BOMONSTER hot rod art News

Cool Hot Rod Kulture People BOMONSTER Has Met...Journal 1

Sat, 04 Sep 2010 23:39:17 CDT

Since my career as an advertising art director has gotten me this far, technically I could say that art has always been my profession. For those who may not know the difference, creating original art by my own hands - not directing someone else - is relatively new for me. I'm loving what I'm doing but like any artist I dream of getting my stuff out there and making an impact on the car kulture. I just got back from the Ventura Nationals today and the whole way home was trippin' on how approachable and friendly some of big names in the business really are. How do I know? Because I met them personally. Most of these people don't know my work but once I introduce myself as a new artist and hand them a little BOMONSTER sticker of my work, you'd think I was Stanley Mouse himself the way they voice their encouragement.

Before I mention the names, may it forever be on the record that Cameron Day - owner of www.houseospeed.com and www.hotrodshiftknob.com was the first to say BOMONSTER rocks. Cameron and his super wife Debbie both recognized the little helmeted avatar and my scratchboard technique as something original and cool and has been pushing me ever since to launch my own brand. They gave me my first client gig - the logo for hotrodshiftknobs.com which was the Stanley Mouse severed arm done in my scratchboard style. I approached it like a surf punk band covering a Rolling Stones' classic.

Next on my cool people I have met list is Max Grundy and James Owens. I attended their art opening at Gasoline Gallery and they were the first to be handed my little BOMONSTER sticker and immediately recognized the work from the Friday Art Show on the HAMB. "Fear Is The New Beauty" Max immediately gave me good advice to keep pushing my work into the wildest stuff I could think of. He reiterated the value of originality and reminded me that people appreciate art that tells a story and not to just rely on monsters driving cars as there are clearly many greats who have that base covered. Max gave me his contact info and invited me meet up with him for lunch and to trade originals. Obviously I would be getting the better end of the deal so I'm trying to make my work better before I take him up on that offer.

Next up was James "Car Noire" Owens. Super nice guy who was nothing but a bowl of encouragement. "Just keep doing it" he said. What struck me from our conversation was that as good as I think his "1940's Private Eye, Hudson Hornet, Tough Guys with Tommy Guns, Pin Up Girls" original oils are, he was telling me how humbled he was when auto artist Tom Fritz came through the gallery looking at his work. Just goes to show no matter how good others think we are, there's always someone else who intimidates us artistically.

That leads me to today's trip to the Ventura Nationals. Hundreds of traditional rods, modified roadsters, mild customs, gassers and one-of-kind primered hot rod creations placed in a crowd of scenesters, greasers, bikers, pinup girls, customizers, vendors, mechanics rich, famous and otherwise against a live soundtrack background of rockabilly, surf punk and bar stool southern rock.

What I've been hearing is that for me to get my name out there, I've got to create some work to sell at live shows. That's where the real fans go and it's the best way to create some name recognition. John Mearns from ACME Speed Shop struck me as someone who I could ask since I keep seeing his shop's T-shirt sales booth at all the shows I attend. Since he sells shirts with many of the hot rod artists I like, I thought he would be good to ask. Not only was he willing to give me some much needed encouragement, he told me the best way to go about it. Start with minimum inventories and a put forth a professional presentation. He shared the kind of facts and figures only a seasoned entrepreneur can know. Selling a shirt is more than simply subtracting the cost of the shirt printing from your sales price. You need to factor in all the costs getting the shirt to the venue to sell in the first place. And while it isn't exactly the quickest way to financial success, he did say it was fun and a great way to get involved in the car culture and I'd meet some great people along the way.

And to prove it he introduced me to customizing artist extraordinaire, Alex Gambino, creator of some of today's hottest kustom creations at Gambino Kustoms. John gave me a great introduction, "Alex, you gotta meet BOMONSTER. He's a new artist and did a drawing for me of my 36..." and described it better than I could have. I didn't know what I was expecting from a tattooed ex-con turned kustom king but he took one look at my little BOMONSTER sticker and pointed to my T-Shirt printed with my severed arm hotrodshiftknob logo and said, "Man I like your stuff!" If Alex has any attitude about his success you wouldn't know it by this genuine gentleman.

I also introduced myself to Jason "3 Sheets" Janes who was there selling his wildly original paint work. I had noticed his name on the HAMB forum as one who curated the current gallery show at Gasoline Gallery. I introduced myself as a new artist, gave him one of my little stickers and thoroughly enjoyed our conversation. You'd think a fellow artist could be viewed as a competitor but as John Mearns had told me "the scene is a sub-culture of great people supporting and helping each other any way they can." 3 Sheets was true to form and since he didn't have any business cards, he gave me a packet of his stickers which had his contact info on it. After some wise advice about not posting all your work to prevent the less than honorable among us from stealing ideas, he called over Mark Waldman, the owner of Gasoline Gallery and introduced me.

Mark Waldman looks like he either drove up in a chopped and flamed '49 Merc or on a chopped and flamed 60's panhead Harley. Either way, not your father's art gallery owner. I gave him my little BOMONSTER sticker and told him what an honor it would be to be considered for some future show. He must have thought I was Jason's best friend because he asked me to bring a framed piece by the gallery and he would put it in the next show! So after trying to make my work better to trade with Max Grundy now I've got to take it to a whole new level! I don't know if the walls smell at Gasoline Gallery but I hope I don't stink them up any worse.

Later today I met another interesting and cool dude in the business, Mike LeVella, publisher of Gearhead magazine. His in-depth and insightful magazine has been documenting the kustom, hot rod kulture scene for over 18 years! Name just about magazine currently covering the world of traditional hot rod customizing along with the current music scene and Gearhead was there first interviewing the movers, shakers and true pioneers of this... hobby?... passion?... lifestyle? Whatever you call it, Mike's been there bringing it to the world because he likes it. Pure and simple. I introduced myself as an artist but forgot to pimp him for work because when he talks he has a way of reminding you that these kinds of cars aren't about the business of commerce. It's about love, creativity, craftsmanship, sharing, engineering and just plain making a "badass" statement to the world through a cool mode of transportation. He quickly described the contents of about six past issues so eloquently and passionately that before I could give him my pitch, I reached for my wallet and bought them all. Yes, I would have loved to have heard his business advice, but I came away with a valuable lesson- it's about the love not the buck.

Finally on my way out, I passed by a booth of books, photos, stickers and stuff and a guy who looked just like Gene Winfield. When I realized it was really him, I stopped and introduced myself and gave him a BOMONSTER sticker. I told him I had a print that I created of his shop and would love to give it to him. He said "well you're coming to my show right?" I said yes and he said "I'll see you there."

Maybe these guys are all suckers for free stickers but it's nice to know their success and notoriety isn't the only thing that defines them.

What's The Connection Between Winston's Drag Art and BOMONSTER?

Thu, 19 Aug 2010 23:02:25 CDT

When I was just a little monster I watched my dad start a business drawing crazy characters and cars and putting his designs on T-shirts, calendars and stickers. The year was 1967 and while he didn't make enough dough to stick with it, it stuck with me. We both went onto other careers but I was thinking recently that drawing old cars and old characters isn't exactly a new idea. There's more competition today with so many artists drawing from the same cultural car experience but it there are also so many more fans too. Internet forums like jalopyjournal.com really prove how connected we car guys really are.

He told me the other day that I should put out a catalog of my designs. (His was called "Ratalog"). "But dad," I said, "that's what websites are for - a place where people can see all my designs." He said, "Oh that's a good idea." He's gotten through life this far without going on the internet so why start now?

If he did I think he'd be a star.

We Took Apart a Whole Car and Photographed It.

Sat, 10 Jul 2010 20:05:51 CDT

I was hired to art direct a photograph of an entire yet-to-be-revealed UJC (Universal Japanese Car) taken apart after 100,000K miles. The idea was to look like an exploded view type engineer's drawing to be featured in an interactive traveling road show display. Viewers will get to zoom in on specific areas of wear and tear and see how the UJC stands up to the test of time. The end result is fantastic but getting there took some careful planning. Originally the producer of the job thought it would be as easy shooting each part on a tabletop conveyor belt-style and I could go home after a half-day and somehow the photographer would just push the button a thousand times with no camera adjustments.

Thankfully a sharp bunch of guys took the car apart before we got it and labeled everything in plastic bags and spread the whole mess out on a warehouse floor. After working out the above layout, we arranged the mess into roughly the grouping you see here on an unused space of warehouse floor. While the photographer's assistant painted a 20' floor section white and our photographer mounted his camera on a mobile crane about 25' up, the creative director and I snapped chalk lines between the parts into 13 roughly 20'x8' sections.

Then we hand-carried each section of parts and placed them under the camera lens and rearranged them to look as perfect as possible and took the pictures. Later back in my studio, I composed the 13 raw camera files together and retouched (and re-arranged) the parts into a huge single 53" photoshop file. The shooting took three days and retouching another five by the time the finished file was approved and sent to the digital studio creating the animation affects. The end result is surprisingly good.

Not sure what happened to the deconstructed UJC. Probably parted out somewhere on craigslist. How did it hold up after 100,000 miles? No surprises there.

The Making of BOMONSTER's "Taco Truck" Scratchboard Art.

Fri, 09 Jul 2010 00:16:13 CDT

Taco mini bikes are cool. In my neighborhood, everyone wanted one. It turns out they were invented and marketed only about 10 miles from where we lived in So Cal. Desert racer John Steen designed a simple tube frame around a Briggs and Stratton lawn mower motor in the mid-sixties and made local history. His first few models had no suspension but it didn't matter to us 11 year-old kids. It was a bike and it had a motor. While everyone talked about how awesome Tacos were, we didn't actually know anyone who owned one. That is until one of my best buds Tim Marriott got one. At around the same time I got a Powell mini and we took off to the nearby hills. The Taco was quick and sketchy on the bumps but the Powell had real suspension front and rear. Tim got my dad to weld on a leading link mechanism - probably from an old step-thru Honda 90 - to the front forks of the Taco to make it more competitive against a bunch of Honda Mini Trial 50s on "Fossil Hill."

We ended up starting a brush fire on our last ride together after the exhaust pipe on mine rubbed a small pinhole on the edge of my fuel tank and erupted in flames while riding. I crashed out into the brush and the fire quickly spread as we helplessly clawed at the firm hard-packed clay trying to come up with handfuls of dirt to extinguish the crackling flames. We ran to a nearby house, found an old tub, filled it with water and carried it back to the still burning minibike. We managed to put out what was left of the fire and surveyed the damage. Instead of rubber tires there were bands of wires wrapping around the wheels. The carburetor melted off the motor and nothing was left of the seat. It was fun while it lasted but my minibike days were over.

Later we moved onto real dirt bikes, trucks, motorhomes and state-of-the-art off road machines but it was the minis that started us on that fun-filled road to adventure.

I found inspiration for this BOMONSTER scratchboard original in a cool 1938 hot rod Ford truck I saw at the Johnny Cash show in Ventura recently. After I got home and looked at my pictures I knew right away that I wanted to put it in a desert setting but what about the back of the truck? It needed something fun in the back and a modern dirt bike didn't seem right and then it hit me - an old Taco mini in the bed of an old truck. Perfect then. Perfect now.

Scratchboard Secrets Revealed

Wed, 26 May 2010 15:43:52 CDT

What makes scratchboard art so unique looking is the stark white lines on a jet-black surface. The drama of a scratchboard original is all about capturing light. You create the edge of an object by showing how it looks when lit and leaving the shadows alone. The trick with scratchboard is to do it once and to not make mistakes. Here's how BOMONSTER does it:

Before I put knife to board, hours and hours are used for drawing the idea on paper, scanning the drawing into a high-resolution digital file and tweaking and tweaking until it's ready to transfer to scratchboard. It's in this stage I can fix mistakes, work out wheel perspectives, shadows, and overall composition.

Once satisfied I've got something worth spending a lot more hours on, I create a black-on-white flipped image of the whole scene and make a B&W Laserjet print. Some people use carbon paper to redraw and transfer their image to the board. Some draw right onto the scratchboard surface over a piece of tracing paper with a ballpoint pen to create a light dented line. BOMONSTER uses Xylene. This stuff is nasty. It melts rubber, plastic and fiberglass, sizzles your skin and one whiff you're out cold. But the good part is that it transfers the ink from the laser print to the scratchboard surface leaving a faint, gray line to follow. With the Xylene spread onto the scratchboard surface, I lay the flipped image laser print down and burnish it evenly to distribute the Xylene everywhere there's an ink line. Before it all evaporates away, the wet laser print gets peeled off and a HazMat team is called in to properly dispose of the mess.

With a faint guideline to follow on the scratchboard surface, I'm ready to get to work. I learned the Xylene trick from Russ McMullin's online tutorial. He believes EssDee scratchboards are the best so that's what I started with (Ampersand Scratchbords are also excellent). Tape the scratchboard onto a sturdy drawing board under a good light. Using an xacto knife with a #16 blade, start from the the top and work your way to the bottom so your hand isn't dragging over your work. I use these soft cotton archival gloves to insure I don't transfer any oils to the black coated surface.

I scrape away the black using lots of quick, parallel, short strokes digging out just enough black to reveal the white but not enough to remove the white board underneath. It quickly gets messy with little black shavings everywhere. I use a dry paint brush to move the shavings onto the floor so my scratchboard surface is kept clean.

The final scratchboard version is always a bit more detailed than the preliminary drawing because the xacto knife is so fine and it's easy to get carried away with a cool drawing. But don't. If you go too far, it's nearly impossible to bring the drawing back. Here I only added a soft glow around the full moon and some extra bit of detail around the flaming headers beyond what I had worked out on the original drawing. The secret is to change blades often. I read where you can sharpen blades using #600 wet paper but I prefer the feel of a new blade so I'll use 6 or 7 to create one masterpiece.

Once finished, I'll put under glass into frame - preferably under a mat - to keep the delicate black surface protected. It's a lot of careful and detailed work but the result is a dramatic eye popper. Up close it's easy to appreciate the craftsmanship that created the look - much like a hot rod.