"Everybody's A Somebody!" Opens Tonight in LA!

"A Helpful Rampage" / 14 x 18"/

watercolor, acrylic & ink on paper

The wonderful folks at iam8bit have teamed up with Sanrio (of Hello Kitty fame) to put on "Everybody's A Somebody!" It's a group exhibit of works dedicated to the world of those childhood favorites, the Mr. Men & Little Miss.

My latest illustration (see above) will be featured in the show, which opens tonight in Los Angeles. For more info on the exhibition and tonight's opening reception, peep the show flyer below or visit www.iam8bit.com.

Hope you can make it out!
- Dave C.

IAM8BIT Entertainment System Opens Friday in Los Angeles!

"Robot Rock" / 12 x 16" / acrylic & collage on canvas 

This week marks the opening of iam8bit Entertainment System. Being the annual flagship, video game-themed exhibit of the iam8bit gallery, this show promises to be a real treat! My submission is the above piece, dedicated to Rockman (aka Mega Man). It was totally inspired by the epic summer after the 7th grade, when I spent days on end trying to beat Mega Man 2 on the old school Gameboy. DAMN, were those games difficult. Even for the insane reflexes of an adolescent!

I actually began this painting back in 2008, as part of my series of pieces dedicated to Super Mario Bros, The Legend of Zelda & Donkey Kong. The rough collage, drawing & underpainting of "Robot Rock" (previously titled "Mega") sat in my studio, untouched for 5 years. That is, until this group exhibition gave me a renewed purpose to see it through to completion.

iam8bit Entertainment System features 80 artists from around the Earth, fulfilling their retro gaming fantasies. The opening reception takes place Friday, June 7th, from 7-11pm. For more info, visit www.iam8bit.com.

"I own the first Nintendo Power, with the maps of Zelda, help me conquer in an hour!"
- Dave C.

Danger Mouse Strikes At Iam8bit!

"You Can't Hide Forever" / 14x18" / watercolor, acrylic & ink on paper

When the gang at Iam8bit asked contributors to their Nickelodeon Studios-themed art show "It's The ShizNICK!" to dig deep for their inspiration, I had no idea just how deep I would go. But in the 11th hour, I mined some creative ore from my early, EARLY childhood -- Danger Mouse!

I'll never forget the exhilaration I felt when the theme song kicked in. I was enthralled, watching DM & Penfold race from their pillar box hideout, flipping, fighting & outsmarting the evil Baron Silas Greenback at every turn! As soon as I began drawing the image, my aim was to bring my love of adventure illustration to this cartoon. Strange to say, but Danger Mouse is as deeply rooted in my well of inspiration as Star Wars, Transformers & Conan The Barbarian. So that's the level of respect I chose to show it, with my piece.

"It's The ShizNICK!" opens at Iam8bit in Los Angeles, next Friday, April 19th. For all the reception & gallery info, visit: www.iam8bit.com/the-gallery/its-the-shiznick. Many of the contributing artists, including myself, will be in attendance. Hope to see you there!

"For all of the time in the world, to spend it wild and unwise. I wanna be mesmerizing, too..."

- Dave "King Gum"Crosland

Call of Duty Mural: Phase Two - Black Ops

As promised, here are more photos of the Call of Duty mural that IAM8BIT brought me in to create at the Santa Monica, CA office of Treyarch (the game developer behind the CoD series). Today's collection of snapshots are from the wall depicting the critically-acclaimed Call of Duty: Black Ops!

And, of course, I had to throw in some zombies....

I still have two more photo sets to share. Look for those on the blog, next week. To check out the previous collection of mural pics, click here: Call of Duty Mural: Phase One - Allied Invasion.

"Boom boom boom boom, I'm gonna shoot you right down."
- David C.

Call Of Duty Mural: Phase One - Allied Invasion

Hello folks, and welcome back from Thanksgiving. I hope you've all recovered from your food comas, and are as eager to attack the remainder of 2012 as I am.

This week, I'll start posting photos from the Call of Duty mural I created at the Santa Monica, CA office of Treyarch (the game developer behind CoD: Black Ops 2 & more). This first section of images focuses on the wall depicting the Allied invasion of France. Enjoy!

Stay tuned, as I'll be posting more Call of Duty Mural images, later this week!
- King Gum Crosland

IAM8BIT/Call Of Duty Office Mural Video

Those coolest of cool kids at iam8bit have done it again! This project was under wraps for the longest time, but the cat is finally out of the bag.

Last winter, they brought me on for a monstrous project - painting a giant mural dedicated to the Call Of Duty video game series, in the offices of the game's developer, Treyarch!

The hallway mural is approximately 70ft long, with each patch of wall depicting scenes from the different installments of the world-renowned first-person shooter -- from the North African desert campaign & Allied invasion of occupied France, to the clandestine operations of The Cold War & the zombie onslaught featured in Call of Duty: Black Ops!

Being the media-savvy gang that they are, iam8bit put together the awesome video above, showing off the finished work. I also have lots of still photos from when I painted this beast, and will have them posted soon.

"War is the BOOM of impending doom. War fills history books & fills tombs."
- David C.

SUPER IAM8BIT Book Signing & Closing Event

This is the final week of the monster group exhibit, SUPER IAM8BIT. To celebrate the successful closing of the show, IAM8BIT is holding a book signing event this Saturday, September 10th, from noon to 3pm. Many of the artists represented in the sparkling new SUPER IAM8BIT book will be on hand during the signing, including myself. It's sure to be a rousing afternoon or raw nerddom!

In the meantime, you've got from now until Saturday evening to check out 80's gaming-themed exhibition, with works by over 100 artists from around the world. That includes my work for the show -- a Tecmo Bowl inspired piece called "Running The Gridiron Gauntlet," and my two customized Galaga arcade cabinets. Also on display are the finished live art panels that I rocked with wunderkind Jose Garibaldi, during the opening reception.

SUPER IAM8BIT book signing
@ The IAM8BIT Gallery
2147 W. Sunset Blvd, Los Angeles, CA
Saturday, Sept 10, noon - 3pm
www.iam8bit.com

"Rap snitches! Tellin' all they bidness! Sit in the court & be they own star witness!"
- King Gum