Wednesday, June 16, 2010

back in black

got the new black breath lp on clear vinyl the other day (i know shouldnt it be on black?) and ive also been kicking out the jams on new shit. i also have a show this friday with some illustrations and a lot of blockheads! stuff, so come out!!

unfortunately im now without a digi camera, so its back to kind if sad quality phone pics for now. but heres some of the new stuff...



"SPREAD THE LOVE" love is like jam. put it on your toast.


"LAUNCH RAMP" not really a cheeky name for this one. ill donate a dollar from every one sold to help chicago concretins build rogue skateboard shit. support.

"RIGHTEOUS PARTY" mini posters. 8 x 10" available at the show friday the 18th at 9 pm!!


went to the mountains in CO with my lady when i went out to visit last month. views are sweet from the tops of mountains. and i got to lay some love on my girl. rad life.


bought this with my tax returns. wins.


bring yourself.

also made some cards with bongs on them special for my trip to denver, and i have some left. so if youre into weed, or someone you know is, or you just think a greeting cards with a cute bong on it is funny, pick one up. and use responsibly. it doesnt solve problems for you, it just makes you forget about them til later when youre not stoned anymore. post pics soon.

until then, have fun and KEEP RIGHT!!

Sunday, March 28, 2010

sorry its been a minute kids, BLOCKHEADS! HQ was without power for about 2 weeks, and i was finishing up my term at school, as well as spending some time with my special lady friend and the rents, relaxing in the splendiforous wilds that are the wisconsin country side, and then straight back to school and im still trying to find the groove again. The good news is that ive been working on some new stuff lately and its ready to move now, witha few new colors of some new designs coming through in a few days.

Ive been working on the idea for these posters for a while, and i think theyre going to be part of a series. i finally just put my nose to the grindstone and whipped the block for these out last week, and then tried a couple different printing methods, and i think ive got it down good now, so these are ready to move and im thinking between $20 and $30 bucks. id like to ask $30 cuz of the level of work and care that goes into each one, but i also like getting my stuff out there for others to enjoy, so if you really want one bad, contact me and we can talk. either way, they are approx. 14 x 30" and are cut and printed all by hand, just like each of my cards. each one will be signed by hand and most likely numbered, as im only planning on doing a small batch of this first run and then continuing on in the series.





brown and gold/kingfisher blue. the "CON-TIKI" posters will hopefully be available at quimbys this week, they usually only will take one or two, so if you want one get there soon, and check out all their other awesome posters while youre at it! they have tons! and buy some cards!


ive got two new card designs available now as well.

the "THUNDER" card was inspired by the movie RAD, as well as my friends' band from milwaukee, GET RAD. if you havent seen this movie or heard this band, youre fuckin up big time.



Heres the gold/royal purple.


in my last couple weeks ive spent more and more time at wilson skatepark, making new friends and acquaintances, and skating the pool like a mad man as much as i can. its been good sessions with solid dudes, and it inspired me, along with the poster i did previously for my friends band CURB, to do the "DEEP THOUGHTS" card. hangin out in the deep end sometime brings on some heavy thoughts and some heavy slams, so heres a toast to the good ones.



glitter purple/kingfisher blue

in further news, it looks like BLOCKHEADS! may be gracing Milwaukee's east side with its presence on April the 16th to sell some goods and drink some brewed goodness at a block party headed up by the lovely ladies and lads over at Brewing Grounds for Change, a rad little coffee spot on Farwell Ave, thats run by some good friends of mine. Ill be slinging cards and posters and shooting the shit, and maybe if you ask me nicely ill even take a step behind the espresso machine and sling some caffienated beverages your way. come hang out, it should be more than rad.

so coming up this week ill be printing some new colors of these new designs and posting one more card thats dedicated to the waning month of march, and features...

Saturday, February 27, 2010

QUIMBYS!

just dropped off about 20 cards at Quimby's bookstore on chicago's northside. Go get em!
if you dont know where, start here

Friday, February 26, 2010

back to BUSINESS!!



Got some new cards done this week guys, as well as printed business cards to pass out to potentially interested parties, plus, dont hold your breath but i may be slinging cards through quimbys bookstore in wicker park, which is probably the coolest bookstore youve ever seen unless you havent seen it, in which case you should go. now.







heres the new "THANKS BUD!" card design that i just printed this week. i ran 5 color combos of this one and added a few colors to the other designs. silver/black, purple sparkle/lilac, and silver/plum shown. also made silver/navy and sparkle pink/blush (shown below).










heres the sparkle pink/blush cards for both the "THANKS BUD!" and "CAFFIENE LOVE" cards.





aaaaaannnd finally, heres the business cards i cut and print this week, the backside will just be the blog url and my name, so interested parties know who i am and where to find the goods. all these cards are made out of the scraps from the paper im currently using to print my cards, so my waste is greatly greatly reduced. i may start saving my little little scraps and blending them up and maing my own paper from scraps and selling recycled cards too. business card close up below!





hopefully i can get some photos of the OUTLAW ART SHOW i attended last week at the Blackstone Hotel. i know my pal Murphy shot some good stuff, so im just waiting on that. keep right!

Saturday, February 13, 2010

we clean our ass with you...

so ive been working on some things the last few days. i felt wierd about having cards without some sort of a back graphic telling you who made them, so yesterday i cut a new back graphic block and fixed most of my cards up right!!







i also attended the 2nd friday art walk party at Anode Gallery in pilsen, and dropped of some cards for them to sell! just east of halsted on 18th! buy art now!





someone promtly spilled beer on them, and one of anode's interns, leland, who is a delightful young gentleman, was trying to remedy the situation as i snapped off this shot. im pretty sure that card on the left was trashed though, as these are printed with water-based ink. im trying to find a way to seal them without having to use oil-based inks, because i dont know about keeping turpentine or mineral spirits in my small little place. if anyone has any ideas, itd be much obliged. next time ill take some pictures of the actual art displayed there, because its off the chain! stop in and visit them!


so as previously suggested ive decided to start reviewing records on here as well as slinging handmade paper and ink goodies. not only so you can see what is inspiring me on a daily basis, but to get a little exposure out there for some bands as well.


first is SWEET COBRA's "FOREVER" lp, out on hawthorne street records. this is a local band from here in chicago, and ive known a few of the members for a couple years now, through skateboarding and music, and their last full length, "PRAISE" is fucking most excellent. This album did not disappoint musically, though it held a bit of a morose tone, as it was the last full album recorded with guitar player mat arluck, prior to him losing his battle with stomach cancer late last year.





this album is rad. thats it. sometimes fast, sometimes slow, sometimes doomy, sometimes hardcore, sometimes in your face, and sometimes all around you, i have to say the last song on side a, "spider scraper" is possibly my favorite track on the album, after first listen. as they continue on, im pretty stoked to hear what they have coming out next. SWEET COBRA is always highly recommended!





i also picked up a few 7"s. the first one is a split from still holding on records, baring the musical teeth of CINDER and HIT ME BACK. i have to admit i bought this one on cover art alone, along with the $1.99 price tag, but this album is def worth the 2 bucks. CINDER has a "just-produced-enough" kind of youthcrew crossed with los crudos feel, maybe thats because one song is in spanish, but shit is good. HIT ME BACK is a little bit like minor threat meets the new youth crew explosion equal parts hardcore punk and mega crew parts. a slight bit less produced than the CINDER side, it definitely fits their sound and gives their songs the feeling and attitude they rightfully deserve.





lastly, i picked up H2O's "OLD SCHOOL RECESS" 7". this was the single record for FASTER THAN THE WORLD on epitaph records, released along with temperance rocords. these days kids may not be too into epitaph anymore, but you cant deny H2O. if they dont at least make you smile a little bit, i think youre a liar, or just heartless, and even heartless motherfuckers like H2O. the first track on this is "guilty by association" which is just classic, and "old school recess" caps off the b-side with straight up, fun, positive, stand out hardcore. always a good one.




in addition to the anode party, i went to see my friend helen maurene cooper open an exhibition of her photography at harold washington college the other night. Good stuff. a handfull of well executed and composed shots of immaculately painted fingernails. this shit was off the chain, way to go maurene. harold washington college, north side of lake, just west of wabash ave, 11th floor. ask at the information desk. heres one of my favorites.



and last but not least, i received a package this week from my friend adam in boulder!!! with stickers!!! which is rad, cuz if you know me, you know im a fiend for stickers.





one of these i won in a facebook guessing game of writers adam had done portraits of, for correctly identifying ayn rand (even though ive never read any ayn rand) a little well placed research and i came up with a right answer. and the rest of these are in trade for a couple of prints from BLOCKHEADS! print co.



"we clean our ass with you..."

Monday, February 8, 2010

Beverage series, skateboard thrash...

heres the last two beverage prints that came out of the initial series that i posted yesterday.





MARTY, pbr and permanent party patrol.





NOAH, ice cold brews give this kid the courage of 10 men. at least when hes on his skateboard. this was the print that inspired the series. it was the print that also got me back into linocutting.




heres the posters i did recently for milwaukee skate/party thrash band CURB for their winter tour that didnt happen. hopefully the "ditches and deepends tour" happens sometime in 2010, otherwise these will be an even funnier merch item for them.

pink on lilac





black/white on red




i made 56 of these bad boys in all different colors, and i kept 6 of my favorites or just good ones for presents and portfolio and gave CURB the other 50. these were kind of an experimental thing for me, to see if it was gonna be a feasible process for me to take part in. the scans got a little cut off because the 9 x 12 dimension is kind of subject to a little sway in all directions, and they are a little larger than the scan surface i have at my disposal, so sorry about that. im now offering linocut posters for whoever would like to commission me to do them, so if you have a band or a show or whatever you would like posters for, hit me up and we'll talk.

Sunday, February 7, 2010

print crazy sunday!!!





heres what i did today, in between bike rides and cooking dinner and paying rent(late, whoops) ive got some pretty sweet color combos happening and two designs now, hopefully this week i can get my thank you cards going and get these finished. the dark colors will most likely be lined with a piece of vellum, so that you can write inside them without having to buy a gel pen or some sort of silver/white/gold stuff.





heres the silver on black and silver on plum. i have a few of each of these in each design, and like i said, they will come with vellum lining, so you can write inside with normal pens/markers. i think i will just tuck it in there though, incase you would like to use a gel pen to match the silver.





i also made the skate love - pink on rose and gunmetal/teal on mint
and i have both - black on lilac as well. hopefully i can get some more paper this week and throw some more out there for purchase.

ive already spoken to my friends at anode gallery in pilsen, and they will be selling some of my stuff shortly. i will also be sending out postcards soon to try and get a little advertising going, but i will also make the postcards available for purchase as well, to give a slightly cheaper and sleeker option.

if anyones interested in purchasing any of these right now, kick me an email at j.staysawake@gmail.com and we can work something out, as im still kind of figuring out my price structure. it will most likely fall somewhere near 4 bucks for greeting cards and 2 for postcards right now. i will eventually be making 5 packs of greeting cards and possibly packs of postcards available as well, with those prices coming as i review my cost.

inspirations...

heres a look at the prints that inspired this whole thing. this series of beverage prints was given as presents this holiday season to some of my nearest and certainly dearest friends. each one is based off of their personality and our relationship, using a beverage i relate to us and our interaction.





DAN. coca cola and always the best of times.




















KORBEE. nalgene bottles and long conversations keeping each other positive. or at least trying.




















SARAH. tea tea and more tea, always making my life most radical.




















SELF PORTRAIT. coffee on the go, always moving and wide awake.





















this is just a few of them, theres a couple more i will post in a few days that havent been scanned yet. also the tour posters i did for my friends band CURB from my hometown of milwaukee, wisconsin. skateboard party thrash to melt your brain...stay tuned.