History of American Graffiti

Here's a great video that provides quality information and docmentaion of the history of american graffiti.  There will also be a textbook entitled, "The History of American Graffiti" available shortly.  I suggest picking up a copy.  This is a textbook that I would teach from if I had my dream of teaching graffiti/street/urban art to students. Watch the full video, it's worth it.  

Purp & Yellow

Here's a purp & yellow painting of Kobe Bryant that I painted yesterday.  It's prob around 8ft x 4ft, so it's not massive, but fills the space pretty good and leaves room to add to it.  This was an unexpected painting session, so I used what colors I had with me.  My instructions were to paint something in a "Laker theme" but I had one can each of the colors I used so I had to use my paint wisely.  Plus I had some time constraints so I had to fininsh this in a couple hours (no laggin' on this one).  I probably would have painted something different or put more detail into it if I had more paint and time, but in the end I was happy with it.

Other than that, there's not much to say about it, it's just a portrait.  My bad for the not so great pictures, the time of day wasn't helping and at the time I had to get going, so it is what it is.

seze

 

Active Rideshop Dressing Room Walls

I don't know about you but I've been in some dressing rooms that have ranged from excessively spacious to ridiculously cramped. Most contain nothing more than a seat, hook for some clothes and some mirrors.  I know there's not much needed for a dressing room to serve it's purpose but I always appreciate a dressing room that's unique for one reason or another.  And that's my hope for the Active dressing rooms. 

I've painted three dressing rooms at Active Rideshop in Riverside.  Dressing room #1 has taken on the theme of playing cards with cartoon-style King, Queen, Joker and Ace card portraits.  Dressing room #2 is a collage of random, freestyled charactersand text that for one reason or another were floating around my head and I had to paint them.  And my most recent addition, dressing room #3, the largest dressing room available, I just painted my name.  So I'll keep this short and sweet, and leave you with the pictures.  Maybe next time you're in the wonderful, world-famous Riverside, you can stop in and check out some art (removal of clothes optional).

Dressing Room #1

Dressing Room #2

Dressing Room #3

seze

Hey stickers! "It's time for a change"

Who doesn't like stickers? Whether it be stickers that those hardcore and dedicated "My child is the greatest at life" type shit (ha, I think that'll be one of my new stickers) that individuals stick on their bumpers and ride out til' they're sun-beaten and too cracked to even peel off.  Or maybe you prefer those clever street art stickers that come in every size, shape and color....either way, stickers are kinda noticiable and creative to a certain extent.  But now a days it seems that anyone and everyone has their own machine-made, personalized, customized, clever sticker.  Which is cool, but I'm gonna steal a quote from el presidente himself and say, "It's time for a change."
I've kinda always been a fan of quality > quantity, but that's just me.  And so I've decided to not invest my consistently decling savings in the perfect machine-made and cut sticker game.  But rather invest my creativity and time instead of money and keep my stickers homemade.  And that's my clever street art sticker slogan, "Keepin' it homemade."  Clever huh? haha.
So if you happen to run across one of my stickers, know that it's either going to be hand drawn or printed from my printer at home (I like to try and mess with digital imagery every once in a while).  No homemaking sticker kits here, all using stickers I've collected throughout the years and figuring out how to transform it into my sticker.  I'm gonna try and make these as often as possible but this shit takes time.  I may not be up on every block, but it will be worth examining and of course it'll be homemade.  Here's my first "keepin' it homemade" edition.  They're all one-off and I'll never draw two exactly the same so I think that makes them unique on some level.  I also have some new hand drawn stickers and digital stickers I printed up but I'll have to take pics and upload them another night, I'm too lazy to do all that right now.  But I will say I'll (try to) do a better job with this blog responsibility and continue to show what I'm working on or ideas I have floating around in my head.

seze

The Garage

Content: 

I chose the image of Jack Nicholson from the film, "The Shining"  because I have always appreciated Jack's films and for me he represents all of the films that have provided inspiration.  Also, I connect with Jack on a different level because he and I are both die hard Los Angeles Lakers fans.
Right next to his portrait, is my name, "seze" painted in the graffiti art style.  I chose to do this because graffiti art has always been a part of my life.  I also added half of Mickey Mouse's body with a spray paint cap for his face because Mickey Mouse is an iconic cartoon and I wanted to show that for me, graffiti art is just as iconic.  The words, "my riches never rust" that are being said by the Mickey Mouse character mean that with graffiti art, the riches you receive are not monetary.  The riches come in the form of paint and the experience you receive from spray painting.
The spiral face represents all of the unknown, unexpected and unintended sources of inspiration I have received.  I chose to paint him in grey tones because this unknown inspiration is a grey area to me.  It's an area that I have no reason for why I was inspired.
Right below that portrait are the letters, "SE" (initials for my name, seze) written in the old school graffiti lettering, paying tribute to all the inspiration I received through old school graffiti.
The half cartoon-style portrait of musician Sade represents all of the music I have received inspiration from.  I chose her because my family appreciates her music (especially my parents, and I wanted them to connect with something from this mural as well).  And on the other corner are made-up random cartoon-style characters that are not from a specific cartoon because too many cartoons have inspired me throughout my life and I couldn't choose just a few.

The location plays a major role in this mural because it's in my parents garage.  Living there for half my life, I wanted to pay tribute to the house by leaving a piece of my art and myself in a place I called home.


seze

A Sunday at the Downtown LA Graff Lab

Today I decided to check out the Graff Lab in Downtown LA.  I grabbed a handful of colors, packed a lunch and headed out for a full day of painting.  I didn't really know what to expect but once I stepped into the yard, I fell in love.  The level of artwork ranged from beginner to advanced. Pieces, bombs and handstyles were everywhere from the ground to the port-a-potty.  Nearly everything was hit up.  After talking to one of the volunteers and I was given a section to paint, I threw on my iPod and got to work.  I did take a couple 5 minute breaks to talk with the other artists but other than that, it was a 6 hour non-stop session.  Painted straight through lunch.  All I can say is a painting session like today was much needed.

 "You want order no. 47?? It verrrrwy gooood"

I was in the mood for sushi...

The Move

First off, Happy New Year!  2011! Damn, ha.  Secondly, sorry minimal pics in this one, just more straight up boring information.  And lastly, enjoy!

The move.  Well, those that have moved from one location to another know how those days went.  Best two words to describe the day: simply draining.  But to my surprise, things went fairly smooth.  Just glad everything is all settled in now and I'm now looking forward to the educational road ahead. One additional and forgotten task is learning the neighborhood and city streets.  Although it seems impossible, it will be learned.

.....As my last free leisure hours are counting down and I can honestly say that I've already enjoyed my new location's surroundings and housing.  From the overall appreciation for where I am in life, to the unique, unplanned, and life-time memorable NYE experience, its been simply amazing.  Oh, and I'm already off to a great start with the food out here and can't wait for all the great food experiences to come.  Luckily I already have a list of spots to check out because I've got the 'LA Approved, Must-Have, Gotta Eat' food spokesman providing the names and locations for any foods of my interest.  Boom.

But back to the task at hand....
Let's run down this sweet sixteen picture perfect day checklist:

1. Slept in
2. Figured out my school routes, times and overall agenda
3. Had breakfast AND lunch
4. A friend stopped by
5. Went to the MOCA Museums in the rain
6. Phillipes dinner.......again.  It's very savory
7. Watched a classic DVD from the little brother's Vault Collection and one from my Mini-Me Collection
8.  Miss J paid a visit
9. A couple Stella's kicked it too
10. Gathered a few ideas that are all ready to roll as wall pieces
11. Wrote my quote
12. Listened to some smooth songs at just the right volume
13. Sketched a little something
14. Stayed up late appreciating the city skyline view
15. Counting down the hours 'til I see my Goose

and last but not least.....
   16.  Finally came up with something that I feel is worth blogging.

I truly enjoyed this last day before my expensive, uncertain, and extensive, but enjoyable adventure begins.  I'm just surprised it's happening, but ready.

So, to sum it all up, its been amazing.





Only down part is I had to leave my Goose behind....


For now.

SEZE