Primstav 1: ACEO Edition

The same yet different

Aerosol paint and ink on elephant dung card stock (From the historic LA paper store McManus & Morgan) of ancient Norwegian Primstav calendar symbol for January 6th (Julian calendar). 

Number 25 is up for auction for the next 10 days here.

My birthday is January 6th. This piece represents a return to the beginnings of my identity in view of my Norwegian culture. This series will continue with editions of each Primstav symbol in order. Please view the pictures provided to see samples of how each card is the same yet unique. 

This card is signed and numbered with the rest of the edition

Two Latest Prints Just Posted

7th and Carondelet 

Corner Of Pico And Union

  Prints from both editions were just now posted in my online shop. Only one print of 7th And Carondelet will be sold in my shop; the rest of the edition of 15 are for sale on consignment at McManus & Morgan in Los Angeles. (see address below)

McManus & Morgan Fine Artist Paper

2506 W. 7th St (corner of 7th and Carondelet)

Los Angeles, CA 90057

Making A New Linocut Edition: Corner Of Pico and Union

Right now I am about to sign and number my second linocut edition Corner Of Pico And Union, and I couldn't be more happy with it. Master Printmaker Noel Hernandez at Self Help Graphics in L.A. is collaborating with me on the printing process. Of course I drew and carved the linocut on my own.
I can't recommend printing at Self Help Graphics enough. They have a long legendary track record in developing Latino artists in the L.A. area. 

Study for the final print

Above is a study I did on location in the Los Angeles neighborhood of Pico Union for the print. I later auctioned this small sketch off in my online auctions.

Noel applying the ink to the block I carved.

inked and on the press

The edition is now complete and drying on the rack

Shot of a final Artist Proof of this edition by Leo Jimenez

New Pico Union ACEO Auction

Pico and Union (Pico Donuts) by: John Tallacksen

Bid on this original painting here

This is the first in a series in which I hope to work out my relationship to my neighborhood as an Anglo male in a Latino community. The scene depicts a popular donut shop on the corner of Pico and Union where there are always men playing cards outside. The occurance of these men playing cards at this location is so common that when many of the youth watched me paint this card they recognized who and where it was immediately. I plan on using this as a color study for a larger painting of the same subject matter. The painting is a synesthetic piece meaning I used my Color-Grapheme Synesthesia condition to determine the color scheme. On the back of the card you will find the title "Pico + Union" written in the colors that my mind's eye sees each letter in which I used in this piece. Spray paint is a staple in the street art world and is rarely used by ACEO artists which is why I try to use it as much as possible.

New Linocut Edition Completed

7th And Carondelet by: John Tallacksen

linocut print in black ink on 8" x 10" white Lettra paper purchased at McManus & Morgan

  In this new edition of linocuts I produced an image of the corner of 7th St and Carondelet in Los Angeles. My two favorite shops reside on this corner Aardvark Letterpress and McManus & Morgan. This is a very limited edition of only 15 prints each signed, titled, and numbered. A good number of these prints are currently for sale at McManus & Morgan. For those of you outside of the L.A. area I may hold one or two prints and sell them online. Stay tuned for more news.

Trading Original Art With Sarah Trumpp

Monster Girl! by: Sarah Trumpp

Artist Sarah Trumpp is an administrator and Jury panelist in an art card trading site called IllustratedATCs.com. As I have mentioned in past posts, I was accepted into this group early in the year, and I have really enjoyed my trades so far. The ATC Sarah made for me is pictured above. I like monsters a lot so I specifically asked for one of her "monster children". I particularly like the shapes and size ranges in her character design and the texture she achieves with acrylic paint- especially the splatters. Trumpp has a joint website with two other artists at WonderStrange.com. Please go visit them.

On her profile she mentioned that she likes the H.P. Lovecraft character of the Cthulhu. I couldn't resist the macabre theme of the character so that's what I painted for her (see below). The behemoth is a creature mentioned in the Bible (see the book of Job) that I've always been fascinated with as-well so I pit the two up against each-other. I subscribe to the theory that the behemoth may have been some sort of sauropod.

Behemoth Vs. Cthulhu by: John Tallacksen 

Announcing JohnTallacksen.com

My portfolio is currently moving to JohnTallacksen.com! Please visit me there, but watch your step we're still under construction. You will notice that the PORTFOLIO tab in the upper left of this blog is now linked to the new site. JohnTallacksen.com will serve mostly as my portfolio, and will remain focused on that task. Most of the pages already have content, but you will soon be able to use the new site as an archive or record of my career in art. This blog and my facebook page linked above will still serve as a news feed for all of my new adventures. I invite you to get acquainted with my work through all of these tools.

Two New 10 Day ACEO Auctions Posted!

Western Tanager by: John Tallacksen

  Under an hour before the Lonesome George piece sold I was able to post two more ACEO's (one of them pictured above) in my AUCTIONS page. That was close! I don't like being caught without artwork for sale in my shops. It's embarrassing. Thank you to all of my buyers, collectors, and supporters out there.

  So here it is- the latest fruits of my labor! Click on my AUCTIONS tab up at the top to view all of my 10 day auctions. Both of these pieces have color palets chosen by my Grapheme-Color Synesthesia, and interestingly enough the colors that I see in the words "Tanager" and "Orchid" match the actual colors of the subject matter. 

  I'll be posting more during the week. I have a few interesting requests to work on that some of you have sent in. 

  FYI I've been working on a limited print series of a subject that is very dear to my heart. Stay tuned for images and info...

My Facebook Button

Look up in the tool bar. There's a new tab for my facebook fan page! I held off on adding a tab tomy fan page for a while because I didn't want to come off as pretentious. I really want this blog to be the hub where anyone can come and be introduced to all of my work and easily link to all of the things I'm doing on the web. I took the plunge. The link is added. It would be really nice to hear from you so leave a comment here or go to my fan page and connect with me there. I look forward to meeting you! 

Remembering Lonesome George

Lonesome George by: John Tallacksen

  On June 25th Lonesome George, the last Pinta Island Tortoise died in the Galapagos Islands. This art card is in memory of him and his species that we've lost. God forgive us.

View other original art cards here

Six Seasons And A Movie Exhibit Continues Through Summer

Lo Rez of my submission 

  If you missed the opening week end of Six Seasons And A Movie (see my last post) there is still hope. Pixel Drip Gallery will carry the exhibit with them to two different locations through-out Los Angeles til this September. My original piece will be available for viewing and for sale along with 10 other reproductions (just ask the attendant on hand for reproductions). The schedule that Pixel Drip Gallery has released thus far is as follows:

-The Hive Gallery in downtown Los Angeles July and August. 

  The Hive is located at 729 South Spring Street, Los Angeles 90014. 

  Opening reception on July 7th from 8pm to 12:30am and cover is $8 

  Free admission at any other time of the month. 

  On display until July 28th

  Rotating the art for the August showing 

  A limited number of prints to opening reception and Art Walk, make sure to attend those days

- One final showing in September 

  You’ll have to wait until we get closer to the event date before Pixel Drip announces the details.

Six Seasons And A Movie Opening Reception Re-Cap

Me and Dan Harmon with my artwork

  The opening day/reception for the Six Seasons And A Movie art exhibition was a rush to say the least. Since this was a fan show for the hit TV series Community on NBC there was: a costume contest, text book signings, a "What is a Mexican Halloween?" contest, a live band, and even a playable demo of the  video game Journey To The Center Of Hawkthorne which appeared in one of the latest episodes. Nothing I could write here would begin to describe how cool it all really was. I will touch on some of the mountain peaks of the evening in this post. If you're reading this and you were present at the art show please add your reviews and thoughts in the comments section.

  As you can see Dan Harmon, the creator of Community, was in attendance so I caught a picture with him in-front of my work. Since my illustration is of the "Hulk Seacrest" scene from the episode titled Contemporary Impressionists in the 3rd season Dan told me that the thirteen year old boy in the episode was originally named Oscar so they could refer to his Bar Mitzvah as Oscar's Oscars. The script became too complicated so they changed his name to Howie among other changes. 

Closer shot of my work

  This is a moving art exhibit. I'm not sure of the details, but I hear the show will move to the Hive Gallery downtown and then to the Comikazi Expo in September. My original piece will travel with this show til September and it will be for sale along with reproductions of the piece that are $20 each. Please visit the show when you can. It's one of the most enjoyable art shows I've been a part of.    

  My contribution

One of the posters eventually signed by all of the artists present

Close-up of signatures by Julieta Colas, Paul Fernando, and myself

  This poster probably already went to the winner of the trivia contest during today's showing. 

 A Chain Of Communication or The Tale Of How I Was Involved (Condensed Version)

Apt 303 artist Victor Camba

Artist and Community enthusiast Victor Camba heard tell of the Six Seasons And A Movie show at a time an location unbeknownst to me.

Artist Chris Kawagiwa with his submission to the show

Victor then told his friend Chris Kawagiwa the good news. They were both very excited.

Artist Stephen Yan with his creation

Stephen reportedly heard about it from Chris...

Ralph Miranda with his "darkest" artwork

... and of course Ralph was in the mix. All four of them were like, "Cool cool cool cool."

Me

Then Stephen told me.

Paolo Encarnacion's contribution 

And Paolo hung his trollin' artwork right by the exit door where Shirley caught everyone looking at it all googly eyed.

EDIT:

Paul Fernando pictured here in life vest

The moment Paul realized poking a hole in the back of your raft doesn't make you go faster. 

The End

More Original Synesthetic Art

Black Skimmer 2 by: John Tallacksen

  I've just posted the art card above for a ten day auction. It is the third piece in my synesthetic series. If yI've posted a description of the process here. Each card in this series is signed and dated, but the title of the piece is also written in the colors that I see in my mind due to Color-Grapheme Synesthesia. The colors assigned to each letter is what I allow to determine the color scheme of each piece. 

  If you're not familiar with black skimmers they are these wonderful birds that hunt for food by flying very low over water while their lower beak is dipped in order to scoop up food. It's an amazing sight to see them fly so low and watch the line of ripples in the water that follows them.

Facebook Fan Page

http://www.facebook.com/pages/John-Travieso-Tallacksen/114249388598724?ref=tn_tnmn

Yes, I too have a facebook fan page! You are invited to visit me there.

Have you purchased or traded art with me?- post a picture of that piece in your home or collection. I would love to see it!

Edit:
In addition to this being a place to interact with my audience, this will also be another place to receive updates on new original pieces and art exhibitions. Keep it locked both here on the blog and on the facebook page for more news.

El Nombre De La Ciudad ACEO

El Nombre De La Ciudad by: John Tallacksen

  I created this card earlier in the year as a color study for a larger piece after becoming a fan of Fabian Debora's work. For me painting this piece was a way to cope with my city's lack of preserving or understanding it's own history. Currently there is a sort of ban on murals in Los Angeles which effects a lot of things negatively. Our city was named after a mural in Spain depicting angels surrounding the mother Mary.

  At the same time we have a lot of human trafficking going on in McArthur Park and other areas. I don't quite know how to defend the people being sold into slavery of different kinds, but this piece is the beginning of my action against it. Those of us in the church hold the purity of Christ's mother in high regard, but we need to do the same for God's daughters. This is why the young girl I've painted dressed as the Virgin de Guadelupe isn't supposed to be Mary. Instead this girl represents the average girl in L.A. 

June Wayne: The Beginning Of Tamarind Press

June Wayne the architect and much more of Tamarind Lithography Workshop talking about the early days, W. McNeil Lowry's contributions to the arts in the U.S., and what we need to do in the future.


A few questions...

-Where does one find June Wayne's plan for Tamarind?

-Has the think tank she suggests at the end of the video been created? Where or why not?

-Do I have the guts to take on some of these issues myself?

-Is there space and workers for this effort in L.A.?

My First Official Synesthetic Art Piece

  A few years ago I discovered that I have a condition called Grapheme Synesthesia. It's pretty hard to describe what it is but I'll give it a shot... when I'm reading, working out some mathematics, or thinking of words or numbers in my head my mind's eye takes over and I see lots of colors. Simply put, each letter or number has a specific color assigned to it in my psyche and when they are put together to form words or numbers I see a blur or gradient of colors. Some letters or numbers are more dominant than others and tend to take over the colors of the word or number.

  Those of you who are already familiar with Synesthesia won't be surprised that another artist has this condition. Many, not all, artist types have some form of Synesthesia. I recently read that one of my favorite artists Vincent Van Gogh had it which makes a lot of sense in view of his obsession with color. 

  In this post I am introducing a completely new method for my creative process that relies heavily on my condition especially in the selection of colors for the piece. As you will see, I have used the format of ACEOs for this experiment, and this particular experiment is up for a 10 day auction now.

A representation of what I see when I think of the term "Hip-Hop"

  Above is a quick rendering of more or less what I see in my mind when I: hear, read, or think of the term "Hip-Hop". Each letter or character has it's assigned color. The blurred line above my handwriting is sort of what I see when I think of the word quickly- for instance when someone uses this term in a sentence and my mind must keep up with every word as the person is saying it. This particular term has a very dark cloud around it in my mind's eye, but I wrote it on a white background for the sake of clarity. The idea was to create a tribute to Hip-Hop since it is a movement I resonate with deeply. This quick "jot" was created in photoshop to serve as my color palette for the piece pictured below.

The final experiment in ACEO format

  This image is a scan of the final piece utilizing the colors chosen by my synesthesia. Yes, this is a 3 1/2" x 2 1/2" ACEO. I am using this miniature experiment to fashion a work method for what will hopefully become a life-long project in printmaking. This is a new style for me inspired by Dave Kinsey's work among others. I need a new style that will compliment my new-found love of printmaking, and I'm hoping this is it- or an early version of it. Please check back on this blog often to see how this style evolves, and to be informed of my first print runs in the coming months. I have my eye on a few workshops here in Los Angeles so stay tuned art lovers!

Mallard Duck ACEO

Mallard In Flight by: John Tallacksen

  When I can I really like to make minimalist marks on my work. Something about simplicity get's me excited which is funny because I can be a very complicated and scattered person. This ACEO captures the action of a mallard duck taking flight from the water. I used watercolor, deco paint markers, as well as my signature aerosol paint to create this image. This miniature piece is created in a similar process to my snipe and sea gull cards.

Click here to bid on this piece

Trading Original Art With Erika Schulz

To Play Each Other As Instruments by: John Tallacksen

  I recently had the pleasure of trading original ATCs with artist Erika Schulz from Canada. We have both been members of a mail art community online called IllustratedATCs.com. All of her work was absolutely brilliant, but her koi fish paintings really caught my eye. I contacted her through our shared network and found out that she loved the Tudors series. It took a while with our busy schedules but the wait was worth it. I hope she has enjoyed the card I made for her as much as I've enjoyed the card she sent me. 

  Please click on her name above and browse through her website. You'll see why I'm such a fan, and hopefully you'll want to support her work too.

Now You See Me II by: Erika Schulz

Learning About Printmaking From Picasso

  Lately I have become very interested in turning half of my focus to regular printmaking. I will always continue to make ACEOs and ATCs, but I would like those small pieces to point my audience to this blog which will hopefully then introduce readers to a larger body of equally collectible work. 

  Since I am in the research phase of learning what printmaking is, my girlfriend and I decided to visit Galerie Michael in Beverly Hills, CA to view some of Picasso's masterful prints. We learned that Picasso, along with his experienced friends, was one of the most prolific print-makers of his era. Thankfully my wonderful girlfriend Karla brought her camera and documented our field trip. Her images are below.

Galerie Michael

Picasso's linocut process

One of my favorite prints of this collection by Picasso

Another amazing print by Picasso

Closer view of the print above

Detail of the print above

One of Picasso's prints a little smaller than an ACEO- hmm ideas

Me sketching from the same print above

Close up of the small print above

Later my girlfriend and I walked to Sprinkles for cupcakes

Six Seasons And A Movie Art Exhibit Submission

Preview of my submission "Mozel Tov Howie!"

  Thanks to Pixel Drip Gallery here in Los Angeles, we have a local art exhibit dedicated to NBC's hit comedy series Community. The exhibition is called "Six Seasons And A Movie", a popular mantra among Community geeks. This art show has already snow-balled into a popular buzz topic in the press and all over the internet. 

  I came into the inner workings of this show late, but thankfully the art show's curator Mark Batalla is a patient man and allowed me to submit a piece to this amazing show. My piece (see sneak peek above) turns Jeff's egotistical Hulk-like rampage from episode 12 of season 3 into a homage to legendary comic book artist Jack Kirby.

  This wonderful event is hosted at Monk Space in Los Angeles on June 23rd and 24th. This is a free event that will probably serve as a fan convention for the TV show just as much as it will be an art show. If you are reading this I am inviting you to the show provided that you are in Los Angeles this June. Please join us for one of the biggest Los Angeles events of the Summer.

Six Seasons And A Movie

Monk Space

4414 West 2nd Street 

Los Angeles, CA 90004

11AM - 6PM Sat and Sun