Studies for an album cover

Some detailed sketches for an upcoming book.
Researching in the classic european comic book type cover illustrations.

Ballpen

Nothing in particular... just random ballpen sketches laying around on my table enhanced with computer coloring...

Born Again

Scratchboard done a few months ago for the new CD cover of a local Black Metal band named Overmars.
This album titled "Born Again" consist of one long 40 minutes track, could be boring as hell but still, they manage to leave room for variation.



Enlarged details intended for the back cover.

Filipiniana Again

Yes, this blog space hadn't been updated since one month...
Thing is i've been maintaining another page dedicated to the Philippine punk scene from the eighties during last September.
There's lot of bands related information and old exotic Hardcore-punk albums to download.
Click on the pictures to access philippines80shardcore.blogspot.com

Classic Comics

The story -board...





This work is a bit different than what i'm usually doing.
It's for a 24 pages comics story that will be executed by eight different persons.
I took inspiration from John Buscema for the physical features and the excessive theatrical poses of the characters, even if the overall aspect is still stiff and static in the end...
Each artist have to draw a segment of four pages. Guess the final result will be quite unusual, as the artists involved in the project have very different techniques and graphic approach...
Should be published next month.

Garden Gnomes

Done the August 12th in an open air rock festival.

Those angry garden gnomes keeping vigil could epitomize the latest European politics regarding illegal immigration.
from Wikipedia: The first garden gnomes were made in the town of Gräfenroda in Thuringia, Germany in the mid-1800s by Phillip Griebel. Griebel made terracotta animals as decorations and created the gnome based on local myths as a way for people to enjoy the stories of the gnomes' willingness to help in the garden at night. The garden gnome quickly spread across Germany and into France and England, and wherever gardening was a serious hobby. Gnome manufacture spread across Germany with numerous other large and small manufacturers coming into and out of the business, each one having its own particular style of design. World War II was hard on the industry and most producers gave up then. Griebel's descendants still make them and are the last of the German producers, all others having moved production to Poland or China.

The strip at dawn.

Echo

Found this on flickr.com, Guess it's a gig happening in St Etienne, but i have no idea about that band's drummer which is wearing a pink wig. How tasteless is that?

Here's a better view of the background painting, done back in 1993, sizing 150 by 250 centimeters.

Outdoor Summer Painting

Excerpt from a comic-strip painting done this July 24th.

Kids were busy and happy.

Another excerpt from a giant comic strip done on July 18th, made by four hands or more, there's quite an unexpected result. Is this the right-wing society favorite whipping boy getting spanked under the eyes of the public?

This is quite sad.

Foreign publications

Ya salió el número 4 de la Suda Mery K! Habiéndola leído les puedo decir que es lo mejor que se está editando acá. Presten especial atención al especial monográfico de Ivan Brun, un autor francés venido del under galo. Impresionante.
Pero por si fuera poco, también hay buenas dosis de, entre otros, Saenz Valiente, el sorprendente Renzo Vayra, Marcelo Dsalete y un excelente artículo de Carlos Nine hablando sobre sus influencias locales. También en este número podrán encontrar la historieta "Espíritu de Cuerpo",
que hice junto a Dante Ginevra. Qué lindo es publicar en semejante companía.

Published in Argentina by Ex Abrupto
Available in comic book shops in Argentina, Bolivia and Chile.


IVAN BRUN & LIONEL TRAN OTAKU
Graphic novel • Een jong Japans stel strandt in Frankrijk tijdens hun tournee met een videoperformance. Ze doden de tijd met EXil, een verslavend spel waarbij je langzaam in een robot verandert. Ryu is geflipt als bedenker van games. Mui is verkoopster in een mangaboekwinkel. Collega’s van haar verdienen een centje bij met afspraakjes bij klanten thuis, verkleed als mangapersonages. Ryu en Mui zijn van een generatie zonder idealen. Schuilen in een virtuele wereld van games, anime en internet biedt hen een schamele troost.

“Your world reduced to a monitor screen… finger fucks a keyboard into extasy…”



IVAN BRUN ZERO
Korte strips • In de korte verhalen van Ivan Brun (1971) beginnen ze lekker, de jongeren uit de Franse banlieus. Maar het is midden jaren ’90 en ze struikelen over de recessie. Hun toekomst blijkt zo leeg als een woestijnlandschap, net als hun gevoelsleven. En langzaam vult hun vat zich met semtex, dat een explosieve uitweg zoekt…
Ivan Brun is actief in de underground scene van Lyon met muurschilderingen, publieke performances en zijn hardcore band Coche Bomba. Van Brun verscheen eerder Otaku, een coproductie met Lionel Tran.

Published in the Netherlands by Uitgeverij Xtra

Fear

Rough sketch painted on kraft paper back in 1999.
That drawing belongs more to the field of political cartoons than "Fine Arts" painting. The idea behind it wasn't precise at that time, looking at it now it looks like politicians at a G8 summit discussing developpement and global warming issues...haha

Fear

Acrylic on cardboard,
done in 1995, relates to the Anti-Terrorist paranoïa from those years.

Garage

Due to its numerous material contingencies, painting is a leisure more suitable for rich or retired people. Using the facilities and empty spaces from squatts was a good way to bypass the problem of renting.
Discarded blue plastic sheets were used to cover a thick layer of grease and used oil left on the floor.

Still Life

Sketches painted on some blue plastic wrap.

View from the studio.

The Final white strokes had been added.

That "Still Life" was elaborated from a broken car stereo and a rubber doll whose belly had been opened up with a boxcutter. it was a attempt to give a more contemporary approach of that subject. I noticed this canvas in particular tends to scare off the ladies, go figure...
It Sizes 85x130 centimeters, done in 1995 in the garage of a squatted basement which had been demolished since to be replaced by a municipal police station.

Street Painting

Story painted in a street in Orleans June 2nd 2007

Another story painted the next day, same place.
The Organic Comix artists in action.
Click on the pics to enjoy the paintings in full detail.

Dance

This piece had been done at the same time, same technique, same format...
The red tones used to paint the ground were so bright that it gives the impression that girl is surfing on a pool of raw meat, needless to say that wasn't intentional.

Honeymoon

Oil on black canvas done in 2000, along with two sketches prior to its realization.
The final painting sizes 80 by 120 centimeters. No further comments for today...