Small Business Saturday!!!

Today is Small Business Saturday, and it just so happens that artists are some of the smallest businesses out there! While most artists make their income from gallery shows or commercial commissions, sales of prints make a huge difference and help us ride the line in the leaner times. And even better, prints make awesome gifts (after all, you might only wear a shirt or sweater for a few months, but art can last a lifetime). Now I'd love you to shop at my own online store (http://johnnyacurso.storenvy.com/) but if my stuff isn't your cup of tea, here are some links to some other awesome artists and galleries I know and love:

https://www.etsy.com/shop/ChrisRahnArt - High Fantasy art (Tolkien, MTG ETC.)
http://www.inprnt.com/gallery/becka/ - Portraits and whimsical surrealism
http://www.inprnt.com/gallery/kmcmorris/ - Young adult style fantasy and fairy tale
http://sallycentigrade.storenvy.com/ - Lowbrow and Illustrative art. Formerly Benjamin Benjamin
http://www.ponyclubpdx.com/ - PDX shop with a focus on illustrators, cartoonists, and printmakers
http://www.screamingskygallery.com/ - Toy and print shop on Portland's Alberta Street
http://www.antlerpdx.com/ - Fine art gallery often featured in Hi-Frutose and Juxtapose

These are just a few of the people and places out there that help make our world a little more colorful, so support your local small businesses and buy some art!

Seattle Weekly and Sexy Bezos ::UPDATED 11/9::

If you happen to be up in Seattle this week, and you happen to see a Seattle Weekly, I apologize for the pure sexyness you will be exposed to, for BEHOLD, in all his glory: SEXY JEFF BEZOS, CEO and resident stud muffin of Amazon!!!! ::Cue Hallelujahs::

I've been hinting at this painting a lot over the past week, because it has to be the most ridiculously hilarious thing I've ever painted. When Samantha, the AD at Seattle Weekly, approached me with the idea I was super excited. It was just so funny, and so random, that I pretty much fell in love (I mean who wouldn't right? Look at those abs!). After some initial research and roughs to refine the idea, I moved on to the reference photos...

Between the Rocky Horror piece a few months ago, Atlas and now this, a disturbing trend requiring me to take photos of myself in various stages of undress has emerged that I'm not really sure what to think about. But besides some slight humiliation (who am I kidding — I love it) this piece came together surprisingly easy. The deadline was short, exactly one week, which only left me 4 days to actually paint it, but I entered "beast mode" (to steal a phrase from Erin) and managed to get it finished a tiny bit early. That allowed more time to play around with it digitally and give Samantha a few more options. In the end they decided to go with the black and white rose on the Kindle, but the original was actually in color. Here he is in all his glory without text: 

ENJOY!

::UPDATE:: Check out my interview about the cover at the Melville House blog!