Final Draft - DIA DE LOS MUERTOS ART SHOW - OCT. 2, 2009

Here is the final version of my piece for the Autumn Society of Philadelphia's upcoming show at Proximity Gallery in Fishtown: "Die De Los Muertos" (Mexican Day of the Dead). I took off work, so I will be at the show hanging out.


Had a decent morning chugging coffee on my back deck and finishing this piece. I tried to keep the background colors bright and playful. I've never been to Mexico, but when I was in college, I used to shop at Eyes Art on South Street, where they had a lot of Mexican Day of the Dead art for sale.

Lately, I've been listening to a lot of Hoagy Carmichael songs, and I recently received a book on his life and music for my birthday. The song "The Nearness of You" has been striking a chord, so I have been using it in some of the "romance" themed pieces I've been doing. My favorite version of the song is by Keith Richards. He sings off key, like Hoagy, but more sullen. While drawing this piece, I made a playlist that hade several versions of that song mixed in with an album called, "Mexico: The Real Mexico In Music And Song".

Special thanks to Aaron Luis Levinson and Katie Hill for helping me with the translation. They both agreed this is the best we can do in context and dialect for translating the song title.

Day of the Dead Art - First Draft

The Autumn Society of Philadelphia will be holding it's final show of the year, "DIA DE LOS MUERTOS" at PROXIMITY GALLERY (2434 East Dauphin Street in Fishtown) on October 2, 2009 at 6 PM. The show will consist of 40+ pieces of art, each interpreting "Dia de los Muertos" (Day of the Dead) in their own unique way.

Here is a photo of my first draft. It's all done with a Kuretake Brush Pen and markers. There isn't a background on it yet, but it will be done very soon. If anyone has suggestions on the background, I'd love to hear feedback.

Blue Moon...

Here is a piece I drew while sitting in Memphis Taproom back in 2008:

Bunch of Baboons comics story, "GREETINGS"

A few years back, a handful of Philadelphia Cartoonist Society members and myself chipped in our money and work and made a small anthology called "Bunch of Baboons" for "Free Comic Book Day", and annual event where comic stores across the country, well, give away free comic books.

We published our book under Rich Marcej's Baboon Books label. Mine was based on a project I was working on at the time with cartoonist Scott Derby. We were supposed to put out a book called "Wonderful", but it never came together like it should have. The Bunch of Baboons book, however, got a great response, considering we were in independent publishing house. We moved 11,000 of these books to our surprise.

My story sets the scene for a neighborhood based on my own neighborhood, Fishtown. At this time, we were in the very early stages of being gentrified. I was very skeptical of change at the time, but I think I'm adapting okay. As I look back at this work, I really wish I would have hand-lettered the story. I believe it adds more life and character to comics. Regardless, here is the short comic story entitled "GREETINGS"...

Sketches of Fishtown # 78 - Aaron Luis Levinson

My main man, Aaron...

Mail Art for Joannie...

Over the summer, I started seeing an amazing gal named Joannie. She is a sister of an old friend, an unbelievably great mother, and one of the strongest women I've ever met in my life. At first, I thought Joannie was going to stay a platonic friend, because I had my mind made up to spend some time alone for a while. But that didn't last. If you ever met Joannie, you'd understand why. She's that awesome.

Unlike myself, Joannie is not an artist, but she does seem to genuinely appreciate my work. So aside from the work I do for freelance and the local paper and my two jobs, I have been trying to make as much work for Joannie as possible. Every week, during breakfasts, lunch breaks, etc, I make and send her mail art to let her know I'm thinking of her. Mostly, they are just small envelopes drawn with ink and marker and colored pencil.

I don't think that any of my work is earth-shattering or groundbreaking in any way. I know that it's only cartoons. But in the past, I've had a hard time balancing the work that I do with the rest of my life. Making cartoons, as mundane as it may be, is a huge part of who I am. But I shouldn't let it get in the way of living a balanced life. It's taken me almost 34 years to find that out.

Bob & Barbara's Lounge - 1509 South Street

Bob & Barbara's Lounge (1509 South Street in Philly) is where I've met some of my heroes and best friends in this whole world. I've posted before about the importance that Nate Wiley and the Crowd Pleasers have played in my life. But I have so many connections to this place. It's the official clubhouse of the Philadelphia Cartoonist Society. So many friends have been made at that bar over specials and music.

A few years back, I was doing flyers, kind of a street art experiment to advertise the bar (not that it needs any help). The place packs them in, especially on the weekend. College kids come in looking to spend their parents' money on cheap booze and a welcome vibe - and EVERYONE is welcome at Bob & Barbara's. But i started drawing some of the "regulars". Sadly, some are not around anymore. Billy passed away. Pipe Donald was flagged years ago for bad behavior. But this place certainly does have some legendary character and characters. If you're in there enough, you see beyond the throngs of hipsters and frat boys to identify the folks that "come with the place". I have one of the barkeep Steve Ferrell somewhere, but can't seem to locate it. And even though I don't get out there as much as I used to, after 11 years, I still consider myself a regular. I'll post more as I make them...