Giving Up Would Be Too Easy

On heavy rotation right now...
Death From Above 1979
Mortician
Pink and Brown
Alice Cooper
Frank Black and the Catholics.

Not even a month into the new year and the leaves are turning! There is so much coming in the next seven weeks I can't stand it. 3 shows...two trips...2 companies interest.

working like mad. I got a part time gig for a law firm downtown so before I go to my fulltime job I go on missions. I go to clients homes or places of incidents and take photo's. It's awesome. I get to meet so many characters with these stories that are mind numbing.
Today I went to court for a speeding ticket. It was lame, who cares. As I sat in the pew waiting for the judge this rather large lady was being escorted out by police. She was kind of running in place while looking up with her big ol' booty bouncin' all over...the cops push her along while this old black man wrapped in a blanket and wearing a headband starts singing outloud "SHE'S A MANIAC...MAAAAAANIAC....ON THE FLOOOORRR" while shuffling his feet as if dancing. He stops and looks at me...I knod in approval...he winks and smiles showing me his gold plated grill. he must have been 60. I went and saw the judge and on my way out I ask Blanket man his name and he said "Jarvis", I said pleased to meet you. pound and i'm out.

From there I pay the 3 bucks to park...then off to the office. do my thing there...go to a house on the east side and take some pics...take some notes. go up load and edit. have a soda...back to the office. make the delivery....get a burrito then off to fulltime gig. I may have just typed in circles...deal with it.

dirty boys skateboard graphic will be out soon. you will like it. it is fun...roots.

Started inking on Strathmore Bristol Board... sooooo good. bought my windsor newton #2 series 7 brush to ink with...koh0i nor universal ink i think...bloody good.

I know this for fact.
here are some mock ups i did for Martyr Skateboards. Not used.
meh. Last year was pretty eventful. Had my pic in the S.A. Current for a local show featuring the best emerging artist's in San Antonio. I was asked to participate. I was stoked.

I'm transfering this over from my Multiply site...I like it here better...this was back in early Dec.
So this past weekend i went to some of the places i grew up skateboarding here in San Antonio. Some of the places i hadn't been to in years...all the memories...all the friends...i'm glad i took these photos. it was a time of hand me downs, 3 dollars for a soda and some hotdogs from the gas station. landing a new trick for the first time, falling on your face more than you can count. you waited till friday night for the skatejam at the pavillion....skating all weekend. everyone telling you your going to grow out of it...Just wait till you get a car...fuck that...that car enabled me to get farther way to skate... it got me to the shows i couldn't get to before...back when going to Hogwild was a BIG DEAL. going to the schools you heard everyone talk about on the weekend just to skate on the weekends. the backpack full of cassette tapes...scoring a pack of smokes...mini ramp sessions, skate jam bbq's, the girls who like guys that skated. JFA and Minor Threat...meeting the skinhead at the Gazeebo by the alamo who skated in boots. going to demos waiting for a board toss...ollie spots on your shoes...- powell and peralta or Zorlac. Kevin Staab or Mike Mcgill. Jimmy Z's or T&C surf. Nostalgia! what would i be into if i hadn't seen Thrashin' in 1988 at the windsor park mall theatre with my mom...or seeing rodney mullen doing a one man demo at the Swatch booth at Dillards...obsessing over ads in thrasher...begging my dad to build me a mini ramp...wanting to be a dagger and not a valley Jerk! Hearing "wild in the streets" during the big chase scene in thrashin'. i grew up in ditches and on curbs and wouldn't want it any different. thanks for all the memories, my useless wooden toy.
you can click on the pics to make them larger.

Dirty Boyz Skateboards. San Antonio, TX.
So this is what I've been up to lately. More ish to come. Boards, Buttons, Tee shirts, Bandanas. Being asked to do work for someone is a great compliment. I'm my biggest critic. I can see in almost everything I do an influence of something. It gets really annoying. I look at "art" and see "art" in everything. Sometimes I feel like nothing I do is original. 7 up looks just like sprite. The conversation/debate of whats original is always a hot topic. It's 2006, what ever you see now probably has been done before and been done better. My realization a few years ago that not everyone can draw or paint helped me pay my bills. Someone with a few dollars saying...I want this (drawn or painted), but can you do it in this style...just like this guys work? Of course it can be done, you can mimmick anything. I'm not going to xerox someone elses masterpiece and put my name on it. I do have to take a break and not look at magazines or books or websites because my brain is usually saturated with images. It's hard putting yourself on the chopping block...willingly. I love L.A. gang scripts like Chaz, seeing how many ways I can make the alphabet look. Thank you Annie Mess for the lettering tips.
I feel lame writing this stuff sometimes, like I'm Captain Informative or something, what ever. etch a stone for me.

Humphrey Bogart...he was a fella and half huh? I replaced his head with Mr. La Veys.
45 grave with the Belgraves... more to be announced. the poster will be a little like this.

Nyquil is good. it makes you wake up late for work. I'm currently walking the dog.

I woke up...I dibble dabbled...
got a call from Jozul...now I'm about to work on some tshirts and buttons. Oh, and a new Turbo Jugend idea.
I went to the grocer and spent $8. That made me 12 sandwiches that are all packaged individually and ready for my consumption. Organization!

the Old Haunts are from Olympia, Washington and are on Kill Rock Stars.
Spider and the Webs, feat-Tobi Vail ex Bikini Kill
Skullening- San Antonio chaos merchants...au-gogo
http://www.purevolume.com/skullening

this is Darby...my new ride.

Here is a pic of the toy I painted last year for The Funny Club, www.bbbirdy.com .

He's 3.5 inches tall. I was listening to Johnny Thunders the entire time I painted him. There were/are so many talented artists involved in this. Thanks to Kozik for the heads up. This was my feeble attempt.



I made the little guy a house out of balsa wood and made him a little molotov cocktail....Shipping that would have been horrible...it would have busted no doubt by it's first stop. oh well. He looks like Blag from the Dwarves. When I initially started painting him I was super nervous and shaking...so i drank some coka cola with Malibu rum to chill...i kept drinking it... about halfway thru I stood up and started spinning... I was drunk...you can kind of tell by the pics of me.

So as of late I was doing posters and fliers for a number of local and not so local clubs and bands. It was great. I would keep fliers from shows growing up to either tac to my wall or keep in a shoebox, whatever. So I recently did a poster for Michale Graves...my good friends The Belgraves were asked to open. I was very happy for them. Mr. Graves was a replacement for Glenn Danzig of the Misfits. He's doing the whole spooky halloween band thing. blah blah blah. I did a xyrox poster 11x17 and 4 36x48's to hang up. So I deliver the posters a week and a half before the show...the weekend before the show they were never put out on the street. So when the show rolled around I asked the coordinator whats up with the fliers and I was told that all the advertising for the club is now done on myspace or online in general. That is lame as hell. Sorry. but going to a friends house and seeing a flyer on the wall or where ever was way cooler than saying "hey check out these fliers i got, they're all Jpegs, i have them on disc , check'em out dude". Stupid.









I love this stuff. DYI. I have a big ol' stack of these. Every once in a while I will sift through them. They smell awesome. All these are San Antonio/Austin.

Sons Of Hercules
Bart High on Fire.






Pics.... Nightbreed.
Butters from Yoshimoto
Yoshimoto

I've always kept a shoebox full of stickers. I found this old sketchbook of mine from 2002 that I adorned with stickers. Much like a suitcase of years past...some stickers have stories. There are a few Obey stickers from Shepard (second blog post). Foundation moon and star from Beagle. Darkstar from Jozul. Bionic Station Wagon from Chuck Blaikie. http://www.brainold.com . Super fantastic. My first frankenstein sticker I did...and the first illustration I did for Gnome Skateboards (previously known as Bionic Station Wagon), text by Chuck Blaikie.

Not many sketches...usually just notes...kind of like a blog...but in book form...like...pen and ink.

// posted by RRWalker @ 10:43 PM 2 comments

So imagine your running or jogging or riding a skateboard...you're in perpetual motion. Something happens that sends you flailing forward. You don't want to feel the impact so you put out your hands to keep from slamming face first. Your momentum doesn't seem to slow at all as you realize you are half your height closer to the ground. If you were in third person you would see yourself , maybe for a split second or maybe for 20 ft, walking like an ape or at least a four legged animal. It's a bit like life in a general sense. Everything is cool and calm till something tries to knock you to the ground then you pull out everything you can to keep from losing face. I remember skating with my friend Joe (R.I.P) back in 1998. We were at this spot and he kept getting stuck on a crooked grind. Over and over he attempted it and each time he flew forward. He was walking back to his starting point and said to me "The worst thing in life is walking the dog". He then proceeded to give me the aforementioned explanation. He landed the crooked grind on the next try. I miss Joe.

On my way home tonight I decide to stop by the ever ellusive WalMart for some items I don't think I could live without. Being the prepared lad I am don't leave the vehicle with out the ipod headphones in my ears and music on. I want selective hearing this late at night. I go throughout and gather my things and make my way to the check out line. One of the open two, each with 10-15 people in each. "Whatever, no biggie, your just a rat yourself" I say in my head. So I stand behind a couple...the young lady has a jar of what reads "tummy butter" and her beau stands empty handed. There was a young guy up ahead who walked over to the paper and pulled out the Star, as he did this, 3 or 4 copies fall to the ground. He looks at them then proceeds to read about Demi Moore. He puts the paper down then walks off with his buddies leaving the other papers on the ground. He must have been early to mid twenties. In my head...I call him a prick. No respect. 10 minutes go by and we(the couple and I) make eye contact and nod, no biggie. our eyes did all the talking for us..."Lines pretty long..." "sure is" "can't wait to get out of here" " I know". < that was our eye conversation. Then this lady walks between us. She was in her mid forties and was mumbling about the line being so long. I know this by the way she examined the line. she said some thing to the couple ahead of me and the girl says to her fella..."what? what did she say to us?" and he stands with arms still crossed and shrugs. Now when I got to WalMart I saw this couple get out of their vehicle...so i know for a fact that collectively...they were flying solo. Another 10 minutes pass and "the 40 year old Psycho" we'll call her walks up and has some stuffed animals, a blouse, soap and motor oil in tow. She starts yapping it up to the couple, who are taken a back by 40yop. And the 40yop kind of whispers to the girl. I look behind me and there is a gang of people in line watching this. I shake my head and pay attention in front of me. The 40yop is making the girl squeeze the hand of the toy and she laughs like a koo koo lady...like Gallager just smashed her melon...i don't know. The beau at this time unfolds his arms and puts his hands in the air in a motion of " i'm not a part of this", kisses his girl and walks away outside. Girl turns super red as she is left with 40yop(40 year old psycho). I watch in amazement. As she puts her stuff down in front of me on the conveyor. Girl doesn't look at me, 40yop doesn't look at me. The cashier rings up all the shit the lady put down along with "tummy butter". she writes a check, it clears and the two walk ahead 5 feet, stop, and the girl reaches in one bag and gets her butter out. They leave. Now honestly...it didn't take any longer for the 40yop to schmooze her way into line by offering to pay for young ladies product. But how fucking disrespectful is that? I could have opened my mouth and called her out on her shenanigans, or pitched fit and make myself look like and idiot. But I didn't, I didn't do anything. I watched this situation infront of me take place like nothing out of the ordinary but knowing and thinking...you fucking bitch! I lost respect for her immediatly and to some that matters but to others it doesn't. To her...it doesn't. It doesn't matter what you think really when your standing in line with the masses. Out numbered...out gunned. If I said anything to the three of them about "hey hey lady.....your cutting!", the beau could have said "nu huh, we know her" and of course he would have...his chick is about to get some free "tummy butter".
Now early in when 40yop approached said couple I saw the bewilderment on their faces...and said to myself "if she comes to me next and tries to finagle (sp?) in the line I'm going to say "i don't speak english" in perfect English. Hoping that she looks at me like a confused pup and tilts her head and asks "what?" and I will say "I don't speak English" in perfect english so she hopefully get the idea that I'm being an asshole and I don't want to talk to her and I know what she's up to. That was my plan. I didn't get to act on it...but that was my plan. So I payed for my goods and left. I see the young couple leaving in their big truck to my left and the 40yop is nowhere to be seen. Some people.

When things happen for a reason, and you know it, it makes everything all worth while. I try not to complain about too much. I poke fun at the little things. I love getting a response...good or bad. I can't say that I don't care because I do. I couldn't care less. I have an agenda this week and I'm stoked. I am just about settled in to the apartment again. I need to get my love seat, tv and stand...find that G.D. remote control I lost, my clothes. I'm going to try my hardest to not bring a bunch of art/paint stuff in the apt. I'm leaving all that in the studio -www.rrwalker.multiply.com/photos/album/19 -
as much as I can. Like Brant said..."I give it a month and this place will be full of art stuff". He's right...I know he is, I'll give him that. Last night I watched the special edition disc of "The Devils Rejects" entitled "30 days in hell". It's the making of in retrospect. I was really into House of a 1000 corpses, mainly because i'm a junky for Rob Zombies ideas. I bought his cd's after the release of La Sexorcisto because of all the amazing artwork he did. I got a copy of House from Lori at Creepy Classics - bootlegged 6 months before it was released in theatres. I watched it weekly. Not so much for the story but just the visuals. My attention span is horrible. I started watching "30 days in hell" in the evening...i stopped it 4 or 5 times. I was really into it like a little kid but I'd make myself go outside and get some air. or get a drink...check my email...clean, go eat dinner. then I finished it. I can be a lame ass some times. I have my back room all cleaned and mopped. PC set up and desk good to go. Got my mattress on a futon frame. I'm here at work right now. It's a bit slow, thankfully because it is a holiday or whatever. I'm getting paid a rediculous amount of money to be here. god bless them. I'm currently shopping for a bike. Being back downtown I made a promise to myself that i would have other means of travel aside from my vehicle. The last time i lived there i did not have my car for a little over a week at one point. I was not working either so I never left the house. Unless of course Brant drove. There is no reason for that. LAZY! I'm oogling over this right here... www.ideatrading.com/bike/26bta.html - I really dig it. the racing crank, no seat so i don't crunch my knees. man it sure is purty. backpack for groceries. ( i just caught myself daydreaming about it) (weird)
By the end of this month Brant should be done with the Boxcar Satan videos. please check them out. super fantastic. They are good people. Sanford lives a few houses away from the apt. He let me borrow some old Bollywood movie and a crap load of cd's to burn for Mig and Gables wedding. www.boxcarsatan.com www.purevolume.com/skullening or www.myspace.com/thebelgraves
Nate "prom date" Espinosa just bought a 60 gig video ipod. he let me watch an episode of "The Office" on it. It was really funny. I would invest but really want a bike. Oh, and Dontez bought one the next day. Now i'm in the lame-o club because mine isn't even color. pffffft.

// posted by RRWalker @ 4:03 PM 4 comments