Feeling most Eggcellent!!

Hey friends!

I can tell my Gouda Day piece has been resonating with people so I have decided to do a few more pieces around it starting with this guy. I don't know, I just get a kick out of spreading a little encouragement and I LOVE food. This may be my, excuse the pun, sweet spot.

And if you want to spread a little encouragement to yourself, friends or fam (or a stranger) this guy and many others are available at Society6 with free shipping until midnight on January 12th. You have to use link however in order to get the free shipping http://society6.com/Muddybeats?promo=14fb95. I have a super cool blast from the past post coming up but I need to do a couple things before I can post it. Stay tuned!!

Have a most eggcellent day!

Super quick, super awesome promo

Hello friends!

Society6 is offering $5 off + free shipping until DEC 8th! A deal soooo good I had to share. You need to use this link to get the code: http://society6.com/Muddybeats?promo=14fb95. The offer excludes Framed Art Prints, Stretched Canvases and Throw Pillows with insert. Everything else is fair game (even the mugs)! Here are some of the favs so far, but I will say my fav is the Double Thumbs. It's pretty awesome. Thanks so much! Have an awesome week and if we don't talk soon, an awesomer Christmas and super safe, super awesome New Year.

It's a bird! It's a plane! No, it's a super long hiatus!!

Hello friends!

Sorry for the gap in postings. Work has been crazy busy (and The Last of Us came out as well). Anyways, the good folks at 10 Paces and Draw reached out to me and asked if I could participate in one of their sketch swap thingies and participate I did. I received a sketch by the talented Jesse Tise and I had to do my art thang all over it. Below is his sketch and my final.

Jessie's Sketch

Oh, and here's the sketch I submitted.

I went old school with a nod to Action Comics #1

 Thanks folks! Have a SUPER weekend! Yeah, I went there.

2 things

Hello friends!

Been working on a couple new things, but more on that later. For now, 2 things:

1) Society6 is doing their free shipping thing again (as always, certain items excluded)! You need to follow this link to get the free shipping however: http://society6.com/Muddybeats?promo=60b8f2 **update - the free shipping period is over :( **

and

2) The high school rock stars at my church (which I help out with) are raising money to buy bikes called Zambulances which basically act as ambulances in Zambia. Sick folks who are completely treatable, often go untreated because there's no way to transport the sick to a hospital. So I want to do my part as well. I'll donate all proceed (minus shipping) for any prints purchased through Paypal (off to the side) to this cause. I'll even reduce my commission rate in half as well from $300 to $150 (though you can pay more if you decide) and that will all go towards these Zambulances. To read more about Zambulances, check the link: http://zambikes.org/.

Heck, while I'm at it, I'll donate anything I make from Society6 throughout the month of April towards the Zambulances as well. So go nuts my friends!!

If you want to know more about the commissions, click here. Here's a recent one done for a friend for her husband's Christmas gift. He loves zombies, ninjas and Ramen noodles. My kinda guy!

Let me know if you have any questions. Tell your friends! Have an awesome day!

Just Say No

People always look at dieting like it's a good thing. Well, what about those who get hurt in the process? Never looked at it that way, huh? Think again before you start a fling with Jenny Craig.

Needless to say, this little reminder of unseen evils is available right now at Society 6 AND there's free shipping (except on canvas, frames and pillow inserts) until March 17 but you need to use this link to get the promo: http://society6.com/Muddybeats?promo=dc7dd8

The perfect way to say "I love you just the way you are."

One more Darth!!

So in celebration of the FREE shipping promo at Society6 (until March 17th), I went ahead and uploaded my second mini Darth since it was so well received at Wizard World and Threadless. Once again, to take advantage of the promo, you need to use this link to get there: http://society6.com/Muddybeats?promo=dc7dd8

Finally available as a tee!!

  I also uploaded a couple of my wife's Threadless designs that should have absolutely been selected:

FREE Shipping at Society6!***

Triple asterisks!

1) Only on my stuff (and if you use the link below)
2) Excludes stretched canvases, framed art and pillows with inserts.
3) Promotion ends March 17th

You need to use this link: http://society6.com/Muddybeats?promo=dc7dd8 to get the deal. If you happen to miss that promotion this time around, just shoot me an email and I'll let you know the next time it comes around. After the 17th, you'll be able to find my site regularly through this link: http://society6.com/Muddybeats.

You may also be pleased to know this new Fantastic Four inspired print is available. Unless you hate FF, then you'd be pretty displeased.

So I'm going to be honest about this piece. It was originally intended to be submitted for Threadless' Fantastic Four contest. I had originally checked my idea to ensure no one had done anything like it and indeed, it was original. Fast forward two weeks when I actually get around to it. I'm about 75% completed and I get the feeling I need to check again, and BOOM, there's like 4 others eeeeerily similar. Needless to say, I wasn't happy and I decided to not submit mine. BUT, you can still get it over at Society6!

Thanks friends! Hope you enjoy!

Let the Love Out!!

As I was flipping through an old sketch book I came across a lot of ideas I had sketched out that never went anywhere. This one in particular I just glanced at and a different image came to mind than what was originally intended, but I still love it nonetheless. As I state in the Society6 posting:

It's no secret this is a rough world. I think we're to blame - all of this love waiting to be poured out onto others and we keep it bottled up. Let it out people!!

Here she is in all her glory (available in a number of options. Tees will come depending on if Threadless likes it)! You can't tell from the tiny thumbnail, but I gave it a nice letterpress effect. Enjoy!

A Gouda Day Even Better!

So just about a week after posting my "Have a Gouda Day" artwork to Society 6 (my wife was the inspiration for the graphic. Gotta give credit.), I was just notified that it was chosen to be in Urban Outfitter's online printshop! Pretty awesome news! Go check it out here: http://printshop.urbanoutfitters.com/product/1031494/prints?cl=1

Also! I wanted to let you know I finally updated my Shave the Whales page to include laptop skins and pillows! Check it out here: http://society6.com/Muddybeats/Shave-the-Whales_Print

Thanks for all of the Gouda Day love!!

Mini Darth and More!!!

I've been on a posting spree over at Society6 lately. Someone had requested I add my Mini Darth pieces to my page and I went ahead and added the Darth Star, but while I was at it, I added some older unused Threadless pieces I was too fond of to do nothing with including my Gouda Day piece which I love!! What's great is you can get them on pillows and iPhone cases as well. The Gouda Day is a perfect greeting card. One thing to note is that they sometimes do promos where they offer free shipping. If you're interested in purchasing one, let me know so I can let you know once they run the promo again. That's it for now! Stay tuned for an upcoming "my new favorite" Threadless tee design. Hoping to get the green light today!

Thanks!

New tee design! Inspiration? My sister.

Hello friends!

Long time, I know. I apologize. I've been busy with work and crafting this beauty (not gonna lie, I also beat Battlefield 3, so I was pretty much busy preventing a world war). This graphic came to be because of a texting conversation I was having with my little sis, whom I can fully admit is way cooler than me. She's one of those trend setters/jet setters out in Cali. It's part of her job. Rather than bore you with all of the details here, you can be bored by the full details of the story over at Threadless and while you're there, if you could vote for it, I'd be delighted. Absolutely delighted.

Here's a more detailed image below. If I get enough positive feedback I might post it over on Society 6 as well. Thanks folks! Hope you're off to an awesome week!!

Hope all is Peachy!!

Hey folks! It's been a long while since I've been able to post anything! Sorry!! I've been working developing some tee concepts and one is currently up for scoring over at Threadless! Click on the image below to go and vote for it or if you really like me and feel it would be great for me to keep a roof over my head, share it with your friends.

There's a couple more tees going on in my head and that are almost completed so I hope to have something else soon! Thanks mucho!!

The Legend of Heartbreak

It's been a while since I've provided an update (sorry, been out of the country). Zelda, one of the all-time greatest games. I spent soooo many days discovering, re-playing and battling throughout my life with this little guy. I did some quick ink and acrylic paintings and had a lot of success with Link last year at Wizard World, so I did a watercolor of this guy at this past Wizard World and that sucker went quick! I loved how it turned out so much that I wanted to spend some time and make him look all digitally nice and purty. Here she is (rather, he)!!! (And yes, he is available as a print) Thanks!!

How 'bout a free book?

Hellllllo folks! Whenever I pour myself some drinkable tap water, I often forget that this is a luxury to at least 50% of the world's population. So last year I wrote and illustrated a book aimed at raising money and awareness for this cause. The book was developed over the course of a year and I had a bunch of help from co-workers and friends in the editing process. I had no idea what I was doing as it was my first foray into book writing and illustration, which is something a want to get more into now that I co-own my design studio.

ANYWAYS, I just made the book available as a free download over at my blog devoted to the book. Check it out here or click the image below. Some actual books (Paper. I know, old school) are still available for purchase. Please spread the word to as many people as you can. Thank friends!!

Want your life to be a comic book (cover)?

Hello folks! I've strangely, but awesomely recently received a couple of commissions to turn their friends'/family members' life into a comic book cover based on some of my cover art I've done in the past. Like the ones below:

As strange as it was, it's actually not that strange at all. Sometimes it's hard to get someone that "perfect" gift. If they're at all nerdy, it's something they'd love because it's about them but it'll also be from someone they love. I'd want to put this person in their ideal super hero/adventure/nerdy world, so I'd love to know as much as I could about the person such as:

• Name of the person  and/or nicknames
• Passions, hobbies
• Favorite memory this person has
• Favorite movies, comic book characters, toys, etc

It can be a story from any moment in this person's life - growing up, school pals, today or the future (new job, off to college or graduation, military, etc) or as plain as JOE the FARTING HUSBAND (but keep it on the fun/happy/loving side). I'll take in all of the information I can and cherry pick the best ideas that tell the best story. Below is the latest example about a friend's car back in their school days (the friend isn't "the Beast").

So if you're looking to have your or someone you know's life turned into a cover, go ahead and shoot me an email (check my profile section) and I can send you more details. The current rate is $300 per cover and I usually get them done in about 1-2 weeks. Due to my existing everyday work load, I can only take on a few at a time. Thanks folks!!!

Lose a Few Tons

Hey friends!!

I've got a new design over at Threadless up for voting!! I wanted to capture a serious dilemma facing our monsters of today. Humans are high in saturated fat so monsters are recommended to decimate 2-3 cities a month along with the daily stroll. This will keep the veins and arteries open and less prone to clogging as well as build a healthy cardio foundation.

If ye like my design, please go vote for it here: http://www.threadless.com/submission/460023/Lose_a_few_tons. If you don't like it, pretend you do and tell your friends to vote for it.

Thanks all!! Hope you're having an awesome day!!

Let them have their cheese

So m'lady and I put our heads together recently and we developed this new Threadless tee. She just blurted out the phrase and I said, "Heck yes. Must be a tee!". So I set aside a little time to whip up what you see below. If you like it, please vote for it (here) and/or share it with your friends via the button below the post. Thanks!! (Back to printing for Comic Con!!)

If ye be a true playa, then your hands best be in the a-ya.

I used to be a hardcore hiphop fan. To the point it was the only stuff I listened to (nowadays I've expanded my musical genres). Even more to the point I dabbled in the music making myself. I wasn't any good. If I was, this blog would be "The music of Mud!" instead of my doodles. Anyways, my hardcore phase started in the early 90s so my discman was playing a lot of Wu-Tang, Snoop, Warren G, Bone Thugs, Tupac, Nas and of course, plenty of Biggie. So when I saw the good folks over at 10 Paces and Draw were doing a Biggie/Pac mixtape challenge, I HAD to get on board. I've done some Pac illustrations but those are lost somewhere, so I wanted to do Biggie (though I might still do Pac because I like how Big turned out).

I had fun exploring more of a charicature direction when I did Spiderman many posts back (here), so I wanted to try the same approach with Biggie. The inspiration, set by 10P&D, was Big Poppa. If you watch the video, there's a strong red tone to the video so I used that as the background. Here is the finished piece in all of its glory. Hope you enjoy!

How bout some 'stache?

Hello folks!

As we're gearing up for Comic Con (Wizard World) which is later this week, I took some time out to post some older graphics I did for tees that I didn't end up using. I loved them too much to see them go to waste, so now they're available as prints over at Society6. Check them out and go ahead and buy one if you super loves it! If you want a smaller 8.5 x 11 signed print, you can always buy them through the site here. Thanks and enjoy!

How to be an AWESOME father #178

Today's example comes from Tom. Tom is not only leading his son correctly in the ways of nerdom, but he also commissioned me to create a Batman cover for his son. He wasn't exactly sure which one, so I had to throw out the first appearance of Batman, Detective Comics #27 if little Sean wanted some street cred. Little Sean surprisingly liked the cover so we proceeded. Little Sean is dripping of street cred and awesomeness AND check out his AWESOME AWESOME Bat-costume, err, vigilante attire! Thanks Tom and family for sending the feedback and positive response.You can also file this entry under How to be an AWESOME kid #24. Thanks guys! You rock! Below is the final piece I've been dying to share, but had to wait until Tom received his art first.

If you want to be like Tom or Sean and contribute to the iPad fund (click here to find out more), please let me know!