"Mary Mary, Quite Contrary"

Behold, above is my contribution to Eat Your Art Out IV. This one-night gallery show -- thrown by those badass Angel City Derby Girls -- blasts off this Saturday night at Meltdown Comics, in Hollywood, CA! The artist roster is monstrous, including Jim Mahfood/Food One, Jason Shawn Alexander, Jose Garibaldi, Love Ablan and many more! For more info on the show, check the Meltdown Comics website.

My piece is titled "Mary Mary, Quite Contrary." Measuring at 18" x 24", it's a portrait of Mary Tudor, the notorious "Bloody Mary" of Old England. As Queen, she got the moniker from the outright glut of executions she employed against Protestant dissenters, while restoring England to Roman Catholicism. Ya gotta love the creepy origins of these old nursery rhymes and fairy tales. So many of these simple poems intended to entertain children are, in fact, cautionary reminders of how brutal the world can be.

I took a heap of process photos of this painting, and will post them ASAP. For now, it's back to work!

"Timing and tiger strength. Strategy will put you past."
- King Gum.

Eat Your Art Out - Work In Progress!

Here are some progress shots of my painting for Eat Your Art Out IV -- an incredible one-night gathering of artists and their work, thrown by The Angel City Derby Girls at the Meltdown Comics Gallery. For all the nitty-gritty deets, check out the press release.

For now, I'll spare you the in depth story behind my contribution to the show. But above you can see early stages of my drawing for it, as well as some roughed-in colors. These are the broad strokes. I'm working from a sketch in these, but also allowing myself to stray from the plan. Sketches are cool, but I like to draw from the gut when I start in on a final. If I get it right, my instincts can lead me to improve on the piece from that thumbnail stage, all the way into the final.

"Two. NO! Six. NO! Twelve. BAKER'S DOZEN!!!
I told you that I'm crazy for these cupcakes, cousin!"
- King Gum.

"LIONS" By Meat Grinder...

Above are snapshots of a recent copy of LIONSEATYOU that went out, complete with an original sketch! I also thought folks might like to see my lovely, old-style meat grinder chillin' in the background. Gotta love the ol' No. 50 Climax Food Chopper. I kid you not. That's what's embossed on the side of it.

"Sometimes I rhyme slow. Sometimes I rhyme quick."
- Gum.

STAR WARS Rock Band Guitar

My boys at I AM 8-BIT recently hit me up to customize five special edition Rock Band guitar controllers. Each one was done up in the theme of a particular video game for X-Box 360 and Playstation 3. Below, you can see progress photos of the one I did after Star Wars: The Force Unleashed. Enjoy!


"Felt kinda strange when I woke up, this morning.
Like thousands of weapons were aiming at me..."
- King Gum.

Red Riding Hood & A Space Angel

Above, you can see two older live art pieces from my time in The Bay Area. The top one is "Laika Ain't Dead," a titular nod to my favorite space-faring dog. I initially painted this space angel at a live art performance in San Francisco. After holding onto her for a couple years, I ended up going in and reworking her -- adding whole new elements and layers -- when I was living in Oakland in 2010.

The second painting, "Red Riding Hood," was created entirely during a live art show in San Francisco's SOMA District, way back in 2006. Unlike the usual funky DJ scenes where I do performances, this show had a cellist playing the whole time. I'm pretty sure that had some influence in me creating such a creepy, foreboding image. Even though it's five years old, I still get a real kick out of how the Big Bad Wolf came out in this one.

"Show me your darkest side. And you better be my bloody match."
- Dr. Gum

Scarface & Sketches!

Behold, my last customized copy of Scarface, plus some sketches from earlier this week!


"I love most brothers, but someone told me that I burn bridges.
I simply use a rapper's bones to build my furniture."
- King Gum.

ARTSLAM! 5 Year Anniversary Photos

Below are progressive photos of the artwork Jim Mahfood (aka Food One) and I created during the ARTSLAM! 5 Year Anniversary event in San Antonio, this past weekend. It was great to dive in and paint among such a thriving community of young artists and creative people. Thanks to everyone who showed up and helped make it a badass night of badassery!



For more photos, peep Food One's art blog, as well as the ARTSLAM Facebook page.

Extra thanks to Rob, Liz, Veronica and Steve for the fabulous hospitality. You guys rock!

"Little Miss Congeniality... she livin' in her own reality...."
-King Gum Crosland