Web reboot: I've mosied on over to wordpress.

Howdy! Thanks for Googling around and finding my old blog. I don't want to make this awkward or anything, but we actually broke up. Yep. That's right. It's totally cool though. We're still friends and everything. No hard feelings, but we both just agreed that we should see other people. I recently moved in with my new internet partner at andrewtolentino.wordpress.com. Come on over any time. Thanks for making this a smooth transition for all of us. Hearts, Andrew Tolentino

Evolution: Wings and Things

I've been working on a few new projects lately. Aside from rental home hunting, perpetual day-job searching, rehearsing with Dallas Comedy House and the like, I'm trying out a few new visual arts objectives.

In an effort to reintroduce painting in to my artistic regimen and per the perpetual encouragement of my lovely lady, I started this piece. It's still a work in progress, taunting me every time I look at it. Keep in mind that these are crappy smartphone photos, but the real deal should be up and ready for your viewing pleasure by this Saturday at Absinthe Lounge.

Take you a gander.

Pinantino Flyers!

Piñantino!

Absinthe Lounge to Exhibit and Auction Art by

Alfredo Piña and Andrew Tolentino

For Immediate Release
April 5, 2010

This Saturday, Absinthe Lounge in Dallas’ Southside on Lamar Building, will feature works by Andrew Tolentino and Alfredo Piña. Arranged by local painter and Absinthe Lounge bartender Treva Gilkey, this exhibit is part of an ongoing series of “Happy Hour” silent auction art events at the below-street-level hotspot.

Having only seen each other electronically (on Facebook) since their days at Dan F. Long Jr. High in North Dallas, Piña and Tolentino have reunited to share their creativity with one another and their beloved community.

Both Dallas natives will show recent creations inspired by their respective muses. Exploring the notion of the creative struggle, Piña’s paintings act as snapshots – solitary, powerful and surreal representations of life’s most profound moments. Using a mixed-media strategy, Tolentino’s work, often filled with textures and “not-human-not-animal” characters, navigates the terrain of perspective and celebration of self and interpersonal examination. Together, at Piñantino, the duo will burst open proverbial Papier Mache portfolios, hoping to shift, challenge and simply shed light on new perspectives.

Absinthe Lounge is located at 1409 South Lamar Street in Dallas. The reception for Piñantino runs from 7PM – 10PM on Saturday, April 10^th, complete with a silent auction and happy hour specials.

For more information on the venue, please visit: www.absinthelounge.net

For more information about the artists, please visit:

www.alfredopina.com and www.tolentinoed.blogspot.com

Nostalgic Masterpieces

VIMBY - Robert Burden

White Walls Gallery SF and Robert Burden, you just won my heart.

The Doucheberry Chronicles

I've been working on a new, MS-Paint driven project.

The only thing good about working in an overly aggressive sales-oriented, Blackberry world is the inspiration to overcome through miracle of MS Paint.

Below are a few examples. Be sure to check out The Doucheberry Chronicles on Flickr.

Happy St. Patty's Day!

Fun with MS Paint for St. Patty's Day!

Enjoy.

This is Why I'm In Love...

Sent to me on a random Friday afternoon about 15 minutes before work let out, this image captures Cara's lovely sense of humor.

Showcase at Dallas Comedy House + Soft at Heart

For the past 6 + weeks, I've been taking an Improv comedy class at Dallas Comedy House in Deep Ellum. This Thursday (March 4th, 2010), our class, comprised of yours truly and 8 other students will be up on the stage, ready to have tomatoes, watermelons, staplers, staples and (hopefully) laughter hurled at us at the Level 1 Showcase.


If you're available and you have an extra $5, I'd love to see your face out in Deep Ellum this Thursday from 9:00 PM - 10:00 PM. Please be sure to buy your tickets in advance at Dallascomedyhouse.com. The venue only seats 64, and I have a friend threatening to buy up every last seat and release crickets at the expense of my ego.


Unfortunately, this means that I won't be able to attend my dear friend, Corey Godfrey's amazing opening Soft at Heart at The Magnolia Art Gallery that evening. Corey has been on a tear lately, as she recently closed down a great solo show at the City Tavern on Main street. She's kicking ass and taking names with a ball of yarn and a bottle of Elmer's. If you can, please make it a point to do one or the other. Otherwise, Corey and I will both cry...buckets...of human tears.

caramichellesmithDOTcom!

I am proud to present to you, (still under construction)
www.caramichellesmith.com, built from scratch by the lovely lady herself.

Unicrog Lives!

As I've learned, to draw an animalistic comparison to my blog behavior, I tend to hibernate, then feast, then hibernate, then wipe my ass on a tree a la the charmin bears, hibernate, then feast again.

Well, tonight I dine in hell as Operation Unicrog is back in action. It's amazing how much creative accountability can push people to just do something. Thankfully, I've got a wonderful network of inspirational people working in a variety of mediums in my life - so when my well is dry - I have the o of peeking (and sometimes sipping from) other people's buckets.

With that being said, I've recently (re)teamed up with some of my pals on the performance side and vowed to make a jackass out of myself in front of the camera...on the internets...fo free...again. To warm up, we decided to each come up with a character whose name, occupation and vice would be put in to a hat and randomly assigned to another in our merry band.

I drew the following:

Name: Wingpo P. Smith
Occupation: Super Hero Talent Agent
Vice: Bands That Begin with "The"

From these three elements, I created this: (Enjoy.)

The Illustrabet: Alphastration # 3

Check out the latest installment.

I'm making 26 of these, so please help me spread the hype by participating!

Instructions:
1. Click on the image below to open the full sized version.
2. Look at the image to find the illustrated representation for every letter in the alphabet.
3. *Comment with what you've found
4. Pass this entry along to a friend.
5. Wait for the answer key to be posted.
6. Repeat with the next alphastration.

The Illustrasbet: Answer Key for Alphastration #2

Here it is, folks!

Alphastration no. 3 is currently in the works.

The Illustrabet: Alphastration #2

I present to you the latest alphastration in the Illustrabet series!

Instructions:
1. Click on the image below to open the full sized version.
2. Look at the image to find the illustrated representation for every letter in the alphabet.
3. *Comment with what you've found
4. Pass this entry along to a friend.
5. Wait for the answer key to be posted.
6. Repeat with the next alphastration.

Illustrabet Answer Key!

Well folks,

There were plenty of great interpretations of the previously posted alphastration, and I appreciate the creative responses. While there are certainly no wrong answers, I've gone ahead and posted the key below. Feel free to click on the image to see just exactly what I was going for.























Below are my answers (and some interpretations).

A: Apple
B: Barf
C: Carp
D: Dirt (Diamond)
E: Elf (Entwine)
F: Flag (Footprint)
G: Gopher (Gorilla)
H: Hand (Hat)
I: Indie-Kid
L: Lizard
M: Monk (Man)
N: Needle
O: Ohm
P: Panini
Q: Question/Question Mark
R: Rattlesnake (Reminders)
S: Salad (Snake)
T: Tack (Tattoo)
U: Umbrella
V: Vest
W: Waspa
X: Xerox
Y: Yeti (Yarn)
Z: Zeta Frat Guy (Z-Man)

The Illustrabet Project!

Alright...

So, as an exercise I decided to illustrate each letter of the alphabet in my sketchbook today. It all started with the personified apple character in the middle of the illustration, and I was going to continue page by page, creating individual drawings per letter. However, recalling a few inspirational sources like Highlights Kids magazine that used to hypnotize me at the dentist's office, I wondered what I could dream up, quasi-cohesively on one page.

I've decided to make it a bit of a game for folks to find each letter's illustrated representation. All letters are represented as nouns in this "alphastration" and I invite you all to take a gander and point out what element represents each letter respectively. Feel free to click on the image for a full-sized version. I'll post the "answer key" in a day or two.

Extra points for creative interpretation.

Enjoy!

Fun! With Stop Motion!

After dreaming about doing a stop motion animation film for quite some time, I finally decided to pick up the pace. I downed a jar of the mediocre picante sauce and got to work on a 2-D stop motion animated/time elapsed drawing video. Many thanks to my lovely partner for showing me the works of William Kentridge and motivating me to do the damn thang.

Checkit:

A Tribute to the Cranberries

I'm up super early this Sunday morning, so I figured why not ponder the idea of making an entry (un)de(a)dicated to being a morning zombie.

Here's my tribute to the cranberries:

and their bombs, and their bombs,
and their bombs, and there braums
zombie doodoo, zombie doo doo!

The Art of Skateboarding is Next Saturday!

Alright folks, Cara and I will both have decks available for purchase in this charity auction hosted by the Dallas Nomads. From what I've seen, this should be a ridiculous display of the diverse creative talent we have roaming the streets of this here metroplex.

Chegitout!