Teach Me Tiger- Revised

I really didn't like the painting so I worked on it more this morning: brightening the colors, heightening the contrast, adding the fly pattern behind them, crispening up edges... etc. I like it much better now!

The flies are a lot more transparent in the real painting, I think the light from the scanner exaggerated them a bit. I promise they aren't that distracting...



This is the back corner: (I mounted the paper before I started painting to eliminate warping and to add structural integrity.)

Teach Me Tiger

This is what I did today, trying to warm up and get back to painting. I liked the sketch way better than the final painting, but I think it helped me shake some rust off. Eh, whatcha gonna do.

Based on the song "Teach Me Tiger" by April Stevens. 10"x10" acrylic and pastel on somerset paper.

More Sketches

The newest set of sketches. Some are sketches for the upcoming shows, some are just for practice or fun...

"Luzon Bleeding Heart"


"Conjoined"


"Mental Institution"


"Birdie Brain" This one's not working... composition needs major revisions, and it's weird the way they are all looking the same way... plus her face is fucked. Buuut, I just really wanted to draw all those dogs


"Tree Rings" (revised)


I can't decide whether to use these sketches or not...
"Virtue"


...more sketches....





I've been so enjoying all this sketching, I fear that I'll procrastinate moving on to the next step. I do that a lot.

New business cards and a new logo?

Hey, I need new business cards; I'm almost out of the old ones. I designed the new back today and I like it. I'm waiting to finish one of the new pieces that I've been sketching for the Paper Pushers, PIN and Twilight-Zone shows so I'll have something spankin' new to put on the front. I mocked up a possible front with the "Sweet Revenge" comp from yesterday. (Clearly I won't actually use this image as it is all unfinished n' shiz.) Also, I messed around with a new logo but I'd love to know if any of you have suggestions/preferences among the 5 variations. (Or any type suggestions if my kerning is wonky or something.)

BACK:



Mocked-up FRONT:



LOGOS:



Which do you like best? I think I like the top and the middle ones best...

Keep Rollin'

Here's what I did today: (They are all still based on songs.)

"Sweet Revenge"


I think it's really hard to see that the sailor is strangling the captain in the comp above... I might move the ribbons or give the sailor a knife or something... maybe make the whale bigger in comparison so it's less cramped. I don't know, but something has to change. Anyway, here are the preliminary sketches:

mariner's revenge sketch


whale sketch


"Swagger Like Us" (revised) and "Skulking Around"


One idea for a bird-girl... but... I don't love it.


Another bird-girl... I'm still not sold. Must keep sketching ideas...

On a Roll

Sometimes you're in a rut and can't sketch for shit... and sometimes you're on a roll. I did all of these today:

(They are based on songs... can you guess them?) (Hint: Leonard Cohen, The Decemberists, Peter Sarstedt, Rasputina, M.I.A.)

"Suzanne"


"Eli"


"Marie-Claire"


"The Skatemaker"


"Swagger Like Us"


"Gene Shomoko" (Not based on a song.)


These are from the last couple o' days in the Gigantor-moleskin:

Happy Halloween

Happy Halloween everybody!

I made this white buffalo helmet over the last couple of days. The skeleton was made of cardboard with foam core struts for structural integrity. The eyes are glass taxidermy eyes, with pink corduroy and brown leather accents and of course white faux fur. I attached it to a fighter pilot helmut that had a visor and screwed it on so that it is both removable and can open and close it's mouth. (The bottom jaw is separate and detachable.) I'm really pleased with "Shomoko Buffalo" and I'll upload better photos if I get around to taking them.









Here was the original sketch to figure out the cardboard form underneath:

Demo

I recently did an acrylic demo of a tiger at otis for Daniel Lim's sophomore class. They were lovely and asked questions and laughed at my dumb nipple comments and stuff. Not my best work but I was pretty nervous. (Clearly it is still in progress.) I did the "bird-hat" painting the evening before to warm up in preparation. Both are a mix of ink wash, acrylic wash, and acrylic dry brush.






Aaaand an old sketch I just got around to scanning: I'm sending this and the acrylic painting it became to a lovely woman in NYC.

I am a man

Discovered this today and it is my new favorite "found" link to my work. This person thinks I'm a man... mission accomplished?

I knew insisting on being called "Cooper" would pay off.

artifactmarketing



Also I have new sketches and shiz which I'll post today, if it suits me.

Another teaser

A couple mo' teasers.

Tease

I've been spending this week working on a fun project but I can't reveal what it's for yet. Here are a few teasers to pique your interest:

VADA cover

I've been really busy but I can't post what I've been working on yet.

Also, one of my "quickies" made it to the cover of VADA, Vidal Sassoon's international company magazine. You can see some of the other things I made for Sassoon at the bottom of this post. (Sorry for the crappy scan of the magazine...)

Voyage

Here are some quickies for an upcoming show downtown at legendary concept artist Cecil Kim's restaurant: Liliya China Bistro. The show opens on the 17th!


Sketch for "Of A Feather":



"Of A Feather"
11"x14"
Mixed Media on Cradled Somerset
400$



(below) The top panel isn't for sale, I just liked how it looked... I still need to paint something on it. The bottom one is called "Puberty."

"Puberty"
6"x6"
Mixed Media on Cradled Somerset
125$



(If you are interested in buying either piece please contact me.)

Here is the flyer for the show, come and enjoy the good food, art, and company!

Gigantor-Moleskin and C.A.V.E. Gallery show

Moleskin started making gigantic sketchbooks and they are as luxurious as they are overpriced... but I still couldn't help myself from picking one up... Here are a few new sketches:









Thank you to everyone who came out to to the C.A.V.E. Gallery last night. See bellow for images of my work, pricing, and contact information for the gallery.

The Bird

Finished! Come to see this and 6 other new pieces at the C.A.V.E. Gallery in Venice. (Opening October 2nd from 7pm-11pm)

http://www.cavegallery.net/

Coisas Esquisitas: Show opening Oct. 2nd

Thank you to everyone who sent me emails and messages to let me know when I was featured on alternate sites, and a very VERY special thank you to those responsible!


Here are some of the links:
notcot
secretstill
artslant
phantasmaphile
coagula
ladymeerkat
afadzari
filipechulam
deviantart

spaced-up-kid

topsy

whokilledbambi

artifactmarketing

ffffound

ffffound (again)

If you are in the Los Angeles area, come out and see my new work in the show "Coisas Esquisitas" at the C.A.V.E. Gallery October 2nd! Also featured: Danni Shinya Luo, Kendra Binney, Tatiana Suarez, Tina Darling.

Society 6

Click here to see my new profile on Society 6!

Also, here is an old design I redrew to silkscreen on a shirt. Recently I've been really wanting make all my own shirts... I just need to find a good place to emulsify, burn, and clean my screens since I no longer have open access to the lab at OTIS.

Suggestions?

Color study

A quick digital color study... I take photos with color schemes I like and pixelate them so I can select color swatches to refer to later.

Success!

Round two of transferring and mounting "The Bird" went perfectly. Photos of the progress to come soon.

P.S. I want you all to know the exciting news... I'm getting married! To Matte Medium! We're in love.

Note to self... stop fucking up.

Fuck. I've made this mistake before and I don't want to make it again. When mounting paper onto museum board or wood, there IS NO REPLACEMENT for matte medium.

I was almost out of matte medium so I used a mix of matte medium and clear gesso instead. F-. Two days of transferring down the drain. The problem with clear gesso is that it's grainy texture just doesn't cement paper to other substrates the way matte medium does, leaving large bubbles that appear when the front of the paper gets wet.

Learn from my mistake. Clear gesso is fine for the front, but only matte medium does the trick on the back.

Alright, time to re-transfer "The Bird" all over again. FML.

Time crunch

I have only a couple weeks until I have to turn in 5-7 new pieces for my group show at C.A.V.E. Gallery in Venice. Time to buckle down. I have two paintings done, one big one in progress, and for the remaining 2-4 I think I'll do a some small sketches and quick paintings on paper mounted on cradled panel. The top priority right now is the large "Bird" painting because it will need to be custom framed which takes about a week off the time I can work on it.

Here is the arduous transferring process for "The Bird" captured by some friends who were over at the time. I blew up the original sketch at Kinko's and used a homemade light-box to lightly trace it onto the large piece of stonehenge paper. Now I am in the process of going back over all my lines to make them more considered and graceful. The final size of the piece is 22" by 40" and it completely takes up my coffee table.

I hold my pencil in the least ergonomic way possible... it's given me mad calluses.




See how blindingly white I am? This is what happens when you work at home all day and only venture out at night to bike and get groceries.

The Bird (sketch)

Because sometimes you just have to flip it.

Arroyo Hondo

I recently went hiking at beautiful Arroyo Hondo and made these quick sketches. I also saw a bobcat which was amazing, but it disappeared down the riverbed before any sketching could happen.

Leyendecker studies, misc sketching, and more Bear Rug

Leyendecker is one of my favorite painters. If for some reason you are not familiar with his work, look it up and fall in love.









...misc animal sketches...





This sketch is for a paneled painting I'm planning. I'm thinking of making each panel 1'x3' so all put together it would be 5'x3'. It's called "The Bird."








Progress on the newest bear rug... I haven't decided what to call him yet. Bernard? Bearnard?

Foam fitting:


Drawing the pattern out on the faux fur:


The faux fur with the pieces removed:


These are the patterns I made for the previous bear rug, Randal:


Here is the side piece pinned on the foam form to check the fit:




I made about 75 more promo packages and sent them out. Thank you to everyone who emailed me, thanking me for these packages! I love hearing from you!

Cute and Dangerous: Round 2?

This is a new piece for the ongoing Cute and Dangerous show at 7 Degrees gallery in Laguna Beach. Check out their website, it's 2 legit 2 quit: http://www.cuteanddangerous.com/

I'm also putting THIS previously posted acrylic painting of a girl riding a horseshoe crab in the show.

This is a preliminary sketch for a personal project I'm working on... there will be more updates as it progresses.



Caricatures from sitting and people-watching at the Getty Villa.


Random doodles to keep busy in the class I was TA-ing.

Finally, don't forget to check out my NEW WEBSITE! I'd really like feedback on it.

Box Project

The boxes are coming!

Here is the original art, the simplified ink drawing, and some photos of the chaos of sorting the 28 cards into sets, and of the silkscreened boxes. These packages are for potential employers... if this describes you and you would like to be put on my mailing list to get a sweet, silkscreened box with 28 promo cards inside please contact me soon (jawcooper@gmail.com). There are less than 50 and they ship out next week. Excitement.

TTFN,
Cooper







28 cards in a silkscreened box:



The box:



The chaos of sorting all the promo cards into 75 sets of 28:



Video of the cards and the box:

Caricatures and a hare

I've been sketching celebrities and people I see on the street to work on capturing a likeness. I tend to put the same face on all my girls and I want to expand my visual vocabulary. Also... there's a hare.

Can you guess all the celebrities?



















As an artist, people often ask you which of all the things that you've made is your favorite... which is impossible to answer. Nothing I make is precious enough to me to warrant favoritism since I see it all as preliminary work for... whatever I make next. That said, I'll admit that this rough sketch of a hare that I made at the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History is up there for me.

Couple a' fashion sketches and a quickie

Misc fashion doodles.





This is a quick acrylic painting I did to keep busy in the class I was TA-ing. Horseshoe Crabs creep me out sumthin' fierce.
*SOLD*

Portfolio site up and running

I have just linked jawcooper.com to my carbonmade account instead of my blogspot. I will still be updating my blog as usual, but now there is cleaner way to see a select collection of my work. Go check it out!

http://jawcooper.com
(Or click the link for "JAW Cooper Illustration" on the right.)

Assembly Required

A preview of a series of paintings I'm working on for a show at C.A.V.E. Gallery in October.