I've always been drawn to music that shares this rebellious spirit, as it's part of the soundtrack of my life thus far... While I love blues and metal, somehow the punk and underground stuff just always happens to be there, and plays a big part in the creative stew that comes together in the studio. Consider that I found this music a bit after it "happened" (after all, punk isn't a song or style... it was an "event", to say the least), and was, after all, just a little kid at the peak of it all, between '76 and '80, but the influence may have found me at just the right time, hitting me square between the eyes in my early teens.

As a sideline (yet a very important one in all of this), I think that, looking back anyway, my decision to pursue Fine Art in College may have been somehow predetermined. After all, consider that, for the most part, the bands involved in the underground, post-punk movement were all either artists, or supported by artists in their local shows, and there's a common thread starting to weave. (I've also noticed this in my friends and fellow artists... we all share the same affinity for this music and style, especially in terms of my more automotive art-themed colleagues). It's also odd to learn just how many of these bands were influenced by literature that I also had been "drawn" to.... beat guys like Kerouac, Burroughs, Ginsberg, etc... When I stumbled across more "arty" music like the Talking Heads, I had found that thread to be a bit thicker and more tangled, and it was an amazing discovery! There was a tangible connection in the arts, and probably explains why the artists and musicians all got along so well back in school. There's an appreciation for rhythm and melody in painting, and the imagery that music can inspire, well, I think you get it. (this has always found its way into my work as well.... ever wonder why I keep the linework a little more "raw", or like to repeat a curve or element? Now you know.

Granted, where I may have been born a bit late to have witnessed the performances at places like CBGB's, the Mudd Club, Max's Kansas City... but listening to tapes and vinyl, man....it was like being there, creatively, anyway. Not unlike my youthful days spent flipping through stacks of old car magazines... It just called out to me, and sort of dragged me along for the ride! Funny, too, how when I began tracing the evolution of punk, that it correlated neatly with my taste in cars... As punk moved West, it got a little faster and harder... As I grew older, I got into street machines... but always with a certain custom bent. Faster was always good, and my work reflected that! It got a bit looser on the edges, and retained just what made me love it all to begin with: The spontaneity of it all... The energy! And perhaps, just maybe that's what's so unappealing about some of the work I see today. Nothing against a photo-real 3-D rendering, or some line-for-line perfect tracing of a car... sure, both require time and some level of skill... but they both suck the life out of what makes it all so damn fun to begin with!

Consider: When you were in school, and assuming you were an addicted hot rod nut like me, didn't you have drawings all over your folders and binders and notebooks of cars? Who didn't emulate a Trosley-esque burnout and wheelie combo with tire smoke and fire belching from huge, uncorked headers while a mailbox scoop devoured the surrounding atmosphere in Bic ink all over that oddly textured surface? Awesome!! Now, re-imagine that, but replace the drawing with some 3D model, or worse, some over-filtered Photoshop hack-job, often with wheels canted in opposing directions, things so off-scale my five year-old gets a chuckle from it... Yeah, it kinda blows in comparison. It's cold, lifeless.... In some cases it's a photo-real representation based on some model bought from a forum, without all of the stuff that makes cars so friggin' fun to begin with: That ragged, raw, pure energy and rebellion...

To me, it's like eating pizza-flavored potato chips. What's the point?

Lately, I had been in a funk, seeing my style copied (poorly), my themes stolen and re-hashed, and witnessed classless "artists" (their word, not mine) poaching my client list (to the amusement of my clients-- thanks guys!), and watched as uninspiring work was praised... The lifeless feel of it all had me re-thinking my path, and then I sat down, flipped on some tunes, and sketched away until the wee hours... No deadline, not a paying gig.... just for the hell of it all. And you know what? It re-kindled that old spirit... and started a fast burn on a new direction, and that, my friends, puts the nails into the coffin of this chapter. Where's this new path leading? Stay tuned... it'll be fun, I assure you of that.

This is a follow up to the previous Goblin sketch I posted. I would like to paint this one. I think the face might still need work, but when I start in Photoshop I usually redraw the characters in a way.

The end of year is looming so naturally, Christmas-themed movies! Both these films deal with holiday family reunions with Four Christmases taking the more comedic gag approach and Nothing Like The Holidays appearing to be more of the "heartwarming" type of movie. While both films look nice, I'd say I have a preference for the less commercial Nothing Like The Holidays. Tell me what you think in the comments. 

Four Christmases

Four Christmases is directed by Seth Gordon (The King Of Kong) and written by newcomers Matt R. Allen & Caleb Wilson with Jon Lucas & Scott Moore (Rebound). It stars Vince Vaughn (Fred Claus), Reese Witherspoon (Rendition), Robert Duvall (We Own The Night), Jon Favreau (Iron Man), Sissy Spacek (Hot Rod) and country singer Tim McGraw (The Kingdom) among others. It premiers in the US on Novmber 26th.

Nothing Like The Holidays

Nothing Like The Holidays is directed by Alfredo De Villa (Adrift In Manhattan) and written by Rick Najera (1 episode of Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman), Alison Swan (Mixing Nia) and newcomer Ted Perkins. It stars John Leguizamo (Righteous Kill), Alfred Molina (Silk), Freddy Rodriguez (Grindhouse), Jay Hernandez (Lakeview Terrace) and Luis Guzmán (Cleaner) among others. It premieres in the US on October 12th and was previously titled Humboldt Park.

Bout Time, My boy Hot Rizzy is back from vacation. 2 new exclusive joint from Hot Rod.

Hot Rod - Swagger Like Us (Freestyle)

Listen/DL: Here

T-Pain Ft. Hot Rod - Can't Belive It Remix

Listen/DL: Here

Rebel Yellow

Flamin Hot

Purple Reign

Flamin Hot Xtra Colour Burn

Thanks to the artists for:

Hot Rod stock:
http://hauntingvisionsstock.deviantart.com

Flames brushes:
http://www.brushes.obsidiandawn.com/sets/flames-patterns.htm

The text Effects, I created these firstly using:
http://www.cooltext.com

Then I altered the text and brush effects by using alot of colour burn for this set of images.

Summer dreams of freedom and power as the impotent empire crumbles into the dust of history. Well, it was a lot of fun while it lasted. May the next iteration be even better and may we always keep the ability to dream alive and well.

Auto enthusiasts would grab every opportunity to show off their ideas and their hand-built beauties to the world. Car owners look around, pick ideas, appreciate creativity and then come out more ideas- design, build, power, livery… There’s no end to car designers’ creativity. A car show to an auto enthusiast is akin to “art show” to an artist.

Cars and girls get along well- this is a universal fact. At any car show, the number of car girls match the number of cars. Car models seem to add spice to car shows with their performances… dances, intros, and rides. Car wash girls add the ultimate hot-spice to car shows. There’s no dearth for talent and beauty at car shows.

Red cars DO go faster, don't they. I'm sure they must. This one is screaming and it's just sitting there.

You can have an original signed postcard of this car to scream around under your refrigerator magnet if you'd like. Just let me know...

Saturday Sept. 6th was the Route 66 Classic Car show in Flagstaff, Arizona. Life is but a dream, as the song goes...

The Mister and I have been bad.  Bad, I tell ya. We - well, he - recently got a wild hair up his arse and decided he was going to buy himself - well, us - something he's wanted for years - a 32 Deuce Coupe.  Yup, one of those bright, yellow hot rods that rolled down Main Street on American Graffiti, with Mackenzie Phillips in all her prepubescent, pimply glory hanging on The Greaser.

It's called canary yellow, but it's more like a canary that accidentally flew through Three Mile Island and never stopped glowing. I'm pretty conservative, and never really liked bringing attention to myself in that kind of "loud" way. But lately I'm learning - tiny steps, they say - to unabashedly rock through the neighborhood in it. I'm actually enjoying heads turning, dogs barking, and kids instinctively knowing that it is the coolest thing since seeing the heroic Autobot in the Transformers movie.

"Uh, but, why?" most people ask me when I tell them what we've purchased.  And I love the fact that I can't really answer that question.  You either get it or you don't. It reminds me of being a football mom, when other moms who were pondering whether to allow their sons to join football, would say "You mean your son has to practice EVERY NIGHT of the week!!?"  I just looked at them like "You just don't get it..."

And after our first car show we entered the other day and winning our first generic "winner's" plaque....I get it. And after smelling the car when I open the garage door...I get it. And when my eyes light up looking at the bling-bling large chromey manstuff in the front...I get it.

A neighbor said to me the other day, "So now that he's got his new toy, what do you get?" (Beg yer pardon?)

I just said "Can you spell C A R T E  B L A N C H E?"

As far as the origins of our designs, I'm going to start with one of the more obscure ones-I just happened to pick it up to wear today and it made me think about it.

"I love the smell of bondo in the morning" ( http://www.cafepress.com/gear4gearheads/3425082 ). Well, this one is pretty straight forward-I DO love the smell of body filler. Paint (especially a quality clear-smells just like candy to me) too, but that's a different subject. This particular shirt though, came from an early morning body work session with the car we are restoring. See, we bought this car back in November of 02, knowing it needed some work. Well, as anyone that's restored one in their garage knows-one little thing leads to about ten huge things! At the time this shirt saying came to mind, we were trying to get the car ready for Woodward (never happened, but home resto project rarely make a deadline). We needed to replace the driver's side rear quarter skin. Once we got that skin off, we needed to replace the outer wheelhouse too-like I said, one thing ALWAYS leads to another. Well, we got the repopped wheelhouse in, after some modification (ever notice "bolt on" resto parts never are?) and used body glue to put the skin on. So far, the glue is holding fine. Anyway, we had to smooth the line between the new skin and the original body-so, early in the morning, we were mixing up some bondo and I said to my husband "I love the smell of bondo in the morning!". Then I said "I'll be right back, I gotta put that on a shirt!". So there you have it-the story behind the shirt that says "I love the smell of bondo in the morning". It's a great gift idea for someone that does body work for a living, or, like us, is deep into a restoration project. Because usually by that point, a good laugh is a great thing!

By Rob-USM

Pictured below is the Sledster. Lou has been wanting to do this for a number of years and finally it is ready to launch. I have seen the Sledster evolve from a sketch to a "first shot" to production samples in various production states. Lou would stop by and we would stare at the samples and talk about what should and should not be changed. Even Steph and Julian were in on the round table giving their imput! I am happy to see this project launch and very excited for the diecast collectors. The Sledster is just want is needed to bring back the enthusiam to the hobby. Keep checking here for updates on the launch of the website and online store. They will be sold under the Custom Crew brand. 

These are the first two that will be released. They will be very limited so make sure you grab a set. Each piece will be numbered on the base with a hologram sticker and come in a acrylic case. They are a pretty nice size. I think they measure about 9" long and have a good solid feel to them. These are a diecast customizers dream. The detailed bases are screw on, the headlights are jeweled among other things.

The trailer and cab are two separate pieces. Here a shot of the cab.

There are a couple more shots on my Flickr page including a raw (unpainted one).