Michael Jason Enriquez’s (an Advertising student at Art Center College of Design) Cholafied comes from the mind of an LA kid who grew up in the 90′s. It’s a throwback to Chola gangster style: Sharpied eyebrows, dark lipliner, and the fumes from a can of Aqua Net. It’s a product of LA where subcultures, celebrity obsession, street art, and stupidity are rolled up together like one of those bacon wrapped hot dogs sold on Hollywood Blvd.

Things can get jumbled up living in LA. It can be very glossy and image based. The many subcultures in the city are a reflection of wanting a sense of belonging in what some consider a very lonely city. This is a town where icons are manufactured. We have the Kardashians, American Idol, and Lindsay Lohan. We root for these people, we rally behind them, and then we beat them up to see if they can stand back up again, like jumping them into a gang.

Cholafied tries to capture as many different fandoms as possible on the site. Tumblr is perfect for this because people in the different fan bases reblog and ‘like’ the same things between each other. There is a group mentality that draws an odd parallel to gangs. So Cholafied labels a cultural icon a chola, gives them a chola look, and then jumps them into a gang of ridiculousness by posting them on the site.

The Fresh Blood Hunt art competition is going strong in its second week with entries coming in from all over England.  Open to all illustrators, designers, and artists residing in the UK,  the Fresh Blood Hunt Art Competition is a chance to flex your design skills on the Tim Burton produced Vampire thriller Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter! Not only will the winner have their work immortalized in London by talented muralist Jim Rockwell but they will also win a brand new 17″ Macbook Pro and Adobe Creative Suite 6!

With a chance to collaborate with one of the biggest film makers of all time , have your work blown up to larger than life proportions, and win thousands of dollars worth of products there’s very little downside to this competition.

Did we mention that Beautiful/Decay gets to help pick the winner as well! If that doesn’t seal the deal I don’t know what will. The competition ends May 30th so get to it Britain and lets show the world how talented the Cult Of Decay really is!

Shady Trails, 2010
13.5 x 18 inches, Acrylic, colored pencil, ink, & graphite on paper $400

Sneaky Tree Girl, 2009
12 x 16.5 inches, Colored Pencil, graphite, & acrylic on paper, $250

Welcome to another release from Click To Collect, Beautiful/Decay’s campaign to help art lovers start their collection of original artists works at affordable prices! This week we bring you an amazing selection of drawings by LA based illustrator Lyndsey Lesh whose works mix quirky scenarios with Lesh’s masterfully drawn multimedia aesthetic. Based on fictional stories as well as real world observations these drawings open the door to Lesh’s creative world and beg you to join in on her humorous surreal adventures.  See all the available works by the talented Lyndsey Lesh and read more about our Click To Collect project after the jump!

Teacher’s Lecture, 2012, 8 x 8.5 inches
Acrylic, graphite, & colored pencil, $350
(this piece includes a 2 page hand written short story by the artist about the drawing)

The Invisibles, 2012
8 x 8.5 inches, Graphite, colored pencil, & acrylic, $350
(this piece includes a 2 page hand written short story by the artist about the drawing)

Trick or Treat, 2009
12 x 16.5 inches, Graphite, acrylic, & ink on paper, $150

Owl Man, 2009
12 x 16.5 inches, Graphite, acrylic & colored pencil on paper, $250

Every Five Years, 2012
8 x 8.5 inches, Acrylic, graphite, & colored pencil on  illustration board, $350
(this piece includes a 2 page hand written short story by the artist about the drawing)

I Haven’t Seen Your Face In A Very Long Time, 2009
12 x 16.5 inches, Acrylic, graphite, & colored pencil on paper, $150

About Click To Collect:

Eight months ago I bought my first house and renovated it, which meant my art collection was packed up in boxes and bubble wrap not to be seen for another 5 months. In the mean time, staring at the boring white walls in my house was literally driving me up a wall. And the second the dust settled, before even moving in the furniture, I installed every piece of art I owned in the new space. The art transformed the whole house, what felt soulless and sterile before was now filled with the chatter of all the different works of art telling their individual stories.
That got me to thinking about how important art is in making a house a home, and how everyone should be able to collect it. That’s how the the CLICK TO COLLECT project was born. We wanted to give everyone a chance to collect our favorite artists and keep the prices to $500 or less…. Art Within Reach, if you will, ahem. Each week this month we will offer you 5-10 original hand-made works priced $500 or below through our CLICK TO COLLECT project. It’s our hope that by making these original works available at these prices, we’re helping our readers start or grow their very own collection that they will enjoy and treasure for years to come.

- Amir H. Fallah
Editor In Chief

]]> http://beautifuldecay.com/2012/05/22/click-to-collect-lyndsey-lesh/feed/ 0 http://beautifuldecay.com/2012/05/22/marcello-velhos-graphic-kingdom/ http://beautifuldecay.com/2012/05/22/marcello-velhos-graphic-kingdom/#comments Tue, 22 May 2012 16:30:17 +0000 Amir http://beautifuldecay.com/?p=61207 Read the Rest...]]>

I’m really enjoying the bit mapped illustrations and designs of Marcello Velho A.K.A Kingdom. His stacked illustrations look like unexplored levels of 1980′s video games that one would play while taking massive amounts of acid.

The world of child mafias, gooey relatable beasts, funky leathery space dudes, soft bodies, diseased bodies, and crusty bodies, is the world of DeForge. Toronto-based Michael DeForge is running amuck in the independent comic’s scene. He is consistently putting out top-notch work executed in his very distinct style, a style that allows for plenty of room for experimentation while still being immediately recognizable as the “DeForge touch”. At age 24, with just a few years solidly devoted to comics, it’s amazing to imagine what he will achieve in his lifetime. On top of that, he does prop and effects for the wonderful Cartoon Network series Adventure Time. He has the drive. He has the look. He has it all. He is King Trash.

OK. Let’s start with the Deforge physical specs.

I think I’m 5″8? I’m not really sure. I’m probably like 160 or 170 pounds, but I don’t own a scale. I’m 24, my eyes are brown, I have black hair.

Alright, cool…so how’s that Adventure Time job?…character design right?

Mostly prop and effects design, but sometimes characters and other stuff. It’s awesome. I really like working for cartoonists. I work with Andy Ristaino, and he’s really patient with me and all of my screw-ups.

(from Fred Seibert’s Flickr)

Yea, that sounds really rad…tell me about the toronto comics scene, seems really strong.

Yeah, we have a nice group of cartoonists here. I see the Wowee Zonk group around a lot (Patrick Kyle, Ginette Lapalme, Chris Kuzma,) Zach Worton, Johnny Martz, Steve Wolfhard, and a few others. It’s nice that the Beguiling is here, since they’re really supportive of everyone and are the best comics store in the world.

(cover by Patrick Kyle)

Solid group… have you ever not drawn in that very distinct way you draw, it feels like you were born to draw like that way without any hesitation?

I think I purposely try to switch up my style a bit. I think it still always reads as something I’ve done, but something like Incinerator was drawn really differently from the way I went about, say, Lose #2. I like working on multiple projects that are all different from each other. If something is really densely gridded, I’ll want to move onto something airier right after – or if I’m working in black and white for a while, I like having the option of switching to color for something like Ant Comic.

Yea, makes sense…how many comics you got going right now?

Right now, my main projects are Lose #4, Kid Mafia #3 and Ant Comic. I also have some smaller stuff on the side, like my monthly strips and some mini-comics and work I’ve promised to anthologies.

Cool…so how is that 50 cent kid mafia experiment going?…I’m curious about that not so distant future of comics.

It’s going well! Paypal takes 30 cents of every transaction, but I think it at least subsidized the shipping cost of the last batch of minis I sent out. I’m always really late assembling my minis and sending them to stores, so I thought this might be a more efficient way of getting the comic out there for now.

Yea, and you embrace the digital world pretty fully right?…you’re a Cintiq man?

Yeah, I’m scanning my pencils and inking them with my tablet, for the most part. I’ve been working this way a while. If the pages are smaller, sometimes I can lay them out digitally too.

So I’m assuming that you as a comic artist grew naturally out of a lifetime of drawing…when did that happen exactly?

I’ve always been interested in drawing comics, but didn’t really commit to it until a few years ago, before then I was still drawing and did the occasional comic, but was more focused on working as an illustrator and I was pretty directionless with all of it. Like, I knew I wanted to write jokes, and I knew I wanted to draw, but I didn’t know how to put those things together yet. I had a lousy work ethic, too. I’d only draw whenever I “felt like it,” so when I did work on comics I wasn’t really putting my all into it. Anyway, I ended up having a year where I went through a lot of lousy stuff in my personal life, and also realized that I hated all my crappy artwork up until then, and decided to actually double down and try to take drawing comics seriously.

I get the feeling you love science, all the microscopic and interior views of life in your work…this right?

I think I love fake science. I like making things up, and diagrammatic drawings, but I’m actually a big dummy with those things, and lately I intentionally try to ignore information I hear or read about insects, since I don’t want too many actual “facts” to influence Ant Comic.

(for more visit What Things Do)

You got any pets?

I don’t!

Ok…do you have any interest in androgyny? That one comic in Thickness #2, and some of your interests on your Tumblr hint towards that…certain rock stars ‘n such.

I think it shows up in my work – definitely in some of my character designs. I’m not sure if it’s androgyny specifically that I’m interested in, but I’ve drawn comics focused on identity and ornamentation and body transformation, and gender definitely becomes a part of that.

Right on…any comic recommendations to the folks out there?

I really like The End of the Fucking World by Chuck Forsman right now. it is currently my favorite ongoing comic. Lately I’ve also been liking comics by Andy Burkholder, Katie Skelly, Alex Schubert, Patrick Kyle, Noel Freibert, Jane Mai, Edie Fake and Michael Comeau.

Anything you dieing to say right now?…or did we cover most of the Deforge?

Hahaha! Yeah, I don’t think there’s anything like burning inside of me to say!

Cool, that’s that then. THANKS MAN!

Sweet! Sounds good, dude!

Thanks for your time, I appreciate the patience.

Not at all! That was cool, it was nice talking to you!

Calling all UK based designers, illustrators, and creative minds: Beautiful/Decay has teamed up with 20th Century Fox to bring you the bloodiest, goriest, most epic art competition, Fresh Blood Hunt. Fresh Blood Hunt is a rare opportunity for UK-based creatives- lend your skills to design an art piece inspired by the upcoming Tim Burton film Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter!

The contest winner will have their artwork turned into a mural, painted by the talented Jim Rockwell AND win a BRAND NEW 17″ MACBOOK PRO and ADOBE CREATIVE SUITE 6! That’s one  “suite” prize! The chosen artist can join Jim Rockwell in London while he’s painting the mural and the whole event will be captured in a time-lapse video.

So get to it, Cult members across the pond, enter the Fresh Blood Hunt Art Competition and show the world that Britain’s got horror movie illustration skills!

Diggin’ on these illustrative ink and watercolor works by James Ulmer. His repetitious, almost vintage-looking characters roll on and on across the page in a flood of really earnest, straight-up human appeal.

According to the artist’s website, we can look forward to seeing his work in a group exhibition at Grass Hut in Portland very soon.

It’s always fun getting zines, books, and artist editions in the mail. Recently we got a cornucopia of goodies in the mail so we thought we’d share.

1. Jammer Slammer – Makeout Creek Books

R. Nicholas Kuszyk and his gang of robots have been part of the B/D family since the beginning. You’re probably used to his massive murals painted all over the world but from time to time Mr. Kusyzk puts down the spray paint and paint brushes to do a bit of publishing.  His new book Jammer Slammer is part robot comic book part epic futuristic philosophical musings.

2. The Rattling Wall- Narrow Books

Our good buddies at Narrow Books have teamed up with PEN Center USA to bring you this ongoing literary journal featuring sophisticated short fiction, travel essays, and poetry alongside cutting edge illustrations by  Albert Reyes and B/D’s very own Lyndsey Lesh. Get both of their current releases here.

3. Esther Pearl Watson & Mark Todd Zines- Fun Chicken

Illustration guru couple Easther Pearl Watson & Mark Todd recently handed over a small mountain of their zines, books, and stickers over to me. They have too many titles to list here so just head over to their shop and stock up now!