DREGstudios! The Artwork of Brandt Hardin

Red Dots and Heart-Bending Art!

2012-02-02T22:52:00.002-06:00

with Richard at his opening in The Downtown Artists' Co-Op

Tonight was the First Thursday Art Crawl here in town and I dipped down for the last hour or so tonight to see Richard's Hogan's "LOTS OF RED DOTS" and also check out the Roxy Regional Theatre's Valentine's Art Exhibit which I had a collaborative work with curator Miranda Herrick showing.

Richard has been a source of encouragement for me and other local low brow artists. He has a taste for the imaginative and we've collected one another's work over the past several years. He's even been nice enough to rope me into local events and warn everyone else about me and my art beforehand!

The paintings Richard exhibited tonight in LOTS OF RED DOTS took tradition from the china his mother painted with a technique where she used one small dot of red paint to draw the viewer in with the most active of all colors. Richard used this technique over the years and you could walk through his installation and experience the ruddy magnetism of each to your eye. At times they are subtle and in other paintings, they appeared more like a laser sight on a gun, for which I accused Richard of having a more macabre intention with the work!

Here are some great pictures my wife Aurora got this evening...
Read more »

Heroes and Villains SKETCHBOOK PROJECT

2012-01-31T15:14:00.000-06:00

Green Lantern / graphite on paper / 2012

It's the last day of January and I succeeded by the skin of my teeth in completing two Superhero Projects to kick off 2012. My Hero | My Villain was a very successful exhibit this past Saturday night at No Egrets Tattoo here in Clarksville. After the riotous bedlam of this one night event, it was right back to the drawing table Sunday and Monday to finish up my Sketchbook Project for Brooklyn Art Library in New York. The theme assigned to me was Heroes and Villains and the book had to be postmarked today for its inclusion. I'm happy to say it is on its way in care of the good folks at the USPS.

With this new book of graphite illustrations, I now have three different volumes of my work included in Brooklyn Art Library's permanent collection. Patrons can sit down and flip through literally thousands of sketchbooks from artists living at all corners of the globe. My previous submissions were much more lowbrow where I went through and covered the books in a plethora of wild imagery with my trusty markers. This year, I decided to take a more tradition route and do actual sketches with only pencil. In my everyday illustration, I generally do preliminary sketches but don't build them up much, only using it as a guide for my inked linework. Each of the 14 comic characters took about 2-3 hours each to get them where I wanted them using only the medium of a mechanical pencil.

Thanos / graphite on paper / 2012

Daredevil / graphite on paper / 2012

The Heroes and Villains sketchbook will go on a World Tour before finding a permanent home on the shelves of the Brooklyn Art Library. Cities hosting the tour include Chicago, Portland (Oregon AND Maine,) Philadelphia, Atlanta, Austin, San Francisco and Los Angeles. The book will travel internationally also to Vancouver and Toronto in Canada, Melbourne in Austalia and London, England. Click HERE for the official calendar to see where you can catch the tour LIVE and in person! Can't make it in person? Check out this video of the entire book!

MY HERO | MY VILLAIN

2012-01-29T17:20:00.001-06:00

Photo by Joe Melanson

Joe Melanson harnessed every molecular bit of his superhero art powers this month to build up, hype and create the explosion which was a ONE NIGHT ONLY event last night at No Egrets Tattoo here in Clarksville. A steady stream of folk perused the plethora of heroic and villainous scenes created by a dozen or so regional artists and experienced my interactive installation courtesy of four Superhero Theme Music Tracks composed my buddy Dustin TEADS Wright! I'll be high off the buzz of this show for weeks... what a night!

For the past month, I've been living and breathing comic lore by creating new illustrations as well as four new paintings to go along with the tracks TEADS concocted by fusing clips from the heroes' movies and shows with his own dubstep and metal versions of the TV theme songs for Batman, Spiderman, and The Incredible Hulk while borrowing from Black Sabbath for Iron Man. The final result was an interactive experience which gave the viewers another dimension in this surreal experience!

All the previews were finally over and the end product was here as last night it all went down. My Hero | My Villain was a thrilling experience for me to see so many eyes and ears on my new work and collaboration with TEADS. Thanks to everyone who bared the cold to be our audience! My Super-Art Wife Aurora took most of these wonderful pics capturing the night...

She's POISON for My Hero | My Villain THIS Saturday!

2012-01-26T01:21:00.002-06:00

Inks on Bristol / 2012

We're down to the wire for My Hero | My Villain Exhibit curated by Joe Melanson at No Egrets Tattoo this Saturday night at 7PM. I'll be in the flesh, painting live and watching people dance to my interactive exhibit where four NEW paintings will have headphones hooked up to them with dubstep Superhero Theme tracks composed by TEADS!

I want to give you one last preview of the show since we're 48 hours away. In addition to the interactive paintings, I'll be exhibiting some new illustrations including a Rogues Gallery of some of my own favorite villains in 5in x 7in form including the likes of Bizarro Superman, Carnage, Brainiac and our feature here today, Poison Ivy!

After you check out the process pictures below, drop by The Leaf-Chronicle's website with an insightful and in-depth look into the local art scene written by Karen Parr-Moody by CLICKING HERE! She gives a great promo for My Hero | My Villain and the story at some of the artists involved.

It's pretty tight and tiny work as I outline the vines in green...

Of course there is a THIRD EYE in my form and fashion!

Completed Line Work

I want to see YOU in a set of my headphones Saturday! Drop by No Egrets Tattoo here in Clarksville THIS Saturday night from 7-10PM!

ART (and PEACE) for your EARS

2012-01-24T12:11:00.000-06:00

THIS Saturday night, I'll be involved with My Hero | My Villain, a ONE NIGHT ONLY Group Art exhibit at No Egrets Tattoo Studio here in Clarksville featuring a plethora of regional artists who are creating a lowbrowpalooza of the south with Joe Melanson and the shop's help. If you've been missing out on these exhibits, I'm upping the ante this time around with a MULTIMEDIA exhibit that you can ONLY experience LIVE this Saturday. My boy TEADS has been mixing up some dubstep theme tracks to go with four portraits I've painted in Superhero Surrealism for the show. His tracks will be featured on headphone sets which will be hung with the art so the viewer can listen and look to experience this multimedia experience!

Last night, I got a little crafty when I was playing with the headphone sets I purchased to use in the installation this Saturday. Using some of my foil peace sign stickers, I made the headsets a little more DREGish...

The stickers themselves were just a hair too big for the stickers so I cut our the center bones of the peace signs!

The silver borders on the headphones set them off- it was like it was meant to be!

You can try one on THIS Saturday night!

I wanted to challenge myself with this installation by creating four NEW paintings. I've only really been painting the past few years live and in group situations so the work for My Hero | My Villain is new territory for me in more ways than one! RSVP at the Facebook Event Page to come this Saturday and see what IRON MAN is drinking, how the HULK transforms, what bit SPIDERMAN, and BATMAN in a straight jacket! All four paintings will feature original theme music composed by TEADS!

Click HERE for a sneak peek at IRON MAN

Click HERE for a sneak peek at BATMAN

Click HERE for a sneak peek at my special New Year's Day HULK SMASH post!

The Wolfman Cometh

2012-01-20T23:25:00.000-06:00

I was sharing around the flier for MY HERO | MY VILLAIN tonight through the social networks and realized my cohort in villainy, Charles V Bennett's name wasn't featured so I worked up a special version of the poster for him! Here's the before and after... er- after and before if you will...

Poster Art by Gin Edwards

Click HERE to RSVP for this ONE NIGHT EXHIBIT next Saturday!

Click HERE for a preview of my HULK painting for the show!

Click HERE for a preview of my IRON MAN painting for the show!

Click HERE for a preview of my Topsy-Turvy: Fantastic Four for the show!

Click HERE for a preview of my Topsy-Turvy: Spy vs. Spy for the show!

IRON MAN on the Rocks

2012-01-19T22:55:00.000-06:00

Acrylic on Canvas / 2012

January is full of heroism and villainy here at DREGstudios as we prepare for My Hero | My Villain curated by Joe Melanson at No Egrets Tattoo ONE NIGHT ONLY on Saturday, January 28th!

I've spent the past few Sundays teaming up with Amateur Supervillain Charles "Wolfie" Bennett at his lair of acrylic and gouache solitude to paint new material for this unique exhibit. I am doing four acrylic paintings on canvas which will be the basis of a collaborative multi-media display you can ONLY EXPERIENCE IN PERSON!

On New Year's Day, I showed you the first painting- HULK SMASH! and I've kept a tight seal on my Spiderman which I painted the Sunday after. Alas, I do have new treats today though with some process pictures from my Iron Man painting. I decided to go with the old school original armor suit Tony Stark donned long before he became the drunk we love and adore today in reds and golds. I teamed this Golden Age relic up with his modern habit of the drink though. What do you figure a billionaire superhero sips on?

To see the final products, I hope you make it out to the exhibit next weekend! For now, check out these process pictures from my painting session at The Wolfman's...

TOPSY-TURVY: Spy Vs. Spy

2012-01-15T09:00:00.002-06:00

The Spy Vs. Spy Comic Strip from MAD Magazine celebrated 50 years last year, dating all the way back to 1961. Antonio Prohias, a Cuban cartoonist, created the spies and pitted them against one another in the epic and endless game of cat and mouse, of black and white, of assassination and covert destruction. The violence and flip flopping action was consistent and made the title the enterprise it is today with trading cards, video games, and animation all rooting from the original black & white strip, to which MAD gave a world-wide audience!

If you're just dropping by in this young year, I'm neck deep in superhero and comic lore for two art projects this month, one of which this preview is for today. On Saturday, January 28th, Joe Melanson will be curating My Hero | My Villain which will be a ONE NIGHT ONLY extravaganza of visual delight. Comic vendors, LIVE Body Painting, LIVE Music, LIVE Photography and More will keep you busy where I hope you find my own new works including this TOPSY-TURVY: Spy Vs. Spy which will be framed to hang in either direction! I have to get it colored along with more brand spanking new illustrations AND four Superhero Paintings which will be on display WITH interactive headphones to listen to original tracks my boy TEADS is mixing up!

Click HERE to RSVP on the Facebook Event Page!

Bomb Linework / Ink on Bristol / 2012

Friday the 13th (Have a Lucky Day)

2012-01-13T21:14:00.000-06:00

There is a term to label the condition of folks afraid of the Fridays which fall on the assumingly unlucky 13th of any given month- it is called friggatriskaidekaphobia. Now say that three times fast and roll the dice baby! Such superstition surrounding this macabre number date back hundreds of years, mainly due to the irregularity of this number which follows the coveted number 12. Twelve is the number of wholeness or completeness: 12 having its own term in goods as a dozen, 12 months in the year, 12 Gods of Olympus, 12 Disciples of Christ and so on... By following this holy number, the awkward 13 gets a bad rap as the red-headed stepchild of the numeric system.

Friday itself takes its own dark undertones from history even without the double-helping of fear brought on by aligning with the 13th day of the month. Jesus was crucified on a Friday and the worst stock market crash in history was on a Friday- dubbed Black Friday. Friday was even demonized as a dark day as far back as in the 14th century with Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales. Of course, context is everything as you'll find Tuesday the 13th to be ominous day of bad luck in Spanish and Greek-speaking countries.

Here's a blast from the past with an illustration from my Topsy-Turvy series called Lucky Lucky!

Inks on Paper / 2006

Click HERE for MORE of my TOPSY-TURVY Series!

The Joker (in the Eyes of Pop Surrealism)

2012-01-11T00:05:00.000-06:00

BAM! POOF! BANG! I'm movin' right along this month with my two superhero themed projects which will culminate at the end of the month with My Hero | My Villain (an art exhibit at No Egrets Tattoo) and The Sketchbook Project (which will tour the globe in a traveling interactive exhibit before being housed in The Brooklyn Art Library.) Here's a second helping from The Sketchbook Project where my assigned theme is Heroes & Villains...

Graphite on Paper / 2012

Click HERE for yesterday's sneak peak of The Sketchbook Project with my Batman!

The Dark Knight (in a Straight Jacket)

2012-01-10T00:10:00.000-06:00

I'm in superfanboy mode here at DREGstudios! this week with two comic-themed projects this month. I'm knee deep in my comics and graphic novels scouring for ideas to fill up a sketchbook for Art House Co-op, who do some wonderful group projects collaborating artists from across the globe. I've previously participated in two of their Sketchbook Projects, from the which my entries are housed in The Brooklyn Art Library with thousands of others artists' work open to public viewing. Past Sketchbook Projects have gone on tour across the United States, Canada, and Europe before resting on the shelves of this one-of-a-kind library.

Click HERE for a post on my last Sketchbook Project!

For their 2012 World Tour Project, themes were given and I was assigned "Heroes and Villains." Irony and laws of attraction always seem to align with the compulsion to create taking me by the seat of my pants. I'm also slated to do an interactive installation at My Hero / My Villain at No Egrets Tattoo here in Clarksville (a one-night extravaganza on January 28th.) Check out my New Year's Day HULK SMASH post for more!

As the next couple of weeks pass, I'll be giving you some previews of the work for these shows. Today's sneak peek is special though because it will really be the only work which bridges both the My Hero / My Villain exhibit AND my Sketchbook Project. Bats is always my favorite because he doesn't have any powers, he's just insane; this insanity being the inspiration behind my first sketch for my Heroes and Villains theme. I'll also be doing a painting from this sketch for my interactive display at the end of the month!

Batman as the patient at Arkham?

Fundraising and Awareness through Art

2012-01-06T22:05:00.002-06:00

Last month, I wrote about a new illustration, "Geisha for a Cure" which I created for Visual AIDS, a nonprofit organization who raises money and awareness for AIDS research through artists and their creations! [Click HERE for my blog entry if you missed out.] This weekend, Postcards from the Edge opens at Cheim & Read Gallery in New York City at 547 W 25th Street. If you are in the area, drop by to view and purchase postcard-sized artworks donated from artists across the globe!

A little closer to home here in Clarksville, you can pick up some autographed prints at another fundraiser entitled Lupus Sucks! This one-night event will be held at The Coup at 819 Crossland Avenue. I've donated 10 different reproductions of my work and proceeds will got to The Lupus Foundation. The artwork will be sold in a silent auction open to the public with LIVE Music and Entertainment. The event starts at 8PM and you can Click HERE for the Facebook Event Page to RSVP! Here are a few of the prints you can take home from the benefit...
Read more »

Top 10 Movie Picks of 2011

2012-01-05T07:30:00.002-06:00

If you couldn’t tell already by being here, I love art in all of its forms as channels for human expression. Film is one of the highest arts, taking teamwork, planning and of course months of execution to create. For years I’ve loved talking about film with my friends and debating who would be worthy of our own praise. Last year, I decided to begin a tradition of posting my own Top 10 Movies of the Year (Click here for my 2010 Picks!)

inks on bristol / 2011

2011 was a great year for cinema and there were some tough cuts I had to make from a list which was constantly being revised throughout the year. Some genuinely good movies with huge production value such as Rise of the Planet of the Apes, Limitless, and Water for Elephants (one of my wife’s favorites, based on a novel she loves) made my list initially but got bumped in the end. Acting doesn’t always carry a film to the finish line with me either. Look for Woody Harrelson to get an Oscar nod for his balls-out psychological portrayal of an anti-hero dirty LAPD officer in Rampart, a movie worthy of note that could only be carried so far by some really nice acting. But hey, you don’t want to hear about who didn’t make the cut, right? Let’s get to the films which did make my list this year…

Gifts from a Family Who Know Me...

2012-01-04T01:24:00.000-06:00

I'm delighted that this past holiday was one of the better ones in recent memory getting to see all of my family happy and moving toward better times. The Christmas / New Years rush is one of the craziest times of the year and we're all still recovering from it this week even with the fevered atmosphere about us leading these American lives. I'm blessed to have your audience and blessed to have my friends and family. Most importantly, I'm thankful for people who know and understand the teetering insanity driving the pulsating urge to create- the lighting in the bottle in my brain. My family followed through in style in feeding the beast. First, my Sister and Bro-in-Lawz got me a gift card to Snobby Lobby which will come in handy very soon I'm certain.

My wife Aurora got me this awesome mini MUNNY! I get to paint him sometime this year when things calm down a bit. Each one of these dudes from kidrobot comes with a MUNNY shaped sticker to color and a MYSTERY Item- mine is an AXE! I'll post some process pictures later on when I get to him.

My wife also got me art in another form with a few graphic novels I wanted included an awesome Elseworlds Superman... the Elseworlds DC series are a weakness of mine! In these books, alternate realities and time periods are created to show what these superheros would be like in another time and space.

Every year I take a portion of my Christmas Bonus from my top secret day job as a Marketing Manager and I spend it re-upping my marker supply. Here's what I got in the mail today from Cheap Joe's... they don't call him Cheap for nuttin'- you can't beat $1.99 Prismacolors with a stick... or a MUNNY Axe for that matter. I even snagged a few NEW colors I've never had before!

Another neato parting holiday fact: The Incredible Hulk painting I posted from New Year's Day is on a canvas my father got me for Christmas this year! Click HERE to see the painting!

Have a prosperous 2012 dear viewer- I hope you find the encouragement you need to see your own dreams through. I wouldn't be creating without the belief of those around me.

Hulk Smash on New Year's Day

2012-01-01T19:43:00.002-06:00

Kablam! I'm kicking off 2012 on the right foot today after a five hour painting session at The Wolfman's house where we were working on new eye goodies for My Hero / My Villain, our next art exhibit at No Egrets Tattoo Studio and curated by Joe Melanson. This one night exhibit takes place Saturday, January 28th! Check out the Facebook Event page and RSVP when you Click HERE!

Here's my Transformation of the Incredible Hulk which I pounded out today as my first piece which will be displayed!

Check out the process pictures below from start to finish of the Big Green Nasty...

2011: The Year in Review at DREGstudios!

2011-12-31T08:30:00.014-06:00

Your Host

When January rolled around 12 months ago, I hadn't thought much about what I wanted to do with my artwork this year. I had been blogging seriously for just a few months and had fallen in love with the open forum which it provided me to fuse both my voice and my art. The past few years I had focused on exhibiting anywhere and everywhere in the world I was accepted, placing my art in over 100 shows across the country and world. For 2011, I wanted to focus on building an audience here in the digital world. At the turn of the year, I made the decision to dump my static website which housed galleries for my art and focus solely on turning my blog INTO my site. I found quickly that it was a learning process and looking back I can see the wonderful evolution of the DREGstudios! site over the past 12 months, which has grown from several hundred viewers a month to 15-20K viewers per month since June! Falling in love with blogging was the best creative decision I've ever made.

2011 was the most inspiring year of my life so far for my work and passion. I'm still on the upswing and haven't managed to find a way to make a living doing what I love quite yet but you can go back through my archive of blog posts and see the fruits of my labor. Here's a look back at just a few of the major highlights of this incredible year...

Read more »

Top 10 Comments of 2011 on DREGstudios.com!

2011-12-29T23:20:00.000-06:00

Inks and Typewriter on Paper / 2006

One of the main motivations for turning my entire website over to my blog this past January was the idea of an open forum where my viewing (and reading) audience could give me feedback and comment on my work. I opted to allow Anonymous commenting whereas many sites do not. The only comments I remove are those that are blatantly spam and off-topic. Other than that, this site is free of censorship for my viewers just as I do not expect any entity of government or person to censor me. If you’ve seen my political art, you understand that the First Amendment is sacred to me as a creator.

Today we honor ten of those people who proactively voiced themselves here on DREGstudios.com in 2011. I painstakingly relived each and every low blow and gob of spit in the face which was thrown my way this year as well as those words which made me laugh and inspired me! From the hundreds of comments posted, I narrowed down for you my Top 10 Comments of 2011…

[10] ” Buy a lot of toilet paper...now.”

-Anonymous on Living in a Society of Fear: Ten Years after 9/11

[09] “I shall remain anonymous for the simple fact that I don't want my name associated with a blog that is so filled with infantile inaccuracies, false accusations, misquotes, and animosity towards others that is inexcusable. I also find it inexcusable to use this senseless tragedy and it is senseless for your own personal gain. Shameless, egotistical and rabid hyperbole at the expense of others.”

- Anonymous on Sarah Palin Made Me Do It

[08] “F*ck the "inner-city". If those lazy idiots can't make it in a free society, with a free education, a free house, free food, and a free cell phone, then they're too stupid to make it, period.

Your "outreach" programs are just another tax on an overburdened society who is already paying the price for the lower classes inability to function at any perceptible level.

The better use of our funds is to imprison, (or better yet, execute) these street criminals and get them out of society altogether.

Then there would be plenty of money to help treat the truly disadvantaged and needy people, who really do need it.

Liberals are unable to grasp these simple facts and always seek to blame society as a whole for an individuals problems.

When one of YOUR children is raped and beaten nearly to death by one of the "poor disadvantaged people" as my daughter was, you will have a different perspective.

Fortunately, they have pictures of the black bastard that did it ( he was at a hospital getting some free health care when he started stalking her). Unfortunately, considering he will be tried by a jury of his peers- more drug addicted sexual predators- he will probably walk. The good news for you Liberals is that he will be free to rape again. Hooray. Next time, I hope it's one of your kids!”

-Anonymous on Happy 100^th Gipper!

[07] “Hopefully all you dope smoking hippie morons take a hit of some bad weed and it will speed up your Alzheimer, if your not there yet maybe the vegetative state will come real soon”

-Anonymous on Vote Teapot: PASS IT!

[06] “The Whore of Babylon always comes to mind when her name comes up. Draped in gold, leading "sheep to slaughter", proud of it... Using the names of saints and God to her own ends...

17:4 And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication:

17:5 And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.

17:6 And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus: and when I saw her, I wondered with great admiration.

17:9 And here is the mind which hath wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sat.

17:15 And he said unto me, The waters which thou sawest, where the whore sat, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues.”

-Anonymous on The Ecstasy of Sarah Palin

[05] “I hate to say this... but I was really hoping her boobs would be in the drawing.. she had a nice set.. I still appreciate it as well as you! Good job!! You did get her smile.. it's like I can hear her laugh! :D”

-Melanie McIntyre Owenby on Janis

[04] “In conjunction with the "Teach Creationism as a Science" law and "Stop Protecting LGBTQ from Discrimination" law, this governor has really put Tennessee on the road to complete ignorance. Art can only offend a person insofar as he or she is willing to participate in the artist/observer paradigm. Isn't it a cliche by now--if you don't like the commercial, change the channel. Don't like gay marriage? Don't get one. And so on. People who come to this page for the explicit purpose of hating on Free Speech are, ironically, taking that very freedom for granted. An artistic depiction of misogyny for the purposes of political satire is, by definition, in defense of women's rights. I would suggest that certain anonymous individuals read Jonathan Swift's classic satire, "A Modest Proposal," in which he advocates eating babies to ease the Irish famine. But knowledge does tend to spoil fallacy, so fair warning! Haslam's legislation has seriously harmed innumerable good citizens and will continue to do so into the foreseeable future. If the good governor can dish it out, certainly he can take it in stride. And personally, this doesn't offend my sensibilities in the slightest, as an artist, a patriot, a feminist, an occasional peruser of dildos... So does that mean I should be legally banned from viewing it? If you have to trample on someone else's rights to gain your own, youhaven't accomplished anything... Good work as usual Brandt. Keep 'em thinking!”

-Zach on POTENTIALLY OFFENSIVE: A Portrait of Governor Bill Haslam and his Wife Crissy

[03] “You do realize that harvest festivals are celebrations of greed and gluttony, right? The whole giving thanks thing comes from Americans patting themselves on the back for making friendly with some natives before starting the genocide. Black Friday is a better method of celebrating the harvest than is Thanksgiving.

Of course, you're just one of those people who just want to blame Big Business/commercialization/video games/rock music/foreigners/Catholics for ruining society. Yes, I'm lumping you in with the bigots. You're just as self-important, smug, judgmental, and deluded as they are. Congrats on not being as violent, though. That's a plus”

-Anonymous on Wishing You and Yours a Bountiful Harvest…

[02] “Nice Work Here Dreg / One picture is worth a thousand words + ONE
From Cleveland, Ohio

"ICEALITY"
(Noun) Pronunciation: i·ce·al·i·tee

1 a : to describe the phenomena of arts and culture integrating with social issues.
2 : “Assist in understanding of the relationship between Humans and their Environment through the Arts ultimately promoting a sustainable global Culture of Peace”.

Source; URBAN DICTIONARY”

-Ambassador Renate on Propaganda for the Occupy Movement

[1] “they are going to shoot you like 2 pac”

-W.L. on POTENTIALLY OFFENSIVE: A Portrait of Governor Bill Haslam and his Wife Crissy

If my art and words move you, don't be afraid to tell me. If my art and words scare you, don't be afraid to tell me. If my art and words piss you the fuck off, don't be afraid to tell me. I'm looking forward to all your wonderful input in 2012!

-B

All in the Family: A Portrait of My Father and Aunts

2011-12-28T01:16:00.002-06:00

Every year for Christmas, I create a new work of art for my Grandmother as she says there is no better gift which I can give. In 2009, I showed you the portrait of my Grandfather Tom which she received (Click HERE if you didn't get the chance) and last year I illustrated her parents, Paul and Clemmie Frye (Click HERE for my special Christmas Post from 2010!) For her gift this year, I decided to make something even closer to my own heart with drawing of her three children, which I had framed together. Here are my Aunt Naomi, my Father (Joe Hardin) and my Aunt Liz...

(3) 5in x 7in panels / inks on bristol / 2011

You can Click HERE to see more of my Portraiture and Commissions!

Here's a process picture of my finished line work for the three drawings.

Merry Christmas Grandma!

Playing the Awards Season Game (More TOP Movie Picks from 2010)

2011-12-21T08:00:00.117-06:00

Making your pick is tough (AND TIMELY) work sometimes!

I've developed a deep love for cinema since my childhood. I have a vivid imagination and found early on that movies gave my mind room to travel and showed me corners of the creative realm which I wouldn't have journeyed to without their stories and visions. Last December, I gave you my Top 10 Movie Picks of 2010. Click HERE to see the List and the brief reviews of each of my recommendations.

Being a movie buff, I annually look forward to the Awards Season at the end of the year where some studios make a timely release of a movie they've sat on for 13 months while others scramble to make the deadline to enter their new flick into the awards pool. The inherent flaw in this marketing escapade around the holidays is most of the general public loses out on seeing these films before the Golden Globes and Academy Awards actually take place. For the most part, the winner of Best Picture is released in the last quarter of each year. One of the few recent exceptions which comes to mind is Crash from 2006. As an avid follower of the awards, I remembered thinking it was a shame the film got a Summer release because I felt it was a strong contender to take home an Oscar. To my surprise, it shocked many people that year taking home the award over films like Brokeback Mountain and Good Night Good Luck. Crash deserved the honor by far with its modern commentary on human compassion in the midst of racism but lacked the hype surrounding the other movies with their timely release. A star-studded cast made the studio seek a more "blockbuster" release date with a summer weekend when in reality they had the sleeper hit of the year with the votes of the critics backing them in the end. Alas, I'll never have my own say or control of movie studio politics but I will remain an avid viewer of cinema.

Last year, there were several movies I didn't get a chance to see before making my Top 10 Movie Picks of 2010. I cited several of these following up with you, constant viewer on that post. While movies like The Fighter garnered praise though awards hype (I found Christian Bale's supporting role the only solid part of the film,) others went straight to video without a cinematic chance in American Mainstream Hell. Here are three which would have bumped somebody off the Top 10 of 2010 in a perfect world where I had the Golden Ticket access indulged by the Hollywood Critic.

13 (Directed by Gela Babluani)

Babluani's English-language debut is one of mastery and has an independent tone with a style which plays like a Christopher Nolan movie. We'll have to look forward to more films from this director in the coming years and you'll have to find this gem on video since it barely made an indie circuit run here in the U.S. Garnering talent for this film with the likes of two of my favorite actors, Mickey Rourke and Ray Winstone, was a big draw for me to lend my eyes and ears to the story. By fate- Vince, the main character, delves into the underground world of a very dangerous game of chance as he assumes the identity of a dead man in the hopes of following a trail of fortune. Aspirations of wealth lead him to the most desperate and dangerous game one could imagine- Russian roulette for profit. As it goes with sports, the main motivation behind this society of promoters and quietly macabre gladiators is the vast amount of money at stake literally placed on the participants' heads. An ensemble cast really delivers and drives this unique script into a delightfully depraved place where valor and circumstance reign supreme in the ultimate wager.

True Grit (Directed by The Coen Brothers)

Even with a range of direction in their movies, these guys have just never let me down. While I don't consider Joel and Ethan Coen the very best Directors of our time, they are indeed the most consistent. I for one was thrilled to regress with them back to the tone of their debut film, Blood Simple with two more recent adaptations of novels in No Country for Old Men as well as last year's gem, True Grit. There is a common misconception that this film is a remake; nothing is further from the truth. Adapting from the original book by Charles Portis, the audience takes a surreal journey with Rooster Cogburn through the American West. Jeff Bridges will be the first to tell you he wasn't playing John Wayne, he was embodying the character directly from the source material of the author. What seemed a strange creative choice for the film-making duo turned out to be a perfect fit with the original book's material providing the character-driven action which they thrive upon. Again, the cast makes this film and even the smallest role leaves lasting memories as it goes with many of The Coen Brothers' creations. The final scene of Cogburn taking up Mattie into his arms and running her to shelter like a warrior beyond exhaustion and running on pure instinct I feel is iconic and fully embodied the definition of True Grit.

Winter's Bone (Directed by Debra Granik)

My explanation above for spotlighting these movies really roots from me finally getting to watch Winter's Bone over the summer, a few month AFTER the Academy Awards. I was absolutely floored by both the script and the acting. Debra Granik's masterpiece WOULD have been my #1 Pick of 2010 having been given the chance to be part of an audience for what was a limited-release movie in US theaters. With all the glitz, glamor and CG of movie-making today, there is so much to be said about a film like this. Winter's Bone has a razor edge to it and left me speechless, especially in the final scenes of the movie where we finally find Ree's father and she horrifically does what she must in order to use his fate to her advantage in saving her family's home.

Make certain to drop back by in a couple of weeks for my Top 10 Movie Picks of 2011 (so far... LOL!)

How many times have you had to change your mind about the Best Movie of the Year?

It's a Zombie Christmas with Clark Griswold and DREGstudios!

2011-12-15T00:42:00.000-06:00

First and foremost, I hope you- Yes YOU Constant Viewer have a Wonderful Holiday which blesses your family and brings them together. Keeping with tradition, I'm out to be a jolly bastard and with the gift of art get out a slew of limited edition postcards out to you again this year! Every year now I'll be sending out a new postcard designed by yours truly to everyone who's helped support me here in my one man factory in my head I call DREGstudios! The first few hundred will be in the hands of the good folks at the USPS this morning!

This year's DREGstudios! Christmas Card featuring Zombie Chevy Chase from the Zombie Walk of Fame Series!

When working on my Zombie Walk of Fame series last year, I embodied Chevy Chase as Clark Griswold. The depiction was a rare move in the series as I had not drawn many other actors from the series in specific roles, but rather simply zombified their portrait. I knew right away he'd be on my Christmas cards this year!

Here's the Illustration from when I finished up coloring Chevy a couple of weeks ago.

I'm currently in the phase of coloring all 101 Zombie portraits for this series of various stars from the Hollywood Walk of Fame! I'll be shopping around the Zombie Walk of Fame series to galleries next year for display as well as looking to public a comic-style book of the works in the future. I'll also be showing your fresh eyes some of the progress as I go!

The First QR Code on the back of the Christmas Cards can be scanned to get you a stream of some process pictures from my Zombie Walk of Fame series including the past two years' Countdowns to Halloween where I introduce several of my Zombifications and the goods on the actors depicted.

The Second will get you a time lapse video me coloring Zombie Chevy Chase!

Illustration Friday - Octopus's Garden

2011-12-09T14:29:00.001-06:00

In 1970, the foundation of the Entertainment Industry shook and the world gasped as Paul McCartney announced the break up of the most successful band in the brief history of popular music, The Beatles. There are numerous issues cited for the formal demise of the band. In fact, all four members had been working on solo projects for a while before the announcement, which Paul made in anticipation of his first solo album over forty years ago. Today's theme for Illustration Friday is "Separation," which prompted me to share my Beatles portrait, Octopus's Garden in response to the theme and one of the most infamous "separations" of the century.

Inks on Bristol / 2009

Octopus's Garden is a part of my Topsy-Turvy series where all works can be hung in multiple directions. The final framing on this piece is wired to hang all four directions. I usually present it the direction you see here since John is my favorite! Which is your favorite Beatle?

Today's feature illustration was exhibited at my Cult of Personality Exhibit in 2009. Click HERE for more about the exhibit!

Click HERE for my Memorial Portrait of John Lennon posted just yesterday on the 31st Anniversary of his passing.

Click HERE for a Stream of ALL of my Illustration Friday entries!

Dimebag Darrell Tribute Video

2011-12-08T12:51:00.005-06:00


Inks on Bristol / 2011

On today's date 7 years ago, Dimebag Darrell, guitarist for Pantera was shockingly murdered on stage in Columbus, OH while playing with one of his side projects, Damageplan. The shooter, Nathan Gale killed three others and injured seven in his rampage. Gale was shot dead by a shotgun blast to the face from a police officer in the ensuing mayhem. I created a tribute portrait of Dimebag this week for Rock Star Martyr who will be covering the guitarist today on the anniversary of his passing.

Dimebag was recently voted one of the Top 100 Guitarists of All Time by Rolling Stone but by many accounts should have been closer to the top of the list. He helped define a unique Southern Heavy Metal sound which drew Pantera legions of devoted fans and a posthumous cult following since his abrupt death.

Click HERE for the Rock Star Martyr Website to read more about Dimebag and other dearly departed Gods of Rock!

Click HERE for a stream of more of my Rock Star Martyr portraits for this ongoing series and collaboration!

Here's the time lapse video I created of the coloring process for my portrait! If it gets a little foggy on the footage when I'm coloring the sweet leaf, don't adjust your screens, it's all natural and part of my tribute, in memoriam for Dimebag...

Originally I had a Pantera track set to the time lapse video but low and behold, the record company doesn't allow it to be used (some do and some don't I'm finding.) Anyhow, I found a new band and their thrashing track to use! This cover of "Cowboys from Hell" is by a group of students of Aaron O'keefe in Ohio!

John Lennon: Just Imagine

2011-12-08T02:51:00.001-06:00

Thirty-one years ago today John Lennon was tragically murdered in New York City after recently returning from a nearly four-year hiatus from music. I just finished up my portrait of the musician inspired my his music, his politics, his poetry and passion. The portrait will be featured today at Rock Star Martyr, where there will be an article about Lennon by Joebot as our collaborative series continues today memorializing the dearly departed legends of popular music. The year is almost over and our series brought to a close so I'll be looking for a gallery setting to display these works next year as we polish things up and prepare to format the entire series into a book format!

inks on bristol / 2011

Can you tell what imagery is influenced by which songs and facets of John's life?

Click HERE for the Official John Lennon Website!

Click HERE for the Official Rock Star Martyr Website!

Click HERE for a Stream of ALL of my Rock Star Martyr Portraits!

Here are some process pictures from my initial sketch and a few of my favorite tracks which have touched me from the man himself...

Notes on Patriotism (NEW LIVE PAINTING)

2011-12-04T12:29:00.002-06:00

When the Third Eye opens and funnels the Universal Artistic Spirit into swirling images in your mind, you have to take charge and act as translator. As it works with visionary energies, you don't get to choose oftentimes when this rush occurs. Yesterday I had a vision at work inspired by a song which serves as the soundtrack for the video I made when I left the office. I got to let out some political aggression which has been building within me lately. I was blessed with a beautiful day of Tennessee weather to work in and the results are what you see here...

God Bless America and A Special Thanks to my fellow artist and amateur super-villain Charles Bennett for letting me do this in his back yard so I wouldn't get arrested in the parking lot of my apartment building for such anarchy!

As an afterthought- Youtube has an uncanny Big Brother way of recommending you watch their recommendations and after posting Notes on Patriotism, they spat a bit of Penn & Teller at me which I found served as a wonderful statement about my own reasoning behind burning my American Flag Painting. Enjoy...

And from my buddy Jason, numbero uno fan of Mr. Show...

Illustration Friday: The Tough on Crime Skeleton

2011-12-02T15:13:00.001-06:00

"Said the Tough on Crime Skeleton - Tear Gas the Mob"

"Brigade" is an unusually macabre theme coming from Illustration Friday this week. Coincidentally, these past few weeks have seen brigades of armed Police in riot gear swooping down the streets of our nation in response to the first ever GLOBAL Protest in the Occupy Movement.

These largely peaceful protests are scaring the Upper Class and Big Business's hand in our Government because they are reaching beyond the control of the main stream voice in Big Brother. Despite little press coverage or acknowledgement in its first month, the movement became a world-wide phenomenon with Occupy groups springing up in over 80 countries across the planet. Of course, the spin doctors are at work and justifying the unconstitutional removal of these protesters across the country the past few weeks as our Government shows its strong arm by beating, tear gassing, pepper spraying and arresting over 1,000 citizens here in the US, Canada, Australia and Europe. Occupy is exposing the corruption of our Government by Wall Street. Occupy is exposing the Police State you really live in. Occupy is here to stay and keep pulling back the curtain and lifting the veil and nudging open your third eye.

My featured illustration this week is from my Ballad of the Skeletons series inspired by Allen Ginsberg's poem of the same name. I have shared a few of these works through Illustration Friday and you can Click HERE to see a stream of ALL of my entries from this year!

Click HERE for the Official Allen Ginsberg Website!

Click HERE for my FREE Occupy Wall Street Posters I designed for the Movement!

Click HERE for the Official Occupy Wall Street Website!