Art Car: Client Concept to Finished Drawing

Though perhaps Burning Man is not your cup of tea, in the spirit of the no-cash system, I helped design an Art Car in exchange for an entry ticket (BTW, oh wow, am I really going to Burning Man?!? For those readers who don't know me, this is an improbable occurance!)

This year's theme is "Rites of Passage." Here is the rough sketch the "client" gave me for the group's entry, dubbed 'Ride of Passage':After a short chat, I made some changes to the client sketch, and submitted first draft:
After I received feedback, (needs a removable platform, make the phoenix more phoenix-like, it's a limo, not a clown car, etc), I made changes:
This drawing was submitted to an Art Car mechanic/builder and approved through the initial screening, and is now working its way through the DMV for approval (in this case, they call it the Department of Mutant Vehicles, hah!)

I now have my ticket to Burning Man, and had fun on this little project. I can't wait to see if the "Ride of Passage" will actually get made!

Commission: "Texas Flags: After Jasper Johns"

Ok, so I know it's been about five million years since the last time I posted, but there are good reasons, I swear. First of all, I was out of the country for a month, driving from Guatemala down to the Panama Canal, on a small portion of my dad's big Panamerican Adventure (he's somewhere in Peru right now if you want to check out his blog). Second, I have been hard at work on a picture book, and the basic rule is not to post any of the content publicly. Third, now that I am nearing the end of the picture bookmaking process, I am writing a middle grade novel, and the same rule goes for writing, as well as imagery. And finally, fourth, I am lazy about updating my blog. (at least I'm admitting it!)

Anyway, here I am, so you all can take a deep sigh of relief: life goes on. I recently completed a painting for a couple from Texas. They were interested in a painting by me, but weren't sure exactly what they wanted. We talked about their interests and over the course of the conversation, I came up with a fun idea: do a play on Jasper John's "Three Flags" triptych while displaying their Texas pride. Here is the final product: