Custom Yoka Bear

Here's my submission for the Yoka bear custom show going at the Designercon 2009 at Pasadena, CA on Nov. 21st. I was fortunate enough to be invited by DKE toys to be part of this great show. DKE toys organized the Custom Vader helmet show that toured around the globe, inviting artists from everywhere to customize their very own Vader helmet. This Yoka bear show should be a doozy, im expecting the pictures are slowly getting released.

I wanted to do something non bear related cuz im sure their was going to be something similar like it from another great artist. I chose something obscure and wanted to do Bebop from TMNT. He was a great footman/side kick along with his partner Rocksteady. Clearly great 80s lingo referring to the booming Hip hop influence in the culture. Even back then I knew i connected with something. Thanks to my girlfriend for helping me make his jewelry fit better. With out her those details would not be possible. The hardest part was to get that damn nose piercing inserted. For more info please visit Designercon 2009

FREE ZOMBIE WALLPAPERS!

With the new graphic almost here are some free EL TORO zombie wallpapers for your iphone and your desktop.

Iphone
1280x1024
1024x768

ENJOY!

ZOMBIE EL TORO ON THE LOOSE!

Here's the upcoming t-shirt graphic for release this month. Plans are still being made on how to obtain this for everyone as fair as possible. Right now I know that the size and quantity is going to be super limited for this one so dont sleep on it. Also, I know everyone is hurting with money and these will be priced very reasonably considering its a 5+ color print. Take a minute and participate in the poll so I can see what's the most popular sizes for people who are interested in purchasing this. Oh yeah, it'll probably some Paypal set up too. So sign up now if you want to purchase these.

This shirt is going to be releasing through Rarebreed here in Philly. Locals can always go to the shop and pick one up. The release date will be announced soon via my blog and other social networking sites.

What size of t-shirt would you buy?
	Mens S
	Mens M
	Mens L
	Mens XL
	Girls S
	Girls M
	Girls L
pollcode.com free polls

Philadelphia Fashion Week 2009 2.0

The gangs all here

Last one to finish...

My good friend Matt Katz forwarded me more pictures from Philly fashion week via the Phrequency blog, check out the flicks here. Their are more photos taken with great progress shots of the wall and also awesome fashion photos with the characters peeking from the background.

Philly Weekly features "Dia de los Muertos"

Roberta Fallon from Philly Weekly did a write up about the Dia de los Muertos show at Proximity gallery last friday. Shout outs to a few Autumn Society members including yours truly.

From the article " at $150, it’s the steal of the show."

You hear that?! It's a steal! Go buy it right now!

Check out the article here
To inquire about the purchase click here

Philadelphia Fashion Week 2009 (updated)

Some more links are starting to pop up from Philly fashion week... You can see some nice progress shots of the artwork behind the models through out the night. Check it out here:

Local channel ABC 6 news covered part of the show. Some nice close ups of the art too! Too bad blogspot won't let me embed the video, check it out here! And some photos here

And fashion photographer and philly local Josh Cohn has tons of pictures through out the night on his flickr

Tonight is the last night and I am excited to see the photos through out the night with the finished wall behind the models tonight. I'll keep you guys posted so be sure to keep checking back.

Philadelphia Fashion Week 2009 with EL TORO, BOB & Nose

Philadelphia Fashion Week 2009 invited me, Bob and Nose to do a live painting for the 2nd day of Philly Fashion Week. It's the first time Philly ever held a fashion week and now there's definitely going to be more in the future. They held the event at the Armory on 23rd st and it looks like an old castle, dungeon place where they store tanks. I saw Jin the MC once in college there and they had a huge tank for the back ground. I didnt know it was a working tank. That's crazy.

Tons of people in attendance to see the latest fashion going down in Philly. The headliner of the night was Triple 5 Soul with a performance from TuPhace. We started the wall around 3:30 and we taped off the background to make the stripes pattern. We ended up finishing around 9:30 right before Triple 5 Soul hit the stage. The whole night was a blast, we had VIP passes that made me feel like I was in Wayne's World and was flashing it to everybody haha. We used some organic green paint and also some Junobo to paint the whole thing. I love painting with these 2 guys simply because it's a push and pull on our creative outlook of the project. We have very different styles, but in the same time I think it compliments each other very well. Seriously the 2 great street artists in Philly, I couldn't have think of better guys to paint with. Im glad we represented Philly at its finest in the first ever Philly Fashion Week. We already got booked for the second one, so stay tuned!

Thanks for all the people in attendance that night, my gf for being a trooper, the random people who came up to us for photos or questions and Kaitlin for the invitation to be part of the show and also the rest of the people that organized the event. If your a photographer with some photos of the event please drop me a line, i'd love to see some great photos from that night.

First Friday @ Proximity Gallery

Had a blast at the Dia De Los Muertos show at Proximity Gallery last Friday. It was first friday and so many people came out for support. The works were all top notch and some one even made some real sugar skulls. They were going for 10 bucks a pop and by the end of the night they were almost all gone. I was truly excited to be part of this event, I've always wanted to be part of one. The theme of the event has something I've been really in love with for a while and the whole imagery of the holiday is truly great.

I remember growing up in the Philippines and celebrating All Saints Day which lands on the same day and is very similar to the way the holiday is celebrated. Families would gather to cemetaries to celebrate and remember their departed loved ones, but rather than mourning its a day of laughs and good times. Another thing I vividly remember doing is collecting wax from all the candles and making wax balls (thats what she said) By the end of the day you come out with a big ball of wax full of different colors. Then I dont know what ever happend after that. I think I probably remelted it. haha

Ok back to the show....during the event their was a late night Pizza truck that drove by ringing a fire bell kinda like an ice cream truck, but serves all kinds of late night snacks. The choices were Pizza, white pizza, funnel cake, philly pretzels, pizza pretzels, water ice and gelato. For $1.50 a slice you really can't get any better. The pizza is made right in the truck and for 8 bucks you can get a whole pie. Oh and the truck only goes around Fishtown. You have to be in the area to here the bell. Wait, I was suppose to say something about the show and not pizza. The wall I got hung on was great, I was surrounded by awesome talent. More pics here

Jack Daniels X EL TORO

Jack Daniels celebrated its birthday this year by organizing events all across the United States. The first stop was Ohio and the 2nd stop was here in Philadelphia at Ladder 15. I think the next one is in Miaimi and a few in Texas. It's great to be a part of the celebration and really wanted to thanks the guys from Hive, Jack Daniels, Ladder 15 for inviting me to paint for the event. Also, thanks to Junobo for providing the paint for the piece. I think this is the first time Junobo has been used to paint a full piece rather than just catch tags with it. I had a great time using it and filled very nicely.

I started around 7:30 with the bottom bubbles. the highlights on the character and also stenciled the Jack Daniel's logo on it. already painted before hand. I was worried for a split second that I wasn't going to have enough time and also around 11:30 it started misting. My deadline was at 1o'clock and I finished around 12:30. Immediately after that I drank some delicious booze. Downed a couple Jack n Cokes and capped the night with a pint glass of some Jack Daniels fruit punch. That went down like hawaiian punch on a hot summer day. I definitely paid for that last drink on my way home. Luckily I kept everything in and made it home safe. By the end of the night I was feeling great and came home with a new Jack Daniels shirt, a new belt and a JD wooden belt buckle. Had a great time that night and looking forward to more events like this in the future.

Leg Pin Up

What a true fan! When she bought this drawing from me she told me she was going to get it tattooed on her leg, I was so excited to get an email several months after of it finally on her! Im so honored that some one wants my artwork for life. She said that she likes that the model was curvy and it was a perfect look for the pin up tattoo she always wanted. I was blown away at seeing this. The tattoo artist did a great job converting my drawing to a tattoo and hopefully some color will be added in the future.

Her leg / My drawing

details

NO DIVISON @ RAREBREED

Rarebreed is throwing it down again for another great show Sept. 25, featuring the artwork of NO DIVISION. Come check out some old and new prints for sale and a limited edition tee.

Nose Toys & There's Big Trouble in Little Toy Town

Had these pics for a while and finally got around to posting them. Showed up at Jinxed at the Piazza in Northern Liberties for the Dreamland Toyworks toy release of Philly's very ownNoseG. While there I went to go see another show that involved some GI joes, plastic dolls and lincoln logs called Big Trouble In Little Toy Town by Nathanial Gertner

Man of the hour

3 color ways for the new Nose toys

Customs

Customs

More customs

It was a war

some casualties

the doll head master?

Casualties of war

Stick 'em up!

He done did it again...

I had no clue who Taylor Swift was until Kanye West made her famous...IMHO

REST YOUR HEAD EASY

1st pillow, originally uploaded by ELTORO215.

Getting crafty!

I made my first EL TORO pillow the other day. I've been wanting to do it for a while and I'm happy how it turned out, although this wasnt my first idea. I wanted to do 10x10 pillows that's going to be silkscreened with the Guadalupe graphic, but unfortunately the green fabric was to thin and it didn't hold any of the ink at all. It was very frustrating. My gf steered me into this direction where i could do hand embelishment all over the pillow and also making it a die cut rather than a boring square pillow. I like how it turned out and I already started another one. "Dia de los muertos" is right around the corner and I'm excited. If you are interested in purchasing pillows, I will be putting more details when it gets closer to the holiday. Keep checking here for more updates.

WORKIN & RAPPIN'

This is what the typical day looks like in the office for me. (yeah right)

See more funny videos and funny pictures at CollegeHumor.

MMMM.... BAACCOOONNNN

EL TORO GUADALUPE CALAVERA

Here's my submission for the upcoming "Dia de los muertos" show at Proximity gallery thrown by the Autumn Society of Philadelphia. It's a 9x12 woodburn and took approx. 15hrs to make. Check out the blog for the other submissions for the show. If your in Philly check it, its going to be the first friday of October. It's gonna be a kick ass night of great artwork! Come hang out!

Hip hop icons Simpsonizd'

From Format magazine hip hop icons simpsonized...check more out here

Rock the vote!

Rock the vote!, originally uploaded by ELTORO215.

Bomit is having a survey and vote for your favorite sticker artist here!
bomit.com/survey/survey.php?s_id=1

Thanks to Z for including me in the survey. The list is from the people rockin it on the streets all the way to the artists rocking it in the galleries. Just an honor to be mentioned with these guys on this rockin' list of artists. Vote for your favorite one...could be me, but hey i ain't tellin ya how to vote.

(excuse me for the poorly photoshop'd job, new hotness dropping soon)

$837,000 later....

LOS ANGELES--Whether simple letters or elaborate, colorful designs, tagging--or graffiti--is considered vandalism and is getting a cover-up along some 100 miles of rivers, creeks, washes and channels of the Los Angeles County Drainage Area and Santa Ana River Basin. Crews from Corps of Engineers contractor BJD Resourcing are removing graffiti by water blasting rock-grouted surfaces. According to the project manager, the process helps keep the natural look of the surface.

"Other areas, where it’s a concrete wall or concrete embankment, we go ahead and cover it over with an approved paint, a waterway-safe paint," said Jeff Vaughn, project manager, BJD Resourcing.

A one-year, $837,000 contract, funded by the Recovery Act, was awarded to this small San Fernando business, to not only tackle a community nuisance, but give people jobs.

"Through this, we’ve brought on four crews; it’s given new employment to about eight personnel and it’s reorganized about three-to-four other personnel," said Vaughn.

BJD’s four crews, armed with two generator-powered sprayers and 135 gallons of paint each, cover a total of about 810-thousand square feet of concrete canvas per day. Not necessary to maintain channel function, the enhancement work reduces the amount of deferred maintenance within the Los Angeles District’s flood risk management program and improves the many projects in the area.

"People that live around and work in that community are proud to be there," said Kelly Howard, operations supervisor in the District’s asset management division. "With the graffiti and so forth—urban blight, basically—what we’re trying to do is clean up our assets and make them look presentable."

The initial clean-up of all areas is expected to be completed by December. The contractor will continue to monitor and paint over problem areas for the remainder of the year-long contract.

I love how we're in a recession and suppose to spend our money wisely on programs to benefit the greater good as a whole, but still this program and frame of thinking still happens. Oh your providing jobs for the unemployed by having them clean up graffiti in a canal/river thats not even accessible to the regular public, great job!

Why does it target graffiti clean up when we can clean up the streets that people actually walk on, invest money to stop crime in the city or a program that simply helps other people to help more people out an not just clean up urban blight. Graffiti supposedly destroys the environment and then in turn makes the surrounding neighbor hoods labeled "bad" or "unatractive". I bet those neighbor hoods already got dope dealers and crack heads before it got a problem with graffiti. I guess because graffiti is something you can point your finger at and can be seen morning, noon or night. They aren't around when the crack heads come out of their crawl space and continue to make that place a cesspool of crap, violence and sorrows.

Also, with this new budget LA had to postpone getting new books for the school system. As Maude Flaunders would say, "Why wont any body think of the children!??!"

The upper portion of this rant was taken from Revoks blog.