Suggestivism Rome

Here's my piece for this year's "Suggestivism," opening this Friday at MondoPOP Gallery in Rome:

"Bower"
Mixed media on paper mounted on cradled panel
8" x 8" x 2"

I was inspired by the male bowerbird, which builds a structure and decorates it with found objects (usually natural, but sometimes man-made if it lives near humans) in order to attract a mate.

Here's the sketch:

Here's the info if you're in Rome and can attend!

Thanks to curator Nathan Spoor for the invitation to participate. I'm honored to be in such company!
PS: You can view my piece from last year's "Suggestivism" here.

Bad Robot

This Friday is Gallery 1988's "Bad Robot" show, which pays tribute to the TV shows and movies created by JJ Abram's production company, Bad Robot. I chose to do another depiction of LOST's Ben Linus (you can see my first one from the LOST show here and buy prints of it here). This time he's witnessing the crash of Oceanic Flight 815.

"There Goes the Neighborhood"

Ink and acrylic on paper mounted on cradled panel

8" x 10" x 2"

Here's the sketch, a detail shot, and the show flyer with all the info:

Definitely check it out if you're in the area! Remember, the show is at Gallery 1988's new location, Gallery 1988 West (which is west of La Brea). You don't wanna get...

GALAXY

Hey guys! Here's my piece for the "GALAXY" show at Telegraph Gallery (the same people who bring you SEIBEI), which features screen-printed editions inspired by outer space and the night sky:

"Rocket Pop"

Ink and Photoshop

One of the prints will be sold framed at the gallery and the rest will be sold online (unframed) for just 28 bucks! Whaaat. Here's a quick picture of the actual print:

 

They're 18" x 24" on charcoal grey paper in an edition of 80.
All prints in the show go on sale tonight at 5 PM EST! Check back at the gallery site to purchase: http://telegraphgallery.com/

And check out the rest of the line-up!

The "Puffed Shoggoths" Kickstarter is Live!

Hey guys! The Kickstarter for Trevor Henderson’s HP Lovecraft art zine “Puffed Shoggoths” is now live! Please show some support! I mean, what are you…some kind of ancient, unfathomable monster? Seriously though, it’s gonna be filled with so much awesome, creepy art. Check it out:
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1668995493/puffed-shoggoths-a-hp-lovecraft-art-zine

The above image is my contribution that I posted a while back. It’s called “A de la Poer Eats Forbidden Things” and is based on Lovecraft’s “The Rats in the Walls.”

New York Times Book Review

Hey guys! Recently I completed a set of illustrations for an essay in The New York Times Book Review, which is out now in today's New York Times! The essay, by Karen E. Bender, recounts the event that inspired her to become a writer: getting hit in the head by a rock during a birthday party when she was six years old. Later in the essay, she uses rocks as a metaphor for anything in our lives that forces us to consider and process our experiences to try to make sense of them.
My AD Rex Bonomelli wanted a playful way to connect three spots, so his idea was to have a rock bouncing from one to the next. Here are my initial sketches:

Idea #1 was chosen, with a few slight adjustments made to better fit their layout. Here are the final ink drawings:

Here are the final spots, colored in Photoshop:

And here is the final layout:

Thanks to AD Rex Bonomelli and the New York Times for the opportunity! I had a lot of fun on this project!

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year, everybody! I haven't posted anything in a long time because of the craziness of the holidays and the craziness of my workload, but I can post something now that I have a second.
Recently I started working freelance/part-time for WeLoveFine, which makes pop-culture-related shirts and accessories. Occasionally I might post some stuff I make there. Here's a design of Kitty Pryde/Shadowcat (of the X-Men) that I came up with:

It's called "Phases." Get it? Because Kitty Pryde can "phase" through matter? Also she's a teenager?? Ahh, you get it. Anyway, you can get it as a shirt here.

If you're wondering, this was drawn in ink and colored in Photoshop. If you've been following my work for a while then you know that I rarely work digitally, but now that I've been doing it more and more I'm kind of growing to love it (being able to change colors around is especially appealing to an indecisive person like me). I'm still not as quick as I'd like, but I think I'm getting faster and more used to working this way.
I actually just finished a freelance editorial piece that was also done in ink and Photoshop. I'll probably be able to post that soon so keep an eye out for it! Hopefully I'll be able to get some good old-fashioned painting done some time in the near future so I can post that, too.

Yayyy 2013!

Tool Talk

Hey guys! If you've ever been curious about the specific tools I use for my work, check out this interview I did for The Tools Artists Use: http://thetoolsartistsuse.com/2012/11/julian-callos/

Be sure to check out the other interviews on the site as well. Lots of incredible artists and informative tool talk!

Hey guys! Some new prints have just been added to my inPRNT store! Prints make great gifts for the holidays, you know. I mean...I'm just sayin'. *cough cough*
Check out the new additions below, and check out my store on inPRNT, which includes some older (but still good!) prints: http://www.inprnt.com/gallery/julian_callos/

 

Moonrise

Hey guys! October 26th and 27th are the opening nights of the "Bad Dads" show, Spoke Art's annual tribute to the films of Wes Anderson [Here is my contribution to last year's show]. This year I decided to make a sculpture of Sam from "Moonrise Kingdom":

"Sam"

Mixed media sculpture

Approx. 13" tall

Here are a few different angles and some detail shots:

This sculpture took forever to complete and kind of drove me crazy, but in the end I'm really happy with how it came out. It's definitely one of the cutest things I've ever made, I think. If you're in San Francisco on the 26th or 27th, be sure to check out the opening (either one of those nights...or both!). It's a Halloween party too, so take the opportunity to dress as your favorite Wes Anderson character and look at all the cool art. Here's the flyer:

 

**And if you're in Los Angeles, don't forget that October 26th is also the opening of "The Old School Video Game Art Show" at Gallery 1988 (Venice!!), where I'll be showing my pieces "Mushroom Kingdom Syndrome" and "Wild MOLTRES appeared!" Check out my previous post about that show.

Bye!

Website: Updated!

Hey guys! I'm pleased to announce that after a really really long time, my website is FINALLY updated with all my latest work! Plus, it has a brand-spanking new layout! Check it out: juliancallos.com

Tell everybodyyy!

A Variety of Things

Happy October, everybody! I've got a few updates for you.

**Here's a little illustration I did for the daily version of Variety magazine (in the September 14th issue) as it appears on the page. My assignment was to do a simple illustration showing child stars overpowering some film and TV executives via a game of tug-of-war. Thanks to Creative Director Paula Taylor (and Peter Debruge!) over at Variety for the opportunity.

**In other news, the second annual Old School Video Games Art Show at Gallery 1988 (VENICE) is later this month. Here's the postcard with all the info:

 

I'll be exhibiting a couple of my previous video-game-themed pieces—"Mushroom Kingdom Syndrome," which is inspired by The Legend of Zelda and Super Mario and was originally created for the Bits in Multiples of 8 book, and "Wild MOLTRES appeared!" which was a print done for the "Pokémon Battle Royale" show at Light Grey Art Lab. Now you'll get an opportunity to see the originals in person, all nicely framed (and maybe purchase them?? Hmm?). Here they are in case you haven't seen them before:

And here are my previous blog entries about both pieces if you want background info and sizes and all those details: Mushroom Kingdom Syndrome + Wild MOLTRES Appeared!

**Here's a WIP shot of a sculpture I am working on depicting Sam from the movie Moonrise Kingdom, for Spoke Art's "Bad Dads" show, the third annual tribute to the films of Wes Anderson:

The show opens at Spoke Art in San Francisco on October 26th and 27th. I'll post the finished product closer to the opening date.

**Finally, here's a silly self-portrait I did because I was bored and I'm always thinking about food. I love food, you guys.

Taetrum et Dulce: Lux in Tenebris

September 8th is the opening of "Taetrum et Dulce: Lux in Tenebris," which features work from last winter's "Taetrum et Dulce" show at MondoPOP in Italy, as well as some new works by some of the artists. The show takes place at Distinction Gallery in Escondido, CA and will be up until October 6th.
I'll be exhibiting my pieces "Fata Morgana" and "Halcyon" from the first "Taetrum et Dulce." If you are in the area, please check out the show! It's sure to be a great one!

Love for Lovecraft

Hey guys! Here's my contribution to Trevor Henderson's upcoming HP Lovecraft art zine, Puffed Shoggoths. It's based on the final scene in Lovecraft's short story "The Rats in the Walls," which you can read in its entirety here. So...Spoiler alert!

"A de la Poer Eats Forbidden Things"
Ink on paper
8.5" x 13"

In short, a man is haunted by the sound of rats scurrying in the walls of his ancestral home. He follows the sound and discovers an ancient cavernous city beneath his home where his ancestors had raised and fed on human cattle for centuries. Upon reaching this conclusion he goes mad and, seemingly overcome by his latent cannibalistic heritage, attacks and begins eating one of the other men who had come with him to investigate. He is discovered later by the rest of the men and is sent to a mental institution, where he can still hear the sound of rats scurrying behind the padded walls.
So creepy! Also, it turns out the sound of the rats was in Delapore's head all along, which is why the rats in my illustration are just these sort of ghostly silhouettes.
"The Rats in the Walls" is my favorite Lovecraft story out of the few I've read so far, and I was excited to do a piece based on it. I guess I have a strange fascination with the creepy and horrible things that can happen in the dark.
Anyway, here's the sketch:

 And just for fun, here's a sketch I did of one of the "Elder Ones" from At the Mountains of Madness, another Lovecraft story. I drew it as I was reading Lovecraft's description of it because I was having trouble visualizing it in my mind. After re-reading it a couple more times I realized I got some details wrong (I think the legs are supposed to be more like tentacles, for example), but I think I came pretty close.

The Puffed Shoggoths zine won't be out for a while (it's set to be premiered at the Toronto Comics and Arts Festival next May), but a Kickstarter will be set up soon so you can pre-order the zine and get some other goodies. I'll post another update when that's all set up. In the meantime, you can check out previews and follow the zine's progress on its tumblr page. And check out this partial list of contributors to the zine!
So exciting!