Pickled Gnomes?

SURU hosted a very nice exhibition for Jeff McMillan’s new paintings on Saturday night. I headed out there with Adam and Angela and we strolled around Melrose for a bit because, as always, we were there a bit early. The night went very well but we didn’t take as many pictures of all the artworks this time around because they were mostly framed and seeing the glares it gives out from the reflections on the glass ruins the whole experience in each of the pieces. As always, I encourage everyone to go to these actual events and see for yourselves. We met some wonderful people and networked, as John had just dropped off our big box of business cards a couple of days earlier. Maybe it was because I drank my kidneys away the night before or the absence of Kuizzy Effin’, but I didn’t take advantage of the open-bar this time and because of that, I didn’t go pop in on Jeff or Mr. Hahn. They did some amazing works and I loved that collaboration Jeff did with Mike Shinoda. Of course, anyone who loves limited edition toys should drop by SURU. Another reason to check the store out is the fact that Alex Pardee did some great paintings inside and outside of the shop, so there. GO!

Adam had a ton of fun with the Pardee piece outside of the store.

Where’s Angela?

–dinoxsketchpad

Drink. Drank. Drunk.

I’m going to be honest and tell you that I’m still a tad faded right now as I’m blogging so I won’t type much. I might not make too much sense. All I know is that I was handed all kinds of drinks last night and everyone told me to down it. I took a really good share of jello-shots, a few cups of whatever mixed-drinks I was given, and a good amout of beers, but at the end of the night, Adam got it the worst out of all of us. YAKKKKK!!!!

–dinoxsketchpad

SPARKS It Up!

Sam Flores, Alex Pardee, and Nate Van Dyke are in the middle of the Ignite What’s Next tour which is sponsored by Sparks and Upper Playground. You have to check their blogs out and bookmark them because they’re GREAT reads and also BOOKMARK OURS *ahem*. They individually are great artists but when they’re put together to do one big piece, it’s just amazing. Unfortunately, they aren’t making the rounds to Los Angeles and the closest we have to seeing them on this tour is Phoenix, Arizona on October 4th. They’ve accumulated a lot of new works as of late, and as always, very inspiring. I’ve been a fan of Sam Flores’ works for a couple of years now since he started to heavily work with Upper Playground and he’s ventured into many different facets of collectibles that range from tee-shirts to shower curtains to pillows and a gajillion other things. He has distinguished his works by the trademark ‘big hands‘ on his characters and you can tell his paintings just by glancing at it.

Here’s a clip of what they’ve done in Boston. Partying up at night. Painting and creating a moving masterpiece at day. Life is beautiful.

–dinoxsketchpad

Strategic Synchronocity

Sunday was one of those memorable days for me and I was totally psyched just knowing I was going to witness one of the best art exhibits ever held. Sure, I’ve been amazed by a lot of works from many different artists, but to just be at a Futura showing and seeing his pieces up close and personal was an astounding experience, to say the least. I’ve written three different blogs about how awe-inspiring of an artist he’s been to me but to stand there and stare at each of those pieces leaves an indescribable feeling. This exhibition is going down in history as one of the greatest finales as it’s been stated that Futura is retiring the ‘Pointman’. The only other show he’s holding after this one is in London so if you missed it, it’s a huge loss. Unfortunately, Mr. Futura 2000 had already left for New York before we got there so I didn’t get the privilege to meet him in person. A huge thanks to the people at MadKRUNK for hosting this special event.

Goodbye Pointman.

Across the street from that exhibit are the Upper Playground, Estevan Oriol, and Mister Cartoon stores and galleries.

Afterwards, we headed out to Chinatown and had lunch at the Empress Pavilion.

That ended our fun-filled weekend on a good note. The rest of the time, we just hung out at home and worked on some art projects. There will be more of our artworks posted soon as we’re in the process of turning our art studio into a gallery of sorts.

–dinoxsketchpad

Wait Til I Get My MUNNY Right…

Saturday evening, after everyone stuffed their faces with spring rolls and curry Kuizzy’s mother made, we had a Munny-painting party. I’d say that this was one of the best activities we’ve done as a whole group because everyone was so focused on their project and we all had a good time letting our creative juices flow. It was like art class at an elementary school…but with a room full of old people drinking Mickey’s and cursing.

Of course, a big thanks goes out to Christine and Angela for slapping the primer on these figurines the night before while Adam, Kuizzy, Eric, and myself were busy with our Lord of the Rings Monopoly.

Adam spent the whole Sunday night and Monday morning scheming this one out. I stayed up with him up until around 5AM and even when I slept, I kept waking up and all I saw was a zoned-out Adam staring, painting, repainting, drying, and skipping around like a mad man. He’s turned a fun project into an obsessive addiction to painting. All I remembered from that Monday morning was that he used melted candle-wax and an Exacto knife for this one.

–dinoxsketchpad

24

This past weekend, we all came together and celebrated Kuizzy EFFIN’s 24th burr-day. We started off Friday night at the ice-skating rink and it was my very first time doing it, so I looked terrible out there. I was getting a tadbit better as time went by though it was very tiring on the legs. I made a few little friends along the way, who were all no more than seven years old, and they were very enthused to show me how to position my feet, how to balance, and every bit of advice to help me not look so helpess. They were AWESOME and didn’t even laugh at my stumblings once. Even though I didn’t do well, at least I can say I did it, right? Anyways, it was good to just have a fun time with all of our friends.

Saturday was another full day. We started the day off by heading out to the beach and do a little kayaking. This was also a first for me and it was the most peaceful setting just to be out in the middle of the water and splashing around BUT it was also the most tiring thing when you’re rowing for two hours. Unfortunately, due to my clumsiness, I decided it was best to leave the camera in the car rather than risking another horrendous loss. There were so many beautiful sceneries I wanted to take pictures of but the most exciting (and horrible) thing captured was the big wound Christine got from a jelly-fish sting on her wrist. It kinda dragged the rest of her day but she played it out like a warrior as she started making those hella-addicting cupcakes for the burr-day boy. AND I’m only giving her props for it because I would’ve reacted much worse if I was in her shoes. You wouldn’t wanna know…

–dinoxsketchpad

So Many Shows & Not Enough Time…

Another awesome event to visit if you’re in the LA area next weekend.

Also, since you’re not doing anything else but reading blogs, check Jeff McMillan’s out. He has some very interesting and beautiful paintings along with some good blogs, though he doesn’t seem to update as much lately. Must be busy prepping up shows.

–dinoxsketchpad

KRUNK: Futura

September 18, 2008 – September 21, 2008.
As I’ve mentioned in my post before, this is Futura’s first ever solo exhibition. He’s teamed up with KRUNK to show all new pieces and I’m totally psyched just typing this. As was written in the press release, after the four-day showing, you will never have the oppurtunity to witness these paintings again. I loved how the whole process was under-wraps for so long and even the location was kept top-secret until the days heading into the event.

–dinoxsketchpad

LIVE In Motion

Here’s that ZAPPER I was trying to describe in the earlier blogs. This might only be available at Chinatown and there’s no way it would EVER get anywhere near passing inspections for the mass markets here because American children will be destroyed. All of us have been zapped before and it is not fun…but it’s a mighty entertaining way to catch bugs and insects. Sorry we’re not hardcore PETA people.

This is what happens when you give Adam too much to drink. Sorry it’s sideways…and a tad dark, but the dance moves are…yea.

A ‘good one for you’.

And of course, when we got back to the house that night, we heard loud emotional singing and guitar-playing coming from Kui’s older brother’s bedroom window. Much to our dismay, we witnessed something that just HAD to be on the blog. Good job Say.

Enjoy the small clips and make sure you stay tuned. More random shenanigans coming to a Vimeo near you.

–dinoxsketchpad

…On A Sunday Afternoon

Kuizzy and Christine went on a cleaning rampage Sunday afternoon while I caught up on some nap-time and Adam decided to be adventurous with the spray cans. What ensued was a small creative outburst as we all tagged up the old shed in the backyard. We DID manage to do some things productive and took care of business in between the hours of Monopoly.

Lunch at Lucille’s on a Monday afternoon. Nothing is more satisfying after a couple good wins in Monopoly and some crappy sleep.

If you’ve ever been to Lucille’s, you know the apple-butter is serious business.

–dinoxsketchpad