Showing posts with label art. Show all posts
Showing posts with label art. Show all posts

Monday, August 27, 2012

GTP wheelies all the way into Wyoming

"GTP does a wheele" painting sold last week, and is all packed up and on the way to his new home in Wyoming. Thank you so much Patrick for the support and keeping (((((Freewheelin' Fridays))))) alive!!!


Friday, August 24, 2012

(((((Freewheelin' Fridays, Pt. 7 - To Kill A Man...)))))









You've been riding through the blistering heat of the Mojave desert all day. The scorching air at 100 mph has turned your face into lizard skin. The motor between your legs is almost as worn out and tired as you are. You pull off the lonely two-lane road and into an old cowboy bar, the kind that is filled with smoke and cuss words. As you find a stool and belly up to the bar, you barely muster the energy needed to grumble out to the barmaid, "I'd kill a man for some ice cold beers right now."

Inspired by the old hand painted signs that used to dominate the two lane highways, this light box pays homage to my favorite bit of bar room bedizenment, illuminated signage pushing beer and the pursuit of a good time. Hand painted black acrylic on a sheet of polycarbonate, bound by a light weight corrugated plastic box and lit by a perimeter of tucked away rope lights, this beauty is durable, reliable, and weighing in just under 5 pounds, won't tear the nails out of the wall when you go to hang her up.

She measures 12" wide by 24" tall and 2" deep. Would look great hanging in any real MAN's garage or bar room. The  first 150$ will put her in the mail and send her on her way today. Interested parties contact Jordan@thehorsebc.net, will ship anywhere around the globe. Thanks again for looking, and enjoy the weekend!!!

Friday, August 17, 2012

(((((Freewheelin' Fridays, Pt. 6)))))

It seems like forever ago when I painted this one. Unlike most of my work, I did not take the original photo for this painting, although I wish like hell I did. It has to be my all time favorite surfin' the bike photo, period. It just fuckin' ruuuuuuuuules!

Most times you see a picture of a guy surfin' his bike, it either falls in one of two categories. First category being, it is crystal clear and shot by a pro photographer and the guy is just coastin' along with ease making it look like a walk in the park, the shot if perfectly framed, and everything is just easy breezy no big deal. These are sort of rare, but they exist.

The other category, which unfortunately is far too common, is a photo of a guy surfing a bike that is about 50 feet away, the picture isn't framed all that great, maybe it was taken with an camera phone, and aside from the cool factor of the guy surfin' the bike, the photo is mainly rubbish. Cool move, no doubt, but nailing the photo can be as hard as surfin' the bike.

But this photo here, this one right here, is just so different from any surfin' pic i've ever seen. Its a little bit of both, sort of shitty and rushed, but also perfect in that un-perfect way. You actually get a sense of how fucking scary this move can be, because it looks like at any moment, dude could loose his balance and take out him and and his old lady, AND the poor sap taking the photo. To me, it just perfectly captures how dangerous--extremely dangerous-- the move is, but somehow is just rewarding enough to give it a try (for some!) Also great (but obviously great) things about this photo that I feel like pointing out right now, is that the bike is badddd as fuuuuuuck, and you know the ole' lady on the back is a keeper if she can sit through that kind of maneuver...!!!



Anyways, I did this piece about a week after finishing Leggy Blonde, which was about two years ago now. You see, Leggy Blonde took me nearly an eternity to finish, because she was so detailed and I really, really took my time with it. But with this painting, I wanted to start it after dinner and be done with it before I went to bed. Wanted the painting to reflect the rushed and hurried feeling you get from looking at the picture.

Right when I finished it, I knew it was my favorite painting yet. It was just so simple, but came across exactly how I had planned. It's been hanging in my kitchen for nearly 2 and a half years now, and I've sworn up and down that i'd never sell it, but if someone wants to make an offer I can't refuse, well then I guess i'd just have to reconsider. I forget exactly the dimensions on it, but i'd say roughly 4 and a half feet by 3 feet. Its the perfect size, really.

Anyways, hope ya'll get a kick out of it, because I fuckin' love this thing! Interested parties drop me a line at jordan@thehorsebc.net

Happy Freewheelin' Friday!





Friday, July 20, 2012

(((((Freewheelin' Friday's Revisited))))) **SOLD**



Riding with George on the Long Road was something I'll never forget. I get to see George maybe twice a year if that, but I talk to him every other week on the phone about work stuff, so getting the chance to actually see him face to face and log some miles along the notorious "Leaky Latowski" has been something of a goal of mine for many moons now. 

There is something about crossing the map with someone else who's done it a million times too that you both just click into a rhythm... Pass this semi, don't pass that one, hammer on the throttle here, slow down there, cops up ahead, straight away for hours, lets see if we can get up to 120 mph, rinse and repeat... Even though this was the first time i've been next to the Latowski in action, it felt familiar as ever, and despite his track record for crashing into Peterbilt's and busses, George is actually quite the skilled rider!

It's been ages since i've done a Freewheelin' Friday, and even longer since i've made a fresh piece exclusively for Freewheelin' Friday, but thats all because I haven't been in one place long enough to scratch my ass, let alone focus on a new project. However, the dust has settled, "regular" life has resumed, and I decided last week to get back in the swing of it, starting off with a piece I knew I had to paint the second my finger released the shutter button on the camera... 

The photo of this monstrous wheelie George pulled gets my blood pumping every time I look at it. Pure adrenaline, pushing the laws of physics and seeing just how close one can get before tipping a wheelie backwards. Just moments before this photo was taken, George came up to me and said "I've had this bike 30 years and just now learned how to do a wheelie!" I said "get one as high as you can, but don't kill yourself!" Naturally, he fuckin' nailed it.




Materials were gathered, tables and chairs were moved, and for the next week and a half my kitchen became my studio. Every time I start a painting like this, I go into thinking I know what I want to do, and how to do it and how long it will take. Well it usually doesn't take very long before the project takes over with a mind of its own, and everything you thought you knew gets thrown out the window. I originally thought i'd try and knock it out in one night, but what you see below is about 30 hours of work, somewhere along the 4th or 5th day. I totally got sucked in, vortex style.



Just a few nights ago I finished painting the black and white portion, a mile marker I thought would never come. Around this point, I woke up one morning with a really sore left elbow and couldn't figure out why they hell it hurt so bad... Well when I started painting that next day after work, I noticed I was constantly flexing my entire left arm so as to keep my palate close to my brush. Not so bad for a short period of time, but I had been flexing that arm for hours on end, day after day! Once I realized that, I had to force myself to relax that arm while the other one was painting, so as not to make it feel like it was going to shrivel up and fall off at night. 


Half way point!


Hot as balls too. This was around the middle stretch of those 100+ degree days, and a shitty old box fan was all I had to cool down. Musta drank at least 10 gallons of water!

The next step was figuring out something for the background. After much brainstorming with my bud Evan, I decided on a masking technique that would allow me to apply a wash in the background without getting any on George, something that would almost look like a giant water color painting.  The masking process took forever, and because of the heat, the masking sheets kept peeling back and needed to be pressed down way too often. It was a race against time, this shit did not want to stay down! But I did enjoy employing a new process, and its one i'll for sure re-visit in the future.


Not a speck on the floor! But it's not like i'm getting my security deposit back anyways...


Yellow wash came first...


Followed by Orange...


Topped off with the red.

Brought it in this morning to be photographed and I gotta say I like it quite a bit here by the entrance to the office... Life sized George just bustin' out of a wall!


...Detail...


The final product!!!



This baby measures 45 inches across by 72 inches high, and doesn't weight more than about 5 or 7 pounds. I intended to keep this one as my own, but in order to keep moving forward with some other motorcycle related endeavors, I'm considering selling it. If you think you'd like to have this original painting in your garage or home or shop, drop me a line and let's work out a deal... Will ship anywhere in the world. E-mail me at Jordan@thehorsebc.net (I mistakenly put a non-existing email address here before, but now i've corrected it, so fire away dudes!)

I'm also considering taking on a few portrait projects for the remainder of the summer season, so if you think you'd like your photo done up in a similar style, drop me a line and lets see what we can do! Thanks for looking guys, your views and comments mean a lot!



Wednesday, May 30, 2012

Willies Tropical Tattoo

I'm updating the ad for Willies Tropical Tattoo and requested some fresh artwork from the guys at the shop, and this beauty came in. Man those guys are good! You'll have to check the new ad in 121 for the other jems...


Friday, May 18, 2012

(((((Freewheelin Friday, Pt. 4)))))

I originally intended to post each (((((Freewheelin' Friday))))) in cronological order of when the work was made, but i'm already pretty out of sequence,so... here's that latest thing to come from my kitchen!

A few weeks back I took some glamour shots of Kelly's old bike for the record. The following week was her birthday, so I cranked this bad boy out in my kitchen one afternoon/evening in just under 11 hours... felt good to get back into the painting gig, hadn't picked up a paint brush since, well i don't know when. Was going for a bit of a black velvet canvas feel by painting on a 3 1/2 foot by 2 1/2 foot piece of black foam core that I trash picked from the curb a little while ago.

This painting was definitely  a step in a more detailed orientated direction that some of my older work, and I gotta say it felt pretty good to really zone in and focus on the execution. Oh, and painting reflective surfaces is always a blast. Man, i've got to make more work... Maybe something fresh again for next Friday? Who knows! Stay tuned...







Friday, April 27, 2012

(((((Freewheelin' Fridays, Pt. 3)))))

This post is a little more hockey heavy than it is motorcycle heavy, so if you're not even mildly a fan of the best and only important sport on the plant, you may want to keep moving... However, if you dig it, read on!

I've always thought there were great similarities between motorcycle helmets and goalie helmets. Take for example the act of painting them. Ray Bishop, a custom painter based out of Michigan, painted Red Wing's goalie Jimmy Howard's mask, as well as painting numerous magazine quality and show winning motorcycles. Just like motorcycle helmets, there is a crowd out there who collects old and rare goalie helmets. Its the one piece of equipment in all of sports that gives the person wearing it total freedom of choice with how they choose to decorate it. Nowhere will you find such a strong showcase of personal expression and graphic style on equipment in professional athletics. The helmet literally and figuratively attaches whatever image it bares to the person who's wearing it, just like with motorcycle helmets. One could even draw parallels between motorcycle helmet law debates, and the crazy but little know fact that there was a huge debate for a long time over weather or not the NHL should force goalies to wear helmets. Furthermore, one could compare a motorcyclist and a goaltender as both being a little bit insane. Who would want to go out there and face 90 mph pucks, and who would want to go out there and endure the rain and cold and bugs and risk getting hit by cars? Goalies and Cyclists, both groups share the same crazy gene.


I was fortunate enough to grow up playing ice hockey in the best "hockey state" in the US-- Michigan. I was a goalie from the first day I played a game, wouldn't even consider playing any other position. As a young gun, it was always a dream of mine to one day have a Warwick mask. You see, there are regular production goalie mask that are made from cheap materials by machines in some far off factory, and then there are Warwick masks. Gary Warwick is based right here in Michigan out of Port Huron, and has been hand forming masks since the 70's. He would have professional goalies come out to his little studio and he'd make plaster molds of their faces, so that later he could hand lay the fiber glass and kevlar over them, insuring an exact fit. His designs became so popular among professional goalies that there was a period when the majority of NHL goalies wore a Warwick mask, each one coming from his tiny Michigan studio.

Eddie Belfour, one of my favorite goalies of all time, visited Gary Warwick in his Port Huron studio for a custom mask fitting back in the early 90's not long after he was drafted to the Chicago Blackhawks. After completion, he had it painted by Greg Harrison (an impressive mask maker himself) with the image of an eagle on either side. It was an instant hit, and most importantly, it looked great from anywhere in the rink-- the front row or the nose bleeds. You could tell what it was instantly, and he kept the design for his entire career regardless of what team he played for. That mask had a great impact on me growing up, and it was one of the main reasons I started to take notice of this hall of fame goalie. He was known for his hard work and clutch performances on the ice, as well as owning and racing hot rod cars(!) during the off season in Michigan.


This here is the first and most iconic version he wore while playing for the Chicago Blackhawks. Belfour was one of the only goalies to wear different colored masks for home and away games (Style points!)


After wearing just a straight black Fulmer 3/4 for a riding season, I thought i'd get handy and try to duplicate the timeless design as a bit of an homage to Gary Warwick, Greg Harrison, and of course Eddie Belfour. I didn't air brush it, didn't strip the old paint off, hell, i didn't even clear coat over it... I just used straight acrylic paint! Surprisingly, it has held up pretty well ever since. It may not be the prettiest paint job up close, but like Eddie said, it is instantly recognizable and you can tell what it is from a mile away... and really, thats all that matters.



Friday, April 13, 2012

(((((Freewheelin' Fridays, Pt. 2)))))

At my first Smoke Out, I was posted up shooting the mini bike races when I spotted this jolly fellow.





871V9E on Make A Gif, Animated Gifs



Shortly after getting back home, I went through my photos and it dawned on me how awesome this guy is. Everything about this photo is right. Flip flops, check. Fu manchu, check. Overalls, check. Circus like proportions of a big guy on a little bike, extra check. It was all there! Something about the guy just screamed "I don't give a fuck, i'm just here to party" which I think deep down is all we really want. So, naturally, I decided to paint it. Went something like this.





I really dug doing the texture on the overalls. Painting fabric is always a bit of a trip.







I finished this guy just before we went to print, and we had a free space in the magazine open, so I snuck it in there. I must admit I was a little bit nervous the guy would see it and be mad, or upset, or pumped, or something I just wasn't quite sure. 

Well sure enough, about a week or two after the mag hit shelves, I got a call at the office from his wife! And she loved it! And wanted to buy it as a surprise for his upcoming birthday and hang it on their wall. Needless to say, I was pumped. Another happy customer. Probably one of my favorite paintings, too.


Friday, April 6, 2012

April Header

I call this header, "I can see it now..."

Diggin on the mockup phases of "White Trash"... Storm trooper style, i believe it was called.

(((((Freewheelin' Fridays will be back next Friday... get pumped!))))))



Friday, March 30, 2012

((((( Freewheelin' Fridays, Pt. 1 )))))

One of the very first photo shoots I did for the magazine was actually for our 2010 calendar. It was with a bike from Chicago and a girl from Grand Rapids, and to this day, it is still one of my favorite shoots.


I had never painted on a scale quite like this before, and it turned out to be quite enjoyable. I spent weeks on the thing, going over every detail, spending hours on end posted up in the garage painting and painting and painting and loving every minute of it.


After what seemed like forever, I figured she was just about done. I took her back to my office where she's been ever since, greeting visitors at the door. Old ladies give her a dirty look, young kids get dirty thoughts. However, I think the day has finally come where I'm ready to say goodbye to the babe in cut-off jean shorts and let her light up someone else's night.


 This piece is about as close to life size as you can get, 34 inches across by 66 inches tall. Black and white paint with a glossy clear coat on a beautiful piece of wood, would look great in any garage or man cave. Take this blonde bombshell home today by contacting me at backtalk@ironcross.net, will ship anywhere in the US or Canada.


Thursday, March 22, 2012

Do the Breakdown

This is just about the funkiest way to start a Thursday like this. Or any day, for that matter.




Those hats! 

Wednesday, March 7, 2012

New Header for March

Featuring Josh's totally rad Ironhead. I snapped this picture when he was passing by me on the Revenge Run at an incredible rate of speed. I looked at the photo later that day and it was a pretty crummy shot from what I could see, it was a bit blurry, the colors were washed out, but that thumbs up... That thumbs up is alllllll that counts. Priceless! I do believe there might be a full feature on this baby coming soon to issue #119 shot by my good buddy Wes possibly?! How exciting! Happy March (7 days late) and welcome back spring!

Friday, February 10, 2012

It's coming...

Saw this artwork on the Born-Free blog, and boy oh boy is it sharp. Wish they'd put it on a T-shirt, i'd buy one!

June, please come soon.


Saturday, November 19, 2011

Headers, past and present

i'm really starting to enjoy making new headers for this here little blog... Here are some from the past that i've put up.







I know i'm missing a few in there, but that just gives me motivation to keep on crankin' em out. Gonna try and put up a fresh one every monday (I said try)  so for those of you who get your horse blog updates on the Chopcult feed, make sure to stop by every now and then to get a little extra taste of Horse goodness. Now have a nice day!

Tuesday, September 13, 2011

Too much fun

I got sick of staring at this blank white helmet that i've had laying around forever, so i painted it. Think its gonna freak some people out. Didn't exactly have this in mind when I started, but somehow it came out this way. I can dig it!









Tuesday, March 29, 2011

New T-shirts, part 3

Spent last Friday in an old familiar print shop downtown.

It was actually the place where I got my first "art" job years ago, doing layouts for political yard signs for the summer. The job itself was a big bore, but the riding into and out of Detroit every day was enough to make it worth while. Racing from light to light, lane splitting, riding on sidewalks... I was actually quite surprised at the end of the summer that I made it out alive.

Anyways, the guy's in the back of the shop were all pretty legit, and they were pumped to see me back around the shop last friday, if only for a day. They almost didn't believe me when I told them I was working for this motorcycle mag, and then they all flipped out when I handed them this years calendar and told em' I took most of the shots in it. The look on their faces was priceless!

I got to print the shirts with my boy William. He was very meticulous about the process, and made sure everything looked exactly how I wanted it to. These things turned out niiiiiiiiceeee!











 When I was picking out the shirts for this print, I had the printer order a couple different brands so I could see who made the best product... and I can't stress enough how soft and comfortable the American Apparel T's are... Which are the ones I went with. They cost me quite a bit more to print on (they're made in the US), but what the hell, its no fun wearing a sweet graphic on an ill-fitting shirt.

I printed a small batch this time around, about 25 in total, and when they're gone, who knows when you'll see em again. I apologize in advance to my XXL and XXXL (and XXXXL?) friends, your shirts will be available next go around. Right now i've got a few M's, L's, and XL's in stock. Get em' while they're hot!