Bay area independent rapper TOP.R is an extremely talented artist and a very interesting person. The very first day I met him, around 1995, I was at the Albany wall painting with Use, Quake, Posh, Ole, Dalek and a couple of other people, when TOPR, who then may or may not have had pink hair and just got out of jail for the night, gave me a nice big John Elway smile and said "Who are you supposed to be, faggot?"
This was the beginning of our beautiful relationship.
Flash forward like the new season of Lost. Its 12 years later. We've worked together a ton of times, he's lived on my couch and got everyone sick, we've travelled together, and complained together. Our relationship has, indeed, matured. I know this for sure because when I presented him with the artwork for his new album, he responded with "This is what you call art, faggot?"
So, now, as loveable as he is, and as good of friends as we have become, i am very proud to be a part of TOPR's new album, "The Marathon Of Shame", which I think is his best work to date. This is his 7th album, and it's being released tonight at Topr's record release party at 12 Galaxies in San Francisco. Also Performing are resident rad-asses: DJ Quest, Conceit, Ras One, and more.
12 Galaxies 2565 Mission St $10
here is the artwork and also, SF WEEKLY ran a review of the album too, so check it.
So I've been staring at this huge severed whale dick for like 4 days, just smelling it rot. My friend came back from the arctic and thought i would want it since i have been watching that Bizarre Foods show religiously. its nice to look at, but at first I didnt think there was any way in hell i would eat it. Surprisingly, though, i think decaying whale dick must be what they make everything with at Bath and Body works, because it smells so fucking good! So...since everyone is gone tonight, and because i doubt that it will even be solid after a couple more days, i took a bite.....
But that's not what i've been meaning to do. A ton of people have asked me what album covers and stuff that I have designed and to post them, so i managed to gather up most of em (there's a few secrets out there still;) and put them up in my photos section on my myspace page. http://www.myspace.com/alexpardee
If you're curious, check em out. I'm gonna post a bunch more art pretty soon too, since its a lot easier than updating a website that i have no idea how to update. Goodnight.
So, as i wasn't allowed to even mention this before, I have been working feverishly with one of the greatest modern metal bands in the world, IN FLAMES, on their new album artwork and packaging for their new album, "A Sense of Purpose". Those guys are not only Swedish, but they are also amazing and hilarious. Its like a heavy-metal 3-for! The cover artwork finally got revealed today. It was a very involved project, as IN FLAMES had a very specific vision for the look of this album, and i had a LOT to live up to since their last album was designed and illustrated by none other than one of my major influences, Derek Hess! Stay tuned, as we did a whole illustrated 20 page booklet to go with it. IN FLAMES' "A Sense Of Purpose" will be released in April. Check it.
Starting to really gain some momentum on the development of the Chadam animation project. The stuff that we are working on is looking amazing. More to come. I got a write up in the new issue of Alternative Press, so check it out if you are waiting in Borders or Barnes and Noble for the fat guy to move away from the drinking fountain so you can get by and get to the restroom. UP reppin yo!
Click to see it in a legible fashion.
And in case you want to add it to your collection of all of my criminal records, here is what the cover looks like.
I don't know why I do this to my eyes, but I went and saw AVP2 a little while ago, and once again, the advertising fell a little short of the actual product.
Sometimes I paint in public, often times poorly because i crack under pressure. And sometimes, my friend Z-man from Gurp City raps, often times incredibly, because he is awesome. Every once in a while, because of brand new technology called Final Cut Pro, we can perform TOGETHER. And i painted so fast this time, I managed to finish before his song was done, AND i changed my clothes in the middle of that shit. Enjoy.
Here is me painting at the OWLEX show @ Upper PLayground PDX in Portland, OR.
It's about that time again. Yes, in addition to it being time for me to switch to Sanka (if they still even make that), its art show time. Tomorrow, December 6th, at 6pm, I will be debuting 30 new art pieces at Upper Playground in Portland, OR. What is so special about these 30 pieces, other than they are some of the most expensive pieces of toilet paper you can buy? Well, I have had months to get ready for this show. However, because of my workload, i ended up not having ANY time to get any paintings done. So i decided to use that to my advantage, and try to be all science-experimenty, and I made a decision that would almost cost me my life, and most certainly my health. I decided that for the entire month of November, I would work on my commercial work stuff during the day, and then at night, when i am supposed to be sleeping, i will instead stay up and paint and draw for the UP show. That way, i'll see how i perform under pressure and natural hallucinegins. It went ok for a while, but after a couple of weeks, i wasn't doing very well. I was nauseated, shaky, my heart felt like it was shivering and screaming at me like some horrible American Idol audition. My thighs burned and my hands felt frozen. I didn't NOT sleep, i think that would be impossible, or at least it would mean I'm feeling guilty from a hit n run (see The Machinist). But i limited myself to about 2-3 hours at the most per night. I thought it might make my work shittier, but in fact, the experiment seemed to work pretty well, because for the first time almost ever, i am pretty happy with what i produced. And the lack of sleep just made me not care if i was painting something shitty. I simply found myself almost sleepwalking through paintings, snapping awake to find out that I painted a pair of square-shaped bank robbers riding on the hood of a tentacle-faced eskimo. Ok, I can deal with that. So yah, thats how it went. And, with the help of Adam Peterson, I was able to realize my new favorite made-up-in-the-third-trimester-of-my-sleep-deprivation character, Owlex, in tres dimesiones, just in time for the show. In case you are wondering who the Owlex character is, its my superhero alter-ego, who is a skinny, savage half-naked superhero who wears a homemade owl mask and protects animals from the rough and grimy streets of NY. And he can do magic. yahhhhhh. Anyway, if you are in or around Portland, OR, come down to Upper Playground and check it out. Oh, and i painted some stuff on the walls, too. Happy Hannukah and Early Christmas, yo. I love you.
ANd here is me painting one of the pieces while CocoRosie sings to you about werewolves and her schizofranic father.
Check out this great moment in photo-op history. The YouTube Execs (Product Marketing Manager Jeben Berg, Chief Information Architect Paul, and YOUTUBE founder Chad Hurley with TAY ZONDAY, aka MR CHOCOLATE RAIN, the tiny crooning phenomenon!! And to make things even better, Jeben Berg is sporting the "False Hope" Upper PLayground Shirt I designed! Word, nerds!
And just in case you dont understand how importantly awesome this moment truly is...
Continuing the 3-man-Voltron, Saber, Dave Choe and I hit up Workman's in the Eastridge Mall in San Jose as part of the Upper Playground / Sparks Ignite What's Next Tour. We only had an hour to paint and mall security was in full mounty gear and segways, but we pulled it off and had time to hang out with everyone who came by to say whattup. So thanks to everyone who helped out and came by and supported. I wish i could be on the whole tour, but because so much shit and work is going on with me i couldnt make it, but hopefully i will be out there with them again soon. Dave and Saber are killin it with guest artists like Retna and N8 Van Dyke. Go find them in your city.
Dave Choe bending over to vomit because he is pregnant.
As part of the Upper Playground / Spark's "Ignite What's Next Tour", I joined forces with my good friends Dave Choe and Saber like a version of Voltron that is so bad ass that we dont need FIVE cat-robots to make a giant unstoppable force, we only need us 3. Unfortunately, i'm the messy one. The one that needs artistic supervison, and the one who is still scared to talk to a lot of people. But I was in good hands in Santa Cruz, murder capital of the world (according to The Lost Boys), thanks to Dave, Saber, and the crew in charge of The Krate. Go check it out if you are ever there visiting the place where Keifer Sutherland uttered my favorite line in movie history, "Maggots, Michael. You are eating maggots." Indeed.
My neck was feeling unusually unruly that day and decided to expand its mass as I began painting:
Saber and I becoming one with the mess:
One of my favorite pictures of Dave ever. Photo by Jon Dragonette:
My finished piece:
Dave Choe's finished addition:
SABER's insane city scape where i wish i lived:
I decided that the door at the neighboring toy store needed a no-armed-bunk-dark-crystal-knock-off-thing-with-a-riding-friend" since it seemed to be lacking one.
And the photo that sums up everything pretty well (photo by CW Mihlberger):
A few people actually get mad at me and think i'm joking when i tell them that I am not in control of what i draw or create. They think i just dont want to spend my time talking to them. A few years ago, they would be right, but now...its all good, i like to talk. Im not very good at it, but if i have something to talk to you about, i love it. Unfortunately, I can never talk about what I paint or draw because I simply have nothing to do with it. I'm serious. And here is why... A few years ago, I was suffering from artist block, and i just sat in a tub of tears, sobbing as usual. And she came. A perfectly ladybug-sized ladybug landed on my wrist, and bit me. But the bite didnt hurt me, or make me sick. It made me LOVE her, and obey her every command. Fortunately, she always had a passion to draw random, weird-shape-headed people and extra appendages, but due to her insect limitations, she never could. So she uses me. And uses, and uses, and i'm trying my hardest to get better, but i dont understand what im doing and her tastes are changing and if i fail to please her....I dont know what will happen. So yah, none of this is my fault. I promise.
