Thursday, January 30, 2014

GREEN DAWN weed issue cover for Willamette Week


For Portland's Willamette Week, for which I am apparently the official illustrator of Marijuana. This job was a blast, and made me think a lot about the old illustrated "Hemp 100" or "Pot 40" pages in the back of High Times that probably influenced me without really knowing it. Why is there not a coffee table book of these? Why do they not do this page anymore? I'm up for it.

Also if you don't know, "Willie Weed", the paper's official marijuana mascot / columnist is loosely based on legendary pothead / hippie / vegetarian basketball star Bill Walton. Anyway. on with illustrations.


Then there's this handy guide to deciding what type of weed to smoke. In order to turn the google spreadsheet they sent me into some sort of manageable illustration I plastered my walls with crazy person diagrams like Carrie in Homeland.



And also a guide to cannabis consumption devices. Until now I had no idea what "Vaping" was. 


And finally a mess of spot illustrations about "dealer etiquette". Read more here.

Cheesesteak Post-Its!


Just for the hell of it. Also they are FOR SALE here.

Max's is basically the Pat's & Geno's of North Philly. BIG cheesesteaks dripping with wiz and mayonnaise (Yes mayo. The grill man suggested it, when in Rome.. ) which you can eat at a booth at the connected 70's era bar. Apparently they are known for their Chicken Steaks too. 


"Secret" South Philly place where no lie the hoagies & steaks are so BIG that people buy an extra roll. It's also a grocery / ice cream / cigarette / video poker store, so expect a eclectic crowd. No Wiz here, and it's the only place I've ever actually been corrected for how I say "Cheesesteak". 


The famous 9th & Passyunk. Everyone loves to hate and say "I'll show you a REAL cheesesteak place" but Pat's does it better than most. Meat is slightly chopped into bite size pieces, not hammered into ground beef slop, or barely chopped so that a whole slice falls out when you bite into it (Geno's). The fixin's bar is fairly clean, onions are cut & cooked right, the rolls are fresh, the wax paper is awesome, the people watching always superb.


If you don't want to wait in line at Pat's head down to Phil's at the bottom of west Passyunk, basically Passyunk & Oregon Ave, for a similar but more "deep south philly" outdoor dining experience, and really really really good cheesesteaks. My favorite is wiz with longhots cooked in with the steak, they also supposedly do a killer version of the "Milano" or "Old Fashioned" cheesesteak which is sliced tomatoes, provolone and a shake of oregano.


The best cheesesteak in the city, and also the most offensive. Well at least until they changed their name to Joe's. You can read about the debate elsewhere. What is almost undisputed is that they make the absolute best cheesesteaks in the city. 


All of these are "long roll" cheesesteaks, as opposed to "seeded italian roll" cheesesteaks which tend to be bigger and considered more authentic by some people, including myself at one point. After a couple of years, I actually prefer a softer "long-roll", but not TOO soft. Del Buono's Bakery is the best at this. I'll stick with seeded rolls for hoagies, for which it's really the only way to go. 

Wednesday, January 29, 2014

Times Square Super Bowl Boulevard for Variety Magazine


Recent illo for Variety Magazine about the "Super Bowl Boulevard" taking over Times Square and Broadway.


Love getting jobs like this even though it's tough to get the same level of detail as my Philadelphia neighborhood drawings while under a tight deadline. Anyway Variety was awesome to work with, hope to do it again soon. 

Tuesday, January 14, 2014

Custom Food Paintings


Put the call out for custom food paintings before the holidays and got a great response. Thanks everyone who ordered one! And thanks for choosing really great stuff for me to paint such as the Filipino breakfast staple Spamsilog, and Lafayette Coney Island a.k.a. the best hot dog place in the world.



I'm happy to do custom paintings at any time although the prices will be a little higher and wait time longer than during the holidays since I'm almost out of good sized wood slabs.








Wednesday, January 8, 2014

Repo The Genetic Opera cosplay VS Rocky Horror Fans


For Willamette Week in Portland. About the Clinton Theater which plays Rocky Horror to costumed fans every Saturday night, and "Repo The Genetic Opera", a dystopian industrial-rock opera (film) starring Paris Hilton and a guy from Skinny Puppy, for which people also dress up for. 

Read more here - AP Film Studies: Odd Future