Mutant Pumpkins From Outer Space

They don't make movie posters like they used to, and being a huge fan of classic horror movie posters, when I was asked to create and paint a few "campy" B-Movie inspired movie posters for their recently released Halloween Special, I jumped at the opportunity. While painting movie posters is fun, I find that the hardest thing about painting these types of classic horror posters is trying to balance all the story and thematic elements into one single image. Anyways, playing with text, cheesy & garish colors, and over dramatising most of the characters and elements in these posters was a lot of fun. Also, thanks to Amid for the kind words and for featuring this on the Brew.

Built To Spill Concert Poster

I recently did this concert poster for the awesome band "Built to Spill." The are playing at the world famous Fillmore in San Francisco over the Halloween weekend, so I was asked to create something with a Halloween flair to it. I ended up with this satanic recording studio featuring the grim reaper on lead guitar and the mummy on vocals.

The official show dates are Saturday October 31st & Sunday November 1st at the Fillmore in San Francisco.

Halloween Print Set Avaliable

With Halloween upon us, I thought I would update my store with a little vampire flavor. The Drinking with Dracula print pack is new, and will be available for a limited time during the Halloween season. The original paintings were shown at the ART & Mayhem Gallery in Los Angeles in 2008. Every print pack consists of all three signed Dracula prints. Check out the Drinking with Dracula Print Set in the store if you are interested in spending sometime with this Halloween drunk.

My Artwork & Print Store Is Now Open

First off, I just want to thank everyone out there who has supported me and this little blog I started several years ago. All the support and positive feedback I've received from all of you out there has been amazing and incredibly inspiring.

Secondly, for a long time now, I've wanted to have a place online that I could offer some prints and artwork for sale but haven't gotten around to creating the website for it. Well, my wife Crystal and I have spent the last month getting the ball rolling on this idea and finally we have a little online store that is now officially open! The Artwork and Print store we've started will be updated regularly with new prints and new original paintings, sketches, and possibly shirts and even toys in the future. There will be a link on this blog to the right that will take you directly there, plus other links that will take you to featured prints. What's available in the store at this moment is just at a small starting place, so if something is missing from the store that you wish was there, just send us an email and we can hopefully add it to the store. Also, check out the Painting Give-A-Way section in the store, there's going to be some opportunities for people to win some free original artwork, so have a look at that if you are interested. If you have any questions please don't hesitate to contact us or simply check out the FAQ section. And if you get a chance, swing by the store and check out what we got.

The piece shown above will be available in the store as a Limited Edition Signed and Numbered Print "She Loved the Man and the Monster." The original piece has been sold. It was featured in the newly released book "The Ancient Book of Sex and Science." The print shown below is one of the smaller 8x10 prints titled "Some Like Them Hot / Some Like Them Cold". These smaller 8x10 prints are all sized to perfectly fit right into any 8x10 picture frame, below is an example of one of the prints placed in an 8x10 Ikea frame.



**Sorry, but the photo shown above has not been color corrected, it's only to show size and scale with an 8x10 frame.

Where The Wild Things Are Gallery Show - Saturday Night

Here is a piece I recently did for the Terrible Yellow Eyes Gallery Show at Gallery Nucleus . The exhibit showcases a huge amount of amazing work all inspired by the greatest book of all time " Where The Wild Things Are." A few months ago, a guy buy the name of Cory Goodby started this great Blog dedicated to showcasing artwork inspired by the book, as a birthday gift for Maurice Sendak, the Author of "Where The Wild Things Are." Since this book happens to be my favorite book of all time, and now that Spike Jonez is making what will be the best movie of all time, naturally i had to participate. So here is my piece. It's actually a 3-D Painting / Sculpture titled "Wish You Were Here." For me, I wanted to explore the feelings and the sorrow that the monsters might have once Max was gone, this idea of holding onto what ever remains after someone has left felt really inspiring to me.



Since this piece is a small 3-D model, I thought I would have fun with the camera and photoshop and see what the movie might have looked like if it was made as a stop motion animated film. As for the real film, I think Spike Jonez has made the movie of my lifetime. This book seems like it could have been made into a thousand crappy films, and once I saw the first poster, I knew that it wasn't going to be a steaming pile. Spike Jonez is a genius, the move looks fantastic, the art direction looks amazing, my only problem with it is I didn't have the chance to work on it. Anyways, the show is gonna be great, if you can swing by Gallery Nucleus this Saturday Night from 6-11pm, you won't regret it, the artwork created by the other artists is inspiring and truly amazing.

"Wish You Were Here"
Mixed Media

Fun with 3-D

I'm guessing the glasses enhance the experience. Sorry for the lack of updates, just returned from a month long series of vacations, and finishing up a bunch of smaller projects, commissions, and trades, will post more real soon. Until then, grab a pair of these future glasses shown above and have some fun.

"Fun with 3-D"
Acrylic / Paper Collage
8.5" x 11"

This Is Los Angeles

So I've been trying to catch up on a lot of little projects, trades, commissions, and paintings for friends and loved ones, and now that the Ancient Book of Sex and Science storm is over I have the time to do it. This is a piece I did for Steven Gettis. He has a blog where he posts drawings and paintings from artists from around the world who do a little something in response to a literary inspiration they have. For me, one of my favorite book illustrators in the world is Miroslav Sasek. His work is stunning and I particularly love the books he illustrated as he traveled the world. Anyways, Sasek never illustrated a "This Is Los Angeles" so I thought I would paint this tribute piece using the concept of "This Is Los Angeles." My real hope is to start working on an entire book illustrating LA the way he illustrated his books. Not to try and carry the torch, but to honor his work in the best way possible, painting what's great, funny, and inspiring about life. I'll post more of my paintings of LA as I finish them.

"This is Los Angeles"
8" x 12"
Acrylic & Collage

Commission Painting

Here is another commission painting I recently finished. The concept was of course a Yeti bar, but one thing I thought would be fun with this piece was if all the patrons at the bar were either Yeti's or frozen climbers/campers that had been found in the snow. In the piece there is obviously a shortage of frozen co-eds in and around the mountains, so one of the Yeti's was stuck having a drink with a frozen dude. Really fun piece to work on, and one of the bigger ones I've painted in a while.

I'm always taking new requests, just email me if you are interested.

"Having a Couple of Cold Ones"
Acrylic and Collage
26" x 8"

Only a few paintings left

There are only a few pieces left from the Ancient Book of Sex and Science Show in LA, and they can be yours if you'd like. I won't be at San Diego Comic Con so you can only get these here. One of the pieces is Acrylic and Collage ("Monster of Science" above), and the other two (below) are digital prints ("What Has Science Done Book Cover and Movie Still"). All Pieces are framed and ready to hang. Email me if you are interested in any of the pieces. These will ship anywhere should you be near or far.

Sorry but "Space Quickie" has been sold. The others are still available.

San Diego Art Show this Saturday Night

Hey everyone. It's been way too long since I last posted, sorry about that, I've found my self busier than I have been in a while. I'll get to replying to all your coments on previous posts ASAP, sorry about that aswell. As for the piece shown above, this is a painting I've done for an upcoming group art show in San Diego. The theme for the show is "Mind Machine" and is being shown at the DISTINCTION GALLERY in Escondido ( just out side of San Diego.) The opening reception is this weekend on Saturday night, the 11th of July from 6pm - 11pm. There are a handful of great artists showing work in this group show so if you aren't busy and are in the San Diego area this weekend swing by the gallery and check out the show. The show will also be availible for viewing and purchasing online, just check the website link above or call the gallery for more info. My work for the show is centered around the life and times of a BrainBot (a human brain with eyes, floating inside of a robotic body.)

A Kiss Before Work
8" x 10"
Acrylic / Collage

Ancient Book of Sex and Science Book Launch & Art Show

It's official, the book has finally arrived and it looks great! Especially next to the hot little Betty holding it, if she's at the show I'm gonna have to try and get her phone number.

If you want to get your hands on a copy of the book, you can this Saturday Night ( May 16th ) from 7pm to 11pm at Gallery Nucleus . We will be having the official Book Launch / Gallery Show for our brand new book "THE ANCIENT BOOK OF SEX AND SCIENCE!" The book will be on sale for $20 a piece, and Scott Morse, Lou Romano, Don Shank, and my self will all be showing brand new artwork in the gallery as well as having some brand new prints available too. All artwork will be for sale, and all four of us will be at the show as well. So if your in the mood for some sexy Sci-Fi art this weekend swing by Gallery Nucleus and check out the show on Saturday Night. Hope to see you all there.

Possible "LOST" Spoiler Alert

So this is quickly becoming a partial Crystal's sketches / Lost blog, which is great since these are two of my favortie things in the world. After last weeks episode of Lost, which was amazing, my wife dissapeared for a while. While she didin't travel through time, she had indeed travled upstais into my art studio, letting destiny play itself out. Moments later I was given this amazing sketch. Miles and all of his troubles. It had been a while since the last drawing, and I wasn't sure if I was going to get another. These awesome sketches seem to be as random as the white flashes on the island. I'm still hoping for a one of Henry Gale but I feel it will be one I never see. Either way, I should just listen and trust in Daniel Faraday... what's happend has happend. You can't change it!

GO SPARTANS!

April 6th:
When I'm not drawing and painting, I love watching and playing sports. I absolutely love basketball, and tonight my favorite college basketball team (Michigan State)is playing for the National Championship. While I'm from California, I have family roots in East Lansing and my Aunt and Uncle worked for the school for years. Not much else to say about this quick painting other than I felt like drawing the school mascot "The Spartans" as I would like to imagine them going into this game ready to kill. I hope they win.

April 7th:
UNC destroyed us last night to put it nicely. Oh well, there's always next year.

The Convict & The Violin

So I'm currently swamped in a ton of projects both big and small, so I thought I'd post something from a little while back. Last year I did this painting as a commission for someone who wanted me to create a piece inspired from a poem they loved. The poem was centered around the meeting of a convict and a young violinist in a train station who both share a common love for music.

10" x 20"
Acrylic / Gouache / Collage

SEX & SCIENCE

Sex and Science
10" x 13"
Acrylic / Gouache / Collage

Another piece of mine from the Ancient Book of Sex and Science. There is this great book series known as the "How and Why Wonder Books" that I just love. It's a book series that focuses on a particular aspect of science in each volume. The covers are so great and inspiring that I thought it would be fun to do a tribute / spoof of one of those covers for our book. So I refrenced one of the covers I really enjoyed and tried to stay true to the format, color, and typography styling. Obviously the edition that I did the cover to is a bit racy for the series, but I think it would be a best seller if it were included.

I painted the piece with acrylic, gouache, and paper collage. The rips and printing effects were done in photoshop after the piece was finished.

Below is the cover I refrenced, it's awesome.





!SHOW UPDATE!

The book release and gallery show will be at Gallery Nucleus on May 16th, 2009. All artwork will be for sale at the show. More info as we get closer to the event. The offical press release is located to the right in the side bar, just click on the book logo.

You should have believed me!

So I'm hoping this becomes a regular thing here, my wife suprised me with a little John Locke magic the other night, and what better time to post it than before tonight's soon to be awesome episode. Now I like Jack as much as the next guy, but let's be honest, if there are two paths in the jungle, you always go with Locke.

"You Should Have Believed Me"
Colored Pencil
Crystal Wragg

Space Quickie

This is another piece of mine for our upcoming book, "The Ancient Book of Sex and Science." This is an idea I had been kicking around in my head for quite sometime now, I always thought it would be fun to have an astronaut sneek his girl into is suit for a sexy good time. The space city below is all paint on collage as are the two space love birds.

20" x 10"
Acrylic, Gouache, and Collaege

Talk Science To Me

We're closing in on the deadline of finishing our new book "The Ancient Book of Sex and Science." I have a few more paintings to finish up by the end of Febuary, so I'll be posting some more artwork for the book in the weeks to come. Above is one of my pieces for the book, coming out in May.

Talk Science To Me
10" x 14 1/2"
Acrylic, Gouache, and Collage

Lost Season 5 Tonight!

So over the past year my wife Crystal and I have finally jumped onto the LOST wagon, and have watched all the episodes to be finally caught up with the series. My wife doesn't draw that often but when she does, I'm her biggest fan. She usually fills my sketchbooks with mean charicatures of me, but the other day she didn't draw me, she drew something different. While we were watching some of season 3, she took on Hurley and it's awesome!! In a perfect world, she would draw all the characters for me, but for now all I get is Hurley. The new season airs tonight, and it's going to be awesome!

"Hurley"
Pen Sketch
by Crystal Wragg

Happy Holidays!

Last winter was the first year that we made a holiday card for friends and family, so if this year didn't go fast enough... it's already that time again, so here is the holiday card my wife Crystal and I are sending around this year. We hope you all have a great holiday season!

M. Sasek Tirbute Painting

This is a tribute piece I did based on the phenominal artwork of Miroslav Sasek. Sasek is easily one of my favorite artists of all time, and when I was asked to create a piece of artwork inspired by my favorite literary figure for this blog created by Steven Gettis I knew exactly who I would pay tribute to. If you haven't seen Sasek's work ( posted below )




I suggest you check it out. The bulk of his work can be seen in the books he illustrated as he traveled the many cities and regions of the world. The title's are a no brainer "This is San Francisco" for example illustartes his trip and all the people and locations he visited in San Francisco. The paintings are beautiful to say the least. For me his work is the perfect blend of cartoon characature, architechture, ladscape and life drawing.

As for the tibute piece I did, rather than picking a city or a place to illustrate him in, I thought it would be best to put him on top of the world, drawing eveything everywhere.

If you are interested in buying any of Miroslav Sasek's books check them out here

Happy Halloween - Hostile Trolls

Happy Halloween everyone! So this seems to be the perfect combination: halloween and hostile trolls. The character design challange over the past two weeks has been hostile trolls. Given the time of year, it seemed like a perfect oppurtunity to cross some boundries, throw taste out the window, and possibly see how some trolls would interact with some trick out treaters.

Other hostile trolls from my good troll friend:

Austin Madsion

The Ancient Book of Sex and Science

Don Shank
Gouache on Watercolor Paper
7.5" x 15"

Update Time! Don, Scott, Lou and Myself ar busy working away on our latest installment of the Ancient Book Series, "The Ancient Book of Sex and Science." Above is the great cover graphic designed by Don Shank and below is a rough Photoshop mock up of how the new book will look. More details on a release date and Gallery Show / Book Release to come. As for now check out the other guys blogs for a sneak peek at some of the great artwork being done for this book.

Mr. Political

So as we all know, the race for president is really heating up. For me, as much as I love political caricatures and cartoons I've never really inserted any politics into my own art work. However, the more I have become wrapped up in he current election, I began to think it might be fun to play a little with some political cartoons. For me I have always loved the charming characters that Roger Hargreaves created for his Mr. Men and Little Miss Series (as seen below). The thing I love most about his style is he has combined such a simple idea with a simple design, and they just work together perfectly. So I thought it would be fun to take the current people involved in the election and politics and blend them with the style that Hargreaves worked in, to create a little series of my own completely inspired by Hargreaves fantastic characters and people in politics. Anyways, here are the first two in my little series of Mr. and Misses Politics. Above we have Mr. Change and Mr. McSame, based off the two presidential candidates. The style has been a blast to work in, and I'll post more all the way up to the election.



Just above : Roger Hargreaves work

Far Above : My work digital 8" x 10"

Commission Work

So over the past year I have been doing more and more commission work and it's been such a blast. So I thought I would slowly post some of the commission pieces I have done. While most of the pieces I have done aren't Yeti related, I thought I'd post a few here to get started. Below are a couple of pieces I did a while back...


This one ( Above ) takes place deep in the dangerous arctic swamps. In these hostile frigid swamps lives the "Arctic Swamp Clops!" Slow moving, but extremely aggressive and irritable. However he his vulnerable to sharp objects like frozen branches and large ice picks.





This one ( Above ) had a bit of a cute story behind it. There is a little girl in Detroit who goes by the nickname "Yeti" and her younger brothers name is Griffin, so a painting for the family with a little Yeti and her Snow Griffin buddy.

I have a bunch more that I'll continue to post in the future.

Both pieces are acrylic / gouache / collage

!Coming Soon! The BEST day of my life!

In the coming weeks I will be blessed and officially sworn in as the luckiest guy in the universe. I'm going to be getting married to the love of my life, my best friend, and favorite person in the whole world. I hate to gush and brag, but when times like these give you so much joy and happiness, I find it hard to hold back my true feelings. Crystal you are the best thing that has ever happened to me, you are my source of joy, laughter, love and inspiration, and I can't tell you how happy I am to be spending the rest of my life with you. Our day is soon on it's way and I can't hardly wait.

These are some of our engagement pictures taken by our inspiring photographer Jeff Newsom. He's hands down my favorite photographer, his blog will only convince you all even more so.

Yeti Vs. Sas Two Pieces Left

Sorry these paintings have already sold.

There are only two pieces left from the show I recently was involved in down in LA, and they can be your's if you'd like. Each piece is 9 x 13" and is Acrylic and Collage and is framed and ready to hang. Email me or comment with your email if you are interested in either or both of the pieces. These will ship anywhere should you be near or far.

Comic-Con 2008 Print Set

THE ANCIENT BOOK OF SEX AND SCIENCE

At this year's San Diego Comic-Con Scott Morse will be selling an exclusive set of 4 individual prints ( one print by each artist ) all limited to 50 signed and numbered copies in promotion of our next Ancient Book which is on track to debut at next year.

The book will again be by Don Shank, Scott Morse, Lou Romano, and myself. The prints are on high quality fine art paper and will run $50 for all four images together in a set. There are only 50 sets, and while these images won't appear in the book they are exclusive to this print set!

Below is my image in the print set. Just a little space station sneak peek!


Lou's, Don's, and Scott's ( Respectively )


Find Scott's booth (4800) at the Comic-Con here...

My Totoro

Here is my donation into the auction for the Totoro Forest Project. We were asked to illustrate what our very own Totoro would be. For me I grew up in the hot central valley in California, where for those of you familiar with that area in the state, there really aren't any lush thriving forests. So with that being said, my summers were spent climbing old trees and playing in the fields out behind my home on the edge of town. So for me, my Totoro has always been a form of a tree spirit, made up of all leaves, sticks, branches and twigs.

16" x 7"

Acrylic and Collage

LA Art Show this Saturday Night

Yeti's and Sasquatches and remote controlled cyborg Narwhals oh my! This coming Saturday night, the 21st of June, I'll be showing some new pieces of mine at the Art and Mayhem Gallery in Glendale, CA. Also showing new pieces that night will be my good friend Devo and Dave Wasson. So come and check out the show if your in the LA area on Saturday night. Check the flyer below for the address info.

Above is one of the pieces I'll be showing. A top secret Yeti Lair, barried deep in a glacier somewhere in the oceans surrounding Antarctica. A prefect location to test out his lethal new remote controlled blood thirsty cyborg Narwhals, not a good place to find yourself tied up.

9" x 13 1/2"

Acrylic and Paper - Cut Out

Art Show in LA

On June 21st I'll be in an art show at the Art and mayhem art Gallery in Glendale, CA. I'll be showing with a couple of great artists, my good buddy Devo, and Dave Wasson. The show will start at 6:00pm and go for several hours with all artists attending with original artwork for sale, as well as some prints, comics and some puppets. For the address, just check the flyer posted above. As for the pieces I'll be showing, they will be a collection of Dracula ( see painting above ) and some of his buddies "The Mummy", and "The Wolfman" going out on the town (local village) for some drinks and some good times. I will also be showing a few new paintings of some kick ass battles between my favorite sworn enemies Yeti and Sasquatch! So come and check out the show opening if you are in the LA area the night of the 21st.

Painting Above

"Thirsty"

6" x 10" Acrylic and Paper Cut-Out