Emperor of the North Pole!

One of my new favorite movies is "The Emperor of the North Pole". I have a sort of hobo fascination (more art to come on that). And this film is like the best hobo movie of all time. Ernest Borgnine plays the tyrannical train conductor whose name is feared far and wide along the rails - the deplorable, the despicable, the hobo killing "SHACK":And Lee Marvin plays the tough-as-nails hobo "A NUMBER ONE":


Just wanted to take the time to post these here. The originals can both be seen at the Atlantis Art show (listed earlier in the month in this blog) until the end of the month.

Happy St. Patrick's Day 2009!

I wasn't very productive over the weekend because I went to New York City to see the Pogues with my gal, Laura.
It was nice to stop worrying about work and just relax for a few days. Since I don't have any new art to show, I'm posting a loose pen sketch I did last year of Shane McGowan for the Philly Turkey.
Every week, I do a quick drawing of someone I saw in town. These cartoons tend to be my loosest and most sarcastic. The running strip is called "Meet Your Neighbors". Basically, they are half-hour sketchbook observations.

Big congratulations to Jacob Lambert, by the way. Jake is a fellow Phila. Cartoonist Society member who runs the Philly Turkey. His wife Kirsten just gave birth to their first child. God bless, little man.

BLACK LANDLORD Sample Art

BLACK LANDLORD is a local band I love for many reasons. They're hip hop, funk, and all Philly. They're fun, intelligent, and full of many talented musicians. In college, I was a Goats fan, so I really like what MAXx is doing this go round. He is backed by a full-on funk band (one of them being their mega-talented, multi-instrument playing sax man Ken).

I was supposed to get some sample work to the band well over a year ago, but for one reason or another, I just couldn't decide on what approach to take. I had a cartoon character of MAXx, sinsiter looking, like he'd scare the rent out of you. But Ken said they wanted to project more of a fun vibe. So when I had some down time betwen yesterday and today (about 6.5 hours), I used a concept from an earlier drawing I did, but took a much more fun approach. I drew it in pencil first, then ink, then scanned it and did the colors in Photoshop. I'm not sure if they're going to use the art for anything, but I threw some quick text on here to push their show. You should go if you even remotely like hip hop or funk music. It's always a great time. CLICK HERE for info on the show.

There have been a few quotes on their myspace page with "landlordy" sayings like "Rent is Due" and "Apartment for Rent." So that stuck in my mind. I took the landlord concept and made a really cartoony version of MAXx as a puppeteer, pulling on the strings of Philly houses and projects. I pooled my influences from a few different places: the band itself, Maurice Sendak (as I often do), Miles Davis' "On the Corner" album cover, photos I found online of Philly projects, my own photos of rowhomes, and Max Fliescher type dancing houses from the old-tymie cartoons.

Also, every second I was drawing this, I was listening to music to fuel me. Here is a sort of mix tape of some of the songs I was listening to while doing this:

No War (live in Rittenhouse Square) - Black Landlord
Hard Times - David Fathead Newman
Daylight - Aesop Rock
In Walked Bud - Thelonious Monk
Concrete Jungle - Bob Marley & the Wailers
Confessions of a Pig - Monkey
Today Was a Good Day - Ice Cube
Summertime - Billy Stewart
In the Ghetto - Eric B & Rakim
Compared to What - Les MacCann & Eddie Harris
Dear God - Black Landlord
My Automobile - Parliament

5/3 Woodland Flier

My Dad works at the EPA, and he meets a lot of interesting people at his job.  He's been working in HAZMAT for years (he's even going to be given an award next month for decades of environmental service).  

Recently, he asked me to design a flier for his buddy's Doo-Wop group, "5/3 Woodland".  I've heard these guy's sing live at last year's 2nd Annual Lacy Day (a memorial scholarship benefit named after my cousin Lacey Gallagher).  These fellas were very gracious and donated their time and entertainment.  They are really great too.  You can read more about them and purchase their most recent CD by CLICKING HERE.

Fishtown Social Club T-Shirts (and other T-Shirts)

My friends Ed Booth and Tommy Mullen and I have recently started making T-Shirts for Ed's trademarked company "Fishtown Social Club".  I have known Eddie and Tommy for many many years, and I am very happy to be a part of this new venture.  We sold the first shirt at the "Sketches of Fishtown" book release party in January.  They sold really well, and now I see folks wearing them all over the neighborhood.  I believe some are still available.  If you are interested, e-mail me: phillytoon@yahoo.com. Here is the initial black and white design: 

 Here is the final with color:

Years ago, I designed these Fishtown Dirtball shirts.  It was kind of a joke, because "Dirtball" was the worst possible insult you could say to someone in my neighborhood when I was a kid.  The Dirtball shirts sold out pretty fast. Here is the men's:

 And here is the smaller girlie fit:

Also, here is a Fishtown shirt I designed years back based on a tattoo design:

These older shirts are no longer available.  But I have been thinking about printing up more.  I love my neighborhood.

Here is a shirt design I did for my buddy's son's bachelor party (no, that was NOT MY bachelor party):

Thanks for coming out to the show...

As hoped, the crowd from the Philly Brewing Company's 1st Anniversary Party spilled over into Atlantis last Saturday afternoon. The place was packed. The weather was great. Everyone seemed to have a swell time. Roger reported that First Friday was very successful in drawing a crowd and selling art. And seeing all these friendly faces come out Saturday made me feel pretty swell myself.

I just wanted to take a moment to thanks to all mt friends, neighbors, and colleagues who made it out. Here are some pictures of the afternoon:









Needless to say, with long nightwork the evening before, I was tuckered out early. Thanks to my gal Laura for taking this embarrassing photo of me holding my Muppet as I slept:

Hanging the "Nostaljerks" show with Roger Petersen

We hung the "Nostaljerks" show today at Atlantis, the Lost Bar (2442 Frankford Avenue, 19125). I was floored by both the quality and quantity of  Roger Petersen's work.  I would have never done a show so soon to the book release I just had.  But hanging work next to Roger's was an opportunity I just couldn't pass up.  He's one of my best friends and favorite artists, so I had to take this opportunity.  I must say that I felt dwarfed next to him on the wall.  In one month, he made 27 portraits of old-tymie baseball players, every one of them immaculate.

I also found out today that this is Atlantis' first ever art show, so I am also very proud to be part of that.  I really like this bar.  With all of the gentrification going on in and around my neighborhood in recent years, a lot of the bars are very divided between new residents and lifelong neighbors.  But everyone seems to get along at Atlantis.  There aren't many places like that around here, only a scattered few.

If you'd like to check out more images of the hanging with a sneak preview of some of the pieces, CLICK HERE.

Rog will be there tonight for First Friday.  I'll be there tomorrow from 4 PM on (after the Philadelphia Brewing Company's First Anniversary Party across the street).  If you can't get out this weekend to see the show, you should try to get there before the end of the month.