Hello friends,
I just put up a few original paintings at my etsy store, Burgerfoot Botique. Check ‘em out!
I also have a ton of handmade notebooks for sale in the Mission at Needles and Pens on 16th St in San Francisco. This is a rad little shop which features handmade goodies, self-published authors and artists, and neat gifts for your loved ones. Support your local artists!
A little laugh to close out your weekend 
Plug in your headphones, turn the volume up and view in full-screen HD.
For Memorial Day weekend, my parents and I rented an awesome Dodge Caravan and drove up to Vallejo to visit my eldest brother Erick, my sister-in-law Lillie, their husky-malamute Oso and our beloved Cooper, whom we put under their care since our house was foreclosed and we moved into our apartment that doesn’t allow pets.
Erick had a small gallery show with two other Vallejo artists, classic African-American cartoonist Goodie Goudeau and hip-hop comic artist Age Scott. It was held at the Umpqua Bank, which does annual community events.
Goodie was awarded with a plaque of appreciation by the city of Vallejo for his decades of influential work and also sat with attendees to draw caricatures. Age had work displayed and sold his comic booklets. Erick sold prints, sketch booklets and character trading cards, gave out D.Bot stickers and had his work on display.
Erick’s vivid character paintings were super popular. It was so awesome to see my brother’s work on a wall. He’s been doing gallery showings for years, but this is the first time I’ve finally had the chance to attend one. I’m so stoked to see my big bro doing what he loves!
When I was a kid, Erick was already in high school. We’re 7 years apart, so his interest in art made a very big impression on me at a young age. I’d see him tracing or drawing comics and cartoons, emulating his favorite artists and also getting a feel for his own work. He drew recognizable characters and then later created his own. Erick used tons of mediums, including graphite and airbrush, and then later acrylic and watercolor. Years later, when I entered high school and he was leaving home for college, he gave me his big old tackle box full of acrylic paints and brushes. I “played” with them until I got more serious about painting during my junior and senior years. Today, I continue to paint and draw for enjoyment and Erick and I love discussing artists and comics and using different mediums. He’s probably the biggest influence on my becoming an artist.
Neighborhood events like this gallery show are so awesome. It’s really important for a community to give recognition to their local artists and build upon and maintain its culture. What with the public school system pulling out right-brain stimulating programs like art and music, children will need to be exposed to the Arts in other ways. This is where their local environment comes in. Without the provision of creative outlets to inspire young people to utilize their imagination and support cultural growth, I see a desolate and monochromatic future.
To see more of Erick’s work, check out his blog –
http://erickdamaso.blogspot.com/
I’ve been meaning to post my old artwork spanning back from high school, so here they are –
2003
Bush Addicted, mixed media
2004
Still Life With Doll, charcoal
Miz Ratched, mixed media
Cuckoo's Nest, mixed media
McMurphy, pencil
Mr Blonde and Mr Orange, acrylic
Mr Pink and Mr White, acrylic
Fusion, oil pastel
Hurt, acrylic
"Unhappiness" with William Blake images, acrylic
"Reach for the Stars", acrylic. This painting won me a $300 scholarship
Algebra 2B, mixed media
2005
Dorothy Dandridge, pencil
There Is No Disneyland, mixed media
Office Zombie, mixed media
Hitman, acrylic
Grotto, acrylic
I Dreamed It, mixed media
Self-portrait with Guitar, acrylic
Self-portrait, pencil
Cystic Fibrosis, mixed media
The Brokenhearted Break Hearts, mixed media
Blind Watercolor
Mrs K, watercolor
Self-portrait with Hand, acrylic
I see with my Heart, mixed media
2006
Zombie Mural based on a zed from Tony Moore's The Walking Dead, pencil
Winged Lucha Bear Collage, mixed media
2007
Margot Tenenbaum, oil pastel
Self-portrait, painted over a Polaroid, mixed media
Come Home, mixed media
K7, mixed media
The Music in My Heart, unfinished, mixed media
Self-portrait Pop, acrylic
Shadowman, acrylic
"Elephant With Serpent Trunk". A Francisco Goya/William Blake fusion. Acrylic
Kamikaze, pencil + graphite
Mushrooms, graphite
Skull, black and white conte
2008
My absolute favorite/pride and joy -- Leather Jacket Over Chair , vine charcoal
Headless Barbie Doll Still Life, vine charcoal
Chair, vine charcoal
Ox Head, red conte
Aerial Still Life, vine charcoal and ink wash
Horse Head, vine charcoal
Gartsman, acrylic
Adlard Zombie, acrylic
Big Adlard Zombie, acrylic
My Teeth, acrylic
Done last night, both based on old sketches. These are not as good as the sketches…
Don't fuck your cousins. Because this is what your kid will look like.
Self-portrait done from a sketch of a photo of me at the L.A. Zoo in 2006... or 2007...?
Before I started using the larger Moleskins, it all started with little spiral-bound reporter memo books. And then I graduated to Moleskin pocket books and started adding scraps. And then came the bigger books, and, well… the rest is pretty much history. Here’s a look at a couple of my earlier journals –
2006, 2007
"12/06 - 6/07" -- When I worked at the gun store
Metal kids at the Whiskey
In the waiting room at the dentist
"August 2007 - December 2007" -- When I worked at the porn shop
Inside cover
Self-portrait polaroid
At the Manor with Myly
Notes
Vegas
Concept for art piece and Self-portrait in ball point pen
I am a recorder of events; an accountant of dialogue. Because I am a writer, I observe and collect. I am my own historian. When I am gone, the world will know I existed because of these journals.
I was inspired by the work of photojournalist Dan Eldon. I created a journal for a photography final project a few years ago, using his book, The Journey is the Destination, as a template. The following summer I worked on a journal chronicling a trip to Las Vegas for my 21st birthday.
Every now and then I plan to scan and post pages from aforementioned journals (and my current one). I encourage you to start one; I find it to be great meditation as well as a tool for reflection and personal growth.
