New Art Showings!

FRESH PRODUCE at Anno Domini Gallery in San Jose, CA. Opens Dec. 5. I have 10 pieces in the show. They make great gifts-all work in the show is under $250. Above piece is one of 10 that I have in the show. Contact Anno Domini for purchase.

BLUE SQUARED at Vino Paradiso in Portland, OR. I had 2 pieces in this show. Dec. 3-Jan. 4.

San Francisco Trip

Just got back from a weekend trip to San Francisco. Love that city. This view is from Fort Point just under the south side of the bridge. I love to walk from Crissy Field to this spot whenever I go to the city.
This is the new California Academy of Arts and Sciences. Even though it's been open for a while now the line to get in was very, very long. Worth the wait. It is an amazing place. Great for kids. It's a natural history museum and an aquarium. I especially liked the green building features.
Restaurants
Eating is a big part of travel for me. Went to a few new places in S.F. this time around. I recommend: Chez Mamman-a small french bistro on Portrero Hill, Laiola-Spanish Tapas on Chestnut Street in the Marina and Paul K on Gough in Hayes Valley.

New Illustration Completed

Just finished up this illustration project. It was for a magazine in Canada. Article was about a new energy distribution system. Instead of a main power plant that distributes power to all the homes and businesses in a city, they are working on a system where power and hot water are delivered to a sub-station then distributed to homes and businesses in a small area.



Here are my sketches leading up to the final art. Final art is executed in ink then scanned and layered and colored in Photoshop. I used to work, years ago, in traditional media which was fun but with Photoshop changes and moving things around are so much easier.
I start out with word associations then quickly move on to imagery. I work quickly. Usually the ideas come quickly so I have to catch them.

Here are the sketches that I sent to my client. As you can see, I leave them somewhat rough but put in some tone to give them some oomph. The client choose "E".
I likened the energy distribution system to the human body's circulatory system but instead of one heart I created a body with many hearts or sub-hearts like the system from the story.

Here is the final illustration. It went through a few different versions. I had different versions with variations in the background texture and overall colors. A fun project. Can't wait to see it in print.

Sketchy

Page from my sketchbook.
I usually don't post pages from my sketchbook because my sketchbook tends to be just a dumping ground for ideas and not a pretty thing. I go back to my sketchbooks for ideas for finished art pieces. But, this may provide a view into my process...a jumbled mess :)
I'm currently thinking a lot about monsters. Hmmm.

Making art

Preparing for the FRESH PRODUCE show at Anno Domini Gallery in December. Here are a few process shots. Sneek peak.
Things get a little messy.

Utter chaos. Seems to be the way I work.
This is how my pieces start. I make supports out of panels with framing glued to the back so that the piece appears to float on the wall.

Haloween Illustration by Brian Raszka Illustration

Created this illustration for All Hallows Eve. Enjoy.
For the animated version, visit my site: brianraszka.com

Brian Raszka creates illustrations for editorial, advertising and design.
Brian Raszka Illustration

The Electric Cars Are Coming!

I just found Aptera while doing some web research on electric cars after reading about Chrysler's announcement about their electric cars.
Also see Zap! cars.
The Electric Cars Are Coming! Slowly but surely. Even though the basic technology has been around since what, 1832-35.

Yoga Journal Interviewed Me

I was interviewed for this Yoga Journal article a while ago.
It's appearing on their site now.
It's about how to implement changes in your life.
I gave them my 2 cents on how my wife and I have changed our lives based on our concerns for the environment. Here are some of the changes mentioned in the article and some more that we've made over the years: cycling to work and most of our errands, going vegetarian, growing our own vegetables, composting, changing all regular light bulbs to fluorescent bulbs, taking shorter showers-even turning the water off while you soap up, trying to buy food with less packaging, buying items, when needed, with a long life expectancy, giving away unused items on freecycle and buying less in general and other small changes.
Give it a read.

Society of Illustrators of Los Angeles

These 2 illustrations made it into SILA West 46! Yee Haw!
"Birds Know" and "Gotcha" are in the unpublished/personal section of the SILA 46 web site.

Recent Accolades

This illustration, "Soft Touch", that I created for Benefits Selling Magazine was selected into the prestigious American Illustration 27 showcase. Woop!
From A.I., "...it was one of only 294 images from 7,500 submitted to receive at least 2 votes and is therefore eligible to appear permanently on our web site..."
Art Director; Joe Schlue. Thanks Joe!

Xtracycle

The Xtracycle is done. I repurposed my old, well used mountain bike by installing an Xtracycle Freeradical on the back. Now it's a heavy hauling, off-road touring, winter commuting monster bike. Xtracycle calls it a, "SUB"; Sport Utility Bike.
Rides better than I thought it would. The Schwable Marathon XR tires really soak up the bumps. Took a lot of spacers to get the handlebars up in a comfortable position.
The extra stem will hold a section of handlebar to mount lights and possibly another water bottle cage. Very useful mod as it acts like a big spacer.
This will be my winter commuter as well. With the addition of studded tires for icy conditions.

350 is the magic number

Check out this animated spot by 350.org. I got this via No Imact Man's blog.
Spread the video, er word.

The latest

Straight off the easel, "One Size Fits All". 29.5"x21.5". Mixed-media on paper.

Folly

Recently completed art, "Folly". Mixed media on various substrates.
The right bottom section is a cabinet door that swings out. See it in action.
I started this piece about a year ago and never finished it. I sat in my studio waiting, biding it's time. It apparently didn't want to be finished until now. I find that to be true with some pieces. If I try to force the completion of a piece, it rarely is successful. I've learned over the years that if I come to a block on a particular piece, I should leave it and come back.

Monotype

This weekend I started experimenting with monotypes. I enjoyed the monotype process in art school so it is fun to get back into it.
Here I am using water-based inks and hand rolling to apply pressure to the paper. I'll be experimenting further to see what effects I can achieve. Next step is to get a press.
I did 3 stages of printing on this one but it's still a monotype as it is a one-of-a-kind.

We Can Solve It

Found this over at No Impact Man's blog.
Al Gore's new environmental campaign, "We Can Solve It".
Watch their tv ad below.

my Etsy Store

I've just set up my Etsy store. I have a bunch of abstract, acrylic paintings on there so far and will be adding much more over time. If you have a mind to buy some art, Etsy is a great place to shop.

Art Featured

My art is currently being featured on the on-line literary magazine Thieves Jargon.

the bicycle

I love bikes. Here is the current incarnation of my commuter rig.
New Nitto Randonneur bars, rear rack, stem Acorn handlebar bag and Rivendell Silver bar-end shifters. Rides like a dream.
I've been doing most of my riding on this bike. Even recreational/exercise rides. It has big 37c tires which smoooooth out the bumps. Dare I say it...I may not ride the racing-type road bike again. Yikes. Or, even schlep the mountain bike on top of the car to the trail. We'll see. I am committed to using the car as minimally as possible.
I probably end up driving my car no more than 3-4 times a month now. I'm trying to cut that out-if possible.
I gas up the car about once a month or once every other month. Some experts predict the gas prices going up to possibly $4/gal by the end of spring. Bikes will become more popular as a means of transportation.
There are more bikes coming out that address more practical needs: fenders, racks, wider tires, etc. Check out the above mentioned Rivendell, A.N.T. bikes, Surly, Velo-Orange, Jitensha Studio and many other sources of, "real-world bikes".

New illustrations posted to my main site

I just posted a bunch of new illustrations to my main web site: brianraszka.com
I also posted a nifty new animation on the home page.
I really like how my work is evolving. My work on fine art pieces is making it's way over into my illustration work.

New illustration. Ah, the aroma.

New art

New art for 2008 posted to my main web site: brianraszka.com
I've begun experimenting with some different media: oils, alkyds and encaustic.
I've also organized the fine art section into years. It better shows how I have evolved as an artist.