New art, stickers

So I finally updated the painting section on www.rickkitagawa.com to include the Alone in the Dark series (thus far) and added some flavor text.  Cool.

This was a painting I did while hanging out at Artspan.  Acrylic on canvas.  The original concept was that he was going to be some creature that sort of fades up into the sky, but I ended up really wanted to paint the background blue, then went with the complementary contrast color scheme and did orange.  So now, he's just a burning mummy sort of "fading up" into the sky, but only via flames, and less ethereal planeshifting.

Also, I have stickers!  They're 2.75" x 2.75".  You can pick them up (for free) at Big Umbrella Studios, or paypal me $1 (or more if you want) and I'll send you a few.    You can also send a self-addressed, stamped envelope to: Rick Kitagawa c/o Big Umbrella Studios, Attn: Create or Die,  906.5 Divisadero St., San Francisco, CA 94115.  Cool.

The Witch

Did this painting on the A-frame sign that we use for Big Umbrella in honor of the Witches of Wonder show that opened Friday night and runs through November 11th.  Eve has two great paintings in it, and there is a lot of other cool work too!

New painting: Spirit of the Lawn

Inspired a bit by the Totoro Forest Project book (although not referenced at all), I recently did this little piece as part of the Spirits Within series.

The spirit of the lawn loves barefoot children, sunshine, and fertilizer (a big distinction, however, is to be made between fertilizer and a dog pooping on it).  Oftentimes, the spirt of the lawn gets lonely and if it is not cared for, will depart from your grass and your lawn will soon wither and become infested with bleak weeds.

11/22/10-12/02/10

Gads, I've been so wrapped up in painting I completely forgot to upload stuff. Guh.  Anyway, here's all the stuff I've been working on the past 10 days.

 This was done for the Monkey + Seal blog.  I am vegan, after all., but Tofurky is pretty damn tasty.

These next few pieces are new paintings I"ll be showing at the Chillin Productions Holiday show and at Big Umbrella's group show on December 9th.

Last but not least, these are digitally inked line drawings for the Monkey + Seal 2010 holiday cards.  I'm working on getting the final card colored and to the press so hopefully we can sell them at the Bazaar Bizarre Holiday Show on the 11th and 12th at Fort Mason.  

The drawings below will be digitally moved around, resized, colored, and etc. all before it goes to press.  Yay!

11/17/10

Work in Progress of a new acrylic painting on canvas.  Not sure if I want to have a pattern on the background, of if I just want it a darker shade of red. 

11/16/10

This was done on a pre-cut wood panel I found at SCRAP.  I'm really into making monsters out of shapes that I didn't come up with myself.  The hat was a bit obvious, but I used the woodgrain as inspiration for the eyes and mouth. 

Acrylic on wooden board.  ~11"x17"

11/15/10

Another new piece.  I'm really digging the dude's weird forehead blisters or whatever they are.  Acrylic on canvas, 11" x 14"

11/14/10

Quick warm-up piece that I really like.  Acrylic on acrylic paper, 9" x 20."

11/13/10

So yes, I technically haven't been posting daily, but I have been making art daily.  When I do traditional work, I feel like there's this big internal block around actually photographing the art and posting it online.  Hopefully after doing some cleaning of the studio it'll be easier.

One of many pieces I'm working on..I think I finally found a style that really feels like me and that I'm happy with.  Acrylic on canvas, 9 x 12.

10/30/10

Acrylic on illustration board.

10/29/10

Acrylic on acrylic paper.  Sigh, I'm always so late when doing traditional work...I hate scanning, or alternatively, taking photos with my phone and then uploading it.  Meh, oh well.  Sorry for the crap photo, but at least I like this little painting.

10/17/10

This is a quick sketch that I did while at APE, day 2.  It's going to eventually be a bird with a huge egg on the beach, and the bird is going to be saying "My anus hurts."
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And yes, I do know that birds don't push eggs out of their anus (they push it out of their cloaca).

10/16/10

I painted this on Saturday, but after being up for 36 hours, I decided to sleep instead of posting this.  Whoopsie.

The text reads "Hmmm, this grass tastes of the faint, nutty aroma of ass"

9/25/10

Tree spirit barfing up moss. 

9/24/10

Fish thing made by smearing paint around, then adding an outline with black acrylic.  Yay.

09/23/10

Quick acrylic experimentation - trying to render form and such without any regard to hue/temperature and to only focus on value.  Kinda worked, but that's what experiments are for.

09/14/10

4 crappy photos of my work I did at my last live painting.  Friend Annie Wang, board member of the Asian American Theater Company (AATC) had a big birthday bash/fundraiser and asked me to paint live.  I ended up donating this piece to AATC to auction off, but I was waaaay too tired to stay around to see who bought it.  Whoever you are, I hope you enjoy it!

Photos: 25 min, 1 hr, 2 hr, 2 hr 45 min/finish

09/11/10

Finished up a quick little acrylic painting I started at the Zine Fest last weekend.  "Zombie Girl - Tessa."

09/03/10

Yet another painting up in Big Umbrella.  Zombie boy.  6" x 6" acrylic on canvas.

09/02/10

Pirate hunter Zanzibar - another painting up in Big Umbrella Studio gallery.