Atom Smashers

Hello hello!

After the fateful Snowpocalypse (as it has forthwith come to be known), I was feeling the need to step up my game a little bit. Having a week off kind of threw off my normal schedule and I couldn't help but worry about the impending real-adult-work-money life that will soon enough be upon me. Hence, I decided to give myself another project in conjunction to my thesis which consists of 1 week editorial pieces focusing around science, politics, lifestyle, finance etc.

This week's piece comes from an article in Science News about scientists using the recently completed particle collider in Switzerland to smash gold atoms together. They found that when two atoms successfully met, they created a super dense, super hot substance that they believe could resemble the infant universe.

Heart of Darkness cover finish

Here is the completed mock-up for Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness. Let me know what you think!

Heart of Darkness pt.1

Popped this baby out in just over a week so I could have it done for the SOI student comp. The image is only a cropping - since im designing book covers, the composition was intended to work either seeing the front or the back. Ideally, the full spread would work but it didn't quite have enough oompf to it so I decided to submit a cropping to SOI.

Next post I'll have the full spread, finished cover with type, and some detail shots.

Heartless Devil

I've been getting a fair of amount of music-based commissions recently and considering my last semester's thesis revolved around the subject, I'd say it's paid off! Here is an album cover done for my friend Michael Meredith under the name of Hopewell Exchange. I was thinking of time lines and topography among other things for the imagery. Head on over to http://hopewellexchange.bandcamp.com/ to check out the music for youself.

Tune Time! Nicolades

Completed during finals crunch time. Who says I can't multitask?

Nicolades by RRADAR

RRADAR - Osaka by RRADAR

the Almighty Aphex Twin

I've been excited about the idea of doing an Aphex Twin piece since I first thought of concentrating my thesis around musical interpretation. If there is one definitive pioneer of the electronic genre, its Richard D. James. I used his torrential style as a jumping off point to experiment and push the approach I've been attempting which consists of using flat graphics with more rendered elements. I'm happy with the result.

Paul Wheeler

Another promo poster for my friend Paul Wheeler's upcoming senior recital at the New School in New York. He mentioned Santa and Ak-47's . I went with the medieval St. Nicolas in the hope of upgrading the bad-assity.

Out of Orbit

This is one of my submissions to the newest installment (hopefully to become annual) of the "Orbit" series published by the MICA Illustration Club. I helped run the show last year and Craig has taken over for this year's issue - you can buy them at Art Market this Dec.

Prime Time of Your Life

promo piece for a friend of mine's monthly club night in Chapel Hill. he makes some pro-level electronic jams - check em out: Hidden Cat

Spread 'em.

Here are some pages from a story I'm working on written by my good friend Max Walukas. I'll give more plot details later, but the basic story unfolds around a boy stealing the moon. Since the story takes place in the southwest (a place which had a huge impact on me when I drove through it this summer) I wanted to have the environment be as much of a character as the boy.

Snape

my submission for Alyssa Nassner's Harry Potter-themed zine.

Robin Pecknold of Fleet Foxes

Robin Pecknold of Fleet Foxes - what a band.

L-Vis 1990

L-Vis 1990 makes some sweet songs. He also looks like he belongs in high fashion.

Big Boi

In celebration of Big Boi's dope song "Shine Blockas" (feat. Gucci Mane), I decided to make him the subject of this quick spot. I wanted to see how I worked under a self-imposed 4 hour deadline. What do you guys think?

Mikael Akerfeldt of Opeth

hey everyone. this is the latest in my thesis focusing on portraits of musicians. mikael akerfeldt is the main song writer and singer/guitarist for the melodically-leaning but not "melodic" death metal (metal genres are a universe unto themselves). i wanted to set him up as prophetic and in control of what he is revealing to the viewer. i struggled a lot with the likeness (as with all likenesses) but i think, in the end, he is recognizable. comments and critique always welcome!

2nd piece for thesis. Done for the band black moth super rainbow

Centerstage

Rough done for CENTERSTAGE For Young Playwrights promo poster. Did this pretty quick but I'm fairly pleased!

Painting the Third!

This is the last of the three paintings I did during my internship. I had a really hard time getting the composition to work and was getting pretty frustrated because, though nearly all of the elements were already in place, it wasn't quite clicking. I wanted to get the piece scanned for the comic-con and ended up with 20 min left to resolve the painting and ended up popping the two red triangles which, I hope, pull the piece together. It's amazing to see what a big difference those two, seemingly, little elements make on the composition.

working out characters for a new book. this coyote will not be so orange

And Whose Vapors We Slowly Coalesce

2nd of 3 new paintings. I'm showing them in the order that I painted them so, based on critique and general feedback, I've considered new approaches and tried to refine the process and content. This one I struggled a lot with, especially compositionally because there are a lot of elements to balance. I remember teachers telling me the concept of your eye "resting" when looking at a piece and that was something I had a very hard time achieving with the composition. The composition and color were inspired by seeing a folded bag behind an electric green silkscreen. Also, I tried to stay away from symmetrical, central, and figure dominated pieces after noticing a lot of my personal work has those qualities. Thanks so much for the feedback on the previous piece. More critique is always appreciated.