Pygmalion and Galatea

TOM - Wow, so it's been a super long time since I've posted here! Although I might not always get around to posting on this blog, I am always making new work and posting almost daily on my Facebook Page, my Twitter page, and you can also check me out on Instagram now too at: thomaspitilli

Before the year closes out, I would like to add a new personal piece I made. It's an illustration I made based on the tale of  Pygmalion and Galatea. As the tale goes, Pygmalion falls deeply in love with the sculpture he created, wishing that he could find a wife as beautiful as she. The goddess Venus then grants him this wish by bringing the sculpture to life. The first time I became familiar with this tale was when I saw a painting inspired by it at the Metropolitan Museum of Art years ago (see below). Ever since, it has been my favorite painting in the museum. Many artists have tackled this particular story over the years, Jean-Leon Gerome's is by far my favorite. This is my inspired interpretation of the tale, hope you enjoy. Also, look out for prints of this piece in the near future! Thanks so much for checking in and Happy Holiday's! 

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Eat your fruits and veggies!

TOM- Been a LONG time! Sorry I've neglected the blog. I've been busy and been making a ton of new work! I tend to post more frequently to my Facebook and Twitter pages, so be sure to follow me there for all the most up to date work. In the meantime, here's a brand new piece inspired by summer, nature, and my love for fruits and vegetables, oh and pretty girls! Hope you're enjoying your summer!

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COVERS!

 TOM - Been a while since my last post! Sorry 'bout that, but it has been busy and eventful, and here is a look at some of the things I have worked on since. Three different covers I illustrated, one for Fort Worth Weekly and two for The Washington Post Express. These were all super fun to work on, hope you dig 'em. Thanks for checking in!

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Black Star

TOM - Here’s a recent illustration I did of the legendary hip hop group, Black Star. The group consists of  Talib Kweli and Yasiin Bey (formally known as Mos Def). I’ve been a fan of both of their individual careers for a while and now that the group is back together, it’s exciting to hear the new music that is coming out.  I tired my best to capture their style, which really sets itself apart from the majority of the current  hip hop aesthetic, and was fun to interpret in an illustration.

Here’s a look at the idea in it’s early sketch phase. I wanted something simple that captured their movement and energy on stage as well  as showcasing their bad ass vintage mics which are super cool! I knew I wanted to do some kind of abstract, colorful background, so that is very roughly indicated here.

After I decided on that sketch, I lightboxed some pencils over it, and inked it up.  Here is the final black and white image.

I had a lot of fun working on this, it’s always enjoyable creating images of people that you are interested in, I feel that connection always makes the image stronger in the end.

Thanks for reading!

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Sexy Fruit Prints

TOM- These are some recent linoleum cut prints that I made for an upcoming Slap Dash event, with the theme, Sex Ed. I wanted to make something that was not figurative, but still suggestive enough to work within the theme of the show. I had a lot of fun making these. Above is is the version in which I added a layer of color in Photoshop, below are the straight forward cuts, sans color, and how they will appear in the show.

If you're in Brooklyn on Saturday night, come out and hang! Here's the info:

Slap Dash Sex Ed (Readings, Video, Film, and Art Show)

@LaunchPad  721 Franklin Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11238

8pm-11pm

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Cut It Out!

TOM - I’ve been having fun experimenting with some collage elements in my work recently. I always find it refreshing to introduce a new technique that I don’t know much about in order to breathe new life into the work. Here are a couple examples of some of the work I’ve been cooking up with that approach.  Hope you dig it!

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Drawing People In NYC

TOM - As an exercise in artistic discipline and just plain ol' havin' fun, I've been carrying around a sketch book very regularly. On trains, at cafe's, in waiting rooms, bookstores, wherever. Over the years I have fallen in and out of this habit, currently I'm in it and having a good time. This time around, to avoid freezing up, I purposely buy really cheap, flimsy sketchbooks for no more than $3 each. The point is not to set out to make a good drawing or to have some sort of pretty object that I can carry around with me, the point is to make different types of marks, strengthen my eye-hand coordination and keep the juices flowing. I'm in love with these little sketchbooks you can get at the MUJI store in Soho. They're small, have smooth paper and super cheap, perfect. My current sketchbook is filled with some pretty bad drawings, but these are the few where I felt most confident in my approach, mainly because I wasn't thinking about the drawing when I was drawing it.

Thanks for reading and happy 2012!

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Un-Blogged in 2011

'Boxer 1'  (Linoleum Block Print)

TOM - As 2011 comes to a close, I thought this would be a good opportunity to post some stuff that I haven't gotten a chance to post here on the blog. So often, I'm posting new work and process pics on my Facebook and Twitter, that I don't get the chance to post everything here. So, here's a quick look at some pieces that were un-blogged in 2011, hope you dig 'em!

'Boxer 2'  (Linoleum Block Print)

                                             Illustration for Bicycle Times

                                              Cover for Philadelphia City Paper

                                   Illustration about Mayweather/Ortiz fight. 

                                 'Sonny Rollins' (Linoleum Block Print w/ Photoshop)

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True Story

TOM - I recently created a short, three page comic about a family I encountered riding the train a couple years ago. We never spoke, and I never saw them again, but for some reason, I never forgot them. It was one of those unexpected and positive experiences that sort of catch you off guard. Just from simply sitting across from them and observing, they changed the way I viewed parenthood and family life. Read the full comic here.

The original art from this comic is now up at LaunchPad in Brooklyn, NY, along with some very talented cartoonists work. Check it out if you're in the area. Thanks for reading!

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Some Stuff From My Sketchbook

TOM - I haven't posted any sketchbook stuff in a long time, so before the year is out, here's a small look at my current sketchbook. Hope you dig it!

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New Print And New Art Show!

TOM- Things have been really busy around here lately and I'm lovin' it! I've been cooking up a ton of new images for my upcoming art show entitled, 'We From Here'. The show is going to be a multi-media event, with all artwork provided by me and a musical component provided by my friends, Brian Bonz and Mike Strandberg. It's going to be a celebration of being Brooklyn natives as well as artists.

Last week I had a great time in the silkscreen studio, printing up a brand new image for the show. It's a five color print and it measures roughly 19x26ish. I'm really happy with the way this turned out, I think it really embodies an overall vibe of Brooklyn, at least through my eyes. Gotta love the hoop earrings!
 

Here are some detail shots of the print. These will be for sale( along with many other new prints) the night of the show, Dec. 2nd in Brooklyn. If you're not in the NY area, or can't make the night of the show, I am selling these online. If you're interested, please contact me at contact@thomaspitilli.com

If you are in NY on Dec. 2nd, then you should come to this, it's going to be a blast! All the info is on the flyer above. Hope to see you there, I think I'm going to wear a tie!

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OC Weekly Cover

TOM - Last month, I was contacted by Laila over at OC Weekly to illustrate a cover for them. I always enjoy working with OC Weekly and I was super excited to do my first cover for their paper. The story was a sad one, about a mother being deported back to Mexico, leaving her teenaged children to live alone in the United States and their journey through that experience.

There was a lot of emotion in this story and I knew I wanted to depict that sense of separation and longing as best I could through my illustration. Laila and I discussed some ideas over the phone, then I hit the drawing board and sketched some stuff up, here's what I came up with:

I was really excited to take any one of these to finals, felt pretty strongly about all of them actually. I liked the idea of somehow representing 'America' somehow as a character in the image, so I tried several attempts at that which I think forced me into a more graphic approach. Pretty obvious as to which one they chose:

And here's a look at the final art. I'm super happy with the way it came out, hope you are too!

I've been real busy lately, cookin' up a lot of new work, be sure to follow me on twitter and facebook for all the up to date happenings!

Thanks for reading!

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MoogFest 2011 Print

"Moog Mountain"
18x24 Three-Color Screen Print (Including Metallic Silver)
Edition of 75. Signed & Numbered

 JAMES - I was psyched to once again be asked to create a screenprint for the SYNTH art show, as part of this past weekend's MoogFest here in Asheville. My piece, titled "Moog Mountain", is a 3-color screen print, featuring Metallic Silver ink and is now available on my website for $25 each: www.jamesflames.com/store/MoogMountain.html 

Here's a shot of the print on display at the SYNTH art show:

And here are a few more photos:

Detail Photo

Detail Photo

Get one now - $25 each: www.jamesflames.com/store/MoogMountain.html

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Dallas Observer Cover

TOM - A couple weeks ago, I was contacted by Alexander Flores of Dallas Observer to illustrate a cover for them featuring a whole bunch of accomplished Dallas musicians, including Erykah Badu and Rhett Miller of the Old 97's. It was a super cool gig and I was glad to finally get to work with Alex. Unfortunately, during the  production of this cover, my computer crashed! Thankfully though, I was able to borrow a friends computer for the scanning and coloring of the final image and everything went to press right on time, whew!

Here's a look at some of the process that went into making this cover.

This is an early sketch idea. The cover called for pretty much, just a group shot, so placement and composition became my main focus. I wanted to have Erykah up front, she's probably the most well known of the bunch and also the most visually interesting ( I was really looking forward to drawing her fro!)

Then we decided on this one, I really liked the idea of having Erykah's hair somehow incorporated in the logo itself, as if the logo were etched out of it. After a few failed attempts on Erykahs likeness, I had to scrap that angle all together  it and try again. I think a big part of growing as an illustrator is being able to admit  when something just isn't working and being able to scrap it and start again, no matter how much time you already put in. If it's not working, it's not working.

I was simultaneously working on some interior illustrations of all the musicians and thought that version of Erykah would work much better on the cover. A bit more iconic and less of a full frontal shot. It worked!

Got to work on all the other characters and the assembly begun!

Trough several revisions and a broken computer, I'm very happy with the way it all came together.

Here's a quick look at another interior illustration I did of singer/songwriter, Sarah Jaffe.

Thanks for reading, more covers on the way!

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Jet Propulsion - San Diego's Night & Day Magazine Cover

JAMES - I was asked to illustrate another cover for the San Diego Union Tribune's "Night & Day" magazine. It's always great working with their talented art director Peter Nguyen, and when he mentioned the lead story was about the upcoming air show, my imagination started to soar - both figuratively and literally.

The main attraction at the air show are the Blue Angels of the U.S. Navy, who have some of the damn coolest looking jets of all time. So along with the cool paint jobs, I wanted to just convey speed - lots and lots of speed. So I started sketching like a wild man, sitting there making "shhoooommm" and "whoooossshhh" noises like a five year old. Serious fun.

Here's a close-up of the final cover artwork:

And here's a look at the final printed cover put together by the design team over at Night & Day. It's still available for the next couple of days in San Diego.

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