This Is Why Ya Don't Throw Snowballs In a 9mm House!

I guess this NYC cop was pissed off when some fun-loving New Yorkers threw snowballs at his Hummer. So pissed off, in fact, that he was compelled to brandish his firearm and bully the crowd with his "authori-tay." The guy even called in backup. You'd think he was coming under fire from an insurgent ambush or something.

I wonder if this might be the sign of a state-wide trend. When I was in high school, my friends and I got into a big snowball fight in the middle of downtown Buffalo, NY. We were teenagers. It was snowing out. You don't need a Ph.D to know that, the first thing you do when good packing snow falls to the ground, is start balling it up and pelting your friends and family with it. But in no time at all, a police cruiser pulled up with its lights on, and the cop made us break it up. When we asked him why, he said, "Because somebody might get hit." One of my wise-ass friends replied, "Well, isn't that the point." But it was all over. We trudged on to the subway station, our fun times snuffed out by The Man.

New York police must have a zero-tolerance/eliminate with extreme prejudice policy on snowballs. Heaven forbid somebody get ice in their hair or suffer something equally painful, all because some people decided to break up the monotony of the day with free-spirited, youthful hijinks.

From bow to stern, and back again!
- Morning Gum

OK Red OK

"No one noticed as The Soviet gave the whispered 'all clear' to her blood-thirsty brethren, waiting patiently offshore in their sleek, shark-swift galleons..."

Red sky at night, sailors delight.
- King Gum, over and out.

New Work in PAPER PUSHERS @ Gallery1988SF

"Morning Study Tina" (uncut)
8" x 14" / mixed media on watercolor paper

"Bedlam" (uncut)
8" x 14" / mixed media on watercolor paper

"Stone Faced"
4" x 6" / mixed media on watercolor paper

"Those Things'll Kill Ya."
4" x 6" / mixed media on watercolor paper

"Grimace and Bear It"
4" x 6" / mixed media on watercolor paper

"Devil Exhale"
4" x 6" / mixed media on watercolor paper

These six, brand-spaking-new pieces will all be on display in Gallery1988SF's PAPER PUSHERS exhibition, which opens up TONIGHT! It's their annual group show of works created on paper. My submissions display the new "King Gum" style I've been developing in my paintings, sketches, and drawings. Feels nice to finally get some of this stuff out into the world!

I'll be in attendance at the reception, along with a good number of the artists involved. Come kick it with some real live creative folk, and get your Holiday swerve on! I promise not to touch you... unless you want me to.

Nya-ha-ha!
- Dave from the poop deck

ps -- See flyer image below or visit www.gallery1988.com for details!

The Variants: Episode 5, Guest-Starring Yours Truly!

Last month, the fine folks at Zeus Comics flew me to Dallas to be a guest star in their hit web series, The Variants. In the episode, I play a New Age-stoner version of myself, opposite the hilarious Scott Kurtz (PVP Online). As usual, I had a fantastic time in Texas. And shooting the show was a total blast. Many thanks to Rich, Keli, Barry, Joe and the entire Zeus crew for being such gracious hosts and great people to work with!

The episode launches today! Check it out at: thevariants.com

EPISODE 5 OF ‘THE VARIANTS’ PREMIERES DEC. 2

Dallas, TX—Zeus Comics Media is proud to announce the premiere of the fifth episode of THE VARIANTS, the web comedy series that takes you behind the counter of your local comic book shop.

“A lot of comic book stores host book signings, and Zeus is no different,” says series co-creator and co-writer Richard Neal. “But with signings comes the talent, and with the talent come demands.”

Episode 5, “The Signing,” sees Web cartoonist Scott Kurtz (PVP Online, Truth, Justin and the American Way) and artist Dave Crosland (Puffed, Scarface: Scarred For Life) doing a joint signing at Zeus. The staff has to deal with fans, of course, but the real trouble comes from Scott and David themselves. Crosland’s potentially over-medicated personality is easygoing to a fault, and Kurtz is… well. He’s Kurtz.

“No one told me they would be filming,” said Kurtz, in a statement issued by his lawyer. “I am working to confiscate and destroy all footage and persons involved with this episode.”

THE VARIANTS’ fifth episode premieres December 2, with new episodes uploaded on the first Wednesday of every month at http://www.thevariants.com. Journalists interested in setting up interviews can contact Ken Lowery at ken@thevariants.com.

- S.S. Helen, over and out!

Black Eye Beastie

I guess even lippy demons get smacked in the eye, sometimes!

This little ditty came from my morning warm-up sketches, before diving into a stack of comic page layouts. Up and down, and one and two, and sketch and paint!


Your art-fitness instructor!
- King Gum Crosland

Out of the Brimstone

This is a sketch I started, literally, years ago. I think I was doodling it during a calm moment during a comic convention. Anyway, I finished it up, scanned it, and thought I'd share it with you fine folks on the Interwebs.

Ahoy!
- Gum.

Crosland + Artsprojekt = HELL YES!

"Beauty Is The Beast" 24" x 36", acrylic on canvas

Andy Howell and the amazing folks behind Artsprojekt and Zazzle.com invited me out to the Thread show in San Francisco, this weekend. It was an amazing gathering of fashion designers, artists, and creative enthusiasts. The Artsprojekt booth was a massive combination of all that stuff, complete with art prints, apparel, assorted merch, and original artwork. They also had live art going on all weekend long. On Sunday, I rolled through and knocked out the beastly piece up above. Rawr!

To see lots more photos from the weekend, peep the Artsprojekt blog, The Projekt. Enjoy!

Sailing the seas of cheese,
- King Gum, skipper extraordinaire.

Dead Bloom

"Dead Bloom"
14" x 18" / mixed media on illustration board

This is another of my ETERNAL SLEEP pieces, entitled "Dead Bloom." Long live skulls and boobs!

Steady as she goes....
- Admiral Crosland

ETERNAL SLEEP Opens Tonight in San Francisco!

"Animal Attraction"
14" x 18" / mixed media on board

Just a last-minute reminder for anyone Bay Area-bound, tonight -- ETERNAL SLEEP opens at the 1A.M. Gallery, from 7pm to 10pm. I'll have three brand spankin' new pieces in the exhibit, including "Animal Attraction," previewed up above. This show marks the gallery's one year anniversary. It's gonna be a hell of a good time. And I'm not just saying that because of the demon skulls and all the Dia De Los Muertos imagery involved.

1AM Gallery presents: ETERNAL SLEEP
1AM Gallery / 1000 Howard St. (@ 6th St in the SOMA District) SF, CA / 415.861.2541
Opening reception - Friday, Oct 16 / 7pm - 10pm
www.1AMSF.com

Most of the artists will be in attendance, including yours truly. There'll be free drinks, schmoozing, beautiful people, and some ugly ones too. Won't you join us?

- Boogety-boo from the S.S. Helen's crew!

ETERNAL SLEEP Opens in SF Oct. 16th

I'll be debuting three new pieces in 1A.M. Gallery's Dia De Los Muertos-themed group exhibit, ETERNAL SLEEP. The opening reception takes place on Friday, October 16th at 1000 Howard St. (@ the corner of 6th St. in SF's SOMA District). Keep an eye on the blog for progress shots of my contributions. Click the image above to view the flyer and peep all the cool kids involved!

1AMSF.com

- So long, from Helen's aft deck.

War is HECK.

Just enjoying some quality time with a new-ish, square-format sketchbook I've been drawing in lately.

- Helen, over & out.

Candy Skulls Abound!

These here are the rumblings and bubbling of ideas for some Dia De Los Muertos-inspired works I'm making for an upcoming art show. It's called ETERNAL SLEEP, and it opens on October 16th at 1AM Gallery in San Francisco.

When I heard the theme for the show, the first thing that popped into my head was tiny nude nymphs in giant candy skull masks. So I picked up that ball and have been running with it. My finals are gonna be color drawings on illustration board, similar to the "Stone Knife" skate deck painting. I'm doing three pieces... one at 16" x 20", and two at 14" x 18". They'll feature everything from dancing o'er a bowl of fire, to post coital ressurrection.

Jeez, do I love the hell out of October...
- Bunker, out.

Raw Horsepower

This is a piece I just submitted and sold at the Hell's Belles Pine Wood Derby fundraiser, at White Walls Gallery in San Francisco. It was a blast to work on, and the event was insanely fun! The painting is 18" x 36", and features a theme I've been building on for a month or so now -- people breathing smoke and fire that takes on new shapes and forms. Hope ya dig!

- Bunker, out.

Stone Knife

I've been working on this commissioned skateboard deck for my friend Mat, in France. It's been a lot of fun, employing this "drawing with paint" technique that I've been developing. In a lot of my recent fine art pieces, I've been trying to get further awayfrom a standard illustration style and put more of an emphasis on just painting.

More to come soon!
For now, Bunker out.

At last, UNDEFEATED Artwork and Photos!

Hey-hey-hello! At long last, I've uploaded photos and shots of the artwork for my current solo exhibition, UNDEFEATED. Sorry this was so long in coming for all you fine peoples who aren't able to see the show in person. My life took a fairly extreme flip the week the opening. Since then, I've been in the process of moving The Bunker to a new location, and terribly preoccupied with all the wonderful details that go into apartment/studio hunting in a big city. But, ultimately, the show must go on! So enjoy the photos below.


The guys at D-Structure were great, and let me just fill up the space however I saw fit. I'd created these large wooden-cut-out characters, and gotten them mounted on a few walls. And while I was locked in for an all-nighter before the day of the opening, it dawned on me to rock this mural over the paintings, from the front of the store to the back. It really helped tie everything together.

"Undefeated"
house paint on wood

"Title Bout"
house paint on wood

The Angel & The Brute going head-to-head!

"Victory"
house paint on wood

The Angel marches ahead, to do battle with The Brute
and his horde of mutated pugilists.

Winged children -- the followers of The Angel

Warped & Twisted Adults -- subjects/victims of The Brute
*** It's about here that I actually fell off of the ladder
I was working atop of. Luckily (fueled by coffee, Red Bull and
Pop Tarts) I landed on my feet like a kitty cat!***


The Brute & His Horde

For this exhibit, I really wanted to break out of my regular "illustration mold" and challenge myself as a painter. I feel like I learned a lot making this much work, and on such a variety of scale & style. And I'm already starting to implement those lessons in pieces for a charity show in SF this September, a group show in LA in January, and a new body of work that will take me well into 2010. So below, for your viewing pleasure, is the first step in an exciting new direction for my fine arts, illustration and painted works.

"A World Without Good"
oil, acrylic, and collage on canvas

"Bookie By The Bay"
oil and acrylic on canvas

"Bring It"
oil, acrylic, and collage on canvas

"The Unavoidable Conflict of
Plus Versus Minus"
oil, acrylic, and collage on wood

"Awakening"
mixed media on illustration board

"Call To Arms"
oil and acrylic on wood
SOLD

"For Love Or The Gun"
acrylic on retired silkscreen

"Booty & The Beast"
acrylic and collage on wood

Hope you enjoyed this little virtual tour of my show. Please feel free to comment and let me know what you think. My imagination is already rolling and tumbling like a monster-sized cement mixer for the next exhibit... cooking up something even bigger and wilder than UNDEFEATED. So, as always, stay tuned to this blog and hiredmeat.com for more updates, sneak peeks, and hooty-hoos!

In the meantime....

BUNKER OUT!