ELLINGSON

Tiny Mr. T says… (Taken with Instagram)

Thu, 13 Sep 2012 00:04:17 -0400

Tiny Mr. T says… (Taken with Instagram)

20 FishesAcrylic on wallet-sized mini canvases As a weekend...

Sun, 08 Apr 2012 21:33:00 -0400

20 Fishes
Acrylic on wallet-sized mini canvases

As a weekend project, I decided to draw as many cocktail-drinking fish as I could on tiny novelty canvases. I ended up making twenty (the canvases come in packs of five) and then I turned the set into an 11x17” print. The print is for sale and if you wish to purchase one, you can do so here.

“DEAD MEAT” 18x24” Four-Color...

Thu, 01 Mar 2012 11:08:00 -0500

“DEAD MEAT”
18x24” Four-Color Serigraph

Lately, I’ve been exploring the links between ancient mythology and popular culture. This is the first in a series that I am creating that draws parallels between the stories of Theseus and Rocky Balboa. “DEAD MEAT” is a four-color screen print produced by Burlesque of North America. It turned out better than I could have imagined with a nice metallic gold ink for the shorts and glove details. The prints are 18x24” on thick Cougar White paper. This edition is limited to fifty prints, signed and numbered. They can be purchased at the Store section of joshuaellingson.com.

“The Big White Apartment” Photo/Performance...

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 12:46:00 -0500

“The Big White Apartment” Photo/Performance Series

In December 2011, I did an artist residency in Vienna, Austria at MuseumsQuartier. For an entire month, I lived in a gigantic empty apartment in the middle of the city center. The contrast between the rich cultural landscape of central Vienna and this bleak, overly spacious apartment inspired me to document the residency. Eventually, I started making temporary art on the walls with chocolate and tape.

Kaijus “Kaiju” is the common term for Japanese movie...

Tue, 31 Jan 2012 14:39:00 -0500

Kaijus

“Kaiju” is the common term for Japanese movie monsters. I can’t get enough of these characters because they are so inventive and interesting. Luckily, I have friends that curate kaiju-themed art events like “Kaiju Karma” in Chicago and “Kaiju Comrades” in Tokyo, Japan.

Laughing Squid Laughing Squid has been a long-time supporter or...

Tue, 31 Jan 2012 14:28:00 -0500

Laughing Squid

Laughing Squid has been a long-time supporter or my art, and it was a special treat when they approached me to do their poster for their ten year anniversary party. Later, we turned the poster art into a full-page back cover advertisement for Hi-Fructose Magazine.

I also did the artwork for the 15th Anniversary poster. If you look really hard, you can see that I’ve hidden the number “15” in there somewhere.

Promotional Artwork for musician, Suzanne “Kitten on the...

Tue, 31 Jan 2012 14:11:00 -0500

Promotional Artwork for musician, Suzanne “Kitten on the Keys” Ramsey

I’ve been working with Suzanne Ramsey for years to make postcards, posters, cds, and other promotional artwork for her “Kitten on the Keys” musical persona. Her music ranges from sugary sweet to diabolical and mischievous, which really makes it fun to create artwork for. You can find more about Suzanne’s music online at http://www.suzanneramsey.net/.

PURGATRON Cocktail Robot The PURGATRON was developed in...

Mon, 30 Jan 2012 12:12:00 -0500

PURGATRON Cocktail Robot

The PURGATRON was developed in collaboration with art collective Monochrom for Roboexotica 2011 in Vienna, Austria. The project was also part of my month-long residency at MuseumsQuartier. Roboexotica is an annual gathering of builders that create robots related to cocktail culture. Most of the robots at the event are designed to mix custom drinks for the attendees. The idea behind the PURGATRON is that you can banish your boring drink from purgatory by sweetening it (sending it to heaven) or adding spice (sending it to hell).

ROBOPRIEST Two-Person Robot Costume The whole idea of ROBOPRIEST...

Mon, 30 Jan 2012 11:55:00 -0500

ROBOPRIEST Two-Person Robot Costume

The whole idea of ROBOPRIEST started as a joke on Twitter between me and Selene Luna, an actress friend of mine in Los Angeles. The joke then turned into reality when Selene asked me to build ROBOPRIEST for her one woman show,”Sweating the Small Stuff” in San Francisco. The costume consisted mostly of cardboard and foam rubber with a skeleton of plastic hula hoops. The “eyes” are speakers equipped with voice-activated electro-luminescent wire. The audio for ROBOTPRIEST’s voice and various sound-effects were created by sound designer, Jim Coursey.

“I am ROBOPRIEST”
“Master created me to…”
“DESTROY!”
“MALFUNCTION!”
Just Married

Ganesh for SomaFM’s “Suburbs of Goa” Online...

Sun, 29 Jan 2012 18:40:00 -0500

Ganesh for SomaFM’s “Suburbs of Goa”

Online radio pioneers Soma FM asked me to create a modernized Ganesh for their India-influenced electronic music channel.

1800 Tequila “Essential Artists” Campaign I was...

Sun, 29 Jan 2012 18:29:00 -0500

1800 Tequila “Essential Artists” Campaign

I was featured as part of the 1800 Tequila “Essential Artists” campaign in Summer/Fall of 2008. There were nine artists in the series and placements included outdoor advertising, national print campaign, web advertising, and custom items such as bottles and sneakers.

Custom Vinyl Toy Designs Occasionally I get to paint on blank...

Sun, 29 Jan 2012 18:17:00 -0500

Custom Vinyl Toy Designs

Occasionally I get to paint on blank vinyl collectible toys for companies like Kidrobot and Max Toy co. These are some examples of some custom paint jobs that I’ve created for art events and fund raisers.

Illustrations for Wired Magazine 2002-2004 One of my first major...

Sun, 29 Jan 2012 17:54:00 -0500

Illustrations for Wired Magazine 2002-2004

One of my first major assignments was creating illustrations for the “View” section of Wired Magazine. It was an incredible opportunity and one of the best jobs I’ve ever had.

Carrying Home Series This series is based on my experiences...

Sun, 29 Jan 2012 17:42:00 -0500

Carrying Home

King of Kings

Vice

Roscoe's Ascension

Den

at Mission Comics & Art

Carrying Home Series

This series is based on my experiences growing up at my grandparent’s farmhouse in Michigan. I have fond memories of pet raccoons, Grandpa’s naughty hidden playing cards, and wild taxidermy. The pieces were exhibited at solo shows at South Carolina State University and at Mission Comics & Art in San Francisco.

Chase No Face and the Youtube Meme Drawings I made this portrait...

Sun, 29 Jan 2012 17:28:00 -0500

Frank and Louie, the Janus cat

Hamster on a Piano

Chinchilla with a Paper Hat

Papa, the Birthday Cat

Chase No Face and the Youtube Meme Drawings

I made this portrait of Chase No Face after seeing pictures of her posted on Boingboing.net. Sometimes I do sketches of internet memes involving animals and this cat really stood out to me. Part of my habit with the meme drawings is to make them quickly and then post them online immediately to share. The response to my portrait was great. Chase’s owner contacted me and requested a print. You can learn more about Chase at “The Daily Tails of Chase No Face”.

I worked with Games For Windows Magazine on more than a dozen...

Sun, 29 Jan 2012 16:10:00 -0500

I worked with Games For Windows Magazine on more than a dozen double-page spreads with accompanying spot illustrations. Every issue was a new challenge in communicating visually to a visually over-stimulated audience. They were very open to different ideas and styles.

Willow Garage Robotics company Willow Garage hired me to create...

Sun, 29 Jan 2012 16:04:00 -0500

Willow Garage

Robotics company Willow Garage hired me to create a poster promoting their community-driven robotics software, ROS and their real-life PR2 robot. Since then, I’ve created over a dozen spot illustrations for the Willow Garage blog and several posters for their software releases. I love robots and it’s was a pleasure to make artwork for actual robotics scientists. You can learn more about Willow Garage, ROS, and the PR2 at www.willowgarage.com.

TURF #3 Cover, 2010 Digital Comics artist Tommy Lee Edwards...

Sun, 29 Jan 2012 15:56:00 -0500

Concept Sketches

The finished issue

TURF #3 Cover, 2010

Digital

Comics artist Tommy Lee Edwards asked me to create a variant cover for issue number three of his comic book, “TURF”. Tommy Lee and BBC television personality Jonathan Ross teamed up to create this five-issue limited series for Image Comics. The story takes place in Prohibition-era Manhattan and involves mobsters, vampires, and aliens. I very honored to be included as a guest artist for this series. Other guest cover artists include Jim Steranko, Bernard Chang and Duncan Fegredo.

Aldrin After Andy In April 2011, Project One Gallery in San...

Sun, 29 Jan 2012 15:40:00 -0500

Aldrin After Andy

In April 2011, Project One Gallery in San Francisco held an event called “Warhol Reimagined”. The group exhibition was organized by art/culture website, Warholian.com. According to their website:

For Warhol Reimagined, Warholian asked some of the best talent in the art community today to come forward and rework Warhol’s classic imagery. The group of fifty-nine artists were divided into two groups- the “Factory Artists” and the “Soup Can Artists”. Each artist was assigned an image and panel and given the directive to reinterpret the selected Warhol image into their own unique aesthetic…..

…The Warholian Factory Artists were given a 20″x24″ panel, and asked to pick from a selection of over 60 of Warhol’s works. The works were chosen based on their importance in Warhol’s lifetime body of art and prominence. These included his most classic portraits of celebrities, early body of illustrations, self-portraits and his most classic iconic pieces.

I chose “Moonwalk 405”, featuring a pink Buzz Aldrin on the Moon as my starting point for re-interpretation.

I wanted to see how Warhol made this image, so I started looking at the source material for print. NASA has a great public record photo library and there plenty of hi-resolution photos from the Apollo missions. I was surprised to learn that Moonwalk 405 is actually made of of two different photos composited together. In addition, the photograph of Buzz Aldrin is flipped so that his right arm is bent instead of his left. I assume that because of the image reversal, Warhol chose to eliminate the American flag patch since it would appear reversed in the finished print.

Once I had the original source material, I decided that I wanted to change the composition so that it was more of a portrait. I would “fix” the flip and add back in some of the details of the Apollo-era space suit. The flag would still be there, but instead of a composited-in flag, I would re-add the flag patch to Buzz’s left shoulder. I decided that I definitely wanted to keep the color scheme and screenprinted graphic quality of the original print. I brought the source material onto my computer and started laying in the basic shapes and lines in Adobe Illustrator.

Once I had a digital draft of what I wanted to create, it was time to transfer the design to the 20”x24” panel for paint.

The opening reception for the event was a success. I was blown away by the presentation and quality of the work and the enthusiasm of the crowd. Warholian.com has a great slideshow of the opening here.

Later that year, I was fortunate enough to meet Mr. Aldrin at a space-related art event. I had postcards of my portrait of him from the Warhol show and was able to give him one.

Dirty Martini and the Birth of the Space Program In January...

Sun, 29 Jan 2012 15:12:00 -0500

Dirty Martini and the Birth of the Space Program

In January 2007, I was picked to be a part of the first ever art exhibition in space aboard the International Space Station. The effort was part of space entrepreneur Richard Garriott’s mission to the station. Garriott had many activities planned for the trip, including the creation of artwork in orbit. The title of the piece is the artwork, “”Dirty Martini and the Birth of the Space Program”, a portrait of burlesque icon Dirty Martini. After the trip into space, Mr. Garriott sent me photos of the show and it’s audience of crew members. I’m thrilled to have been a part of this historic event and honored that I was invited. The artwork was auctioned off for charity to benefit the Challenger Center for Space Science Education.