November 23, 2009
November 21, 2009
Happy Birthday Vivian! I drew these little Pikmin dudes on the outside of her birthday package. We love Pikmin.
1 day ago
November 20, 2009
FLECTO VARATHANE: TOUGH ENOUGH TO SKATE ON! When it rained a couple of Fridays ago, I took the opportunity to clean and reorganize the paint shed at work. That’s where I found this wonderful lid for a gallon of Varathane floor finish by the Flecto Paint company, which I guess is now owned by Rustoleum. I can’t even imagine a time when paint companies crowned young ladies titles like “Miss Varathane.” SO COOL. I would be so excited to see rollerskating girls on top of paint cans again.
3 days ago
November 18, 2009
November 16, 2009
This Martha Stewart glitter painting tutorial appeals to the ten-year old in me. It’s great how in this step, the cat looks like it’s bleeding. BLEEDING GLITTER.
1 week ago
November 14, 2009
November 12, 2009
Bobo and Coco hand lettering project!
I haven’t been too excited about anything lately to blog, but one thing I am pretty much ALWAYS excited about is sign painting. I’ve only been practicing this craft on and off over the past 3 years and have since developed a great appreciation for any artist that incorporates nice hand drawn lettering in their work…BECAUSE IT’S FREAKING HARD!!! But, when done well it’s amazing and beautiful, and even when not done so well it’s kind of charming.
I’ve found that no one really teaches you how to do this stuff either. I had to stumble through it, first by using all the wrong paints and brushes, until I finally learned about One Shot sign paints and squirrel hair brushes. What. A. Difference.
These guys are living, breathing, paintbrushes. Photo by Michael V. Flores.
Sign painting for me is pretty interesting because it requires my hand to be very slow and precise, which is not how I normally work. The reward comes from painting the perfect curve or pressing/twisting the brush just right to adjust the width of the line. It’s mostly a relaxing activity, except for the discomfort of having to wear a respirator- oil paints are STINKY.
Today I did a project for a former staff member. It is a tribute to two of our dearest animal friends that have passed away this year- their names painted on their feed buckets. Because I really love process photos, I’ve uploaded my own photos of this project to my Flickr account and have written some short details about each step. Click on the slideshow above if you’d like to read about my process. Some people get really excited about painting their cars or skateboards, I am really excited to have painted these buckets. Rest in peace, Coco and Bobo.
1 week ago
October 29, 2009
The Squirrels of Fairyland, by Michael
Click to see this wonderful Flickr set of photos.
3 weeks ago
October 27, 2009
October 19, 2009
“ And while sea cucumbers are vile — eating them is like eating thick slices of lip — they’re exactly the kind of thing that generations of immigrant mothers-in-law have lovingly served up to their gagging families in the name of health. So, needless to say, I made a special trip out to Chinatown, and returned home with a bag of gross undersea flesh tubes for my mom-in-law to cook up.
