EYES WIDE AWAKE

Two awesome events are coming up and we need artists for both.

First up is Designers in Toyland. AIGA Jacksonville is hosting this event and it’s a custom toy show with proceeds going to charity.

Do you remember your favorite childhood toy? Gone (perhaps) but not forgotten. Toys are about imagination and imagination is the first tool of all artists and designers. So sharpen up your tool, tap into your inner child and create a custom toy!

More info can be found here.

Next up is I’M BOARD 4. This is the 4th years of this annual skateboard art show. All the info can be found here

My Black Guitar has officially launched! Last time I was out in LA visiting some old friends and eating some epic burritos, my buddy Taylor Bringuel strong-armed me into joining My Black Guitar. Actually I jumped at the chance to do some great design work for some awesome bands. My Black Guitar is a creative studio where we are not only passionate about design, but the music behind it. We have done work for such acts as Thrice, Protest The Heroes, and Electric Owls. Basically My Black Guitar is a place bands and musicians can go to get all of their design needs taken care of by people who understand and actually listen to their music.

So if your a musician or in a bands that needs a myspace page, CD layout, merch, or just a logo, swing by My Black Guitar, you wont be disappointed.

Here are some recent animated videos and cartoons that I have been enjoying lately.

Uncle Grandpa

Major Lazer ‘Hold The Line’

The Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack

Birdy Nam Nam ‘The Parachute Ending’ by Steve Scott

Most of these have a vintage feel to them which I really dig and it’s refreshing to see this style compared to the cheap, watered down anime style that has taken over cartoons.

As a designer I’ve always enjoyed tutorials and found them educational and interesting to see how different designers go through their design process. With that in mind, I have playing around with the idea of showing people how I go about creating some custom typography and the perfect opportunity came in the form of an email from Blue Llama Studios.. They approached me about helping out with their upcoming full length adaptation of their award winning short film VEER, which focuses on a down on his luck skater. They needed some help creating a fictitious skateboard company, so after some initial brainstorming and talks over some cold ones, DieNasty was created.

With the name chosen I began sketching some rough designs. The design will be used on banners, t-shirts, and skateboard decks so it’s needs to be simple, yet impactfull and show up on film.  The main actor has a good amount of tattoos and tattoos are discussed in the film so I decided on creating a script font for DieNasty similar to script fonts of traditional tattoos.

Step 1: SKETCH! Almost every project I work on begins with paper and pencil.

Step 2: After a few rounds of sketches I go back and sketch a cleaner version that I will use as a guide in Adobe Illustrator.

Step 3: Using the sketch as my guide I start to build sections of the letters. This way I can reuse sections for similar letters. Make sure you save these versions in case you want to go back and make some changes.

Step 4: Once the letters have been designed I will start to clean up the letter by merging sections (D) once they have been merged you can start adjusting the curves slightly. Don’t get to caught up in this process though it’s better to save all the fine-tuning till the end.

Step 5: Once all the letters have been built, remembering to save as different versions I will then merge all of the sections.

Step 6. Fine-tuning. This is the sections where you should spend some extra time cleaning up the design by adjusting curves and eliminating unnecessary anchor points.

The finished product.

There you have it, a custom script font from start to finish. I hope you have enjoyed the tutorial and I plan on doing some more so if you have some feedback please let me know what you think.

I apologize to all those not familiar with illustrator but this tutorial was indented for those with a good understanding of the application and more of a basis for the design process as a whole.

Here is the poster I recently designed for the AIGA End os Summer Poster Show. I really liked the concept for the show and chose Paint it Black by the Rolling Stones as a song to represent in poster form. When designing the poster I  used the lyrics, “I see a red door and I want to paint it black” as inspiration. My first concept involved an old red door covered in black paint but wasn’t translating well into a poster. I then decided to do some custom lettering to give the feel of classic Rock ’n Roll with wet, dripping paint and let the words do the talking. Enjoy.

Photos of the event can be seen here.

Well, Summer is almost over so lets celebrate it with poster art and music.

AIGA Jacksonville presents this exhibit reflecting diverse disciplines of design emphasizing illustration, typography and printing techniques. Participants are asked to pick their favorite summer song and turn it into a piece of art in poster form.

If you’ve ever wondered what it was like to be a member of the AIGA or would like to find out more info on what we do, come check out this membership drive event. Click here for all the info.

I was recently commisioned to create a jaguar painting by the awesome Gil Sampson.

The first image is the illustration I  created first, then made a stencil from this for the painting. I didn’t want to post this until he had his painting which he now has so I can finally post these images. His painting has a totally different color way from the illustration since he wanted a bit of the Jacksonville Jaguars thrown in. Thanks again Gil for supporting local artists and the local football team.

So I just got back from a little trip up to Philly. I just want to thank my friends Joel, Megan and Matt for their hospitality and showing me around the city, I had a blast. While I was gone a piece of mine was displayed at the Beards and Brushes show, you can see some photos at REAX and pointshootenjoy

This is my latest illustration based off the floating god head of ZARDOZ who pukes guns and ammo. If you haven’t seen the movie, you should. You will either hate it, or love it. I am of course in the later category as I have a fondness for cult classic movies that are so bad their good. You can see the trailer here

OK, so I don’t normally do this sort of thing but REAX Magazine needs some help. You can read more here

Basically REAX is an awesome magazine that focuses on music and culture in FL and it’s FREE. In the past few years they have brought their presence to Jacksonville and have put on some awesome shows, both music and art related. They do a lot to help the community, now lets do our part and help them.

Here is a quick little design I did for a party Invite. My friends Chance and Steff are going to Europe for a while and we are sending them off with a 20’s themed party. I need to learn the Charleston pronto.

AIGA is putting on a show Always Summer, an end of the summer poster show + mixtape.

Participants are asked to pick their favorite summer song and turn it into a piece of art in poster form. A live local DJ will be performing the songs compiled from the artists’ selections to set the tone for the night!

This is an awesome concept for a show and allows participants to meet other artist, win prizes and see what the AIGA is all about.

check out http://alwayssummer09.aigajacksonville.org/ for more info.

Just wrapped up some custom lettering for Chris Jolly’s upcoming full length skate video titled: Full Length. If you’ve seen any footage of local Jacksonville skaters, Chris probably filmed it. He also helped me out with footage of I’M BOARD III so I was excited to help him out with this project.

This was really fun because I’ve been itching to do some custom lettering like this. Keep a look for ads, t-shirts, stickers and the DVD coming out soon.

In other news I have accepted a nomination with the AIGA Jacksonville board as a Programming Co-Chair. The AIGA is the profession association for designers and I’m very excited about the possibilities this brings and look forward to being more involved in the AIGA.

I wasn’t sure if I should have posted this earlier but now since a lot of the hoopla has died down here it is. THRILLED. My dedication to Michael Jackson, the musician. I know a lot of people have opposing views on him so here is mine. I am a fan of Michael Jackson the musician, I am not a fan of Michael Jackson the man. He did however leave a lasting impression on me and countless others, so here is my tribute to MJ, you THRILLED.

Sorry for the lack of updates. Hopefully once I get a few freelance pieces, and some paintings out of the way I can post some updates on a more regular basis. Thanks to everyone who visits and enjoys.

On a side note, I’m in the process of getting the site updated so you may see a new look in a few months.

Recently I was commissioned for a series of decks by the super awesome Raef Godwin. He wanted to have some paintings for his young son that he would enjoy over time. I thought it was really cool that he wanted my series of animal heads on decks for his son. Hopefully he will be a life long fan.

What do you get when you combine hip hop’s greatest masked emcee DOOM and the Galactic Empire’s masked Darth Vader? Well, DOOM VADER or course.

If you like your hip hop mixed with fixed gear culture, some slow jams and slap stick, then the Biking Viking is what you need to get your chain tight. I wanted to parody the Viking logo since it’s so iconic but give it a biking twist. Also, be sure to check him out with his classics, “Fixed Gear 700″ and “It Takes Two to Tandem”.

I’ll be showing some zombie portraits this weekend at the Edge 17 Zombie Luau. This should be a fun event and you can get a zombie portrait for the low price of $25. Hope to see you there.

I’ve always had a thing for Skeleton Keys, there just so awesome. So I illustrated one, added a few things and this is the result. I’ve really been trying to get more detailed with illustrator and it feels like it’s all coming together lately. Hope you enjoy.

Personal project – Playing around with the distortions glasses make.  

*To all the people out there wearing fake glasses, please stop. They do not make you look cooler. I have worn glasses almost my entire life and they have not made me appear cool to anyone.

I will be featured in the Folio Weekly Artists Exhibition at the Cummer Museum of Arts and Garden. An opening night reception is held Friday, April 17 from 5-8:30 p.m., and the exhibit will be up from April 15-May 31. 

I will also be showing at Ecko Unltd in St. Augustine this Saturday and Sunday.

Unfortunately I will be in LA and SF for a week and will not be able to attend the opening receptions but I urge all of you to check out the shows.

I just finished this ode to Jim Phillips “Screaming Hand”, a classic skateboard icon. After I designed the Ally Cat King I wanted to play around with redesigning some other classic images and I have always wanted to do something with the Screaming Hand. I’ve seen some other versions of as well, so while this is not truly original I feel I kept Jim’s original aesthetic in tact while giving it my own twist, plus I’ve really wanted to design some puke. I know that may sound weird but I really like drippy, oozy images, so puke seemed fitting.

So the Culture Swap is fast approaching and we have our artists selected but are still looking for more donations to the Culture Swap drop off Wednesday April 1st during Artwalk at the Old Library Basement. Please help out and bring something and interact with different artists and participants and learn something new about a culture you may not be familiar with.

Playing around with some images associated with the fixed gear culture and the idea of ally cat and poker races.

This is probably the first of a few posts on this event I’m helping put together.

This event has the potential to be a really unique event for the Jacksonville art scene.

A Bike Frame and Messenger Bag I designed for BURRO Bags. These are from back in December when they had a huge art show and bash. I finally got around to finding these photos. If you haven’t stopped by the BBB Complex (Bikes, Bags & Beats) do it. Show some love to those guys.

So I tried to design something cute today. Enjoy your Friday.

Man, have I been busy. Painted a bit last night and the night before at Art Walk, wrapped up modeling for a photo shoot, assisted a TV spot, and possibly assisting a shoot again this weekend. Anyways, I busted out this bicycle infinity idea thats been rattling around in my head for a while. I really need to get a new digital camera so I can take some photos and upload them.

Just wrapped up this series. I did the last 3 in a matter of weeks and the first one a while back. I guess sometime you just get in the groove.

I hope to silkscreen the series soon. Overall I’m really happy how these turned out and I may go back and make some small tweaks here and there. I took some chances with the color options and enjoyed the outcomes. I find that I’m usually drawn to pastels and complementing dark colors and I feel it worked well on this series.

Here they all are together.

Maybe it’s the new year, maybe i’ve just been motivated these days but I just busted out this new one. I want to do one more and finish my original idea of 4 animal heads, growling, screaming, roaring, etc…

I still need to post some pics of some work I did lat year. Ha, last year, it sounds so distant even though it wasn’t more then a month ago.

Anyways, I should have more up soon.

Here is the second image in what I hope to be a series of 4 animals. The first was the polar bear, and now this bald eagle.
I’ll also have some new images to post from some previous shows that I haven’t gotten around to posting so expect some more updates soon.

Thanks to Chris Jolly for filming this events.

^They totally changed our stories around and no ever gets my last name right.

I would like to thank Clay Doran for his help in providing a space for I’M BOARD III and all the hard work he put in helping set up this show and the past ones as well. I would also like to thank Ryan King and Red Bull. Ryan helped raise this from an art show to an event. These two really helped out and made this one of the best art events I think Jacksonville has ever seen.

Special thanks to all the skaters. Levi Ratliff for his awesome poster design, which helped promote the event. Nick Fresh for spinning some great tunes for everyone’s enjoyment. Kenski, B-Ryan and the rest of the Main Ingredients Crew, true B-Boys who entertained the crowd. Burro Bags and nGen Works for providing drop off locations.

In addition, I would like to thank Gray Solomon, Richard, Brian, and Mark, true Downtown visionaries who understand that the youth needs to be tapped and can bring great creative culture and entertainment to Downtown Jacksonville.

In closing, I would like to thank all of the artists who participated in this event; I’M BOARD III couldn’t have happened without you. Lastly, I would like to thank each and everyone who came out and supported this event.

Now that I have the thank-yous taken care of, I want to say how awesome of an event this was. I’M BOARD III had over 60 submissions, a street course, DJs, B-Boys, and videos. Now I have to start working on making it even better next year.

This event has really inspired me to push even harder, and I hope the rest of the art community does the same. We can make Jacksonville a creative city; all it takes is time and little hard work.

Chad Landenberger

Photo sets by:
Crystal Floyd, David McKinnon, Jaxscene, and Sarah Butsch

So Levi over at Urban Art Warfare busted out this sweet poster design to help promote I’M BOARD 3. It will be produced on black paper with neon inks cut out into shapes of old school decks.

Seriously, Levi is the man. Check out his site and I’m sure he will kill it with his decks for the show too.

Speaking of the show, I thinks it going to blow everyones mind what we have planned, so if you haven’t started a deck, get cracking and make sure to check out the event.
January 7th, 6-9 in the basement of the old library.

A quick little flyer to help with info for I’M BOARD III. I’m sure Levi will make a much better flyer and some kick ass posters to help me promote this.

It’s that time again. I’M BOARD III, the annual Skateboard Art Show is coming up soon and I’m really excited. This will be the third time I have put together and hosted the show. I will be posting more and more on this as I finalize details and we get closer to the event. For now here are the submission guidelines.

I’M BOARD III – Skateboard Art Show

Wednesday, January 7^th 2009 6-9 pm

122 Bay Street – Basement of the old library.

Submission Guidelines:

Anyone and everyone is encouraged to participate.

All art must be on a skateboard deck. 

Any medium can be used but take into consideration that these will be hung so please do not make them to bulky or heavy for display.

An artist may submit more then one piece.

Include your name, number, email address and price on the back of your work.

Deadline for submissions is Saturday, January 3^rd.

Drop off locations:

BURRO Bags

1520 N. Main St. Jacksonville, FL 32206 (Near Downtown)

Daily 12-6pm

nGen Works

1807 Hendricks Ave  Jacksonville, FL 32207

Mon-Fri 9-5:30 pm 

Big ups to SQUID DUST for helping me with the location this year and Urban Art Warfare which will be helping with posters and flyers.

I finally snapped a pic of this painting I finished up recently. Sorry for the glare at the top. Also, I should have some new pieces to show soon. A large illustration and some more zombies.

Here is a T-Shirt design I just wrapped up for Greg and the crew over at
JAXLEIGH. The feedback has been great so far and we have already talked about a second T-Shirt design, so stay tuned.

A flyer design for STEAMWORKS a local bar/club I designed.

These are the 3 pieces I submitted for the Monster Art Show put together by Squid Dust.

The main image is a self portrait of myself as a zombie with some close ups on the detail. Everyone seemed to be complimenting me on the hands so I might explore using the same style with some of the other zombie portraits.

The next images are zombie portraits of my roomates John Arvin and David McKinnon.

I am creating zombie portraits for individuals for the low price of $25. All I need from you is a high resolution photo (not low res myspace photos) of you posing as a zombie and $25. Contact me if you’re interested.

I just finished up these two illustrations and I’ve been working on coloring the Samurai one. Coloring in Photoshop is pretty time consuming so I will probably post it eventually. Don’t forget the Monster Art Show tomorrow at the old library downtown for Art Walk. I’ll post the illustrations I did for the show afterwards.

Some new illustrations. The skulls will be apart of the TSI Variety Mixer on 8/8 at TSI.