My buddy, Adam, contracted me to design the cover for his band's upcoming album. I finished it a few weeks ago but he recently asked me to also do the layout for the CD packaging. He sent me the photos and I had to do a bit of editing to finesse them into supplied templates. I also had to drop in the lyrics for 8 of the 9 songs. Once it's approved, and I get permission from Adam to share the artwork, I'll post it on here and ​Instagram. This will be the second CD I've done artwork for and can't wait to have the physical copy in my hands.

My cousin Reyna sent me this picture earlier today. It's Arely and I standing in front our booth at the San Jose Jazz Summer Fest last year. The sales weren't great that weekend but it was still a lot of fun being there and meeting new vendors. I really miss working events. The plan was to do more events this year before the 'Vid fucked that all away. 

Today sucked. I felt depressed all day and I didn't know why. Maybe the loneliness of sheltering-in-place is finally getting to me. I barely did any work on my Hearts & Stars piece, just made a quick digital mock-up with a black background but didn't lay down any ink. I couldn't get myself to workout or go for a walk. I went for a long drive, took Capitol Expressway from east San Jose all the way to Campbell, but didn't feel any better when I got home. Later that night, still in a funk, I noticed the the note on my calendar, "MLK Exhibit Day One." Today was supposed to be the opening of my art show at the Martin Luther King Library downtown. I wonder if that's why I down all day. I wasn't aware of today's date but maybe subconsciously that's what has been bugging me. For the past few weeks I've kept my head down and worked on my drawings for the show. It was a goal I was working towards. I recently got confirmation that my art show, and all other exhibits, were postponed until further notice. Now I don't have anything to work towards, besides finishing my current drawings. There are no DJ gigs till June, if at all this year, and no event vending opportunities in the foreseeable future. I hope this depression was a one-day thing. I don't want to lose any more momentum and risk undoing everything I've worked so hard to do over these past few months. Wish me luck!

This is kinda what it looks like when you go to @sanjoseday on Instagram and scroll to my post. It's one long seamless image broken down into 10 slides. I laid out a bunch of different digital drawings & designs I've made over the past few years. It was fun making this and participating in the virtual art show since we're all still sheltering in place. The actual San Jose Day event has been postponed to July 18. Hopefully we'll be over the 'Rona by then. Fingers crossed.

April 8th (4/08) is San Jose Day. There was originally an event planned for this Saturday, the 11th, but it was postponed to July 19th because of the Covid-19 pandemic we've been dealing with for the past few weeks. Instead of just waiting till July, Haley, who runs San Jose Day, thought it would be fun to host a virtual art show via Instagram on 4/08. She invited me and a bunch of local artists to submit up to 10 images/slides that will go on a single post. I had fun with mine and pulled an all nighter yesterday working on it. I can't wait till everyone sees it!

Here's a tiny sneak peak, follow @sanjoseday on Instagram to see the whole thing on Wednesday 4/08

I had so much fun at Local Colors Daytime Market today. I hung out with my artist/vendor buddies, saw friends who came to visit, made new friends, got a surprise visit from my cousin Rick and his wife Sabrina, drank some delicious coffee from Tono Coffee Project followed by some IPAs, brought home a new t-shirt, sketchbook & button, sold a few of my t-shirts & stickers, and ended the day with a big ol burrito before heading home. In the next day or two I need to count & fold my shirts, update my inventory and make sure my gear is prepped for the next gig which is San Jose Day on April 11th.

I posted about this a week ago but the event is tomorrow so here it is again... come to Local Color - Keystone at 491 West San Carlos Street (formally Keystone Restaurant Supply) in San Jose from 11am to 3pm for the local artisan daytime market. I'll have my San Jose t-shirts for sale and a bunch of other artist friends will have their wares available too. There's also a food truck and coffee service by Tono Coffee Project so come thru and "buy somethin' will ya!"

My good friend Arely was recently asked to display her artwork at the Jennifer & Philip DiNapoli Gallery inside the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Library. She hung it up a few days ago and today I went and checked it out. She's a bad-ass artist and I'm glad she was asked to exhibit in this space. This is the same gallery I'll be hanging my work in in a couple months. I already started asking her questions about the installation process  :)

Arely's work is on display for the whole month of March so please check it out if you're in San Jose.

Also visit her website: www.arelycardenas.com

Earlier today I drew this monster that ended up looking like that character from the cartoon, "Aaahh Real Monsters," I also received this promotional flyer for the Local Color Daytime Market to share. I'll be vending there, along with other artists/friends/vendors next Sunday, March 8th from 11am-3pm. (491 W San San Carlos St) and just a few minutes ago I vectorized my 10th Shape Thing.

Today my friend Catrina hosted a paint party at Orange Moon Salon in San Jose. It was my first time and I've been wanting to do one for a while. Our buddy Joey also came to paint. Catrina did a great job, so did Ruth & Kenny, the owners of the salon, being awesome hosts. It was a lot of fun and it kinda made me want to paint canvases again.

Last Saturday at The Arsenal's art auction I won this piece by the homie Fernando aka EPH KUE. (@nandoid2485 on Instagram) I fucking love it! It's 19 inches long, 3 inches wide and made of wood. Made to look like a Sakura solid paint marker aka "streaker." It now lives on my desk near my books. Please give him follow and visit The Arsenal when you need art supplies.

Tonight I attended my first Meeting of the Minds session where artists are randomly paired to work together on a single canvas together. I was paired with local artist Al Preciado and we ended up with three canvases at the end. It was a lot of fun catching up with old friends and making new ones. It's a monthly thing and I look forward to doing it again in the future.

My friend Arely Cardenas, along with artist Jesse Hernandez, were commissioned to paint a mural during a Google conference, in collaboration with Local Color, a few months back and today it was donated to James Lick High School in East San Jose, CA. A faculty member walked me to the new building for the unveiling and as we walked thru the old halls I told her I went to summer school here in 1998. I went to Mount Pleasant High School, which was a couple miles away, flunked a bunch of classes my freshman & sophomore year and had to make them up during junior & senior year. It was that summer in between. MP didn't offer classes that summer so all our dumb asses went to Lick. 

That was also the summer The Beastie Boys released the album Hello Nasty. My friends and I went to go buy the CD when it came out at Circuit City (by Eastridge Mall) after school on a Tuesday.

The event today at Orange Moon Salon was a lot fun. I got to meet you new vendors and hang out with old friends. Many thanks to Catrina for inviting me and Ruth the salon owner for hosting the event. Check out the pics below 

If you're in San Jose and want to get an early start on your holiday shopping and support your local artisans... well come on down to Orange Moon Salon on 953 Park Ave. for the Luna on Park Artisan Market. I and other vendors will be there selling our wares. Also check out the salon on any other day to get your hair did. Ask for my friend Catrina or the salon owner, Ruth. They are super cool people and I would totally get my hair cut by them if I had hair.

I went to check out Campbell's Oktoberfest today. I don't think I've ever attended one before and I heard it draws a lot of people. I went to see if my booth & shirts would be a good fit for the festival so I could come next year and vend. I learned at the Jazz Festival that my gear doesn't do well at all events. I walked past all the vendor booths today, starting on one side of the street then the other side as I walked back. On the way back I stopped at Recycle Book Store. It was my first time there and right when you walk in there were a few Edward Gorey books on display on the counter. I love his illustrations & wanted to bring them all home. I walked around the store and saw a painting on the wall done by my old roommate, Jeremiah. I then found a book called Street T that features tons of pictures and write ups on graphic t-shirt designers. I had to have it. I bought it instead of the Ed Gorey books. After leaving the bookstore I stopped by Mike & Niki's Honey booth. I know Niki from a networking meeting we both go to. I sampled some honey and bought a jar of their Double Chocolate Creamed Honey. It's so good! I almost ate half the jar already. I had good time at the festival, even though it was a reconnaissance mission. I think I might vend at next years Oktoberfest. We'll see.

This was the last Street Mrkt of the season and it was a fun one. I sold a few shirts, saw some old friends and talked to a lot people. I'm looking forward to next season starting with SubZero in June. In the meantime I gotta keep a eye out for more vending opportunities.

Today was another fun event downtown. I saw a bunch of friends and met a lot of cool people. As  I was setting up my canopy in the morning one of the hinges came apart because of a missing nut. I looked all over ground for it and in the bag but never found it. I think it fell out last week at Backesto Park. Good thing I had gray duct tape with me. The only other issue was the wind. It picked up from time to time and would blow some of my shirts off the top of the piles. The coolest thing about today's event was being setup next to my artist/vendor friends Mario (@dimas__11), Claudia (@klawd), and Fernando (2force129) Make sure to check out their work on Instagram.

Haley, the Program Manager at Local Color, invited me to come vend at the SoFa Street Fair this Sunday from 2-9pm in Downtown San Jose on South First Street. I and other vendors will be near the Reggae Beach stage. This will be my first time vending at this event but I've attended as a guest a few times. There are art vendors but it's mainly focused on the live music scene in San Jose. I have a few buddies in bands that are performing this Sunday. Aris, The Wet Bandits and Novel. Check out their flyers below and come out this Sunday!

This was kind of a last minute event. My friend Yolanda (@muchamuchachas on Instagram) booked two vending spaces for her and her daughter. Her daughter couldn't make it so Yolanda asked me to come vend in her place. The event was fun and laid back. I talked to a lot of cool people and sold a few t-shirts. Other highlights included: A guy on a motorcycle getting knocked over by a car (he was ok), a dog shit next to my canopy, and the owner didn't pick it up, so I put a flag on the dookie so no one would step in it, and seeing my blue undies thru a tear in my favorite shorts. Good times! Sunday, we'll be back at Backesto Park for Viva Calle. I'm looking forward to another fun day!

www.lunaparkarts.org/festival
www.vivacallesj.org

Tonight I helped my buddies Alex & Jimmy, the Downtown Screen Printers, with a big print job. 100+ shirts with one color on the front and two on the back. Jimmy loaded the shirts onto the platen, Alex laid down the ink and I took the printed shirt off and put them in the dryer to cure. I was able to ask lots of questions and see first hand how they problem solve when issues came up. It gave me a better understanding of the t-shirt printing process which I never got to see firsthand before. It also got me thinking about when I bought screen printing gear and built my own one-color press. I'm glad I tried and learned but I'm happier letting the professionals handle the printing so I can focus on the design and everything else.

The Downtown Screen Printers printed my "San Jose" shirt, EMNSJ, back in May/June.

The picture below was taken tonight after we were done. It took about 6 hours from start to end.

It's done! My first mural. I've assisted friends on a couple other murals but this is the first one that I came up with and painted myself. I would do a few things differently the next time around to save time and headaches. As much as I complained about how long it was taking me, I had a blast. I got to hang out with my friends who were also painting murals and meet a lot of cool new peeps. If you can't tell, there's going to be a fire extinguisher on the bottom red portion of the mural. 

If you want all the murals in the #Gallery408 Blowout, they'll be up till the end of the year at the old Local Color building in downtown San Jose (27 S 1st St, San Jose, CA 95113)

Late post.

The Street Mrkt was a blast! I got setup early and was able to visit my artist/vendor buddies and bought an original piece by local artist, Jemal (@thejemalshow on Instagram) and picked up some rad Garbage Pail Kids pins from Jodi (@xicana408) She always has the coolest shit! I even had time to drink a couple beers at Uproar Brewery before the event officially started. I gave out over half of my flyers and sold a few t-shirts and stickers. It was a good night. 

Make sure to come out to the next First Friday Artwalk & Street Mrkt next month. It'll be the last one of this season. Hope to see you there!

Hey folks!

If you like supporting local artists and vendors, come on down to the South First Friday Artwalk in downtown San Jose. It's from 7pm to 11pm. There are a bunch of art galleries that will be open and free to the public. I and other vendors will be lined up on South First St. between Williams & San Carlos streets. There will also be DJs, live performances, food trucks and all sorts of fun stuff to check out.

Facebook Event Page