Greens and Rufus.
JUL 11 2010
Aw, yeah... Om Records made a promo video for the upcoming "Live Like You Wanna Live" album by Greenskeepers. Greens is doing some fist pumping, y'all!

I've been working on a new character called "Rufus". Check him hollering at the ladies while driving his Posrche 356 at night. It's how he rolls.

VGS X Greenskeepers.
JUN 20 2010
Look for Greens (the character that I designed for James Curd of Greenskeepers) on the cover of the upcoming album "Live Like You Wanna Live" by Greenskeepers. Om Records will release this album in July. Woohoo!

Oh, snaps! I got up in San Francisco, and I didn't even know it!

And there is even a contest! Animate Greens at Creative Allies for a chance to win the Sony Vegas Creative Software Suite (value $699) and $300 activation fee. Word!

Mini NookaNooka Artist Series Two Launch and Veggiesomething Signing
MAY 30 2010
If you are in Chicago on Saturday (6/5), be sure to stop by at Rotofugi. Nooka will be launching their Mini Nookanooka Artist Series Two and have asked me to do a signing. Woohoo!

Mini NookaNooka Artist Series Two
MAY 16 2010
I was honored to be invited to be a part of the Mini NookaNooka Artist Series Two by Matthew Waldman of Nooka last year. NookaNooka is an urban designer vinyl toy designed by Matthew that acts as a representative for his Nooka brand. It looks like the Artist Series Two is about to be released in a few weeks. Woohoo!

Check out the series below...

The artist for this series shown below are (L-R) Veggiesomething, Room 322, Mad Barbarians, and Matthew Waldman...

Here's a closeup of my design...

Busy Busy
MAY 16 2010
Things have been quite busy here at the VGS HQ. I was recently invited to do a live painting and signing at C2E2 by the fine folks at Nerd City. The event was a lot of fun, and I got to see a couple of people that I haven't seen in over a decade.

Below was the painting that I did...

I've also started looking into silkscreening. Below is a prototype cushion that I did...

First Letterpress Print Now On Sale in Our Shop
APR 20 2010
Woohoo! Our first letterpress print is now available for purchase at our online shop. We letterpressed the design using gold ink on thick acid-free creme A7 sized (approx. 5"x7") paper. It is in an edition of 80 and is only $15 plus shipping. Check it out at our online shop. Word.

Atomic Apples and Brees Illo
APR 13 2010
Every so often, I feel the need to create something completely new. This usually means that a new character line would be in the horizon. And this time, it was no exception.

I've been fascinated with apples lately. I'm not sure where this fascination came from or how it was inspired. Nonetheless, I started playing with the idea of doing an apple based character line. Since I wanted to do the line in a different style, I decided to take on the kawaii style as it just seemed to be the best fit.

I also decided on the name of "Atomic Apples" for the character line. Below are some of the apples and the vibe of the line...

I was asked by pyromaniac.com to do an illustration of Drew Brees by himself after the Saints won the Super Bowl. Below was the illo that I did for them...

It's a Festival!
APR 13 2010
Well... Sort of... The Chicago Comics and Entertainment Expo (C2E2) is a new convention that is slated to take place at the mega huge McCormick Place on April 16-18. The fine folks at Nerd City will be at Booth 865 and have asked me to do a live painting/signing so I will be at the booth on Saturday (4/17) from 1pm to 3pm. Woohoo!

I will be releasing a new letterpress print at the signing and some super limited new stickers.

Some new (and some old) button designs will also make an appearance.

I will also be brings some VGS classics like my House of Liu mini figures and my Hells Yeah! teeshirt. Dilly that!!!

Past Blast and Numb Fingertips
APR 3 2010
Revise mentioned that he was moving when I dropped him off so I picked up my artworks from him the other day. He had been storing the pieces that I did for our Cartel show after we got them back from Wootini.

Below is one of the pieces that I did for the show. I remember having a lot of fun doing the piece and composing it as I went along. Silkscreen and acrylics on fancy paper were used for this dilly.

About a week ago, I tried to be fancy. The fanciness took way longer than expected and one of my fingertips has been numb ever since. I had no idea that I was cutting off the circulation at the time. Fortunately, the fingertip seems to be getting better with each day. I look forward to the day of total recovery. (It's really weird typing with one numb fingertip - just in case you were wondering.) In the meantime, I thought I would find other avenues to achieve a similar fancy style. I still need to finess it a bit, but below is the initial result.

Carrybot
MAR 28 2010
Steve Talkowski (the creator of Sketchbot) recently held a Custom Sketchbot Show at Myplasticheart. I had the honor and pleasure of being one of the artists invited to participate in the show.

 

I did a lot of thinking on what to do for the custom. I finally ended up deciding to create my character Carry as a Sketchbot. I also decided to try something a bit different by using felt along with the usual acrylic paint to complete the custom.

Below was the result.

 

 

If you find yourself in NYC before April 23rd, be sure to check out the show at Myplasticheart. There are a lot of really AMAZING customs in the show.

If you would like to purchase Carrybot, please go here.

Design Hustler
MAR 21 2010
Love him, or hate him, Karim Rashid has one of the strongest hustle in the design game. Not only does he has the vision, he has the ability to communicate it effectively via visual, physical, and verbal means. Surprisingly, this vision/commnications thing is kind of rare in the design world. Sure, there are lots of designers that are able to communicate their visions visually and physically (it's their job after all), but very few do it effectively with words. Rashid is able to communicate holistically time and time again, and he does it with style.

I first stumbled on Rashid's work sometime in the mid 90s. I didn't love all the organic blobs in his work, but I knew that was just my personal preference. I loved sharp edges and lines at the time.

However, I found myself actually drawn towards the blobby design style when I saw Rashid's work with Umbra. There was just something about the Garbo Can and the Oh Chair that resonated within me. To this day, I credit those designs by Rashid along with the Ikepod watches designed by Marc Newson for making me liking the blob.

Anyway, Rashid is at it again. This time he tackled reusable water bottles with replaceable filters. The product is called Bobble and is available at Bobble Water. I'm totally in love with design and the concept.

A Shop and a Video
MAR 02 2010
The Veggiesomething Online Shop has been set up for the upcoming sale of the AP Sifu Monk (minus the buy button - until 1PM CST on 3/11 anyways :p).

I also made a video to show the red LED lights in action. The lights didn't come out as vibrant in the video as in real life, but I think it still gives the people an idea of how they look.

The Full Reveal
FEB 25 2010
Labors of love. It took me forever to release the AP Sifu Monks because I didn't want to interfere with the sales of the monks at the different retailers at first. I also decided that I wanted to do something special with the APs other than just painting or signing them. I looked into a bunch of ideas, but they all turned out to be way too costly as I wanted the APs to sell for less than $100. After months of different revisions and attempts in trying to battle the cost without any success, I finally gave up and decided to do this release for the fans and not worry about the profits. Once that was decided, I then encountered problems with acquiring some of the parts for the project. Delays after delays - these APs turned out to be truly labors of love.

And now for the full reveal...

Edition Size: 3
Price: $80 + shipping
On Sale Date: Thursday, 3/11 at 1pm CST
Location: veggiesomething shop

The AP Sifu differs from the standard Sifu in the following ways: The AP has flashing red LED and hand painted gold stars for the eyes. There is an acrylic VGS speech bubble on the top of head. The spear tassels were also hand painted. The AP comes in a vintage-like (slightly weathered) wooden box.

Geo Confusion Three
FEB 23 2010
This time it features Papa from Cash and Carry.

Plan F Sneak Peek 4
FEB 23 2010
The top of the wooden box for the AP Sifu Monk. Here's the last sneak peek before the full reveal...

Geo Confusion Two
FEB 22 2010
Sometimes it is fun to play some more. This time it features Simone from Sugar Bandits.

Beware of the White Tigers!
FEB 22 2010
I started this design last year, but never finished it since winter was approaching at the time.

With the coming of the new spring, I asked the guys if they were still down with doing the mini velo club. Everyone was still into the idea so i re-visited and finished the design.

The design will be going on the back of black track jackets with white pipings.

Winner!
FEB 19 2010
Woohoo! The postman delivered some awesome goodies from Nazzy Naz and the fine Weightshift crew today.

I heart great people, great designs, grey shirts, and CMYK. I also heart electronic music with bleeps and blops. So it's win - win - win - win - win for this little camper.

Look for the shirt on sale at Weightshift's Online Shop soon. The "It's All in Our Histories" cd by Murders and Mysteries should be up for sale soon as well!

Thanks, Naz!

Geo Confusion
FEB 18 2010
Sometimes it is fun to play...

Plan F Sneak Peek 3
FEB 17 2010
Portion of the label that's inside of the lid of the wooden box. I'm also using my chop for the signature on this one. Here's the third sneak peek...

Plan F Sneak Peek 2
FEB 16 2010
Gold and electric. Here's the second sneak peek...

Plan F Sneak Peek 1
FEB 14 2010
Something is brewing at the Veggiesomething HQ! Here's the first sneak peek...

Ring Light Experiment
FEB 09 2010
I've always loved the look of ring lighted or ring flashed portraits. I think the ring makes everyone look way better - more "blended" in the areas where they need to be and more "popped out" in the areas where they need to be.

I was at the store the other day and stumbled upon a LED ring light. The light wasn't made for cameras, but the hole in the center of it seemed to be big enough to fit over the lens of my point and shoot digital camera. Since it was super cheap, I thought I would give it a shot.

After playing around with the new light setup for a bit, I noticed that the cheap ring light does indeed give the desired "blended" and "popped out" effect. However, it also seemed to be adding a redish hue over the images. I wonder if the added redness was from my hand and fingers from holding the light to the camera.

Nonetheless, here are the photos for a comparison. Cheap LED ring light on the left and no LED ring light on the right.

Vanguard Goodies
FEB 02 2010
Minivelos are compact bikes aimed at adults that are generally built around 20" (sometimes smaller) tires and can be folding or non-folding. The non-folding types are generally "styled" after 700C road bikes, but they sometimes remind me of the formula 1 bmx bikes of the late 80s and early 90s. Minivelos of all types are quite popular in the urban areas of Asian countries such as Taiwan, Japan, and South Korea - basically, where space is an issue.

Since I'm a huge fan of great designs that are also small and compact, I instantly fell in love with the minivelos when I first saw a photo of one on the internet a couple of years back.

I immediately began to search for more information about them after seeing the photo. Whie doing the research, I noticed that people in the western world have very little appreciation for them.

"Clown Bikes". That's the description that the western haters would often use for the minivelos. And that's cool - I guess - because in a way, I'm glad that there is not a lot of love for them in the western world. It only means that they won't become a trend and I won't see any hipsters or bike snobs on them here. Woohoo!

Anyway, I stumbled upon a couple of fantastic minivelos from Vanguard Bicycles out of Singapore today.

Checkout these goodies...

AXL MESSENGER BIKE
"Small in size but big on speed, Axl is your ticket to a quick getaway on a mini vélo. Inspired by and designed for the urban cyclist in major metropolis, Axl is built as a interchangeable fixed-gear and single-speed messenger bike. Easy to manage in the smallest of apartments and with a fuss-free maintenance, Axl is a go-getter created for the progressive minded cyclist."

ZUCCA VELOCOMMUTE BIKE
"From the trendy streets of Tokyo and Osaka, Vanguard’s pick for this month is mini-frame, single-speed Zucca! Custom-built and fabricated with a brand-new, lugged 8-speed Bianchi mini-velo frame and coaster brakes, this super cool city commuter is easy to handle, fast and light! You might even churn those cheeky bar spins during beer runs or from an espresso too many!"

Hello Hello!
FEB 01 2010
Don't call it a come back.

Okay.

Maybe you can.

If you like.