GARZA ARTE

Weekend With the Sams

2012-02-01T15:05:00.000-08:00

This past week our besties Sam & Samantha visited us and we had a really great time doing a lot of fun stuff with them and taking them out to cool AZ places. Sam even got a sweet tatt from my boi Paul Ski.

I got a couple small tatts too, Sam and I both got the same cross. #BloodinBloodout

Damn, what a great time with great friends.

Can't wait to see them again, now its back to work. #realtalk

Lowriding

2012-01-24T15:06:00.000-08:00

#lowandslow

Coloring Book Submission

2012-01-22T21:44:00.001-08:00

Here is a drawing I just did for a submission for a rad coloring book! Thanks to Sam for the heads up!

Fast as shit

2012-01-20T15:06:00.001-08:00

Sum doodles.

Girl Put in Work

2012-01-18T08:49:00.000-08:00

Here's a new ink drawing with gouache, sorry for the cruddy iphone pic...

This was inspired by listening to a lot of The Weeknd, this dood is killer.

Aztec Girl

2012-01-10T07:47:00.000-08:00

Here's a new painting I finished this past weekend, watercolor and ink in my new Moleskine huge watercolor sketchbook.

I've always been intimated drawing more detailed stuff like these crazy headresses that the Aztecs and Mayans wore, but was inspired to do this thanks to Charissa's really sweet paintings, see them here!

2011 Re-cap

2012-01-02T21:52:00.000-08:00

Been bad at posting these, but starting off the new year right I guess. Happy 2012 fam!

FELIZ NAVIDAD!

2011-12-24T15:56:00.000-08:00

Hope everyone has an awesome Christmas and has a good time eating lots of food and spending time with family. I know I'm going to get my fill of tamales, beans, rice, big red, and cookies.

Drew this for Chingo Bling last year homes!

Leap Dogs/HeartPhx video

2011-12-12T12:30:00.000-08:00

This past weekend Casey and I boothed at Downtown Mesa's 2nd Friday art walk, we froze our butts off, but passed the time eating trail mix, sneaking beer (thanks Brittney!), and trying to flip Casey's cigs in our mouths, almost into each others too! Thanks to everyone that came to our table and bought stuff!

I dunno why I brought my paintings, but I took them down after a bit because I felt like a derp trying to sell them there...

#LEAPDOGS

Here's a video from the HeartPhx event I painted at in October, I make a small appearance too!

Oh, and I haven't had a chance to make this tribute to La Virgen de Guadalupe show but my name is on the flyer and I have a painting up!

Holiday Card

2011-12-06T14:59:00.000-08:00

Here is a holiday card I drew up.

Going to see if I have enough time to print this and mail with a promo package to some prospect clients. Also working on a collabo card with Stephanie to send out to friends and fam. Happy Holidays y'all!

Happy B-Day Paulski

2011-12-02T13:13:00.000-08:00

Drew this up for my homie Paulski's birthday today.

New Blog/Twitter Design

2011-12-01T09:55:00.000-08:00

Much needed update to the look of the blog and twitter, ah I feel better now.

Can you tell I inked the comic above with the parallel pen? Keep forgetting to refill my brush pen...

Mini Sombrero Girl Painting/ALAC Virgen Show

2011-11-23T08:11:00.000-08:00

Been working on some new mini paintings and illustrations lately, could possibly be good for gifts too. This one is about 5x7in and is done with ink and watercolors, love how the colors came out.

And here's a bigger piece in progress for a postcard I'm working on.

Also, one of my wood panel paintings of the Virgin Mary is going to be in a group show called "Celebrando La Virgen de Guadalupe" coming up in December at the ALAC gallery in Phoenix. Really excited to be able to have one of my paintings show at this awesome Latino gallery along with other notable Chicano artists.

Immortal Technique/Luis Valdez

2011-11-18T14:31:00.000-08:00

If this week couldn't get any better after seeing People Under the Stairs KILL it last night in Tempe, today Immortal Technique is going to be doing a benefit show for Puente AZ. It's seriously going to be EPIC.

And the Legendary Luis Valdez spoke today at my work, really great story teller and really inspiring lecture. I even got a pic with him! This dude was in the thick of the 60's Chicano movement and fought alongside Cesar Chavez! Keeping this pic forevs.

P.U.T.S.

2011-11-17T14:25:00.001-08:00

Gonna see them peform tonight! #ahhhyea #LA

REST IN POWER DJ SCREW

2011-11-16T14:36:00.001-08:00

Eleven years ago today we lost the great DJ SCREW. Pay respects and bump some screwed & chopped music today and po' one up for the homie!

#HTOWN #Screwedupclickporvida

Sketchbook Dewdles

2011-11-16T10:56:00.000-08:00

I've been posting some recent doodles on my twitter(@garzaarte) but totally forgot to put them here!

Classic Chicano imagery, Aztec Warrior and Princess, totally want this tatted on me!

Saw this post on a blog, decided to draw it up and put up on my wall at work for motivation.

Dry Brush Paintings

2011-11-14T08:32:00.000-08:00

This past weekend the weather was so nice, cloudy and rainy, perfect time for painting watercolors and drinking hot french press coffee. I got some cheap frames at Goodwill too so I can start filling them up with some paintings and filling our house with art(finally...)

Here are a couple paintings I did with gouache and tried messing with a dry brush technique. The first painting I think I overdid it but the 2nd one I like the results better.

Oh yeah, and my friend bought one of my favorite live paintings I've ever done for his new house, congrats man!

Portfolio Site Update

2011-11-07T11:47:00.000-08:00

Finally got around to updating my portfolio site. I'm really pleased with how it came out, let me know what you think! www.jongarza.com

Dia De Los Muertos

2011-11-02T13:59:00.000-07:00

Live Art at Heart PHX

2011-11-01T13:32:00.001-07:00

This past weekend I did live art at a Heart PHX event. I was sort of dreading doing live art because it had been so long since I last painted in front of drunk fools, but it actually turned out good and I finished my painting that night too. I also met a couple cool artists and the event went really well overall, it's cool to see more people involved in promoting the art scene here in Phoenix. Thanks Regi for having me out that night!

Firme Chola!

MTNW 2

2011-10-27T12:20:00.000-07:00

I got so much praise from the first run of this design and people asking if I still had any shirts left that I decided to do a 2nd print run but in a totally different colorway!

This run will be all hand dyed and printed as well but in a tealish shirt color and with a golden yellow ink. Again, only $12 (plus $2 shipping U.S) and you'll get some free goodies too! You can get yours here!

Thanks again for the support homies!

SPINA SWAG

2011-10-25T15:22:00.000-07:00

Sam's been killing it with his new facebook friends portraits on his tumblr.

I decided to do my own version of him!

#pokemon

HENRAY Halloween Mini Comic/Pumpkin Carving party

2011-10-24T10:57:00.000-07:00

Finished putting together 100 copies of my new 12pg Halloween mini comic, HENRAY! This is my first KID FRIENDLY comic that I will be giving out to kids(with candy and stickers included) on Halloween next week. Story is about a monster kid trying to find the perfect costume for Halloween.

I'll be sending these out to friends too, if you want a copy send me your address at garzadesign@gmail.com, I probably have your address but just in case!

We also had a pumpkin carving party this past weekend, everyone did a an awesome job carving creative stuff. I really like Steph's cupcake pumpking! I also had fun carving a portrait of Rick Ross (the biggest boss).

Heard he had a heart attack recently, get better Ricky Rozay. #9piece #maybachmusic #bitchigot8ballz

Based Dog

2011-10-19T11:21:00.000-07:00

The Based God...

The Based Dog. #Masterchefswag

Learn how to cook.

#lilb #Icook #cookingmusic #swag

Halloween Monster Homies

2011-10-18T10:27:00.000-07:00

Here is a series of 3 illustrations I did for a Halloween party we are hosting soon, their going to be hung up in our house to add to the spooky decor of the party.

and also, I'm working on a mini comic that I will be giving out to trick-o-treaters and friends coming to our shindig, meet HENRAY!

Catfish Billy

2011-10-14T16:31:00.000-07:00

Instead of going to the AIGA Pivot conference last night I went to see YELAWOLF!!
And he totally killed it last night!

The AIGA conference was way too expensive anyways.

H-TOWN Allstars

2011-10-12T22:57:00.001-07:00

Reppin till the day i die! #RIPDJSCREW #RIPPIMPC

Check out Sam's swagged out post about #HTOWN

Show Recap

2011-10-10T20:43:00.001-07:00

The show had a really great turn out, and I met so many awesome local artists and designers that night too. I have to say that this show was probably the most legit show I've ever had. I had an awesome wall space, the gallery was really nice looking too, I showed with other sick artists that I hope to collab with soon, and I even had vinyl letters of my name on the wall too!

Sorry for the shitty photos, I just used my iphone...

A little last minute promo, got these mexican candies and put my own label on em, thanks to the homie Damien for sparking the idea! Oh and if you ordered a shirt I sent you some!

Also, the next day there was a happy hour at this awesome mexican food restaurant in a swank hotel in Phx, The Clarendonfor design week, and I met some more cool people and got to see my poster I submitted for the PHXDW poster contest hung up along with Damien's poster that he submitted too.

mines that big red AZ state poster, Damien's is below.

All and all, a freaking awesome weekend, this week is going to be busy too going to more PHXDW events. #designlife

Mi Vida Tex Mex TONIGHT

2011-10-07T12:46:00.000-07:00

If your in PHX, you better come out foo!

Gracias!

The Making of Make Tacos Not War Shirt part 2

2011-10-06T11:27:00.000-07:00

Finished making my shirts! Check out the process below!

Hopefully be shipping them out by this weekend. Thanks so much for buying my shirts!

Hanging Wood

2011-10-04T09:25:00.000-07:00

Last night was at the gallery hanging up my new work for the show this Friday at Monorchid gallery. Really cool to meet the other artists I'm showing with in person and see their work too. Both Safwat Saleem & Sebastien Millon have such amazing work and I'm stoked to show with them! It's going to be a really sick show and the most legit show I've been part of.

And in other news, we got our BAD ASS shirts and book that my homie Sam made! Came out killer dude! So Proud of you!

Show Preview

2011-10-03T14:03:00.000-07:00

Getting my stuff ready to hang tonight at the gallery! #excited

I'll have photos/video up later this week of the printing of the t-shirts.

T-shirt Process part 1

2011-09-28T12:32:00.000-07:00

Stay tuned for part 2!

Make Tacos Not War Shirt Pre-order

2011-09-27T11:11:00.000-07:00

For my art exhibition(Mi Vida Tex Mex) coming up in a couple weeks I am going to hand print a limited run of t-shirts! I will only have this shirt design available for those who pre-order them this week. The deadline to get yours is by this Friday, the 30th, ordering stops at midnight. After that the t-shirt will not be available, FOREVER. The reason for the short deadline is that I am going to print them this weekend!

I am only going to print however many shirts people order so that way I'm able to keep this shirt really limited which makes it extra special to be able to own one.

"Make Tacos Not War" is not a phrase I came up with, but I put my own style on it because it relates to my show that's themed around my influences being from San Antonio, Texas. And let me tell you, TEX-MEX folks LOVE Tacos!

This limited shirt is ONLY $12!

Buy your shirt now!

Mi Ruca!

2011-09-26T08:54:00.000-07:00

Got some new ink!

Thanks to the homie Paulski!

Still got a lot of painting work to do in the next couple days!!! Plus t-shirts too?? stay tuned...

A Failed Entertainment Promo Teaser

2011-09-22T07:56:00.000-07:00

Check out this short teaser video I made for the show I'm in soon!

Untitled from jon garza on Vimeo.

Luis Valdez Poster/Beauty Products Poster

2011-09-21T10:31:00.000-07:00

With the Failed Entertainment show coming up for PHXDW I've been working like a crazy finishing up paintings and getting things together for the show in a few weeks (I'm planning on printing shirts to sell at the showing too!). But anyways I've also been busy designing posters too for work and outside of work. Here is a poster that got rejected for an event at the college I work at, where the legendary Luis Valdez will be speaking. He is a bad ass Chicano artistic director who directed the movie La Bamba and started the Teatro Campesino and worked along side Cesar Chavez. So, there was some pressure to make this poster awesome, I drew up the illustration and used the red and black colors to symbolize the efforts he made with the United Farm Workers Union. However, a more general poster design was made for the event instead...lame! I think I might make a print of just his illustration and have him sign it!

And this poster is for an exhibit called Adlibs for PHXDW where designers were paired up with copy writers to come up with a product and make a poster for it. My partner was Vera Springett and she came up with the copy while I did the design. I like how she took my silly ideas and made them work!

Doing Me

2011-09-15T11:14:00.001-07:00

Working on a lot of exciting new stuff at the moment, keeping the momentum going and doing my thing as best as I can.

#I'monone

Stickers!/A Failed Entertainment Show

2011-09-14T10:37:00.001-07:00

Yup, finally got stickers! I'm giving them free with every order so go to my shop and buy some stuff and get some free stickers!

Been working really hard on finishing up paintings for this show in October that I'm part of, check out the facebook event here and also on a side note, I'm going in for a 2nd interview today for a new job opportunity, nervous but really stoked at the same time that I got a 2nd interview for this really cool design position. And I've decided(with the blessing of my wife as well) that if I get this job, that I will FINALLY treat myself to getting a dirt bike that I've been wanting to get for forever!!!

Wish me luck!

PHXDW Poster Competition: Perception

2011-09-12T15:54:00.000-07:00

Phoenix Design Week is coming up soon, and I'm trying to get involved as much as possible! Here is a poster I designed for a poster competition show revolving around the theme of Perception. Here's my description for my poster:

"I wanted the theme of my poster to convey recent actions Arizona has taken towards Immigration reform and in turn against minorities. This is Arizona’s perception of immigration: The “Illegal Aliens” are hurting our economy, filling up our schools, stealing our jobs, sucking up our resources, and invading our forefather’s land…"

While your at the site you should check out the other awesome posters designers submitted.

Encredicon Prep

2011-09-09T12:05:00.000-07:00

The con is tonight! Got some signage prepared last night, I'm pumped to sell lots of comics, prints, and meet cool people! If your in AZ, go check it out!

#SWAG

Interview/Encredicon

2011-09-07T12:10:00.000-07:00

Been busy getting all my design work together for my interview today at Rio Salado Community College! Really excited and nervous at the same time! But I got my Mad Men, Don Draper Swag on so I should be set! (We have been watching Mad Men on Netflix, hooked.)

Also, this Friday I will have a table at Evermore Nevermore's Encredicon! Gotta get all my stuff together for the event, stoked to meet more local artists and sell lots of comics and drawings!

New Wallet/Video Interview

2011-09-03T11:32:00.001-07:00

I finally got done painting my mighty wallet! Sam has one with his sweet doodles and so that inspired me to get one and draw on it too. Shits indestructible, get one.

Also, my video interview I did with RAW:Artists is finally done! It's always weird to see yourself on video and how you sound, I say "ya know" a lot...

DnD/Times Are A Changin Show

2011-09-02T08:56:00.000-07:00

Here's a sketch from last night's drink n draw sesh at coffee rush

Gotta remind myself not to have caffeine at 10pm on nights before I have to work the next day...couldn't sleep until 3am and had to wake up at 6...

Next week I will be showing some paintings and there is a very very slight chance I will be doing live art, according to the flyer I'm hittin up the live art, but these days its not as cool I used to think it was. I'd rather talk to people about my paintings instead of sweating it trying to finish a piece while drunk people are bumping into you and talking crap about your painting...But if everyone else is going to be slamming the canvas I suppose I will too, we'll see.

Kendrick Lamar

2011-08-30T23:05:00.001-07:00

I've never really made a post about music, but I felt that I had to post something awesome for this particular artist. Recently I've been bumping Kendrick Lamar almost non-stop. He's a rapper from Compton but goes above typical gangster rappers and spits non-stop, intellectual, conscious flows that go hard and make you have to re-listen to his tracks over and over to get it all. Check out his latest album, Section 80, available on itunes.

So, I thought it would be appropriate to draw a portrait of Kendrick since his music has been inspiring me a lot lately.

Here are some process shots of my drawing:

Like most drawings I started it off with a loose sketch in pencil, mapping out areas of highlights and darks helps me when I'm doing more defining lines with ink later. After my initial sketch, I began to ink with pen to get some details before going into broader shadow work.

As you can see, the details are now marked with the light pen strokes. So after those strokes, I go in with my parallel pen and get to working on looser, broader details. This is the important part of the drawing because I need to be able to have a balance of crazy scratchings without comprimising the finer line details.

and then the final result.

I added lyrics to one of his songs, Hiiii Power, to the background to set the mood of drawing.

Here are the tools I used for this piece.

Micron 0.3 pen

Pilot Parallel Calligraphy pen (my fave!) 1.5mm, the smallest tip they have.

Oh, and check out Sam's freaking dope t-shirt he's hand printing for his new comic FIGHT! He's taking orders now but you gotta act quick homes! I'm gonna be getting mine, where you at?

Wood Panel Mini-Paintings

2011-08-29T09:35:00.000-07:00

Here are some wood panel paintings I've been working on recently for a group show coming up next month. The theme around my new works on wood panels is based on influences of San Antonio "Tex Mex" culture that stuck with me since I was a kid, and how it inspires me in my work today.

Oh, and I also took a intro motorcycle riding course this past weekend and rode the bike I've been having my eyes set on for awhile now. Just did some basic stuff in the class, but learned some good pointers that I wouldn't have known otherwise. Now I want a motorcycle more than ever!

HONDA CRF 230f #gotthatfever #lawofattraction #LOSLOBOS #imonone

Some New Design Work

2011-08-24T08:50:00.000-07:00

I haven't posted design work in a good while, mostly due to the work I've been doing not being creative or my own original design. But recently I was able to design a couple posters that I was able to be more creative with than usual.

With this poster I had fun illustrating the portrait of the author.

The type on this poster was done freestyle in Illustrator, I wanted to keep the theme of being colorblind throughout this design.

Oh, I also forgot, I have a few Slave to the Bean comics for sale at Kilgore Books in Denver, Colorado. If you're in the area go pick one up! And they are still for sale in my shop, go get yours if you haven't already!

Going HAM with the SAMs

2011-08-22T11:47:00.000-07:00

This past weekend was such a blast visiting our forever friends Sam & Samantha, they had a jam packed itinerary each day, took us to a lot of really cool places to eat and sites to see. Check out Sam's rad comics recapping the weekend, Great Job man!. And, here are some pics I took below, didnt take too many because we were having too much fun times.

Denver Airport conspiracy, learn about da troof.

Coors brewery tour, free sample beers yo!

The touch.

Denver Zoo.

We truly had such an awesome time hanging with our besties, even just staying in and cooking a meal and watching netflix was a blast! And I always am super inspired to do new work and do more cool things every time I hang with Sam, he's always on beast mode!

This trip really put a lot of stuff in perspective, since we left yesterday Steph and I can't stop talking about how amazing it would be to live in Denver and hang out all the time with them and do awesome things always. Truly are the bestest friends we have and we were so much happier being over there with them. Love you guys so freaking much!!! Thanks for having us out there! I hope someday soon we can move out there and crush Denver with y'all!

Kenny Baker/Girl Pondering

2011-08-18T08:06:00.000-07:00

I've been getting caught up on other stuff since the show last week, but no chilling, still got a lot of awesome stuff to work on for the next couple months, it's gonna be busy but I love it!

Here's a mini watercolor painting my friend Casey wanted of R2D2. Kenny Baker,the original R2D2.

And a quick ink drawing of a chick pondering.

This weekend we are going to visit the Sam's in Colorado! You know its about to go H.A.M. in this bish.

RAW Recap

2011-08-12T09:16:00.000-07:00

Last nights event went really well, it was crazy to see the unexpected amount of people that showed up to support all the artists showing. I met a lot of cool people and some other awesome local artists like J.G. who is a really great photographer and does good variety of photography. And also Daniel Navarrette had some super BA air brush paintings. It was also really nice to see some friends show up too.

Here are some crappy iphone pics from the event(shoulda brought my nice camera but didnt feel like lugging it around.)

This was my space that I set up, all thanks to 3M Command strips!

Local artist Matt Crux had this painting setup for people to put their mark on.

You know how I do.

Here's one of Matt's works, nice title.

There were also some live bands, this one had a really rad keyboardist.

At the end of the night I overheard some people talking about my SWAGTIME painting and how this girl from China who is here studying for a year really liked it a lot. So, I gave her the painting because I wanted her to have something to bring home that shows what we're about here. Turns out that it is her birthday today (HAPPY BDAY!) and she was so freakin stoked to have this painting, the look on her face was the highlight of the night. This pic makes it even better!

Oh! and the Phoenix New Times wrote a really great article on the event and even featured me in it too, check it out homes!

Thanks everyone for your support and for buying the tickets and print package from me!

RAW: Fusion Tonight!

2011-08-11T08:48:00.000-07:00

Tonight baby!

See you there ;)

Girl with Sombrero Painting Process

2011-08-09T08:50:00.000-07:00

Here are some process shots of a new painting I just finished.

After initial drawing I start layering with water diluted colors, cool to warm.

I keep going with the details, the wet layers blend together nicely and start to harmonize.

Then I add an overlay with a neutral color.

Lastly, I flesh out the details with black fluid acrylic. And, its finished!

This painting will be up with some other new ones as well this Thursday at RAW:Fusion

Previews

2011-08-06T09:34:00.000-07:00

Here's a couple previews of some paintings I'm working on for the RAW artist showcase next week. If you haven't bought your print/smallpainting/ticket combo package yet, its not too late!

Limited Edition Moto Print

2011-08-02T08:09:00.000-07:00

After that Gocco print fail the other night I decided to add some color and get my print digitally printed. The print is 8 x 12 in on Fuji Film paper. The print is limited to only 25 prints so it is super limited and I have included it with a package of a SURPRISE mini-painting, and a ticket to attend the RAW artist showcase too! The proceeds of this awesome print + mini-painting + ticket package go to me being able to show my paintings at the RAW artist showcase next week. So basically you get the ticket for free with this package! And if you can't attend, no worries you still get a bad ass print and mini-painting! I appreciate your support! Go to my store to purchase!

Check out my process below from drawing to printed piece.

Get yours now!

Epic Print Fail/Dog bowls

2011-08-01T07:43:00.000-07:00

Last night was a total disappointment trying to print my newest motorcycle themed drawing with the gocco machine...The image was too complicated and I had to put so much freaking ink on the screen to print and everytime it came out like crap even after trying to do different inking methods and going through tons of test prints. Totally frustrating!

I'm going to get this printed digitally and have for sale probably by tomorrow. Basically I have to sell tickets to be able to show my paintings at the RAW artist showcase next week, so for my amigos who support me by buying a $10 ticket for the event they will in return get this super limited print and a SURPRISE mini-painting! You can buy tickets at this link here! And be sure to select my name for admission so I get the credit. I will post another link later but if you are super eager you can buy today! THANKS!

Oh, Steph and I went this weekend to paint some food bowls for our pups, take a peek!

VATO LOCO POR VIDA

2011-07-28T08:30:00.000-07:00

Here is a new painting done with acrylics on canvas, VATO LOCO POR VIDA.

New Paintings in progress

2011-07-25T07:56:00.000-07:00

Some of that new new I'm working on. More photos to come.

Straight from the sketchbook

2011-07-21T13:17:00.000-07:00

Some doodles of girlz.

Sound Strike/RAW:Fusion/PHXDW Solo Show

2011-07-20T13:51:00.000-07:00

Just sent off a few of my activist poster designs to be part of a gallery show at The Sound Strike pro-immigration benefit show in LA. Bummed I can't make the event because Rage Against the Machine is going to be re-uniting!! But I'm super stoked to be part of the show along with other dope activist artists like Ernesto Yerena and Favianna Rodriguez.

Also!

I'm going to be one of many artists showcased at RAW:Fusion in August. RAW does a lot of cool stuff with local artists in different regions in the U.S. and they hold these really neat showcase events basically showcasing artists in different fields of the arts.

I need to sell a certain amount of tickets to benefit the show, so I will put up info about it soon because I think I'm going to do a really limited print and give to those who buy a ticket.

And!

I don't have details on this yet, but I was blessed to able to land a solo show that will be going on during Phoenix Design Week this October. I'm sooo freakin pumped for this because the series of paintings I've been working on has been almost 2 years in the making and I'm really excited to put them out to the world! Once I get specifics I will definitely share with ya'll!

Really thankful for all of the new opportunities I've been able to be part of right now, can't wait for more!

Moose Girl Painting

2011-07-18T08:12:00.000-07:00

Here is an older painting that I revisited this past weekend. Originally Stephanie and I collaborated on it at a live art show but never finished the details. So I decided to dig it up from the garage and finish it off.

This piece is for sale if interested (sorry, only local pick up!)

Captain America Cover Drawings at Atomic Comics

2011-07-14T08:32:00.000-07:00

Yesterday night I attended the release party (not really a party) of the first issue of the new Captain America and they had blank variant covers for this first issue and so I was asked to hang there and draw on them as people bought them. Well turned out that they only had 1 copy left when I got there so I was only able to draw that cover with Captain America (exception of someone who came later and brought a blank one to me but I was too embarrassed to post how it came out :/ ). However one of my good friends bought a blank Ghost Rider cover for me to draw on, and I did a few other drawings on some boards for people. Overall, I wish I would of gotten there earlier to draw more covers because it was fun, but at least the people at Atomic Comics were really nice to let have me draw there. I hope to do some more events like this in the future!

Check some of the drawings I did.

On a side note, I was so stoked to buy local artist J. Gonzo's Mano de Destino comic which I was eying all night while I was at the shop. This is a really great story about Luchadors and his imagery, design, and how the print came out is so amazing! Pick one up at your local shop (highly recommended) or read online on his website here

Gouache Study

2011-07-13T07:47:00.000-07:00

Here's a gouache study of a portrait, never really worked with this medium much, but I've seen people do amazing stuff. (sorry for crappy iphone pics)

I think I treated the paints like I was painting watercolor...but it was a learning experience regardless. I want to try some dry brush techniques next like the awesome works of Tiny Kitten Teeth, check them out and buy their stuff!

First painting of the Summer

2011-07-12T07:32:00.000-07:00

It has been awhile since I've actually committed time to painting, which makes me sad because I used to paint like all the time. I'm finally bucking down now that I re-organized my studio space (photos soon) and getting going on a new series with a somewhat different look than before. I've been trying to pull all nighters and be a hermit when I have days off so that way I can pack in as much painting time as I can, my weekends have been getting screwed up with only 1-2 hrs of sleep, but totally worth it. I LOVE PAINTING! check out the flicks below and tell me what you think!

New sketchbook stuff

2011-07-11T10:44:00.000-07:00

staying busy...

Dig Deeper

2011-07-06T14:07:00.000-07:00

Los Lobos/New Tatts

2011-06-30T10:05:00.000-07:00

Currently I'm in the works of a personal project called LOS LOBOS. Can't really tell you much about it because I want it to be sort of on the DL (down low) for now. But anyways, here is a preview of some stuff I'm working on for it. I also have started a tumblr (TRADER!!!) for the project to serve the purpose of being the blog for the project.

Click here to go to LOS LOBOS.

I'm updating that frequently so check there for updates on the project. But as usual, I will hook up my homies (you) with updates on this blog as well and let you know how you can get involved with the movement.

Oh, and for inquiring minds, check out the photo of mine and Steph's new tatt. Came out so bad ass, but hurt like a mutha F.

And while your at it, check my homie Paul Ski's site, he has done all of our tatts and does such amazing work, if your in AZ you should for sure hit him up for some dope art.

1 Year Anniversary

2011-06-29T11:25:00.000-07:00

This past Sunday (6/26) was our one year anniversary of being married! Here is a re-cap of our weekend.

Sorry it's been awhile that I haven't posted comics, but I gave you 5 at once to make up for it!

La Moda

2011-06-23T07:04:00.000-07:00

More photos.

Shot in LA.

Sol Brand Photo Shoot

2011-06-22T08:13:00.001-07:00

The other night I went on a photo shoot for my homie Damien's new clothing brand called Sol Brand. He's got a lot of cool stuff going on and been working hard on launching his brand. I love to see when people have a steady vision of something they want to do and put there all into it, he's been doing it all himself including printing the shirts which I think is awesome because it shows how hard he's willing to work to get his stuff out there. I have had much experience with screen printing t-shirts and it is ALOT of work, but totally worth it when you get to see others rock your work.

I was definitely fortunate enough to be able to help him out with a photo shoot for his first t-shirt that he will be dropping soon. Check out his tumblr site.

Here are a few photos from the shoot.

On a side note, I think I'm going to start a blog just dedicated to my photo work because I feel like it's a little out of place on this site...thoughts?

Contrast Addict Collabo

2011-06-15T22:59:00.001-07:00

Recently I contacted a good buddy of mine, who is such a freaking awesome photographer Trevor about possibly collaborating on one of his amazing photos, like letting me doodle all over one and seeing how it turns out.
Well, he was fortunate enough to let me use one of his photos to "GARZA-tize" and I totally had a blast!

Here are some process shots of the collaboration:

Made a print out of the photo to be able to trace onto bristol to get an idea of where I need to draw around.

Initial tracing from photo, didnt need to do any details, just a rough guideline.

Now, my fave part, inking!!!

I used mainly my parallel pen for this to get that griddy look.

After all that inking, it was time to scan and throw the drawing into Illustrator to hit the piece up with some dope colors.

And finally, combined the two art pieces into this fucking bad ass piece!

I hope to do some more collabos with Trevor in the near future because he's so bad ass and this was totally fun! Check out his site of more awesome photography, and he updates his flickr often so check it right here!

Moto Love

2011-06-09T11:09:00.000-07:00

Been kinda laying low since my forever friend Sam left a couple weeks ago...but I'm working on some collaborations right now and in the works of comics, and paintings too! Anyways, since learning how to ride a dirt bike last year my love for motorcycles hasn't stopped growing. It's dangerous yes, but so much fun to just cruise and go really fast too, nothing like the wind blowing through your hair going blazing fast! But recently Steph and I took a trip to LA, and we went to this siiiick motorcycle clothing shop that had a lot of vintage gear and riding accessories. So, I've been obsessing even more about getting a bike of my own, because borrowing my Father in law's bikes is getting old...I just want my own baby!

I saw this flick the other day, so freakin cool, it will make you want to go riding so bad. And Steve Mcqueen is fucking BA too, bitches better recognize!

Click here to watch, On Any Sunday

and also check out this sweet Ad for an old honda bike that Steve Mcqueen sponsored.

Slave to the Bean is up for sale!

2011-06-07T07:38:00.000-07:00

Finally! Slave to the Bean is for sale! Basically, this is my mini-zine that has 36 pages full of drawings and comics relating to coffee, lowriders, tattoos, hot babes, and Chicano life. I even introduce two new characters, Luis & Negro Beats!

Check out the preview pages below.

It's now available for purchase on my store. Buy your copy now!!!

The Burning!

2011-06-03T00:37:00.000-07:00

The Burning is a collabo childhood memories comic that my forever friend Sam and I worked on. Basically the story is about how when we were 10 years old we bought some lighters and burnt some stuff. So, one side of the book is the way I remember it and when you flip to the other side is the way that Sam remembered it. Each side is 10pgs long and we even collaborate in the middle of the book! All for only $1!!! Insane I know! It's like 50 cents per story!!!

We released this newest comic at the phx comic con and many people went home with this and came back and told us how much they loved it! You can buy a copy here!

Kon Life

2011-05-30T22:45:00.000-07:00

Phx Comic con was AWESOME! Had a really great time hanging with my forever friend Sam, great memories for forevs! Check out Sam's freaking hilarious comics about what happened over the weekend!

We both did really well at the con, and met some cool new people and saw a bunch of people who came back to see us from last year, thanks yall for stopping by again! And we did like so many mini watercolor paintings that were only $3, a lot were mostly pokemon related characters commisioned by tweens, but we had a good variety of requests towards the end.

Check out some of the ones I painted, we weren't able to get photos of all of them but there are a good amount here.

All and all, the con was such an awesome time, I'm super inspired to make more comics, and especially more kid-friendly ones too, because there was wayyy too many raunchy artists drawing tits and also booths full of zombie lovers this year. Gotta do it for da KIDZ!
#Swag#imnotgonnatellyoutwice

PHX COMIC CON

2011-05-24T10:34:00.000-07:00

Cortez

2011-05-23T14:03:00.000-07:00

#SLAVETOTHEBEAN

The Wu!

2011-05-20T11:23:00.000-07:00

Featured in my new zine, #slavetothebean

Coffee Dunk/Dia de los Muertos Girl

2011-05-19T12:46:00.000-07:00

Wrapping up my new mini-zine for the con next week....#SLAVETOTHEBEAN

Bad Ass Logos

2011-05-16T09:08:00.000-07:00

Business Casual

2011-05-13T14:42:00.001-07:00

NEGRO BEATS preview

2011-05-11T09:17:00.000-07:00

Here's a preview of my NEGRO BEATS comic that's going to be in my zine.

Negro Beats is pronounced like this: " Neh-Grow Beats" I don't want anyone to feel like it's racist, it's just the way you say black in spanish (as in the color and race too.)

Hold On

2011-05-10T11:11:00.000-07:00

I'm really attached to my Parallel pen lately! <3

DJ Negro Beats

2011-05-09T08:19:00.000-07:00

I introduce you to my new character....DJ NEGRO BEATS! He will be featured in a comic in my new mini zine that will be for sale at Phx comic con.

stay tuned!

Green/Society 6 Prints

2011-05-05T13:38:00.000-07:00

New ink drawing, colored in photoshop.

I now have some prints available at Society6. You can get high quality prints from small to very large sizes. And! you can also hook up your iphone with customized covers and skins with my illustrations! SWEEET!

Check out my prints here

Oh and happy Cinco de Mayo...all you white people ,go out and eat crappy mexican food and have coronas to your hearts extent! haha

H.A.M.

2011-05-04T14:07:00.001-07:00

Long story short, I had to get a new set of rims and tires for my truck yesterday because of a dumb flat tire/bent rim from my old set that they couldnt replace....BUT, I'm so happy with the results!(even though it was an unexpected purchase I had to make)My truck looks so much more bad ass than evah!

Sorry for no arte today, but you can count the word layout above as art if you want.

Pokemon Love

2011-05-03T14:38:00.000-07:00

Here's a new illustration I did for a publication that is being printed as artist's response to what happened in Japan and basically is about personal memories relating to expressing what Japan means to the artists via memories.

So, my piece is about my love for pokemon when I was growing up(and still now) and how basically that Japanese cartoon and game made my imagination run wild!

I used watercolor and ink pilot pen for this piece.

Postcard

2011-04-28T13:54:00.000-07:00

This is for a postcard I'm getting printed, hope it comes out good!

Pistolera Chick

2011-04-27T10:39:00.000-07:00

Hope everyone had a good Easter! We hosted dinner this year at our place with some family and had A TON of food. Good times for sure.

Check out my new illustration below! I love using my pilot parallel pen, keeps my drawings loose, the way I like it!

Red Girl

2011-04-22T11:15:00.000-07:00

New illustration!

Meet Bruce

2011-04-21T09:50:00.000-07:00

Roxy needed a playmate, so meet Bruce!

Bruce is a 5 month old puppy (german shepard/golden retriever?). We saved him from the pound so they didn't really know what he's mixed with, but all I know is that he is a great pup!

Rocker Girl/Suns Game

2011-04-15T09:44:00.001-07:00

Here's a new illustration of a hawt Chicana rocker chick from a sketch.

Oh yeah, we got iphones recently, SWEET! I feel so like up to date with technology...FINALLY!

And the other night I got free tickets to a Suns vs Spurs game. The seats were so sweet! We were like literally 10 feet away from the court, NUTS! Check out Steve Nash!(on a side note, my good friend Dustin does amazing illustrations of NBA players, and he loves the Suns! Check him out!)

It was awesome to see my fave team (The Spurs) play because I'm from San Antonio and have always been a big fan, and it was even awesomer to see the Suns play against them because I'm a fan of them too because I live here and it was sick to see the crazy rivalry go down.

Seeing Tim Duncan in real life was cool too, I always notice though that he never ever smiles, even if his team is winning he always has a sad face. Interestingly enough though, my dog Roxy has that same look, we call it "Tim Duncan Face".

(totally not a diss to Tim Duncan, you're awesome man!)

Fist pump!

2011-04-12T16:34:00.000-07:00

new drawing from the sketchbook and colored in photoshop.

Noche De Colegio

2011-04-11T13:39:00.000-07:00

I'm going to be speaking at Chandler-Gilbert Community College this week at an event for Hispanic high school kids thinking about going to college. Along with some other people I will be speaking about my experience in college and how it led to my success of being where I'm at right now(yeah I'm successful fool!)in hopes of getting these kids to make the choice of going to college after high school because of a lot of kids in general, but mostly Hispanic kids don't end up going to college after high school because of lack of information, parents didn't go, economic conditions, and many other factors as well.

Hopefully I can make some sort of impact on these kids that night and inspire them to be cool like me!

New Sketchbook!

2011-04-08T13:31:00.000-07:00

Check it out! Got a brand new sketchbook yesterday! I love moleskine sketchbooks because of the paper mostly and the bound and bookmark it has. However they are wayyy too expensive for a dang sketchbook. So I have found some alternatives, but for some reason the only decent priced and most similar ones are this weird pentalic brand that I've only seen at Arizona State University's student bookstore(sometimes I like to pretend I'm a student and get the sweet discounts. And lucky me, they were on sale for like half off! You guessed it, I bought their entire stock of that size, which was a total of 2 sketchbooks(not that crazy) because I guess they were getting rid of all of their old stuff. Anyways, this brand came pretty close to what I like about the moleskine kinds, main difference is the floppy cover which I'm cool with (cute bunnies have floppy ears, sucka).

The above photo is the first page of the book, had to break it in, and guess what, no bleeds! NICE! Getting a new sketchbook is such an exciting feeling, so many pages to fill with amazing shit and soo many new possibilities! It's like when I was younger whenever I got a new skateboard deck I wanted to go skating so bad and thought I was like at least 10 times better than normal because of it.

Life Drawing: Bearded Dude

2011-04-07T09:18:00.000-07:00

Last night I attended a life drawing session at the Loft in Tempe with Casey. I was expecting to draw some nude peeps but instead we had to draw a clothed dude with a crazy beard. I was kinda bummed at first, but after hanging around I was able to paint this funky piece of the dude. I need to go more for sure though, I feel a little rusty in the life drawing area and was trying to not make him look too cartoony. But the people there were pretty cool and the guy who runs it, Matt Dickson is a pretty bad ass artist.

after wards we went to draw at mcdonalds because nowhere else was open late(c'mon coffee shops!!)and had terrible, terrible coffee and drew random shit.

Big things coming

2011-04-06T14:33:00.001-07:00

Been doing ALOT of idea scheming, sketching, and thinking recently. After filling numerous pages of my sketchbook with random ideas and doodles (and still in the process of filling up more pages once I get paid and get a new sketchbook!). I feel like I am at a point in my thinking where my focus is getting tighter and I am able to zone in on what it is I want to do.

As an artist and as a creative person, I feel like my need to create art(aka my passion)and to be able to call my own shots in what I do and put out more work that I can totally call my own, and also get more involved in other awesome projects is definitely necessary to grow and strengthen who I am as an artist.

I know I will succeed at accomplishing my dreams and goals.

Right now is the time for me to hit it hard and get the ball rolling even faster and I'm more than ready to get this going! I am blessed to have so many great opportunities ahead of me and have such great and inspiring homies who support me all the way and always have my back, as well as my main support from my amazing wife who is my ride or die girl, and also from my family who is always there for me as well.

Sundays

2011-04-04T21:58:00.000-07:00

I've decided to start bringing my camera with me more often because I feel like I'm neglecting it. I'll be making more photo posts, and hopefully try and figure out a seperate site for them. Hope you'll enjoy these moments!

Contribute to Society

2011-03-31T09:26:00.000-07:00

I feel like my art probably helps out society in some way....riiight.

for example here's something new from the sketchbook!

Bizarre Bazaar recap

2011-03-29T14:44:00.000-07:00

This past weekend I had a table at the Bizarre Bazaar at Atomic Comics at Chandler mall, overall the event was pretty cool, I got to meet a few cool artists, and my friend Damien stopped by so that was cool too. Nice to see that their is a small community of artists doing their thing.

Oh and I also made this mini watercolor painting (2.5x3.5in) while I was there.