X Marks the spot...

Most of you should be aware of a little event called "X GAMES". No, it's not when members of the X-MEN get together for friendly forms of competition, but rather the greatest skateboarders, bike riders & hi fivers get together for a few days to show off their highest jump, craziest tricks &/or loudest hi five! THAT X Games is once again making it's way to Austin THIS WEEKEND!! Not only will it be wowing you with it's high flying antics, but there's a few special events happening alongside X Games that I'm super pumped to be a part of! The first is just like a "Secret" show I was a part of only a few weeks ago in Houston... Yep, SECRET WALLS x X GAMES is coming at ya!!

I'll be competing again in a timed, 90-minute, live art battle using only black & white paint....THAT'S XTREME! I've been paired up with local friends & artists Jason Eatherly, Roshi K & Wade Thompson to form the 4-person group of "Team Texas" to represent the hometown of Austin against "Team World". "World" consists of heavy hitting art MONSTERS Greg Mike, Brian Butler, Paul Jackson & Matt Gondek. Definitely seek out their art if you're unfamiliar with it as it's all magical stuff! We're due for an epic battle of XTREME scale as each team tackles a massive 26' x 8' blank wall in only 90 minutes! The battle will be held during X Games at the Circuit Of Americas THIS Friday, June 3rd from 6-8pm. It'll be hosted by Nick Major with live DJ grooves from Klever. I truly hope you can make it out to this spectacle as the audience determines the winner with their screams & yells, so come & "root, root, root for the hooooooome teeeeeeeeam!"

If you happen to have a weekend pass for X Games or plan on being on the closing day of Sunday, I'll also be there doing some LIVE painting for one of the giant sponsors there, LifeProof.  I'll be painting the front & back of large, 3'x 6' "Phone cover" which  I hope you come see me do! You can even point & laugh if you want!

So yeah, I'll be at X Games slinging paint those two days & I really hope to see your xtreme faces there which would make me xtremely happy. I wanted to give another reminder that I'll be at Comicaplooza in Houston June 17-19th, but I'll remind you once more the closer it gets. Reminding is FUN!

Thanks again, friends...see you this weekend!

PAINT WAS SPILT!

Wow.

I'm still reeling from the buzz that was Secret Walls this past Friday. My introduction with this artistic beast has been overwhelming & I've officially caught the bug that makes me want to participate in these events over & over again. Let's see what the future brings...

Recollecting & going back a few days, however, Secret Walls x Houston hosted their very first live art battle in the older, now empty Post Office in downtown Houston. This was a perfect venue for this show as it provided a large space filled with never ending corridors leading to dark, eerie corners reminiscent of a horror film which was especially perfect for the date (Friday the 13th). After I arrived & met the amazing artists I would be either teaming up with or going against, the building quickly began to fill up with ticket holders & supporters. The enthusiasm & excitement was contagious & infected everyone who stepped through the entrance.

The ten artists drew straws & I ended up on the "Short Straws" team alongside Nicky Davis, Pilot FX Crew, Colers Oner & Alex Arzu:

The "Long Straws" had Mez Data, Ruiz, Briks, Wiley & Gelson Lemus:

The teams were picked, each of our 20'x8' blank walls were staring us in the face & we were ready to begin the 90 minute, black & white, art battle.

To say those 90 minutes went quickly is an understatement. It was a whirlwind of spilt paint & cracked beers. We all started on our sections at the beginning of the battle & within 30-40 minutes, our team was moving all over the wall adding to each other's pieces & becoming a unspoken, collaborative monster naturally filling in areas with reckless abandon.

After the timer went off, we stepped back & simply smiled at our creation. Both teams created an awesome, spontaneous wall with all of our personal touches scattered all over it.

The time to relax & come down from this quick, intense, art session wouldn't come just yet, as organizer, Noah Quiles, jumped on stage, grabbed the mic from DJ Anthony Craig Long & started the voting process. There were two guest judges who each picked one of the walls, leaving the tie breaker up to the crowd. The eruption for the murals was the best part of the show, but realizing that it was much louder for OUR wall was the best feeling ever. All artists high fived & hugged it out as the battle came to a close. We spent the rest of the night reminiscing & talking art & wanting to do it all over again.  It really was something special. I've always heard about Secret Walls & even attended a few of the art battles, but to actually participate in it was an amazing feeling. Creating art LIVE in front of people & feeding off their energy & the inspiring energy of all the other artists invloved is my favorite thing ever. That's why I loved San Antonio's old, live art event, ARTSLAM!, so much. As i mentioned, after having this experience, I now want to do this as much as I can! Which bring me to more exciting news!....

I'LL BE PARTICIPATING IN THE SECRET WALLS ART BATTLE AT AUSTIN'S X GAMES!!!

Yessir, I'll be hitting even a BIGGER stage & this time doing a 4 on 4 art battle against some MAJOR paint slingers in the art world. I'll share more info on this later, but us Austin artists who are coming together to take on these four contenders hope to make our city proud!

Finally, I want to thanks EVERYONE who made this Secret Walls x Houston event possible: BRIKS for the invite, Noah & Elia Quiles for the organization & amazing care they took of us, ALL of the AMAZING artists I mentioned above, the volunteers & especially all of YOU who showed their support & made this event a massive success! ALL PHOTOS on this post were taken by David Miyauchi & Joey Jojo. See a LOT more photos from this night on Facebook HERE & HERE.

I'll be seeing you again VERY soon, Houston as I'll be there with my brother in a month for Comicpalooza! I'll also have more info on that later regarding our Table # & the goodies we'll have on hand!

Thanks again for all of your continued supper & love.

xo.

Sssshhhhh...it's SECRET WALLS

A week from today (which happens to fall on a Holiday: FRIDAY THE 13th!!) is something I'm super excited to be a part of. I'm not sure if I'm allowed to tell you due to it's name, but I'M GOING TO ANYWAY!: SECRET WALLS IS COMING TO HOUSTON!!

Yep, if you don't know what Secret Walls is, it's the World's premiere LIVE, black & white only, illustration battle! It first started in 2006 in a small pub in East London & has since expanded internationally. It basically sticks a number of artists against each other in a friendly, TIMED art battle where only black markers &/or paint is allowed. They're given 90 minutes to create on a giant blank area with no planning, sketching or reference allowed...just an all-out, free-for-all, art jam, yo! In the instance for this Friday, the awesome people from Up Art Studio have selected 10 local, amazing artists to go at it in  a 5 vs. 5 Battle Royale! Here's the lineup of artists that will be there:

Admission is FREE if you RSVP via Eventbrite, so do that NOW! Retrospect Coffee, the place where this is all going down, is an intimate space, so room for viewing everything will be limited. If you want to guarantee a spot to watch the whole battle unfold as well as get FREE DRINK TICKETS, I advise you to grab some of the VIP tickets also available at the Eventbrite page. Either way, if you're in or around Houston, you should be there! You can follow Secret Walls x Houston for more info & updates on Instagram, Twitter &/or Facebook, so please show your support in some fashion so more events like this will happen! See you soon, Houston!

#PaintWillSpill

Join Ussssssss....

I'm hoping most of you are familiar with a little podcast known as THE MOVIE CRYPT. It's an amazing show over at Geek Nation hosted by friends & filmmakers Adam Green (Hatchet, Holliston, Frozen, Digging Up the Marrow, etc) & Joe Lynch (Wrong Turn 2, Everly, Chillerama, Knights of Badaqssdom, etc). They have special guests who have all worked in film in one way or another & offers an educational, & often very emotional, look in the belly of the beast that is the World of Film. It's easily one of my favorite podcasts & has become a Monday ritual when new episodes are posted at GeekNation.com.

I've done some work w/ both Adam & Joe in the past, including THIS now sold out shirt design for their hilariously touching tv series, HOLLISTON (season three in the works!!):

A limited edition screenprint for their double feature of Digging Up the Marrow/Everly & LIVE podcast recording at the Alamo Drafthouse (available HERE for ONLY $10!):

& of course, just fan art because they rule!:

NOW, here's something NEW that you guys can wrap your torso in all the while supporting this fine podcast. Adam came to me with a rough design & I simply polished it off where it's now presented in all it's adorably, dark glory.... CULT OF ARWEN!

Arwen is the third (& most popular:) member of The Movie Crypt & her ridiculously cute bark which accompanies the claps that welcomes all guests to the show is music to my earholes. Now you can proudly parade around town with Arwen tattooed on your chest while advertising your devotion & membership to the cutest cult on this planet & beyond...the CULT OF ARWEN! 

Printed in blood red on a super soft, black tee (because seriously...what cult member would ever wear anything BUT black?!), the front has Arwen smack dab in the middle of an upside-down Christmas tree topper surrounded by the words: "CULT OF ARWEN / JOIN US. WE HAVE TREATS.":

 The back of the shirt features the same beautiful black the front offers with the red words: "LISTEN TO THE MOVIE CRYPT" printed on it as well:

These body huggers are available NOW for a special, limited preorder price of $20, so act fast in snatching one up! There are also a plethora of other goodies (including NEW, super RAD 'Hatchet' & 'Holliston' hoodies) at the Ariescope store, so take a moment to look around & throw a few things in your cart. After you check out with the high-fiving satisfaction of supporting Ariescope Pictures, make sure you're all caught up with The Movie Crypt & all the awesome, FREE short films & series that they also offer for your entertainment.

Thank you, friends for taking the time to read this & for your continued support...now I'm gonna go sacrifice a milk bone to my doggie.