, gonna see it AGAIN, best Batman move ever!!! x 3 haha

2008-07-09T06:15:00.002-04:00

+++HELLBOY II this weekend anyone?!+++

Lame on the posting i know. But hey its summer in NYC, I'm out and about damzit haha.

2008-05-28T03:15:00.004-04:00

+++Haha...caught drawing at work+++

2008-04-25T21:39:00.019-04:00

+++THE SLACKERS BACK+++

"Sodium" 14x17, oil/acrylic/ink on bristol

Geez, A little late on the post a? haha yeah yeah...I got some excuses: The daily grind at the workstee, umm.....friends/family visiting from out of town, working on a group show (i'll get to that inna bit), uhh...what else, i guess just NY living in general. Fast paced, its odd to think I've lived here half a year already.

Anyways, to compensate for the delayed post, this post is gonna be a mega, with that said lets get to it:

COMPOUND GALLERY GROUP SHOW

I discovered the Compound gallery a few years back and have always wanted to have a show with them. I drop'd them a line a year ago and ended up working out a show. Originally I was aiming for a solo show, but this was back before I was working for the Rhino and as a freelancer. Since I landed my job, working on a full-on solo show wouldn't be really possible with the time i had left to work on the show. So I extend the show into a group one and invited fellow artist/friends: Edward Kinsella III, Vincent Hui. Both artist create really grand imagery with the use of traditional media. Which I felt is something we all share a joy in, so to have this collective show, I felt was only right. Below is a webfyler and site link. Also the piece above, "Sodium" will be in the show.

Compound Gallery/info

I gotta say working on a show and having a day is practically signing up for the "hermit club". Fun times.

"EYE CANDY FROM STRANGERS"

Last weekend I attended the New York Comic Con. I only went for a day but it was cool. I was hanging out for the most part and looking for nerd items to invest my lunch money in. In the process I ran into Alberto Ruiz. Who I've been meaning to meet up with. I got to hang out in his booth for a bit chatting it up. He had for sale a compilation book called: "Eye Candy From Strangers". I had the privilege to create an image for one of the cover. I was pretty pleased with the turnout, the books came out pretty cool. Hes currently taking submissions for the next book as your reading this, so please please, creative or not go check out his blog and see whats going on over there! Alberto is good people, and enjoys meeting good people, so say "hey"-->more info

sample pages, moe samples on Alberto's site TRACE MAGAZINE

A few months back I got an invite from Trace magazine to do a small feature. The Issue is out now and here it is, If your interested in reading the articles/interview for free, you can go to their website and download a free PDF-->Here

IMAGINE FX MAGAZINE

Ok, so I'm gonna go back a bit, like last year back, haha. Right before I was gearing up to move to California Last Aprilish, I was contacted from the kind people at ImagineFX. I was extended an offer to do a month-to-month illustration for an editorial section in the mag. Being that I was about to make a move to SF with no job lined up, this opportunity practically saved me for the time I lived in SF. I'm forever grateful to IMFX, Thanks! So yeah, after I agreed to take on the gig, six issues later, here's the result. I know its late but I was waiting to get all the issues in so i can share these images:

issues 18-23

the images I've doneCouple of highlights out the bunch image above is for an article about book illustration

this image is about an article discussing artists that paint over photos and/or use photos in their pieces, btw I painted everything, except the obvious photo

I had to halt taking on anymore IMFX projects due to the major move from coast to coast, so I handed the job over to fellow artist Sean Chapman. Who at the time just moved to SF as I was leaving. I felt his work really fit with the job guidelines and knowing that Sean wanted to create imagery along these lines, the transaction work out really great for everybody. Check him out , hes still creating imagery for IMFX and also staying bizzy with other projects--> SEAN

ECKO

All the designs i've worked on for t-shirts and apparel have a one year turn around time, so with that said I can't share any of the work I've been doing for them until the gear is out. So the first Tee design won't be hitting stores until later on this year, come fall/winter time frame.

Aside from that: One of my first freelance projects for Ecko was a gig thats totally aside from what I do now at the Rhino. Marc Ecko has a creative department which helps him bring allot of his personal projects to life. O these projects has no real ties to the brand and are solely aimed to push Mark's personal work (at least from my understanding). One of the projects he had in the works was creating a series of Alice in Wonderland themed paintings but with a twist. The twist being an updated, dark twisted version of the original story. I was asked to aid in one of these paintings. The brief I was given was to create a paparazzi crowd scene, but this crowd would be my interpretation of dark versions of Twiddle Dee and Twiddle dumb times 20, plus a sprinkle of animals and raw looking ladies. The thing that was kind of crazy about this image was that the end product would end up being a giant 20 ft wide painting with flashing lights in place of where the camera . Spacey, I know....wasn't quite sure what how it all was gonna turnout but few weeks in I work out a line drawing and a colorway study that was pasted on to some painters that would paint my design. I wasn't able to obtain the info on the artists due to legal reason apparently, but I do know it was two brothers and they worked on a crazy job haha! I'll stop talking and just show you the piece:

my line image

then my colorway

the end image in oil 20ft wide or so at Ecko Enterprises

Its pretty wild seeing the painting when its turned on and with all the flashes, I wasn't able to get any pics of it in action but its crazy to sum it up haha. Apparently the piece was sent out to the Sundance Festival a few months back.
umm....I think that all for now. I'm gonna take it chill this weekend get out the house a bit. Spring in NY is starting to look fancy. I'll be back soon doing my regular mini post here and there. So feel free to stay tuned!

-bags-

2007-12-20T11:01:00.000-05:00

+++A'LOW WORLD+++

Hope all is well with everyone. Jolly holidays to all, new year coming, as days are on the rapid. I'll try and post again sometime before the ball drops. Until then, keep it easy

-bags- Herbie Hancock at 24 in 2008, "Inventions & Dimensions"

2007-11-19T19:13:00.000-05:00

+++Goods+++

I recently linked up with the kind people at Blueflip Art and are releasing some prints of my work.

"BlueFlip Art was created to help bring the work of amazingly talented artists into the hands of an adoring public without charging an arm and a leg. We believe that great art should be available to all, and that it should enrich people as well as the pocketbooks of charities."
-Blueflip

The quality is pretty great and I currently have seven images to choose from. On a good side note: 10% of every print sold on BlueFlip Art gets donated to the National Kidney Foundation which is the major voluntary health organization dedicated to preventing kidney disease and increasing the availability of all organs for transplantation.

Feel free to checkout the site and the other artist that have available prints--->BLUEFLIP
Early this year I had done some tee design for D3's Gorilla Riot Apparel company. As of recent they got the ball rolling on the launch of the brand. I've done six designs for them and each design has the option of two or three colors and has both women and men sizes. Feel free to check them out--->Gorilla Riot

Here is a sampler, the white shirt in th middle was designed by fellow artist Coolvader

PS: PHOTOS FROM THE THINKSPACE LA SHOW VIA +++JUXTAPOZ+++

2007-11-13T21:27:00.001-05:00

+++Ernie Miles+++

Ajos, back from LA....the show was pretty grand, fun times, crazy run'n around getting it together. More on the show in the next post. Quick post: here is a piece I painted last night for this show in the UK, more info here: Hicalorie

GOP Sampler

2007-07-11T16:17:00.000-04:00

Got the sampler in the mail yesterday, came out pretty cool. A few tweaks here and there and it should be good to go!

Defender of the Universe

2007-07-08T16:48:00.000-04:00

July

2007-07-02T05:22:00.000-04:00

+++Its amazing how half the year has past+++

Gutsonpaper 2 is finally out the door and off to printing, apologizes for the delay. I had actually got printed a full color promo book that I was looking to put out alongside GOP2 but the quality came out to a B- standard. So I'm scratching that project until I find a better printer. For now I'll be releasing GOP 2 real soon (this month soon). I'll be getting a sampler copy within the next week or so. I'll keep you guys posted when they are available for purchase. Things are well, steady, and bizzy. July should be an interesting month to say the least. Transformers in coming out in a few days, and anybody who know me well, knows I'm amp'd! Allot of hype I know, but fingers are crossed in hopes that this blockbuster doesn't shatter my childhood nostalgia haha...we'll see. Also this month, there has been allot of talk about the San Diego Comic Con. This will be my first time heading out there, excited! No booth, just browse'n and looking forward to meeting fellow creatives and the likes. Let me know if any of you guys will be heading out there, I'll be on the lookout!

Thanks goes out to the following sites for sharing my work with their extended visitors, very much appreciated!
Illustrationmundo, Feed me cool shit, Juxtapoz, Process Junkie, Turtleart, The little chimp society, Drawn

A good friend of mine and talented fellow artist finally got a blog up and running. He has a site but has trouble getting it updated so his new blog is a temp site for now, checkit---> Jay Epperson

2007-06-13T05:46:00.000-04:00

2007-06-06T05:22:00.000-04:00

+++A'Low+++

Here's a quick oil study on a 9x12 canvas i was working on couple days ago. I'm waiting for the paint to dry then I'm going back in it. Sorry for the grimmy flick, I'll more likely scan it once its done but i'll show the process as it goes.

Been pretty bizzy with commission work here and there since I been in the SF. I'll share some of those images soon aswell. Aside from that, been cycling around the city, SF is great for it! Its grand getting out the lab and exercising a bit, feels lively.

2007-05-20T13:56:00.001-04:00

+++BAGGER43.COM UPDATED+++

Hello, hope all is well! I made it out to SF finally, I'm staying with a couple of my friends (The Dumpster Funks) til I get my housing set up and all squared away. I did get the chance to update my site. Hopefully theres alot of fresh new images ya'll haven't seen before to checkout. Feel free to drop a line to let me know what you think. I'll be keeping up on updating the site along with my blog so please stay tuned. Until then enjoy the updated imagery.

have a good one!

-Bags-

2007-03-29T12:15:00.000-04:00

+++Greetings +++

I"ve been up and about traveling which put most of projects on hold. I'm currently working on moving out to Cali/Bay Area. Once I'm more stationary I'll be more frequent with the updates, until the next post here's a acrylic painting I did in my sketchbook not too long ago. Oh and I've had some people ask about the type of pen/markers i use to create my ink drawings, below is a quick image I put together of some of those tools. Hope all is well and take it easy!

-Bags-

ink tools

'83 til pt. 2

2007-01-25T17:36:00.000-05:00

2nd print for the "'83 til infinity" series. This version will be printed via silk screen, out late Feb. more info then.

-Bags-

2007-01-25T03:23:00.000-05:00

+++Short and sweet+++

Here's the first piece out the bags lab for the 2007! The paints are kind to me as of recent, took like a week and a half or so to knock-out. Acrylic/oils on 12x16 canvas. Fun stuff, I'm amp'd to get on some more paintings. As of now til late Feb., I'm booked on a major commission, with that said a few projects I had planned to wrap up this month has now been placed on hold. Come late Feb. its back on the grind!

-Bags-
Thelonious and the children of Ego

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

2007-01-05T23:21:00.000-05:00

Hey All! Its now the 2007. Amp'd to see whats to come with he new year. Things are well on this end just ready to get the ball rolling for the most part. Here's a sampler to start off with. Gutsonpaper 2 is finally in production, nearing 100 pages so far. I'm looking to wrap up the project by Feb. Also in production is a full color book I'm putting together under Klaimco. Klaimco is collaboration team amongst a group of friends I graduated with from Ringling. More details on the plans as the days go. I'm excited for the 2007! Thanks for keeping tabs and hope all is well!

+++bags+++

2006-12-25T15:57:00.000-05:00

12/14

2006-12-14T16:00:00.000-05:00

+++A'low+++

Hope all is well and healthy! Things are cool on this end, wrap'n up the '06 ready to take on the '07! The '06 was a sampler year for me, I had the chance to experiment and travel various avenues of interest. Diff allot learned, example: trial and error polishes potential, too much potential is endless possibilities for someone with a short attention span haha.

All lolly gag aside, here some sampler flics of some projects I worked.

Mr. Charlie Baker: A plush project that had been an on-going idea until I dusted off my mother's sewing machine and got crack'n on my needle game. interesting project to say the least.KLAIMCO SK8DECK: Here's the finished turnout of a collaboration between my good friend Ben (<--checkout his site, killer work) and I. We had passed the deck back and forth about 3-4 times until we figured how to conclude it. Fun times, look for Mother Mary, Them Thangs 1&2, and the The Green Fairy kick'n it.
Gorilla Riot: Here's a teaser of some shirts I designed for my friend's T-line, these are just samplers but I'll be sure to keep y'all up to date on the official drop date for those interested. Oh and yes they're printed on American Apparel ;)I'll be sure to post a few more times before the year is out. Stay warm and eat chicken soup or like noodle, runny noses aren't cool

stay jolly
-bags

+++Klaimco SK8DEK+++

2006-11-12T19:26:00.000-05:00

"them thangs one and two"

+++AJOS+++
Skateboard project me and my good friend Ben are finally wrap'n up, full deck photos up soon
-bags

OKI BROWN

2006-11-09T23:28:00.000-05:00

+++A'low +++

I just finished this vinyl custom for this show next week out in Denton TX, the roster of artist looks pretty thick, I'm amp'd to see the turn out. Here' s "Oki Brown", my Japanese Demon dude from Okinawa, rock'n a Bagger shi-shi dog shirt, an official Klaimco beanie, and some kicks inspired by the UNDFTD/Nike dunks haha. Sorry for the crappy flicks, the digi-camera game will be step'd up soon, more blahzy blah on the way...
-bags

show flyer

"Oki Brown""UNDFTD" Nike Dunks (I do own a pair haha...)

2006-11-05T20:21:00.000-05:00

Eat Candy!!!

2006-10-31T16:42:00.000-05:00

New Print!

2006-10-17T22:55:00.000-04:00

+++Hello there+++

I just got this fine print in the mail today, 16 x 20 in poster, printed on heavyweight 7 mil semi-gloss paper using superior dye inks" via: cafepress.....frame not included. The quality came out pretty grand! I'm looking to do a line with this series, but this design is all set to order if anyone is interested. On sale here ---} "Goodies"

Thanks, enjoy, and have a good one
-Bags

more works for the book...

2006-10-15T16:52:00.000-04:00

"Mars seeds & Peace"

Hope everyone's weekend was grand, more post to come
-Bags

'83 Til

2006-10-11T04:26:00.000-04:00

Ajos all, hope all is marvelous! I'm in the process of putting together another book. Nope, not GutsonPaper 2...(which I might make into a mini-zine or somth'n, dunno)...but an actual full color artbook...I was running through all my stuff and mapping out all my new stuff and I feel as if i got enough to actually do one. I might pull some of my highlights from my portfolio and even some of the nicer drawings out of GOP 1 and splash color on them ishes and hopefully by the end of the year I'll have something to share with all you kind people. I'm excited...a book a year?! we'll see.
-Bags

Post-VS Poster

2006-10-04T19:15:00.000-04:00

+++

2006-10-04T19:07:00.000-04:00

+++Hello all+++

Felt like break'n a dry to spell to share a few words and images. I'm in the process of expanding my portfolio and re-up'n my website...always in production I know... :p I'm also in the process of doing a test for a company out in the west, so if all is well, I'll be one happy kid grind'n out in Cali :) (fingers crossed)

As for samples of a few new stuff I've done over the summer feel free to sample this temp page I put up: The New New Baggerish!

On to Imagery:
(sorry for crappy flics)

the temp lab

the desk / inspo wall

Robots are always cool my girlfriend's skatedeck I painted awhile back, she digs zombies haha

MUNNY SHOW 2

2006-07-09T19:31:00.000-04:00

Hey all! How is everyone, yes its been awhile, yes still bizzy as always too. I'm trying to gear up and go crazy on a new portfolio and new website. Here's a picture the kind people at Uberbot took of a Munny I did for Uberbot's second Munny Show in Orlando, I wasn't able to make the show but apparently there was 140 plus munnys on display, crazy, feel free to check out Uberbot's site at uberbotrocks.com to see all the talent that flooded the show, alright, thats all for now haha Hope all is well
-Bags
PS. how did France lose the world cup!?!? Dammit!

Some sample imgery for book 2

2006-05-11T23:33:00.000-04:00

Hopefully by the end of the summer I should have another book together, that or a mini-zine, we'll see

Empty Mag

2006-05-11T22:35:00.000-04:00

I finally got a copy of "Empty" magazine from Design is Kinky (designiskinky.com), I was really fortunate to get a feature in this issue. The photo I have on display doesn't give any justice to how on-point the reproduction of my work looks in the mag. The rest of the mag is pretty dope too, dope features on artist Tara McPherson and Ian Francis. High quality pages, diff worth a cop, sample designiskinky.com in the store section to get a copy

2006-05-11T22:09:00.000-04:00

Chucks

2006-05-11T22:03:00.000-04:00

Here's the Chucks I hooked up a few days back for this Converse project I'm working on with a few friends of mine out here, we did this mini film of me painting this shoe, start to finish, its a 30 sec short but its pretty dope, I'll have the video on display soon, enjoy the imagery for now though
-bags

2 shows in Cali

2006-04-22T16:15:00.000-04:00

Me again, I'm honored to be in two shows in Cali this month: very gitty bout them. This is the first time my work will be displayed out West. If your a Cali local feel free to check them out, I'm pretty sure you'll have a grand time and the eyecandy is too dope to miss!Artists in Shawn Barber's curated show include: Michael Hussar, Kent Williams, Sean Cheetham, Kevin Lewellyn, George Pratt, Mercedes Helnwein, Sterling Hundley, Kristi Ropeleski, James Kei, Jennifer Poon and Dennis Brown.

Michael Hussar
www.michaelhussar.biz

Kent Williams
www.kentwilliams.com

Sean Cheetham
www.seancheetham.com

Kevin Llewellyn
www.kevart.com

Mercedes Helnwein
www.mercedeshelnwein.com

Sterling Hundley
www.sterlinghundley.com

George Pratt
www.georgepratt.com

Kristi Ropeleski
www.kristiropeleski.com

James Kei
www.jameskei.com

Jennifer Poon
www.jpoonstudios.com

Dennis Brown
www.bagger43.com

Shawn Barber
www.sdbarber.com

The opening for Shawn Barber's curated show 'Beyond Representation' is on Saturday, April 29th-
7pm-11pm
Scion Dashboard
Hayes Market
580 Hayes Street (cross is Laguna)
San Francisco, CA

Bags Imagery Dump

2006-04-22T16:09:00.000-04:00

Hey all! its been awhile since I posted anything on here so I ran through some files in my comp and I figure I'd just go ahead and share, I have a load of other work but its been kind of a prick documenting and scanning the imagery but hope these images bring some delight for now, I'll try to keep up often with the status of things on this end, until then take it easy world
-Bags

Ken Gitty (Uberbot Munny Show-Orlando)

2005-12-22T15:18:00.000-05:00

Munny i did for the Uberbot Munny Show out in Orlando. "Ken Gitty", is a character I developed for this short story I'm working on along with a couple of friends. I was out of town for the show, but I heard the turnout was pretty amazing! More info and imagery checkout: www.uberbotonline.com

2005-11-22T13:59:00.000-05:00

Blacktop Skateshop tee coming soon printed on American Apparel, limited to only 50 shirts, $20 a pop coming soon

Success

2005-11-22T13:48:00.000-05:00

Success: The achievement of something desired, planned, or attempted

The Skinny

2005-11-22T13:27:00.000-05:00

Alright Great! I'm gonna start adding news from my site on to here along with daily lollygag and imagery of the sorts, it will be awhile until I make dramatic changes to my site so in the meantime enjoy this, drop a line, or whateva of the likes...have a good one