This piece was started in January but seemed a bit off somehow so I worked on it for 6 months until it suddenly came together today.
You can find my other Darumas here 2008 and 2010
Sometimes you just need the time and space to get it right.
Blind
June 8th, 2011 by Mulele
ガッツだぜ!
June 2nd, 2011 by Mulele
Not new but until now unpublished. I give you, The Salaried Man. It’s been way too long since my last update and though life seems to have exploded my head for the moment I can’t suppress the urge to post out of turn.
Tokyo Types
November 14th, 2010 by Mulele
Tokyo Types is the culmination of 20 years living in Japan. For all the years I’ve spent drawing and re-imagining my favorite city, I now populate it with real people: friends, people I’ve met and strangers who’ve crossed my path.
I have provided the order I drew them in and the longitude and latitude of where we met.
It is my goal to add one new person to this page everyday for one year or until my head explodes. You can follow the project daily HERE.
The Ruffian Rider Sketch
September 23rd, 2010 by Mulele
I’ve been working on a lot of smaller projects of late, outside of my Weird Crime Theater stuff, mostly in an exploration of the suibokuga (Japanese ink-painting) I’ve been doing for the past little while.
I do, however, like to bigger things when I have the time. The problem is I don’t have the time to “ta-da!” a big piece of art so I’ll be blogging these next few pieces in stages. The first step was pulling a sketch out of my moleskine. Yes, I have a moleskine. Don’t draw in it too much as it always seems like a waste to work my problems out in a $30 sketchbook. Much prefer the $4 sketchbooks that I can tear through, tear apart but when I do draw in the moleskine it seems just a little more focused, more rendered. The above sketch was drawn the end of last year. I’ll keep you updated as I take it from here to finished piece.
A while ago, I got an idea for a new project that would sum up the near 20 years I’ve been in Japan. Of course most of that time being in my favorite city, Tokyo, this project would have to be Tokyo-centric. This first piece is about my time in Shinjuku back in ’91… Or was it ’93? Things get fuzzy when you get older. I saw this lone bosozoku (Japanese gang biker) riding down a major street near the station’s west exit. He seemed a lot more carefree than my sketch and I think his bike had wheels but there you go.
9 cats
September 2nd, 2010 by Mulele
As of yet unpublished but still very much in my mind, the road to this post is long and winding. What started as a curious exercise in comic writing on this very site has reached it’s current form. Ultimately, I’d like to publish elbis in book form but until that time I give you the penultimate elbis. I’ve decided to publish one page a day, starting yesterday, for the next month to finish out the story.
The art above was at one time a part of the comic. It worked as a kind of intermission in the story and an introduction to some of the characters in the second half of the comic. It is also a poster of the nine, well, eight most popular cats in the world plus elbis.
Although I prefer it as a stand alone poster. You can see a larger version of the poster HERE.
Finished Again Silkscreen Print!
August 26th, 2010 by Mulele
After much work and some time I bring you my first Silkscreen Print “Finished Again”!
The skull while often used as a symbol of death is also an affirmation of life and a representation of self. This portrait of my “self” was designed for the hands on feel of silkscreen rather than giclée to create a more tangible, tactile vision.
Head Hanko
August 19th, 2010 by Mulele
Some short time ago it was suggested to me the art I make, printed or original would be elevated by the use of a seal rather than signing my name over a digitally rendered emblem.
It has taken some time but I’ve made these three seals.
Though they may be small and in a country that to this day functions on the use of these “Hanko” the impact less, the implications of what I’ve made are not lost on me.
Let it be known: My name is written in stone.
Weird Crime Theater
August 12th, 2010 by Mulele
I’ve been working hard over at Weird Crime Theater making the comic and merch for the site. Here’s the design for one of the T-shirts that will be on sale shortly.
Dots
August 7th, 2010 by Mulele
While illustrating I often over produce a piece and then begin to peal back the layers to find the best possible representation of the image I had in my head when I started painting. Often I just discard or erase the leftovers but every once in a while I like the leftover smear, dot or line scribble enough that I save just that piece to be used in future work. That’s right, I recycle. No. 28 was the first piece I did this with. In fact, I liked it enough to show the ‘raw’ image itself as a completed work.
The image above, although so far unused, is another example. I’m not sure what I like about this piece. Could it be the artificial structure/placement of the dots. The dots, themselves, are organic and should not be so interested in lining up so properly. Perhaps this juxtaposition closely represents life in Tokyo.
