So, as I announced a couple of weeks ago, I'm curating and art directing the entire upcoming Halloween issue of JUXTAPOZ magazine and I have collected a pretty rad bunch of weirdos to join me for the ride.
Now, however, JUXTAPOZ asked me to find someone to interview ME for the issue. So, giving it some thought, one of the main aspects of any kind of success that I have found with my art has to be given credit to the fact that blindly embraced the Internet in the late 90's and started figuring out ways to try to share my art online. And surprisingly, 15 years later, the Internet is still playing a huge part of my career. So my response to JUXTAPOZ was "The Internet knows me pretty well. Can I have The Internet interview me?"
JUXTAPOZ said yes. So that means that for the next 48 hours I'm asking YOU, my invisible cyber friends who have equally made me smile, inspired me, laughed at me, supported me, and even in some cases infuriated me more than both Fantastic Four movies combined, to ask me any questions you want me to answer. I can't promise that I will answer all of them, but I'm going to be working with Juxtapoz on answering as many as I can and compiling them into either something that makes a bit of sense, or a complete mess of words. Either way, I'm excited to read some good questions.
So here's a link to my Juxtapoz FORMSPRING page where I will be accepting questions from now until the morning of August 2 and answering them in the Halloween issue of Juxtapoz Magazine, on sale this October!
One of my best friends, Zerofriends collaborator and longtime influence, Robert Bowen (who I interviewed in the latest issue of Juxtapoz), is part of a great 4-Man Art Show this FRIDAY, Aug 3rd at 111 MINNA in San Francisco.
Robert's been on an awesomely crazy Nature-meets-Military in a series of paintings I can only describe as "Animal f'ARMY". His paintings, along with paintings by Isaac Pierro, Nicolas Giraud & Phillip Lawson opens Friday, August 3rd at 5PM. Don't miss it or Robert and I might stab you with our zebra laser swords.
"Lethal Injection"
Friday, Aug 3rd @ 5PM
111 Minna st.
SF, CA
Contrary to what might hunt you down in your nightmares after seeing some of his work, Zerofriends' own Dave Correia isn't a scary dude. Fortunately for our eyeballs, however, his new collection of paintings is still frighteningly beautiful.
Next Thursday, Dave will be showcasing a brand new amazing collection of Oil & Acrylic paintings in his FIRST solo show EVER, up in Portland at Upper Playground / 5024PDX!
Here's a couple of sneak peeks at his new work, but seriously, the gallery is going to be PACKED with new art and the whole Zerofriends crew will be there for the celebration, so be sure to come check it out (and then you can go get Voodoo Donuts right afterward to ease back out of your nightmares...)
In case you missed it, amongst the madness of Comic Con last week, 99CentBrains & I timed it PERFECTLY so that on the first day of Comic Con, our new free iPhone / iPad creative art app launched on the iTunes store and surprisingly got a WayCooler response than when GAP changed their logo. But what excites me more than the great response, and even more than seeing people share their #WayCooler photos, is actually seeing what people are DOING with the app creatively.
When we were building and designing the app, we wanted to make sure that it was easy to grasp on the surface, but had a little extra something to encourage people to explore the possibilities of what they could create from scratch if they just looked at the assets as shapes rather than as "ears" or "eyes". And some of you have gone above and beyond any of our expectations, and so Zerofriends, myself, & 99CentBrains want to reward you all for continuing to push the creative boundaries with the app and continuing to discover new ways to use the assets by GIVING OUT PRIZES FOR CREATIVITY! (see below). So get used to playing around with it now, because in the very near future, we are going to be updating the app with more free assets, and a few new extra bells and whistles that will open up the creativity level even more. Also, yes, we ARE currently working on getting the WayCooler App on Android, but it's going to take us a while. It's a completely different build. Thanks for being patient. We are also paying close attention to any of your comments or suggestions for improvements. Things like sorting the assets better, copying the edited assets, etc. So please keep your comments coming. We are not abandoning this app any time soon as we have a lot of plans and exciting things to implement. Because after all, EVERYTHING can always be #WayCooler.
NOW ONTO THE CONTEST AND THE PRIZESSSSSSS! (so said the snake).
Wait, first of all, YOU HAVE THE WAYCOOLER APP, RIGHT?! NOOO??!!! Fine, then do every photo that you have a favor and DOWNLOAD IT HERE NOW FOR FREE! OK, good. Now, to ease into some of the amazing things that other people are doing with the app, check out some of these insanely awesome examples of using the app for things other than just giving yourself a creepy mouth and bugged out eyes (even though that's also #WayCooler).
Everything in these photos is WayCooler than it's ever been before (Snoop Dogg's fingers and Chloe's hair excluded of course).
Oh hey, let's make the craziest wallpapers and silly scenarios of Monsters in peril!
Or instead, you can make silly puns, or chaotic car ads, or even combine it with other apps to get even more oddball looks.
And keep pushing the boundaries until you go Toe-tally out of Ken-trol.
That still not impressive enough? ok cool, well, then how about using the assets for writing, or re-creating actual cartoon characters using only the assets supplied. Yah, that's what I thought too. WayWAYCooler.
But this GIZMO pic below, made by HOEKS of GROUNDSICK is my absolute favorite so far. Its EXACTLY how Franky and I intended the app to be used. Simply put, as a new way to look at the world around us.
So, you want to see what you can WIN first, courtesy of myself and ZEROFRIENDS?
Word!
Here ya go:
"The Assets Of Cool" Limited Giclee Print
Designed by me, using all of the initial assets of the WayCooler app.
Limited Edition of 60
Signed & Numbered
17" x 22"
Note, this print is NOT available for purchase and never will be sold online from Zerofriends.
Here's a little detail of the vomit on the print:
Ok, now, here's how you can WIN one of these 60 prints. Each week for the next 6 weeks, we will have 6 different contests, and once a week we will be giving out ONLY 10 of these prints to 10 winners of each contest. Make sense? Over the next six weeks, one contest a week, 10 winners per contest. The contests will each consist of submitting a photo or photos via email, created on with the WayCooler iPhone or iPad app. Here's the basic rules:
1. Use the WayCooler App to manipulate a photo or create a photo from scratch that fits the guidelines of the current week's specific contest. 2. Have FUN. 3. Save the image to your photo library so you have it. 3.5. Make sure you are STILL HAVING FUN. 4. Upload it ANYWHERE (Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Instagram) and tag it #WayCooler 5. Email the image, along with your name, phone number (if possible), correct email address as well as WHAT SPECIFIC CONTEST YOU ARE ENTERING to waycoolerest@zerofriends.com 6. Each Monday following the deadline of the contest, 10 winners will be chosen by all of us at ZEROFRIENDS and 99CentBrains, and we will contact the winners directly and announce them shortly after. 7. Go have FUN! Make another one! There will be no limit to the number of different entries you can submit, but you can only win ONE print per contest. So, its almost midnight, so we might as well get going with the FIRST #WayCooler Contest!
This one is called "Low-RezURRECTION" The deadline for submitting your photos is 11:59 PM on Saturday, July 28th.
A lot of things in our real world seem a little lifeless. Rocks just sit there, garbage cans just cry a lot on the inside but never move or scream. Buildings just kinda stand there, looming quietly. Windows don't do much, and are just a PANE, etc. However, with a couple of swipes of your finger and couple of dives into the Cooler, you can bring ANYTHING to life, much like what these people did in their photos:
For this first week's contest, with the deadline for submission being 11:59PM on SATURDAY, JULY 28th, the goal is to give any inanimate object some LIFE using the WayCooler assets. Remember, you can throw eyes on anything and it helps it to see, but take that extra step and make it DANCE!
We can't wait to see what some of you come up with.
And just so you can start really practicing and preparing for future contests, here are the loose directions for all 6 of the contests, as well as their deadlines.
Be creative, and remember, you can make EVERYTHING #WayCooler!
Good Luck!
Contest #1: Deadline July 28
"Low-RezUrrection" - Bring an inanimate object to life.
Contest #2: Deadline August 4
"DraCooler" - Make a famous horror icon from scratch.
Contest #3: Deadline August 11
"Car Tuning" - Customize a car
Contest #4: Deadline August 18
"3 Amigos" - Create a 3 panel comic strip, using WayCooler combined with the "I'd Cap That" (or another similar) free app.
Contest #5: Deadline August 25
"IllustrHATEr" - Make a grotesque, outlandish, or even offensive caricature of yourself or someone else. Contest #6: Deadline September 1 "The GIF That Keeps On GIF'ing" - Make a "WayCooler"-based Animated GIF.
Holy trilogy, Batman. We are back from Comic Con, still recovering by sitting puddles of our own nerd-flu sweat and making ourselves #WayCooler in the meantime.
However, WE CAN'T REST FOR LONG! Because tonight, the night of all nights, a movie that we have been waiting for since Harvey Dent got his face dented at the end of the Dark Knight, beginsssssss.
(Not that this print has anything to do with that movie btw.)
In celebration of Christian Bale making it through a movie without a meltdown, Catwoman's potentially unflattering outfit, Bane's bane and...um...Morgan Freeman's 3-dimensional freckles, Zerofriends is proud to announce a brand new "Stormy Knight" variant colorway print featuring the color scheme and mood of "The Dark Knight Rises". The original, classic Blue and Gray colorway sold out quickly at Comic Con last week so now is the chance to get your crimefighting claws on this new limited variant. It's a way better thing to put over your bed to watch over you than Robin is.
"The Stormy Knight Rises"
By Alex Pardee
22" x 17"
Limited Edition of 100
$50.00
Guess what? Just in time for Comic Con, as of right this second, I have a brand new FREE iPhone & iPad App that I created alongside Franky Aguilar (creator of CATWANG) with the sole intention of making you laugh as you use your imagination to MAKE EVERYTHING IN THE WORLD WAY COOLER. Did I mention it's FREE to download and play? Here's a little more info, but DID I MENTION YOU CAN DOWNLOAD IT AND PLAY IT NOW FOR FREE BY CLICKING HERE?
Ever see one of your friends' cool faces, or one of your friends cool tattoos, or even a lonely squirrel riding on the back of a bird and think "Man, that's a cool squirrel, but it would be WAYCOOLERif it had tentacles and sharp teeth?" Well, now you can FINALLY make that squirell, or your friends' cool tattoos WayCooler with a few simple taps on your phone. It's like magic, but with drawings and fingers instead of unpronounceable words and newt-eyes. Enough with the talking, just watch this video that STEPHEN REEDY made (with the wonderfully angelic voice-and-sound-blessings of Josh Petersdorf & Rich Arenas. It's fancy!
Can't watch the video? Don't speak Fancy? Still have questions? Ok, cool, well, did I mention that the WayCooler App is FREE to download? Basically, using the WayCooler App, you can create millions of monsters from scratch or manipulate your photos unlike you've ever been able to before. With OVER 50 FREE unique art elements and shapes to choose from, plus access to over 100 premium assets, you can instantly MAKE EVERYTHING WAYCOOLER. These photos should give you a glimpse of the Cool!
#WayCooler Every one of the assets allows you to easily change colors, rotate, scale, move it behind another one, copy it a thousand times, flip it, and basically challenge your brain to use it for something way cooler than what it was intended for! And in the click of a finger you can share your creations on Twitter, Tumblr and Instagram. Here's a few more examples:
#Stamos
We are having a lot of fun with this app and we are already working on a follow up update that will include some more fun features, new assets, limited edition element packs, and a few surprises (plus we are already working on a DROID version too). This app isn't going away anytime soon. I won't let it.
So get out there and stop paying attention to anything around you so you can make everything in your phone WAYCOOLER! And don't forget to tag your photos with #waycooler and share them on Instagram, Facebook and Tumblr so we can reblog them on our WAYCOOLER TUMBLR that we will basically be reblogging every fun monster that you make in order to showcase some creative uses of the #waycooler assets. And leave feedback anywhere and everywhere that you can so we can make this app the BEST of it's kind on the iPhone & iPad.
BONUS! If you are going to San Diego Comic Con, come by the ZEROFRIENDS BOOTH #5502 , show us that you downloaded the app on your iPhone or iPad, and get a FREE WayCooler sticker! AHHHHHHH. It's fancy!
Everyone knows what the San Diego Comic Con is. If you don't, you probably don't know that Chris Brown's still a dick, 16 year olds are getting famous for being pregnant and irresponsible, computers can skateboard, and E.T. went home years ago. If you AREN'T going to Comic Con, none of this really matters right now anyway because it's been sold out since like, a year before the Space Shuttle fell asleep on the Intrepid and whole world suddenly cared about Instagram, Bigfoot hunting and Bane.
But if you ARE going, and you aren't too exhausted from making dubstep remixes on your ipad or arguing over who should play Johanna in the Hunger Games sequel, please come by my ZEROFRIENDS BOOTH (#5502) and witness all of the BRAND NEW & EXCLUSIVE artifacts of awesome that we are shoveling onto your faces (pending the correct exchange of moneys of course:). Which reminds me, by the way we will be ACCEPTING ALL MAJOR CREDIT CARDS AT THE CONVENTION BOOTH! So no need to stand behind the sweaty female Green Lantern at the ATM for an hour this time! Congrats, US! Now lets get on with the showcasing!! Start making your checklist now!
BEFORE YOU GET STARTED, PLEASE NOTE: Our booth number is 5502/5503, which, logically, would be in the 5500 aisle. HOWEVER, there IS NO 5500 aisle. Instead, the 5500 aisle is the FRONT ROW OF BOOTHS. See above, we are actually located in the FRONT RIGHT CORNER of the convention center, in row 500/400!! If you get lost, refer to that awesomely clear (with cool font) map above. First, before the products, here is my personal schedule so you can make sure to come say hi and get a free sketch card or have me scribble an illegible tribal marking on your books and stuff and pretty much we can just high five nervously if that's cool.
EVERY DAY, Thursday - Sunday, I will be signing at the ZEROFRIENDS BOOTH #5502 from 1:30 - 3 PM, and on SATURDAY I will be doing an additional signing at DKE TOYS's Booth # 4728 at 10AM. Here is what it would look like on a piece of paper:
Additionally, please follow MY INSTAGRAM ( @alexpardee) & MY TWITTER (@alexpardee ) for any unscheduled signings, giveaways, and secrets, as I guarantee there's at least ONE cool announcement and at least 3 pictures of CHLOE and I getting into mischief. Word. Now that we have that out of the way, here is all of the madness that we are releasing upon your gorgeous face-headlights. Pay close attention, I'm only going to say it once, and then probably a thousand more times on Instagram.
RELEASE THE KRAKENNNNNNN!!!!! Up first, COMIC CON EXCLUSIVES! (These are limited editions, are being released at Comic Con and IF we have any leftover after the convention we will put them for sale on our store but they will never be reprinted in these specific styles once the first edition is sold out): I love Batman. There's no denying it. So any excuse to draw Batman, even a made-up retro version of him from the future, especially when no one tells me to do it, is a good enough excuse for me. So here ya go. "The Stormy Knight" By Alex Pardee 22" x 17" Limited Edition of 60, signed and numbered. $60.00 Believe it or not, I never had a high-rez enough scan of this original painting to do any type of print larger than 8 x 10 so we have never offered this image up as a FULL-SIZED print, so if you HAVE one, it's a bootleg and I hate you. However, because of the technology of Adobe Illustrator, I completely redrew and re-colored this image for a t-shirt last year and now we are finally releasing it as a full sized, 18 x 24 5-color hand-printed screenprint! "Goodnight Lava" By Alex Pardee Limited Edition of 100, signed and numbered 5 Color Screenprint Printed By BLOOM PRESS 18" x 24" $50.00 One of our more popular shirt just joined the NAVY! Navy Blue, that is. A brand new, Limited Edition version of the "Handful" Shirt. "Handful: The Baby Grimace Edition" By Alex Pardee Limited Edition T-shirt, Edition of 150 $35.00 For the first time ever, we are releasing Limited Exclusive prints from 2 other artists this year, and we couldn't be more honored at the two artists we worked with. This first print is from a long-time Zerofriends Collaborator and one of our favorite people, Greg CRAOLA Simkins! This is one of the only new products that Greg is releasing this year so be sure not to miss out! "MONGRELS" By Greg "Craola" Simkins 20" x 16" Limited Edition of 100. Signed & Numbered. $80.00 The other artist who we are more than proud to announce an exclusive print from is JASON EDMISTON, one of the most amazingly talented acrylic painters that I have ever seen. We met him 2 years ago at Comic Con and since then we have been dying to team up with him. And in usual fashion, he gave us a beautiful Pin-Up Girl! (And Jason may be joining me for one of my signings at the booth, so stay tuned) "Rocket Queen" By Jason Edmiston 16" x 20" Limited Edition of 50, signed and numbered. $50.00 A VERY LIMITED Number of my Special Edition versions of my new art book "Awful / Resilient" will be available at Comic Con. This version of the book is EXACTLY the same on the inside, but each cover is numbered, signed, & HAND EMBELLISHED/PAINTED by me, and also each book comes with an exclusive signed print with purchase. When I say limited, i mean limited. The whole edition is only 250. We will only be releasing about 6 of them at the convention FYI. For the last of the EXCLUSIVES, we have a slight change in pace, and kind of a fun experiment. This brand new Comic Con-esque variant print of mine is the most accurate use of the word EXCLUSIVE. As the ONLY way to get this print ever will be to ORDER one IN PERSON at the booth ANY TIME throughout the convention. We are releasing it as a timed-release, and it will be available to order IN PERSON ANY TIME for the entire length of the convention, from preview night until we walk out the door. Once the convention ends, we tally up how many people bought one and THAT becomes the edition size number. And anyone who orders/buys one IN PERSON at the booth will have it shipped for FREE after the convention. We will have one in person to show you what it looks like. We unfortunately can NOT take phone orders or email orders for this print, you HAVE to order it and PAY for it in person at the booth. "The Day I KILLED PETER PARKER" (Father Killer Variant) By Alex Pardee 17" x 22" Timed Release Limited Edition Print $50.00 All "Peter Parker" prints that are ordered and pre-paid for at the convention will get the print shipped FREE after we return home from Comic Con. This specific print will never be available from us online or in our retail stores.
And now, for some more new items that will be available! AHHHHHHHHH! FINALLY! I know, it's about time. But better late then never! YEP! Some new ones! (These AREN'T Limited Editions, but we will only have a limited amount available at the convention) New Head-sweaters! Soft Helmets! We also will have Navy Blue hats. RAD! It went so well the last 2 years that we are doing it again! We are selling a HUGE PILE of "OOPS" Giclee prints! These prints did not meet up to our general quality standards in one way or another, whether it was slight color differences, or a bent corner, or something. They are all stamped with a nice "OOPS" stamp to assure that they are not a part of the general limited run, but aside from that, once framed, they should be just as awesome, if you like mistakes that is! "OOPS!" Prints range from $5.00 to $15.00. We will be putting out at random about 20-30 oops prints each morning to give everyone a fair chance, as there are certainly some gems in there.
IN ADDITION TO ALL OF THESE NEW PRODUCTS, WE WILL OF COURSE HAVE TONS OF OTHER SHIRTS, ART PRINTS & BOOKS (from artists like Dave Correia, Skinner, Robert Bowen and MORE) AT THE BOOTH! Now, one more thing that I have been waiting 10 years to make is getting released at Comic Con exclusively at the DKE TOYS booth # 4728 (NOT at the Zerofriends booth but we will be happy to point you in the right direction if you ask). What is it, you ask? Well, about 12 years ago I created a bunny with no arms and a goofy grin that loves being "WITH" things. I made a comic book. I made some plush toys. But what I had always intended them to be were little mini vinyl collectable toys, much like the M.U.S.C.L.E. men I grew up with and even like some of the POKEMON toys that are out now. And now, thanks to my amazing friends at OCTOBER TOYS & DKE TOYS I am finally releasing the FIRST set of these little armless dudes! And not only that, but this first set is ALREADY an exclusive limited GLOW IN THE DARK colorway. When we finally release them in stores, they will be non-limited, various colors, but these are SPECIAL, and limited to only 300 Pieces of EACH style. DKE TOYS (Booth #4728) is releasing ONE style per day, and each one is $5.00 each. I'll be signing at the DKE Toys booth on Saturday morning at 10 AM. LOOK! Here is a good size comparison photo, but keep in mind these are NOT the Glow In The Dark versions that will be available at the convention. TOY BREAK did a great preview of some Comic Con exclusive toys in their new episode and they give you a good look at the actual toys. You can watch it here:
Alright, my keyboard is yelling at me to stop punching it in its teeth, but before I go, we have a few additional promotions that our WONDERFUL sales staff will be happy to remind you of if you forget, but keep these in mind: 1. Every day, the first 25 customers to $25.00 at the booth will receive a special "extra" bonus item. The item will be different each morning and will be announced each previous night. 2. Through all 5 days, if you spend $50, you can get a FREE 5" x 7" "MY FAVORITE MONSTER" print of your choice. 3. Through all 5 days, if you spend $100, you will receive a free 8" x 10" giclee print of your choice in addition to your free 5" x 7" monster print. 4. Throughout all 5 days, if you spend $200, in addition to the 2 free prints above, you will also receive a FREE Regular Edition of my "AWFUL / RESILIENT" art book!
I think that's about it……maybe? Well, if you have any questions that's just more reason to go by the ZEROFRIENDS BOOTH #5502 and bug the dudes about anything and everything Zerofriends-Related. Now I need to go finish MAKING THIS STUFF SO I'M NOT A LIAR!!! See you in a few days. And make sure you follow me on my TWITTER and INSTAGRAM (Both @alexpardee or @zerofriendsart) so you can stay up to date on anything fun going on at Comic Con and ADD MY FACEBOOK PAGE to stay updated on some other stuffs. Word, nerds!!
RAD!
