Pastels, Disney Concept Art & Society Clothing

Click to enlarge. 

We're starting a new guide for LOCALE magazine on Disneyland. I know. Pretty awesome thing to get paid to do! I'm working on it with my lovely sis and our awesome friend Lindsey Bro. We all decided we wanted a classic Disney, concept art feel to the aesthetic. So I busted out my Monster's Inc. Concept Art book and my pastels and started copying a scene from the book to figure out No. 1: how to use pastels, and No. 2: how to accomplish the amazing lighting and style they always have in their work. Seriously... why haven't I used pastels since elementary school? They. Are. AMAZING. So messy. So bright. So fun. Can't wait to work on OUR piece for the guide.

Also entered a fun competition on instagram for my friend Zech's brand Society Clothing. All you have to do is throw up the Society logo (the all seeing eye - like above) and tag @societyclothing and #societyeye to enter. The contest goes all the way through Friday May 11th and the winner gets some great shwag - so enter! Or vote for me @amyhoodlum. I'm totally leading the pack, and in the words of Mitt Romney, "the numbers are just on my side." haha

- Amy
Listening to: Sufjan Stevens' "Illinois" album.
So. Good.

Mucha Tattoos, Painting Progress & Art Shows

After gabbing with my dear friend and muse, Sara Wilkins, last night on the phone I was finally prepared to tackle the tattoos portion of my portrait of her. They are based on the Alfonse Mucha painting "Moët & Chandon - Dry Impérial."

Original Tattoo Sketch. Click to enlarge.

I sketched it out days ago, re-drew it to clean it up, reverse traced a backwards copy on my light table, and then transferred it onto the painting by placing the graphite side of the illustration on my canvas and rubbing the back with a pencil. Cheap, easy transfer method since I don't have a projector. 


Then I mixed a tattoo color out of my mixed skin tone I saved, black, and green. I was going for a semi faded tattoo color. Then it was just trying to keep my shaky hands steady to outline the tattoo. Why is it that there is NEVER a small enough brush? I need a liner brush that is medium length with like two bristle hairs. Then maybe I could get the fine detail I need! Somebody needs to get on this. 


In other BIG news, I will be headlining an art show in Downtown Santa Ana Arts District this upcoming September! I'll keep you posted on more details as I get them. I'm going to be showing mostly these portraits. I want to try to get two more wrapped up for it. I want to paint a bearded man really badly. And a surf rat. I've got a few friends in the queue to do, so we shall see what happens! I'm thinking I won't be getting much work done till after the playoffs. Gotta cheer my Lakers on to victory. Playoffs, baby!


Progress shots of the tattoo painting below. 


-Amy
Listening to: Of Monsters And Men

Canadian Tuxedos, Being A True American & More Wally Progress

Breaking News! I finally got a jean jacket! I felt like I was failing as an American without one. Not anymore. (Cue  "Only in America" -ahhhhh I take that back. Cue "Bye Bye Miss American Pie". That's better.) The next few years of my life will be dedicated to slowly but surely breaking this bad boy in. Wear, tear, love, patches, buttons, maybe even studs. Who knows. 

In other news I am coloring in Wally The Wordsmith right now and it's so much fun. I'm using a retro-ish color palette. In other words every color is burnt. I'm also using a fun stamp pattern for the blacks. I made it in photoshop. We're going to offer it as a free download over at Hoodzpah soon. Get excited. Here's how that's going.

- Amy
Listening to: Donovan's "Season of the Witch"

Rock N Roll Paintings, Mini-Adventures & Thackery Binx

[Fig. 1: "Come Together" © Amy Hood]

Things I've recently discovered and subsequently loved:


1. Painting with India ink. Instant gratification. The variations you can achieve with just your brush stroke, or adding a little water or layering the ink are so unique to that medium. It is my new favorite medium. Expect many more ink paintings to come. Kobe portrait is next on my list. (I know he had a rough night Sunday, but he did break another scoring record didn't he?! Give the guy a break. Yeah, I'm talking to you Eric, if you're reading this.) Here's a recent commissioned painting I did for Sara Wilkins [Fig. 1] as a present for her Dad for Christmas. Turned out pretty fun. I especially love Ian Anderson, mid prance.

[Fig. 2: Don The Beachcomber. Sara and Yenny!]

2. Don The Beachcomber. This old tiki lounge [Fig. 2] that was established in Hollywood in the 30's but now resides in Sunset Beach, up the coast from our new digs in Newport. I went with Sara and my sis, Jen, after our mini vacay to Palm Springs this last week. It was like being on the set of Elvis' Blue Hawaiian. I'm sure it used to be like one of those old themed Hollywood clubs that the stars hung out in. Like the one in The Aviator where snow was falling and there were hot chicks wearing fur hats and swinging from trapezes while the bandstand howled. It wasn't that cool, but it was still pretty rad. They also had some killer Mai Tais that are supposedly world famous.


3. Palm Springs. I could definitely start doing winter breaks in Palm Springs from here on out, lounging pool side and working on my tan.


4. Rye Bread. Once hated it and now can't get my stubby fingers on enough of it.

[Fig. 3: Thackery Binx]

5. Thackery Binx on NCIS: I love crime/myster/investigation shows of any kind. And I mean any. Columbo, Hawaii 5-0, CSI: Miami, Law & Order:SVU, MacGuyver, Twin Peaks, The X-Files, and even stooping to Matlock and Murder She Wrote. The one exception to this was NCIS, the murder/mystery genre's dorky, dweeby little brother. All this changed when my pops was watching an episode over Christmas break and I sat down and watched long enough to realize that Thackery Binx, my adolescent crush/soulmate/star of Hocus Pocus, was in fact alive and well and still acting on NCIS [Fig. 3]. Hollywood had not eaten him up as a yummy childhood star and spitten him out a bankrupt coke-head with a bad goatee (poor Corey Feldman). So I guess what I'm saying is, that if the only things on were Wipe Out, Everybody Loves Raymond and NCIS, I'd watch NCIS.


- Amy
Listening to: "Rock And Roll Heart" by Lou Reed

Chillun's Illustrations, Constellation Tattoos & Jimmy Durante

 

I posted some sketches a couple weeks ago from the children's book I'm illustrating for the lovely Blythe Hill. Yes, she's the same Blythe Hill who created Dressember. Good memory! Here are a few more of the final illustrations from the book.

In other news, I had a lot of interest from visitors of this blog about my constellation tattoo series. So we (when I say "we" I don't mean my imaginary friend, I mean my twin sis and Hoodzpah partner in crime, Jennifer) decided to make them into postcard mini-prints. They're 4x6 mini pieces of art that you can give to friends with little notes on the back. It's a print of an original piece of art, signed by me in gold and silver, for purchase for you and yours! The 4 pack of the Bear Constellation is available over on our Hoodzpah Esty shop for just $13.

- Amy
Listening to: "As Time Goes By" by Jimmy Durante. He had the best voice. "Goodnight Mrs. Calabash, wherever you are." 

Dressember Week 1, Skeletons on Motorbikes, & The Lumineers

Dressember is in full swing! And up until today the weather has been kind to my bare legs. Today, however, it's pouring rain and freezing, but I won't give into tights until absolutely necessary. Nothing like a little skin in the winter. Below is a recap of the first week of Dressember. I'm trying to mix things up even though I'm pretty much working with the exact same dresses I wore last year (see those here), so it's been fun and challenging to make old things look new and exciting. Click on the photos to enlarge. If you want to see more Dressember, just log into Instagram and search the hashtag #dressember. It's trending, baby.  


I've also been doing a lot of illustrating and painting for Hoodzpah clients recently. Above is a piece I whipped up the other night just for fun. It's a skeleton riding a vintage Norton. I realllllly wanted to keep it because I loved how it turned out, but my talented friend and fellow designer Allan Gungormez made me an offer I couldn't refuse for it. I'm going to try to get screenprints made of it however. First we have to make sure there's a high enough demand for them since screenprinting is kind of pricey. I used india ink and an ink brush for this illustration and I love the effect it had. I want to start using this more often. I'm going to try to get some work in on my portrait of Sara this weekend too! I want to have that finished before the new year. Blah, blah, blah, blah-blah-blah blah. I'm even boring myself now, so with that I'll say adieu! 


- Amy
Listening to: "Hey Ho" by The Lumineers. I've had them on loop for about a week now.






P.S. How about that snow last night in Orange County? The month I leave Lake Forest it SNOWS there. Figures. 

Day 1

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Day 5

Day 6

Day 7

Wally The Wordsmith, Illustrations, & LA Love

I've been working on some fun illustrations for my friend Blythe Hill of recent. She wrote 3 children's book for her Master's thesis and hired my sister, my friend Austin Ranson, and I to illustrate them. The book I am in charge of is called Wally The Wordsmith. It is a sweet, unique and magical story about a boy who lives in the shadow of his highly intelligent sister until he finds his inner talent - the ability to make up words that come to life. It takes place in a city zoo in California so I gave the zoo a vintage, old city zoo feel with rot iron intricate archways, old bar cages for the animals, and palm trees all over. Because it takes place in a place like LA, I also made the character's regionally accurate. Wally sports a striped tee, classic Vans, and cut off jean shorts. He is never without his skateboard, pencil and notepad. He is round on top with little chicken legs covered in band aids from his most recent skateboarding accident.

Now that I think about it, I don't think I've ever seen a kids book that takes place in LA. Eloise was an ode to The Plaza Hotel in NYC. LA and SoCal deserve some lovin'. Maybe I can be the one to give it. The lovin' that is.

I'll post more later as I ink them in.

Amy
Listening to: "Telephone" by The Black Angels

Joe Strummer, Ugly Babies, & Why You're The Tops

Click to enlarge. ©Amy Hood

 
Can it be? Am I really finished with this Joe Strummer illustration? I'm not sure of anything right now. It's 12:17 at night and I've been sitting at this desk for way too long with celery and a wineglass full of Newcastle Brown Ale as my only sustenance. As far as I can tell in my current state, I'm pretty stoked on it! But I could be like one of those annoying parents who think their kid is cuter than a basket full of puppies when they're really more like a basket full of monkeys (the ugly kind, not the cute fuzzy monkeys). So I look to you - my friends, fellow designers and whoever happens upon this blog - to give it to me. If something looks weird, tell me now. Give me the good, the bad, and the ugly. All recommendation for change will be taken into consideration. I'll use some criticism, and let's face it, I'm going to ignore some. Not necessarily because the idea sucks (although that's a reason too), but because it may just be too much more work. I got a lot of great feedback on my other illustration after I had already ran the prints, so I thought I'd not push the cart before the horse again this time. You guys are the tops!

I've been asked a lot what the hawk is about on his shoulder. I just distinctly remember hearing The Clash for the first time. It was "London Calling" and I was drawn in by this wild banchee/hawk like sound Joe Strummer was making in between verses and choruses. It was so wild. When I set out to do this illustration, I was remembering that and I realized just how similar Joe is to a hawk. Cool, calm and collected, but wild, fierce and free all at once. It's almost like his spirit animal.

Now for a riveting episode of X-Files before I go to bed. Moulder's dead panned wit cracks me up. Does he have a TMJ Disorder where his mouth can only open halfway? Is the mumbling a layer of the character? Is Duchovny even smart enough to think that up? It intrigues me.

- Amy
Listening to: "The Rescue Blues" by Ryan Adams

Mad Scientists, linocuts, and Delta Spirit

©Amy Hood

I've been working on some fun rough sketches for a current job with FUTEK. FUTEK is basically a company that makes parts/sensors that measure things, be it force, weight, whatever. They have all sorts of components that they design to measure and record. FUTEK hired Hoodzpah (shout out to my friend Natasha Niezgoda for the reference!) to design some Halloween themed posters for their office and website that wittily represented their products in a ghoulish, festive way. They wanted retro, film noir inspired designs that had a comic book feel to them. One of our concepts was based around a mad scientist. Here's one of the scientist characters I drew up. How 'bout them sideburns? He's got that Dr. Jekyll quality to him (with a touch of Gregory Peck). Best part is the steam-punk goggles though. They scream mad scientist.

I am finally getting caught up with work! After a month of craziness. Now I can focus on my fun side projects like the linocut I'm working on. It's for a new site my friends and I started called The Populo.us. It's not live yet, but when it is, I'll spam it like crazy on this blog, so don't you worry. I'm going to do some kind of emblem/crest of a faux riders club. Motorcycles, cars, skateboards, surfboards... maybe with some skeletons or like a sasquatch. Yeahhh.... a sasquatch. Maybe I'll even turn them into patches. I'm getting ahead of myself.

- Amy
Listening to: "Devil Knows You're Dead" by Delta Spirit  - I love this song.

Joe Strummer, Life As A Work-A-Holic, & Benjy Ferree

I started a new graphic illustration the other day. Yep, that's Joe Strummer, frontman of The Clash. It's coming along pretty quickly. I'm working from three photos, so it's hard to figure out the lighting and shadows, seeing as the lighting is different in each picture. I never was good at all the technical aspects of art like lighting and perspective. I should take a class and brush up.

Off to work some more. We've got so many huge projects we're juggling right now for Hoodzpah. We're doing the branding and all the collateral for the first annual South Bay Food Fest coming up, which has been so much fun. If you like food fests or if you're a foodie, you should check this one out. It's supposed to be a monster of an event. We're also working on another guide for LOCALE magazine, this time a "Guide to the Holidays." Looking forward to that one too (sneak preview of the design here). We had a blast working on the last one. This Strummer portrait has been a fun thing to work on in between projects when I need a break.

I recently discovered this guy named Benjy Ferree who had a short lived career as a musician a couple years ago after a short lived career as an actor before that. I really like his style. It sounds like a mixture of Jackie Green and Jeff Buckley. To me. No one ever agrees on those sorts of things, do they? Anyways, he's been in my speakers for a bit now and I think you may enjoy him too.

- Amy
Listening to: "In The Woods" by Benjy Ferree

Skeletons Doing The Dougie, Giveaways, & Hoodzpah

Today and tomorrow, my sister and I's design company Hoodzpah Art + Graphics is giving away and original sketch! The sketch is by my lovely sister Jen and depicts a skeleton in a captains hat. It is the original sketch used to make the "Hellfire and Brimstone Rider" prints. You're gonna want to get in on this action, and it is easy as pie to enter. All you do is head over to Hoodzpah's facebook page, and leave a comment on the post or the page. If you share the post with your friends you'll get an extra two entries. Sharing is caring people. We're trying to build up our online presence and we figured what better way that with free stuff? Everybody wins! So help us help you, and enter now. Even if you don't win this round, there will be giveaways galore to come!

- Amy

Listening to Etta James' "At Last"

Shakas, Tattoo Illustrations, & My Adventures As An Amateur Surfer

[ Shaka X-mas Illustration. ©Amy Hood ]

I've been doing a lot of sketching lately for various projects. It's been fun dusting off the old pen and pad! Here's one I really want to rework and smooth the wrinkles on. It's a rough sketch for a Holiday Guide Jen and I are designing for LOCALE magazine. We were trying to think of clever ideas to depict just how unique Christmas in SoCal is since it's sunny and people are surfing instead of scraping ice off their frozen windshields. After watching the Billabong Pro Tahiti all this week, I thought it might be fun to draw a hand throwing up a shaka with tattoos spelling out our title. 

By the way, working while watching LIVE surf competitions is great. I've always been intrigued by surfing. I grew up in "Surf City" Huntington Beach (well there's a debate on that isn't there?) as well as San Clemente, so a lot of my dear friends take part in the pasttime frequently -  and to much enjoyment. I even got thrown into the industry a tiny bit through a friend who brought me on for design work on a couple projects for some action-sports-centric companies. But I was always very confused on it all still: The names of the moves, the lingo, where to go, how to do it, how it's judged professionally. It was all shrouded in a thick cloud of mystery.

I learned all the rules and nooks and crannies of basketball by listening to commentators call the game and now I plan to do the same for surfing. After listening to some of the LIVE webcasts for this years World Tour I'm finally starting to get my footing. Not literally of course. I got my surfboard out of the garage the other day and took it down to Riviera Beach in San Clemente with my friend (and great surfer) Katie Hanten; I can hardly say I had my footing out there that day, but it was the first of many trips. Watching the Billabong Pro Tahiti may help though. After watching the likes of Josh Kerr, Jeremy Flores, Kelly Slater and Owen Wright tear it up  at "Chopes" (what they call Teahupoo apparently - see I'm picking up the lingo too!), not to mention the mini-clips in dedication to the late great Andy Irons and his fearlessness AND the crazy tow-in session (woah), maybe inspiration will strike out in the water for me next time and it'll all just click. Even if it doesn't, I'm gonna keep on trying because it just looks like a blast and even though I'm terrible, I'm already having so much fun just being out there. The only downside: I feel like I may be growing pectorals. From all the paddling. I really don't want pectorals.

- Amy
Listening to: "Part of Your World" from The Little Mermaid Soundtrack. Disney music is really good to work to actually! 

Caleb Followill, Southern Livin', & Lessons In Publicity

I recently did an illustration of the skanky-yet-handsome Caleb Followill, lead singer of the Kings of Leon and apparently the reason they had to cancel the rest of their U.S. tour. I wish I had a crystal ball to see that one coming as I don't think these prints will sell as well as they might have under different/better circumstances. But as Donald Trump always says, any publicity is good publicity. Maybe the throngs of people googling his name for answers to why the tour is cancelled or for forums to post their disgruntled rantings on will stumble upon this blog because of it. If you want to see photos of the evolution of the illustration read a more indepth post on the Hoodzpah site. If you still love Caleb Followill despite his indescretions and want one of these pretty prints of your own, head to the store. They fit perfectly in a record frame. If you're looking for some tunes for this perfect Wednesday (all you fellow Orange Countians know what I'm talking about), check out KOL's recent CD, Come Around Sundown. I didn't hear much about it, but I really like it. It's mellow yet driving. Perfect music for drinking iced tea on a wrap around porch at dusk while the lightning bugs flicker around. Sometimes I miss Southern livin'.

Happy Wednesday.

- Amy
Listening to: Kings of Leon's "The End"

Some New Illustrations, J-Lo's Doomed Comeback, & Chit Chatting with Ryan Getzlaf

[ Illustration ©Amy Hood ]

Here are some sketches/illustrations I have been working on to go in our Summer Guide Feature for LOCALE magazine. Since drawing these yesterday I have been seriously craving a rainbow sprinkle Balboa Bar... and I mean worse than J. Lo (a.k.a. Jennifer Lopes) craves a comeback. (Side Note: Have you heard her new single? I'm no pop connoisseur, but it's pretty terrible and predictable. Seeing as pop is already terribly predictable for the most part, that says a lot.)

The feature is coming along swimmingly, but there is still so much to do and so little time to do it! Looks like there are going to be some all-nighters with me, my iMac, a six pack of Coca Cola and my "Get Amped" playlist.  I'll leave you with this hilarious little skit featuring Bobby Ryan and Ryan Getzlaf of our very own Anaheim Ducks. I found it while doing some research for my interview with Ryan Getzlaf (which went down just moments ago - what a nice guy).

- Amy
Listening to: The Honorary Title's "Cut Short"

How I Did Geoff Rowley, Air Supply, & BMX Prom Dances

[Fig. 1: © Amy Hood]

So the title of this blog is a tad misleading, but there's nothing like a good sexual innuendo to drive traffic. My Geoff Rowley illustration is complete! Above [Fig. 1] is the version I'll probably get made into posters. Figure 2 is closer to the version that will be used in print. It depicts Geoff as a patron saint of skateboard donations (thus the halo) because the interview is about Geoff's involvement with the Maloof Money Cup's "Skate & Donate" program. I hope it looks good in the final layout. I did another progression shot from start to finish too [see fig. 3]. 

[Fig. 2: © Amy Hood]

It's press week again. So I'll end this fairly short post with a list of some fun/inspiring things I've done/encountered this week:

• Sexy Saxophone Guy (Courtesy of Bird Doerr): Move over "Friday" girl, this vid's going viral.
• "Black Velvet" (Courtesy of the girl at the karaoke bar on Friday night that KILLED. THIS. SONG.): I guess Canada gave us more than Bryan Adams, Celine Dion and hockey. It gave us this 80's gem too.
• "Making Love Out of Nothing At All" by Air Supply: After getting stoked on "Black Velvet" I made an amazing 80's monster love ballads playlist on Grooveshark which included this song. How I remembered it, I'll never know; I'm just glad I did. 
• Vintage BMX photos (courtesy of Jen Hood): These old pics are so cool.
• RAD (Courtesy of Chris Steblay): After looking at Jen's blog, Chris showed us this. I've never EVER used this phrase, but there's a first time for everything: LMAO. BMX dancing to "Send Me An Angel". Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Gray have got nothing on these two.
• Vintage Skateboarding & Surf Photos From Venice (Courtesy of The Selvedge Yard)

Cheers!

Amy

Listening to: Social Distortion's "99 To Life"

[Fig. 3: Geoff Rowley Illustration Progression. Click to enlarge. © Amy Hood]

Geoff Rowley Illustrations, Punks With Heart, & The Maloof Money Cup World Skateboarding Championships,

[Fig 1: My illustration of The Legendary Geoff Rowley so far. On the home stretch.]

This is an art blog, though if one stumbled upon this blog at random, they would normally not find a post of my artwork. Artwork takes time, ok? That's my excuse. And it's actually true for once since I've been super busy with graphic design work. Sometimes, however, the stars and the planets align and I get to do really fun artsy stuff for my design work. Now is one of those times. 


I interviewed Geoff Rowley [See Fig 1.], pro skater and co-owner of Flip, recently for the May issue of The OC Gazette. He's involved with this really cool program called Skate & Donate through Vans and Maloof Money Cup. They're collecting shoes and other skate gear to donate to less fortunate kids around the world, beginning with South Africa. Not only that but Geoff is working with the Maloof Brothers to help design all the courses for this years Maloof Money Cup events, and once designed and built, these cutting edge parks will be left for the enjoyment and use of the communities. How cool is that? Geoff is a little punk ass, Motorhead loving, skater kid, but he has a big heart beating underneath that ratty black metal tee. I love that about him. They'll be donating the first batch of shoes to kids in South Africa on the opening day of the Maloof Money Cup World Skateboarding Championships in Kimberly. 


Anyways, the PR people for Maloof didn't have any good photos of Geoff for us to run with the interview, so I decided it would be the perfect opportunity to flex my illustrating skills again. I was so stoked on my John Wayne illustration, and I've been wanting to do more ever since. Here's a progression of it so far. [See Fig 2.] My friends are all telling me I need to get a Wacom. Apparently it will change my life. Using the pen tool for this stuff is SO tedious so I'm thinking they're right. I could totally do these all day long. [Rolling Stone? Spin? Paste? If you're reading this, remember me for your next illustration project!]

[Fig. 2. Click to enlarge. Doooo it.]

That's all I've got for you fine folks. Oh, and go check out Alex Baird's blog! She's a journalist/music enthusiast and she scribbled some very sweet words about this blog on her's.

-Amy 

Listening to: Motorhead's "Ace of Spades"

George Jones Illustration, A Pop Culture History Lesson, & Mourning The Loss of "Nashville's Possum Holler"

[ Quickie poster in dedication to ole' George Jones in his famous rose colored glasses. ]

I did this poster the same way I did my John Wayne illustration. Used the pen tool to draw shapes that eventually made a face that sort of looked like George's. This one didn't turn out AS cool, but it was a fun little project to get the creative juices flowing. No one had a country twang quite like George. Boy did he sing a good honky tonk love song.

POP CULTURE LESSON FOR THE DAY: George Jones

My friend, Andrew Peterson, lived down the street from George and his lovely, and ever-faithful, wife Tammy Wynette for a while in Nashville, TN. He said that one time when Tammy took the keys away from George so he couldn't drive to get more beer (George was ALWAYS on drank - he famously missed 50 concerts because of it and was thus dubbed "No Show Jones"), he saw George riding his riding lawn mower down their street to the local liquor store. Soooo classic.  Some other fun facts:

• George has a dog food and sausage with his name on it.
• He has a daughter named Georgette. (Now that's just cruel.)
• He's a member of the Country Music Hall of Fame
• He partied like a rockstar: Demolished hotel rooms (with the likes of Johnny Cash), unpaid bills, drunken antics, he even smashed guitars on stage. It was probably the cocaine or the bourbon, or both.
• He owned a bar called "Nashville's Possum Holler". Man I wish that were still around. 
• He owned his own theme park called "Jones Country". Talk about frivolous spending. Your own theme park?

- Amy

Listening to: George Jones' "He Stopped Loving Her Today"

Epic Collaborations, Introducing Hammerhood, & The Beginnings of A Rad Illustration

Im doing a really fun collaboration with my friend Timmy Ham (a.k.a Sloth) under the guise of Hammerhood. Get it? Ham and Hood cleverly combined? We're still working on our logo. I'll post some of the ideas I've come up with so far soon. Hammerhood is basically The Postal Service of art; Where The Postal Service provided you with the airy vocals of Ben Gibbard layered on top of electronic video game style beats, Hammerhood gives you grafitti/street art inspired creatures from Sloth mixed with random illustrations from yours truly. Just like TPS, we're sending the project back and forth via mail and we just keep adding to the drawing till  all the space is filled and it is something really random and amazing.

Timmy Ham is a living, breathing pun. He is, as his name infers, a ham - a big, fat, juicy Christmas ham. The only way you can fully understand this is by visiting his blog. I try to read it everyday because it never fails to make do both of the following: 1. laugh out loud, and 2. say, "what the hell?" He's a strange bird who seems to live a live full of magic and adventure. He's based out of Tempe, AZ and is a fellow graphic designer/artist like myself. He does graphics for motocross company, The Dirt Lab, and then has a booming business painting custom Vans under his alter ego/brand "Sloth". Check out some of his sweet kicks below.

How cute are the little baby ones?

Anyways, now that the collab is in full swing we are already entertaining dreams of grandeur. We're thinking we sell the drawings and donate the proceeds of each piece to a different charity. Then maybe we can even sell a few for some cash in pocket too. Should be a fun side project!

- Amy

Listening to: Chiddy Bang's "All Things Go"

Billy Idol Doodle, Drawing Cock-Eyes, & Phosphorescent

[ Trying to do the Billy Idol patented scowl. ]

It's that time of the month again - time for magazine box doodles. I'm always struck with fear when I have to start these doodles. Portraying someone famous is scary because everyone knows what they are supposed to look like. It's not like painting your Auntie Ethel where no one knows that she really doesn't have a cock-eye and crooked grin - everyone knows when you don't get a star just right. But I put my fears behind me and got to work on illustrating this month's TourBusLive.com feature subject - Billy Idol. Mind you, he may look more like a tranny than the Billy Idol we know and love, but none the less, here's your favorite bottle-blonde Brit as drawn by the chubby fingers typing this entry. It was while drawing Idol that I realized he bears a strange resemblance to a certain young actor. I have a gift for finding dopplegangers. Enjoy my friends.

INSPIRATION OF THE DAY: Phosphorescent's video for "It's Hard To be Humble (When You're From Alabama)"

Constellation Tattoos: The Bear, My Current Muse: Marianne Faithfull, & Cat Fights with Kate Moss

Here is the second installment of my poster series/study on constellations for use as tattoos (available now on Etsy!). I want to get a tattoo of a constellation, but I want to make up my own, so I am sketching out my ideas which you guys will then vote on to decide which I will get! The first poster was of a reindeer. Which turned out pretty rad. Items I'd still like to try are a classic car, a motorcycle, a banjo or some other hillbilly instrument, and a jackalope. I think the jackalope is going to turn out amazing. I also really liked the gun constellation I drew in my John Wayne illustration. It's equal parts dainty and tough - like a sexy woman drinking a whiskey straight up. Vote for which of the above you like best. Like I said, We'll pick the best option from each poster and then have a final death match between those winners to see which I should get inked on!

Which Bear Constellation Tattoo do you like best? From top to bottom:

The First The Second The Third The Fourth

[ Marianne Faithfull in The Girl on a Motorcycle. ]

CURRENT MUSE: Marianne Faithfull

Speaking of dainty and tough, I present to you my current muse: Marianne Faithfull. Particularly Marianne Faithfull in The Girl on a Motorcycle directed by Jack Cardiff. Wearing a fur coat on a bike? She's my hero.

Marianne was equally as cool in real life however. Here are a few reasons why:

• She's the daughter of a baroness and a WWII spy.
• The first time f*** was used in a movie was by her in I'll Never Forget What's'isname.
• She was Mick Jagger's special lady. It's said that some of the lyrics in "Wild Horses" are about her and Mick's breakup.
• Went through some crazy ups and downs going from being a member of rock royalty to having a serious drug problem which left her homeless on the streets in SOHO.
• Not only has she collaborated with the Stones, she recently collaborated with Beck, Billy Corgan, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, PJ Harvey, Rufus Wainwright, and Lou Reed. 
• She made an album of covers called Easy Come Easy Go which included her version of songs by Morrissey, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, The Decemberists, Billie Holiday, and Dolly Parton. Great taste, Marianne.
• She's gnarly. She recently called Kate Moss a "vampire who stole my style." If you've seen her these days, that's a terrifying threat. The drugs didn't do her well. I love Kate Moss and don't think style is any one's to own, but it's kind of rad that ole' Marianne's still got some bite in her nonetheless.

Happy Friday people!

- Amy

Listening to: Beirut's "After The Curtain"