The Hartford Advocate's Best of 2009...

Here is another illustration for the Hartford Advocate's 2009 Best of campaign. This image is being used in a couple of places, including on the website.

Later, Joe

The Great Polar Explorer

We had a bitch-en snow storm this past weekend. So I went tuben late that night, in the middle of the storm. This is a cell-phone shot of my face that night. I lightened it up bit so you can see it. But by the end of the night all the hair on my face was covered with ice. Sweet.

Later, Joe

The Wandering Uterus

You must go see these woman artist...



...at the opening of what promises to be an amazing showing of new work by 10 fabulous female artists. Wandering Uterus opens at the MAC 650 Gallery and Artspace at 650 Main Street, Middletown, Fri. Jan. 16th at 7pm. Great food, wine and music will be served up for free.

If you can't make the opening, the show will be up through Feb. 28th. Gallery hours are Sat and Sun 11-3 or by special appointment. See flyer attached or visit Mac650.blogspot.com for more info.

I'll be there! Later, Joe

The News of the Weird

Here is what it is about this week:

In October, ABC News profiled a 6-year-old boy with a rare coordination disorder called Angelman syndrome, which makes the afflicted seem stiff and jerky, but which also fosters a cheerful, gregarious (though non-verbal) personality, leading the disorder to be known as the "happy puppet syndrome." Seizures are a consequence, but so is excessive laughter, which is a major hindrance to early diagnosis, according to a pediatrics professor.

Later, Joe

An Article in the Middletown Press...

That's the Sculpture that Carrie Swider and I collaborated on together.


That's Joey Marsocci's Creature In the foreground of the photo above.

And I would to say thanks to Jennifer Shafer Wood for the great article!

Later, Joe

The Hartford Advocate's Best of 09...

I've been asked to do all the illustrations for the Hartford Advocate's 2009 Best Of Issue.The theme they wanted was kind of a land of tomorrow type thing. This is the first on many illustrations for the issue. I did this one with Inks, Acrylic Paint, Marker, and Color pencils. I'll post more soon.

Later, Joe

News of the Weird

Here is what it was about this week:

Ms. Hang Mioku, 48, is winding down her 20-year obsession with cosmetic surgery, having been at one time bulked up with enough silicone in her face to earn the nickname “the standing fan” because her head was so large compared to her legs. Hang moved from South Korea to Japan for better access to surgery and said she had convinced herself that each procedure in her odyssey only made her more beautiful than the last. When finally no surgeon would treat her, she began injecting cooking oil. Finally, she was talked into face-reduction surgery (removal of 260 grams of foreign substance from her head and neck) but, according to a November report in London’s Daily Telegraph, she remains grotesquely misshapen.

And here is the actual photo of Ms. Hang Mioku...



Later, Joe

Twinkies and Robots...The Robots

Sorry it took so long...but here are the sculptures I did for the Twinkies and Robots show. The show came down yesterday which was a bummer. But now I have to work on some over due freelance work.

Later, Joe

LOVE:INTERPRETED show

An old friend of mine and a talented Photographer Nikki Nicole is having an opening this Friday at the MAC 650 Artspace Gallery. Come check it. Here is the info...

News of the Weird

Thi is what it is about this week:

The September mug shot of Michelle Allen of Middletown, Ohio, was possibly the Internet’s most-circulated news photo of 2008, since she was inexplicably dressed in a full-body cow suit (with rubber teats) as she was allegedly disorderly in chasing children and interfering with traffic. (Alcohol may have been involved.)

Later, Joe

CodSpeak

I'm proud to say I work with the guy in the black sweatshirt...

Later, Joe

Mr. Wishy Washy

Just a little late night sketch based on a convo that I had earlier in the day. It was pretty fun and I used a little bit of this and a little bit of that to color this bad boy.

Later, Joe

News of the Weird

Here is what it's about this week....

In his murder trial in October in Leeds, England, chef Anthony Morley testified that the killing was in self-defense, but he did admit to carving, cooking and eating part of the body afterward. “At some point [the victim’s] body had just become something I would deal with at work, a piece of meat. ... That’s my daily task, preparing meat.”


Later, Joe

Twinkies & Robots Paintings

Here are the paintings I did for the show as promised. I'm waiting on getting the photos of my sculptures, hopefully tomorrow I should have those for you. Stay posted...

Later, Joe

I sold out...

I just joined Facebook. Friends have been bugging me to do it, saying it was a great way to network. So lets see. Plus I heard there were a lot of Pics of the Twinkies and Robots show floating around on there so I had to check it out.

I truly suck...

Later, Joe

News of the Weird

So I've been asked by the Hartford Advocate, New Haven Advocate, and the Fairfield County Weekly to start doing weekly quick spot illustrations for the News of the Weird Column. It is a pretty fun gig, and it appears that I have free creative discretion. Which is right up my alley. I'll try and post them every week. Here is the write-up that led to the monkey drawing:

Researchers at Plymouth University in England, with a small Arts Council grant, could not quite test whether an infinite number of monkeys with an infinite number of typewriters could produce the works of Shakespeare, but did see what six Sulawesi crested macaque monkeys would write with a computer over a four-week period. According to a report in The Guardian, the apes produced about five pages of text between them, mostly consisting of the letter S. According to professor Geoff Cox, the monkeys spent a lot of time sitting on the keyboard.


So please make sure to pick up one the Advocates and give it a look-see. If you collect all 52 of them you'll get absolutely...nothing.

As for the Twinkie and Robots show it was a huge success. And like I promised I will be posting all the art I did for the show on the slug plus some photos of the opening its self. I'm just trying to gather everything up. Please stay tuned...

Later, Joe

Sneak Peak at a Twinkies & Robots Sculpture...

Just a quick reminder...The opening for "The Twinkies and Robots" Gallery show is next Friday, 11/7/08, from 7-10. It will be an awesome show that you don't want to miss!

Below is one of the sculptures for the show. The first pick shows it before I baked it and the second shot shows it after I painted it.

cellphone photo which doesn't really do my paint job any justice. In the future I'll use a real camera, but in the meantime if you come to the show you That's not the final base it is going on. I just use that to sculpt on. The sculpture is made from Polymer clay, and was painted with acrylics. It stands about 11" tall without the base. I apologize for the low rescan see it in person.

Later, Joe

The Well Collaborated Monster

Here is the piece that Carrie Swider and I collaborated on for the MAC 650 Artspace "Haunted Gallery Show". I sculpted the the little guy and Carrie painted him and came up with the great idea of having busting out of the book. Pretty kick-ass stuff if I do say so myself. We are talking about doing some more...I'll keep you Slugs posted.

Later, Joe

In the spirit of the upcoming Twinkies and Robots Show

Upcoming Show at MAC 650

The Haunted Gallery Opening

So "The Haunted Gallery Opening" at MAC 650 Artspace kicked ass. It was a good turn out and a good time. The Sunday Herald Press wrote a great Cover Sorty on the event which also gave me some great props. That's me in the Pirate clothing for those of you who don't know what my mugg looks like.Here is the link to the online version, Middletown Press. Twinkies and Robots is coming in three weeks. Later, Joe

The Haunted Gallery Show

MAC 650 Artspace Gallery is having a Halloween party / gallery show. I did a new piece for the show, which was used in the flyer for the event. So check it...

The Intriguing World of Steampunk

This past Saturday I was hanging out at MAC 650 Artspace Gallery when a really interesting dude walked in. His name was Joey Marsocci and he is a Steampunk artist. Now maybe I live in an artistic bubble, but I've never heard of Steampunk art before. Mr. Marsocci was nice enough to share his art form with me and I was fucking impressed. This shit is real cool. He also brought in some of his work which kicked ass! Both the images in this blog post were done by Joey Marsocci. I actualy got to see the gun in person. Check out his site, steamgearlab.com and below is the Wikipedia deffinition of what Steampuck is. Check it out, it is pretty cool stuff and it really inspired me. I might try to work some elements of it into my new work after the Twinkies and Robots show.

Steampunk

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Steampunk is a subgenre of fantasy and speculative fiction that came into prominence in the 1980s and early 1990s. The term denotes works set in an era or world where steam power is still widely used—usually the 19th century, and often set in Victorian era England—but with prominent elements of either science fiction or fantasy, such as fictional technological inventions like those found in the works of H. G. Wells and Jules Verne, or real technological developments like the computer occurring at an earlier date. Other examples of steampunk contain alternate history-style presentations of "the path not taken" of such technology as dirigibles or analog computers; these frequently are presented in an idealized light, or a presumption of functionality.

Steampunk is often associated with cyberpunk and shares a similar fanbase and theme of rebellion, but developed as a separate movement (though both have considerable influence on each other). Apart from time period and level of technological development, the main difference between cyberpunk and steampunk is that steampunk settings usually tend to be less obviously dystopian than cyberpunk, or lack dystopian elements entirely.

Various modern utilitarian objects have been modded by individual craftpersons into a pseudo-Victorian mechanical "steampunk" style, and a number of visual and musical artists have been described as steampunk.

Later, Joe

It wonders East...and KICKS ASS!

So I Finlay got to meet one of my favorite artist in person. I didn't think it would ever freaking happen, mainly because most of the artist I'm into live in L.A. or even further like Ashley Wood who lives in Australia.

So when I Heard that Greg Simkins was going to be in NYC and have his own opening, I made the very important decision that my sorry ass needed to be there. On Saturday Carrie, Melissa, James, and Myself piled into a car raced down to NYC in the middle of one of the worst freaking storms so far this year. It was totally worth it!

I got to meet Greg and talk to him about art. He was wicked nice and totally chilled, which is crazy seeing how this was his first NYC opening. He answered all my questions about his work, and we discussed why and HOW he uses acrylic instead of oils and makes them look like oils. Fucking amazing! He was also cool with snapping a shot with me and signing my show card.

If you live in the area you need to get down to the Joshua liner Gallery and check out his work. You won't be disappointed, his amount of detail and imagery in each piece gives you something new to look every time you check out one of his pieces. The show goes from September 6 - October 4, 2008. So check it.

While I was there I got to check out anther pretty freaking kick ass artist out, David Choong Lee. He does these super realistic urban portraits on abstract backgrounds. All that is painted on old cigar, and wine boxes. Freaking cool.

I also got talk to another really nice guy who is from CT like me, Joe Capobianco. He's pretty well known Tattoo artist, that some of you may of remembered being on Miami ink. You can find him hanging now at his own shop, Hope Gallery.

On a final note...A guy walked into the opening wearing short dark blue shorts, a collared shirt, and a pale blue blazer. I looked at this strange slightly wet fellow and said to myself, "Self where do I know this guy from?" It wasn't until after the opening that I realized that it was animator Bill Plympton. Who I had met two years ago at NYC Comic Con. My buddy Josh and I talked to him for 20 minutes or so. He was nice and funny, pretty cool guy.

In closing...go check out the show. Oh yeah, I'm sorry I didn't get any photos of the hot chicks from the opening.

Later, Joe

Art Without Judges...

Hey just a quick heads-up. I have a few old pieces in the "Art Without Judges" show at the MAC 650 Gallery in Middletown CT this month. The opening is tomorrow night from 7-10. It should be a pretty good time.

I will also be unveiling one of my newest pieces..."Worm vs Slug".It's a much smaller size piece then I usually do. It is a mixed media piece. I used everything from acrylic paint to a Bic pen on it. Oh yeah ...I have to shout out a huge thanks to the extremely talented Carrie Swider for not only framing it for me but also doing a kick ass mat job on it to boot.

If you are jonesing for more new Dinunzio's, then you best be going to the Twinkies and Robots show in November at the MAC 650 Gallery. I'll Blog more about that in the near future!

Later, Joe

Love and Lust logos

I was recently ask to do logos for the new classified sections for Hartford Advocate, New Haven Advocate, and The Fairfield County Weekly. As always it was last minute short notice type of thing. At first I had put together something for them using istock images per their request. But during a meeting they said "hey could you draw something." I said "sure, when?" They said, "could we have thumb nails by tomorrow?"

So here are the ruff thumb nails. I wanted them to go with my twisted Cupi Dolls on the right side, or the girl at the top stroking the "L" and licking the "T". They went with the weird heart shape concept in the center. In my experience the client barely ever goes with the one you really want. Maybe it's just me

This is the final version for the Love Links Logo. They wanted this one to be PG. The Love Links site is going to be for people wanting find someone to fall in love with and get married. It's not really my style and to be honest with you I don't really like it that much. Oh yeah, did I mention that once they approved the thumb nail I only had about three hours to do this one and the Lust Link logo. My time is pretty tight these days trying to juggle a full time job, freelancing, working with the MAC 650 Gallery, and gearing up for the Twinkies and Robots show coming in November.

Now this logo I kinda like. It's not my typical style, but I like the way it came out. This logo is going to be used for the lust link site. This is the naughty site...you know, devoted to finding escorts, and other people who enjoy having sex with goats. Just kidding...OR AM I? But seriously I was told this morning that this Image will be going on thousands of condom packages as part of a promotional piece to help advertise the the websites launch. That is freaking sweet! I'll scan one and post it when they come out.

Later, Joe D.

Corporate Tagging

Everyday I come to work I have to walk down these freaken urine colored Hallways. And if that isn't bad enough, there are all these really old event posters hanging up all along the Hallway. After years they start to really get on a mans nerves.

So like a ninja armed with two markers...a red and black one I assassinated the the mo-fo. I grabbed the frame off the wall, took it apart, and flipped the poster over so I could draw on the back. This was done with stealth like speed. And just as quickly as I took it down...it went right back up. I haven't gotten into trouble YET, but I have gotten a few high-fives from fellow co-workers.

Mission accomplished. New mission...lets see how many we can do before I'm stopped. Ha, Ha, Haaaaaa.

Building a Sculpture Portfolio...

So I decided to start to build a Sculpture Portfolio. I've always digged sculpture, and I feel it is one of the important steps in bringing my creatures and drawings to life.

My first attempt was a couple years back, when I did a sculpture of my Angry Annie character. I finished it but it has been sitting in a half painted state ever since. I'll finish painting in the next couple of weeks and post it.

But in the meantime here are some of my other characters I decided to bring to life. I haven't painted them yet and one of them is waiting for an upper torso. So with no further delay, let me introduce my new friends.

At the top is "Splunk". He is not fished yet, he is still waiting for his torso. Splunk is in middle management and has no dreams or aspirations of achieving greatness. I hope to do a illustrated short story on him soon.

Next is the "Pudge Beast". He is waiting for a paint job along with other things. Please take careful notice how I used his lower stomach fat, belly button, and penis to form a second face. I like doing that kind of shit. You may also notice how he only has one arm, and stumps for legs. That is because his fat ass doesn't exercise. You may ask then why the one arm? How else would he shovel shit into his mouth?

Now we have our next Flaccid City resident. "Butt head", yeah I know it's not to original of a name. But what else are you going to call a guy with a head shaped like a wet cigarette butt? I'm still working on his story, and no I don't want any suggestions.

Finlay we have this guy. He is actually a composite of a bunch of troll figures I've drawn over the years. I'm going to paint him, but I think I'm going to sculpt a second version sometime in the near future. I would like to see him with a really long nose and goggles.

So that's it for now. I'll post the figures as I paint them, along with paintings I'll be doing for the upcoming Robots and Twinkies show.

Later,
Joe

Shy One Update...

It's been a while since I've posted. Mostly because I've been getting involved alot with the MAC 650 Gallery. But none the less I've still been working on side projects and gearing up for the Robots and Twinkies show coming in November. That brings me to this painting. It's the newest finished illustration for the Shy One at the Orgy project I've been working on with Adam Buldger. Adam probably wants to kill me cause I'm taking my sweet-ass time finishing this project, but believe it or not the end is near. Expect to see more!

Later,
Joe