Buy An Art Piece And Preserve A Living Piece Of L.A. History

Up until the 1980's a multitude of artists like Charles White, Otis College of Art and Design students, and June Wayne would flock to the Los Angeles paper store McManus & Morgan. Today the store is 101 years old, and some of these artists still buy their paper here, but the younger generations of Angeleno artists are largely un-aware of this steel rooted institution of artisanship and dedication. Even fewer have ever heard of Gary Wolin the lone paper expert and unsung L.A. art historian behind the counter, nor do they know of his struggle to keep his once hollowed doors open. My readers have seen the short documentary Ink & Paper that tells the story of Gary and the neighboring letterpress shop, but a surge of new artists have come to L.A. and are still moving in to take advantage of the ever-expanding art and entertainment industries here. Well I am a young artist in Los Angeles, and I care about history. I care about quality local businesses too so I am going to put my money and art into the very place that cared enough to stick around all these years and offer what no corporate store could: knowledge, expertise, and unparalleled assortments of unique paper. God bless it, I think other young artists will care too once they hear about it!

... So LET THE ART SALE FUNDRAISER FOR MCMANUS & MORGAN BEGIN!

Buy one of my prints at McManus & Morgan and I will split the profits with the store. (the money I take in from the sale will most likely go towards buying paper from Gary anyway) We are asking $900 per print which is comparable to the price that Self Help Graphics and Arts is selling the same print for.

Now - Aug 31 2014, $900 for a limited edition 26" x 20" screen print by artist John Tallacksen and Self Help Graphics & Art, Four prints only #'s 41, 39, 37, 35 out of an edition of 50 all signed and numbered with a Self Help chop in lower left corner.

My work is about honoring the people and places in the communities of Pico Union and MacArthur Park in central Los Angeles. The scene in Serenata En El Callejón 12th and Alvarado was a real life moment not far from McManus and Morgan where my girlfriend and I saw a man serenading a woman in an alley with a small Mariachi band. It's moments like these, and places like McManus & Morgan, that expose the heart of our community. Please watch the short documentary in the comments section of this post and you'll see a small fraction of why I treasure Gary Wolin and his paper store so much. This limited edition that we are selling has enjoyed some amazing exposure. Having been created in collaboration with Master Printer Jose Alpuche in Self Help Graphics & Art's Professional Printmaking Studio, and then archived in institutions like the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and the Mexican Fine Art Center Museum in Chicago, I wanted to use this edition's provenance to encourage my friend Gary and help off-set some of his overhead costs even if for a short time. I consider McManus & Morgan to be one of the most important arts institutions in Los Angeles. Watch the film below and consider purchasing an expression of the community that Gary and I share.
Self Help Graphics & Art values prints from this edition at $900 each. We are selling four prints from the same edition at the same price being careful not to under-cut such a prestigious organization. To purchase, leave a comment below, call me at (213)290-6777, or visit Gary at McManus & Morgan 2506 W 7th St. Los Angeles, CA 90057 9AM to 5PM Mon - Fri and 10AM to 2PM Sat.
We hope you join us in this unique celebration of community and the arts.

Two Major Announcements

First-

For the last week I have been working on a screen print serigraph edition as an artist in residence with Master Printer Joe Apuche at the historic Self Help Graphics in East Los Angeles (Boyle Heights). This has been a tremendous honor to print in such a hallowed place with the great Joe Apuche. Some of my favorite artists ie Gronk, John Valadez, El Mac, Sonia Romero, Fabian Debora and others have held the same residency here. Like the artists who have gone before me, the result will be a color serigraph edition that will be collected by institutions like the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and the National Museum of Mexican Art among other museums archives and collections. If you follow my facebook art page John Tallacksen Studio you can follow the progress and view pictures taken while working in the studio. More details to come.

Second-

John Tallacksen Editions are open to subscribers! You can receive one of my original prints every month either by mail or by local will-call pick up. Prints from the serigraph edition mentioned above will be sent to subscribers one of these months in the near future. The first 10 subscribers will pay only $50/print even if they renew their subscription later. Once the 10th customer has been paid for their account, the monthly cost will go up for the the 11th and so on. This is your chance to own multiple original works, some of which will be collected in museums around the U.S., for the same amount of money you would spend on one painting in the average selling gallery. Go to JohnTallacksen.com/shop to order now. There are 3 month, 6 month, and 12 month options available. 

I Got It At Goodwill

Production cel from The Thief And The Cobbler

I bought this production cel from the legendary animated film The Thief and the Cobbler by Richard Williams from a Goodwill store in Los Angeles for $8.

lower right corner

It appears that this particular cel is from a sequence where Princess Yum Yum (the character in the image) says, "Oh father."

upper right corner

In the upper right corner there is writing in marker which says, "530/405 Used in 530/161." I'm sure this is the scene number and the number of the cel for it's sequence.

Lower left corner

I'm not sure what these markings say, but they almost look like signatures.

Back view

The back of the mat board and cel shows both the peg holes and the tower with golden balls cut out for the background.

Can anyone tell me if they believe this to be an authentic original?

Original Print Auction Fund-Raiser For Art Division

Original Print Auction Site

  Following the success of the Twitter Art Exhibit (which is still going strong) I am auctioning a postcard size original linoleum block print to benefit the same cause as the exhibit- Art Division.
  The auction starts at $15 plus $4 flat shipping rate and will end Saturday morning January 26th.

Starting A New Year With New Art And Toys

After a hiatus due to a story too complicated to explain I am back. Part of the reason I haven't posted in a while is because I have been exploring other social media outlets. Please join me on these shiny toys:
Twitter
Instagram
Paper.li

For all the bird watchers out there I have a new ACEO on Ebay and a block print as-well.

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 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 

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...

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

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

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

The Tawny Owl ACEO

The Tawny Owl by: John Tallacksen

  I found this peculiar looking fellow inside of a 1950's encyclopedia. I had to draw the look on his or her face. According to the encyclopedia the Tawny, or Wood, Owl is indigenous to central Europe. 

  The image was created with Japanese brush pen and spray paint. Click below to view my 10 original artwork auction updates. 

John's 10 Day Original ACEO Auctions: Check Often 

Bjorn ACEO

Bjorn in the Snow by: John Tallacksen

Jump To This Auction

  It's been a while since I've drawn Bjorn. Sadly progress is very slow on that project. I have a lot of art adventures coming up in the near future that I'm working on. Stay tuned to this blog for exciting updates within the next week.

Wild Snipe by: John Tallacksen

  The next time someone tries to trick you into hunting for snipe, what they think will be a wild goose chase, you can surprise them with the fact that snipe do exist. If you have the winning bid for the piece auctioned above you can also return with the card and show them what a wise guy you can be. This auction has 9 days left so browse through my collectible pieces at this link. 

  This card is a continuation of my series using spray paint. This is a significant fact because aerosol paint is rarely used in the ACEO world, and therefore these cards have added value. I've posted on this blog not too long ago about my personal history with this particular medium. Click here to read that posting. As always, I will be continually posting more of my original art cards exclusively in that same auction page. Sometimes I add one card, sometimes I add two, but there will be more constantly trickling in. I plan on never getting caught without having at least one original card posted for auction at any given time so check back often.

The Art Market Smashing Records: You Might Smash A Few Too

  Oh I most definitely appreciate all of the patrons of the world who buy, and therefore support, the world's art. Unfortunately the middle class is rapidly diminishing, and there is a wider gulf between the rich and the poor every day. Wealthy people obviously need culture in their lives, but so does everyone else. How do hundred-aires get into the buying original art game?

  I don't know much about markets, investments, or business in general, but art is hot right now. 

According to an article from the Associated Press viewed here, art sales are up even in a more than shaky economy- in fact records have been broken in succession within the last few weeks. 

Edvard Munch's The Scream

  Pictured above: the late Norwegian artist Edvard Munch's The Scream tipped the first domino with a record sale at auction of almost $120 million on May 2nd of this year. Go Norwegian artists! YEAH!

  The second domino to fall shortly after The Scream was Russian artist Mark Rothko's abstract expressionist piece titled Orange Red and Yellow. The purchase of this minimalist masterwork set the new record for contemporary art auctions at just shy of $87 million on May 8th. Russian artists stand up!!!

Mark Rothko's Orange Red And Yellow 

  A slew of other high value art purchases continued and may still be running for a while. The a-fore mentioned article by the Associated Press reports that the art sales business is booming right now while almost everything else struggles to reach restoration. In the same report linked above Nicolai Frahm of Frahm Ltd in London is quoted as saying, "People feel very safe about buying art. You have a huge amount of new buyers coming to the market. If you have money, you want to be a part of buying art. People almost are considered imbeciles if they have money and they're not buying."


  I'm glad the wealthy are buying art at a healthy rate right now, but they shouldn't be the only ones able to make this kind of investment- right? Believe me, they don't have to be the only ones. How did the previous owner of The Scream manage to own that iconic piece? He was a patron of Munch's. That's right, they were neighbors and the gentleman liked Edvard's work so he became a patron of his art. Do you have friends that create art? If so, and you like it, maybe you should buy some. If you can't afford to spend even a few hundred dollars on original art (I know I can't) you might be able to spend $5 to $20 on an ACEO. Click On This to sort through many many artists auctioning their original miniature art on Ebay.com. Find one two or three artists you like and bid a few dollars on some original pieces. If you're not impressed with the miniature card stock format just remember that The Scream up there was created on cardboard. You never know if you might be collecting the work of the next top selling artist- and it's very affordable I might add. Go ahead, get into the art buying game. Support a budding artist and allow their work to bless your home and your collection. I promise you'll enjoy it immensely.

School Squelches The Creativity The Future Needs

  This last March I posted a link to Karla Vasquez's short piece on Art and school. Today's post is sort of a follow-up on the same notion of schools downplaying creativity when it is exactly what we need for an unknown future. In the video above, Ken Robinson makes his case for changing the approach societies have towards education in light of this problem we are facing.