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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