Propaganda Arm of ArtbyJared Goes AWOL During Month of February...Few Notice...

Yeah, I took a month off from the blog...lots happened....I might tell you about it, but because so much is happening right now, I think we should just stick to the Headlines:

Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog opens at the DCAC! Scenery Appreciation Night will be Saturday March 12th, Get your tickets HERE

DC Premiere! Dr. Horrible's Sing Along Blog

"Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog" name, literary material and characters and musical compositions used by permission from
Time Science Blood Club, LLC. (c) 2008 Time Science Blood Club, LLC

March 3 - 27
7:30 pm

DC Arts Center, 2438 18th Street, NW
(in the heart of Adams Morgan)

The internet sensation comes to Washington, DC.

Don't miss it!

Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog, the hit made-for-the-web musical miniseries of 2008, comes to the stage in a production by the Landless Theatre Company. Co-created by writer-producer Joss Whedon (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, Firefly), it follows the tongue-in-cheek adventures of aspiring arch-villain Dr. Horrible; his nemesis, the hunky Captain Hammer; and love interest, Penny. The show, directed by Andrew Lloyd Baughman, kicks off Landless Theatre's 2011 "Season of Horrible Taste."

For tickets and information visit the Landless website at: www.landlesstheatrecompany.org!

Of Course, for you loyal BTT readers, I can share with you the design of the the set:

The show is going to be awesome, and not just for you Whedonheads...So buy your tickets today!

The next Headline on the agenda is: What are you doing for Fat Tuesday (NEXT TUESDAY 3/8)? Well, if you are like me, you will be going to the Claendon Mardi Gras parade. Once there you will be able to vie with the throngs in order to receive beads from...THE YURI'S NIGHT FLOAT!!! Below is the super top secret plans for the float...don't tell anyone!

And just in case you thought I was kidding...here's the poster for the event (designed by Richard Thompson!)

Speaking of Mardi Gras...I just wanted to share a Mardi Gras project from a few weeks back...it was for the DC Mardi Gras in the Dupont Hilton...I just painted the seafood, but I think it turned out pretty good (despite the crappy cell phone camera photo)

On Sunday I will be attending the WATCH (Washington Area Theater Community Honors) Awards...Seems I am nominated for two awards...both for Outstanding Set Painting in a Musical...Reefer Madness (Dominion Stage) and The Producers (Arlington Players)...this will be my 8th nomination with no wins...Wish me luck!

I did sell a painting this week...He's a collector of my work, and kinda a monkey enthusiast. Anyway, he surprised me when he showed me a tattoo of a piece of mine that he bought:

That shady looking monkey is "the spy" from 2006...I like how the nipple looks like the sun rising over the "near east" skyline...

And Speaking of Monkeys...I have been working on a monkey painting for Yuri's Night....I can share some progress shots with you, so you can play the "I remember it when" game...

This is the very first stage of the painting. Its a larger painting that I am used to (in fact, the table top easel is not working for me because I cant reach the top of the painting!) but at 30" x 36" its child's play compared to what I do for theater!

Here's the painting after I've blocked in the color. Its going to be called "Monkey Moonshot"...so it is only natural that the monkeys would try to go at night when the moon is out...I am having a lot of fun playing with the light from the moon, spotlight and match...Hopefully I will be able to get it done by the drop off date for C2YN in less than two weeks!

Just in case you haven't heard, here's the scoop on C2YN (and check out the video below!):

C2YN (COUNTDOWN TO YURI’S NIGHT)

TUE MAR 15 –SAT APR 30, 2011/FREE/MEZZ GALLERY

OPENING RECEPTION: THUR, MAR 17, 5:30-7:30PM/FREE/MEZZ GALLERY

18 artists exhibit work centered on the theme of Man’s journey into space. Exploring both science-fact and science-fiction, these artists deliver unique perspectives on the cosmos. C2YN (Countdown to Yuri’s Night) launches the 50th anniversary of Cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin’s first human spaceflight, which will be celebrated at the Artisphere on April 9th 2011. Some of the exhibiting artists include: Chris Bishop, Stephen Blickenstaff , Scott Brooks, Jared Davis, Alan Defibaugh, Dana Ellyn, Elstabo, Todd Gardner, Linas Garsys, Sherill Anne Gross, Rob Hornung, Emily Greene Liddle, Rob Lindsay, Dave Savage, Matt Sesow, Michael Enn Sirvet, Steve Strawn, Andrew Wodzianski.

www.outofthisworldparty.com

Jared Davis (Countdown to Yuri's Night) from Artisphere on Vimeo.

IT'S ELECTRIC! and REEFER SCENERY APPRECIATION NIGHT

I'm as excited as the jerk in the photo above that tonight is Scenery Appreciation Night for REEFER MADNESS! So, if you know what's good for ya, you'll come on down to tonight's closing weekend shows! You can get tickets at the door or from the Dominion Stage Website.

This weekend I will be gearing up to finalize the last two paintings I am creating for It's Electric. What's It's Electric, you ask? Here's the flyer:

Chris Griffin curates a Robo-Art Show featuring the works of local artists Michael Auger, Jared Davis, Todd Gardner and Steve Strawn. The opening reception is Saturday, February 6th from 7:00 - 11:00 PM. There will be 'botting poppers Gwo and Frequency and DJ Anne Dreud (yep, rhymes with Freud) will be spinning! Please come and boost your "arti"ificial intelligence!

The deets:
It's Electric! Opening Reception
Saturday, Feb. 6th 7:00 - 11:00 PM
The Electric Maid
268 Carroll St., N.W. (a short block from Takoma Metro)

I will give you loyal BTT readers a sneak preview of one of the three pieces in the show:

The Devil and the Broken Man
Acrylic on Canvas, 24"x20"

I don't know why blogger seems to make this image much darker than any other program does...so, you will just have to come see it with your naked eyes in order to get the full impact!

The build for High Fidelity has just started, and I have progress on a major piece of the scenery to share...Its a counter for the record store "Championship Vinyl" that figures prominently in the show.One of the good things about High Fidelity is that it is getting a lot of good buzz. We already have been getting previews from the likes of DCBroadwayWorld.com DC Broadway World previews High Fidelity

REEFER REVIEWED, HIGH FIDELITY AND PRODUCERS BEGIN

Its been a busy week, which has been made even more frantic due to the illness. I speak of the illness that gripped the cast and crew of Reefer Madness...which eventually caught up with yours truly (and currently running its course through KT!) and knocked him out for the better part of the three day weekend. But I'm all better now, and I have good reviews of Reefer to share with you. First you might check out this favorable review in the Gazette from Monday. But really, you should read the one in the Washington Post because it specifically mentions the scenery:

Jared Davis's scenic design makes economical use of the Lee Center (sic) stage with vertical flats festooned with comic book graphics and inventive, movable set pieces allowing rapid scene changes.

While it's not gushing, its an honor to be mentioned...even if they did get some of the facts wrong (its the Gunston Theater 1, not Lee Center...and I don't usually make my last name plural by adding a second "S" after the apostrophe...)

Anyhoo, you should start making your plans for next week's SCENERY APPRECIATION NIGHT for Reefer Madness on Friday January 29th. Get your tickets Here

We are leaps and bounds closer to announcing a venue for Yuri's Night...Fingers crossed!!! I will announce it as soon as we have confirmation (perhaps as early as Monday!)

The illness this week was not just me, KT and the cast of Reefer...it was also the Isuzu. I spent precious time getting the darn thing fixed (the headlights were not coming on at night and it was badly in need of new rotors) And the worst part about the whole thing is that they never really did anything to fix the lights...they started poking around and they magically started working!

I whipped up a logo for the upcoming Landless Show HIGH FIDELITY:

Yeah, its a bit cheesy and old school...but hey, so is the show! You can see the graphic in action on the Landless Website. I also made major headway on the set design for High Fidelity:It may not look like much right now, but trust me, this is going to be one rockin' show! I'll start building sometime next week, so you can expect more pictures soon.

The other leap forward this week was for Arlington Players production of Producers (which opens the week before Yuri's Night!) I started trying to unscramble the crazy set changes in that are called for in the script, and I began to make initial sketches...Here's a sketch of the office of Max Bialystok:

As you can see, this sketch represents only about a eighth of the show...in any other production this would be THE set...Anyway, expect way more of this show to pop up on BTT between now and April!

I almost forgot...this week the WATCH award nominations were announced and I was nominated TWICE! Overall The Arlington Players Follies was nominated for twelve WATCH awards:

Outstanding Set Design in a Musical: Jared Davis

Outstanding Set Painting in a Musical: Jared Davis

Outstanding Set Construction in a Musical: Bill Wisniewski

Outstanding Set Decoration and Set Dressing in a Musical:

Outstanding Costume Design in a Musical: Grant Kevin Lane

Outstanding Makeup Design in a Musical: Avery Burns

Outstanding Hair Design in a Musical: Bette Williams

Outstanding cameo in a musical: Kathleen McCormick as "Buddy's Blues Margie"

Outstanding Choreography: Christopher Dykton

Outstanding Music Direction: John-Michael d'Haviland

Outstanding Direction of a Musical: Christopher Dykton

Outstanding Musical: Follies - Arlington Players

REEFER MADNESS OPENS FRIDAY & More Epic Science Fiction Watercolors

In honor of Reefer Madness opening on Friday, I am going to announce Scenery Appreciation Night, three weeks ahead of Schedule. Friday the 29th of January will be Scenery Appreciation Night for Reefer Madness! I haven't completely ironed out the details on the SAN discount yet, but if you are interested in coming (and getting the discount) just drop me an email. If you are willing to pay full freight (which you tightwads should anyway!) You can go to the Dominion Stage Website for tickets.

When I wasn't engaged in the final push to get Reefer Madness on stage this week, I was plugging along on my Epic Science Fiction watercolor sketches. I completed three more this week, and I think I am nearing the end of the "watercolor sketch" phase of the process. So, perhaps one or two more, and then I will pick the best 4 to turn into full fledged paintings that will be exhibited in It's Electric on February 6th!

Genius and the Dandy
Watercolor on paper 10"x8"

When I made the Genius and the Dandy I stepped back and realized that I had unintentionally made something eerily similar to the "Androids" of Andrew Wodzianski...But, I must confess, it is my favorite so far...Its not going to be very much fun to paint, because it will require me to have lots of precision in order to keep the clean, late 60's British talk show look...(I also chuckle when I see the punch cards!)

Prophet of Doom and the Visitors
Watercolor on paper 10"x8"

This is perhaps the most heavy handed...or, really I should say its going a long way for a joke. But when I was presented with the Prophet of Doom and the Visitors, it was hard to find someone or something that was as "prophet of doomy" than Al Gore...I also get a kick out of robot dolphins (there is some spooky stuff out there if you google "robot dolphin", trust me)

Minotaur and the Old Man
Watercolor on paper 8"x10"

I was kinda stuck on this one for a while, and while I think that the resolution isn't perfect, its pretty close. I didn't want the "old man" to be a steampunk robot, because that seems too obvious...so, I started thinking about what would be "old" to a robot. Well, it wasn't too long before I started thinking of video games, and what game would fit a minotaur really well? Perhaps one with a maze? So, a 3-d Pacman world was a good fit. I have been trying to make these paintings about the environment that they are in just as much as the characters. So, a "Tron"-like setting was a good fit...The technical problem with this watercolor (remember these are just sketches!) is that there are a lot of straight lines in the electronic world. So, if I am to render this as a painting, I will probably need to find some mechanical way of reproducing the background.

The thought has crossed my mind to take these sketches out of the sketchbook and frame them individually for the show (instead of choosing 3-4 to make into paintings) What do you think? Should I choose 3-4 and paint them larger? Or should I spend the rest of the time I have making a bunch more watercolors?I have about 30 pairings of epic archetypes total, so far, so I could add quite a few more...but realistically, I could churn out about 3 more per week...getting about 8 or nine more...I'd be interested to hear your opinions on the matter in the comments or email...

EPIC SCIENCE FICTION WATERCOLORS!

Chris Griffin, (no, not the Family Guy character, you cretins) who is ever the busy bee, has seen fit to include me in a small group show at the Electric Maid in Takoma Park. Its going to be a robot-themed show called "It's Electric". I will have some paintings there hanging next to the work of Todd Gardner, and Steve Strawn. The opening will be on Saturday February 6th, 8-11pm.

Unfortunately, I don't have any robot paintings on hand (they sell like hotcakes, and the last ones I made went for stocking stuffers) but I have decided to take up the challenge to make more Robots! Its actually kinda fortunate, because I was already gearing up to make some Science Fiction paintings for Yuri's Night. You see, I came to the realization that Science Fiction is best when it is telling an epic story. Star Wars is a prime example. It is well known that George Lucas was highly influenced by Joseph Campbell's "Power of Myth" Books. The epic story, with its archetypal characters and universal themes is what made the backbone of Star Wars so strong. Not long ago, I decided that I wanted to incorporate this idea into my Science Fiction paintings. So, with this Robot show coming up, I began to implement the plan. First I decided on some of the archetypal characters (e.g. the hero, wise man, sea monster, etc) and then I started pairing them off in order to see what sort of pictures were inspired by the combinations...I did some quick sketches, and then started a watercolor sketch in my sketchbook as a study for what might become a final painting. The first of these pairings was The Birdman and the Magic Cow:

The Birdman and the Magic Cow Watercolor sketch
Watercolor on Paper, 10"x8"

Since I am working towards making paintings for the Robot show, I have been doing my best to make all of the roles robot-oriented. I don't know why this was the image I saw when I put these two characters together, but somehow a winged cereal eating robot on a craggy planet, getting his milk from a giant flying robot cow just seem right...

The Devil and the Broken Man Watercolor Sketch
Watercolor on Paper, 10"x8"

This paring seemed to me like an obvious one, because you can always link the Devil to temptation, and temptation is how most people become "broken". In epic terms the "broken man" is the private detective who is too drunk to take the case, but sobers up just in time to solve the crime...perhaps someone like Han Solo, who has lost (perhaps never had) his idealism...but in this interpretation, the robot in the sidecar is more like CP-3O in Empire Strikes Back, being toted around, literally in pieces, by Chewbacca. I allude to the sin/drunkenness by having the robot arm in the basket holding a liquor bottle, but that might be too heavy handed. The Devil as "trash picker" is appealing for the obvious reasons, but I particularly like the glee (and style) with which he is willing to facilitate the removal of the broken man...

We have been doing a full court press on the space search for Yuri's Night...we might wind up with a very swanky event this year...stay tuned...

This week has been crunch week for Reefer Madness. You can get all sorts of cool insights on the show from Dominion Stage's Reefer Madness blog. Be sure to check out the videos of work in the shop...there are some really cool time lapse videos of the scenery being painted. I'll announce when Scenery Appreciation Night will be next week!

Stocking Stuffers and Reefer Progress (good riddance 2009!)

Wow, its only been two weeks and yet it seems like much longer since I posted. Its kinda funny reading the last post because it feels so "pre-blizzard 2009"...Ah, those were more innocent times...

The snowpocolypse did not diminish the amount of work to be done, just the number of days that said work would be done in the scene shop. So, I was able to plow ahead on the preliminary designs for Producers...it is all in the very early stages right now, so there is not much to share, but at least we have weighed anchor and are sailing in a direction...

A few days before Christmas Haze called me and asked if I would make some "stocking stuffer sized" paintings for Trish. So, naturally, I obliged. He gave me carte blanche...so I hope that she likes Robots, monkeys and the occasional dinosaur.

Stocking stuffer paintings for Christmas 2009
0110010!, Fire Breathing Robot, Aviator Monkey
4"x5" each, Acrylic on Board

After Christmas I hosted Scenery Appreciation Nite for Carrie Potter and Christmas Twist. Thank you all for coming out. I know that many folks were away for the holidays, so hopefully there will be a few more attendees for High Fidelity in February...

KT's parents were in town for the better part of this past week...its always a good thing to see them around the holidays, and I think that they really like it here in DC

In an effort to make up for the shop being closed, we have started to hit the Reefer scenery hard this week. Tonight, we finished the "propaganda panels" that are the "legs" for the show...

Reefer Madness the Musical, "propaganda panels"

This show loads in a week from Friday, so I should have some decent photos for you next week (and perhaps a Scenery Appreciation Night date) so, Stay tuned!

All in all, I don't think I have the energy or brainpower left to analyse the past year...lets just say that I am extremely hopeful for 2010! Happy New Year!

CARRIE POTTER and CHRISTMAS TWIST OPEN!

You are the type of kid that wanted to open his Christmas presents the second they appeared beneath the tree, aren't you? If you are one of those kids, then you are positively going to be tortured by the gift ArtbyJared is going to be giving you this year. Cant wait, you say? You wanna know right now? Okay, but it will spoil the surprise if I tell you...Okay then, here you go:

December 26th.

That's right, December 26th is going to be an extra special X-Mass-ey DOUBLE FEATURE heapin' helping of Scenery Appreciation Night! Landless has cooked up two lovin' spoonfuls of Holiday goodness, Christmas Twist and Carrie Potter at the New Moon Prom...and I am hosting almost FOUR HOURS of wall to wall Christmas frakin' cheer! So, get your tickets here before they sell out!

I like how the 26 is right below "Naughty"...

Dont take my word for it, check out Christmas twist in the Express!

What can you expect to see when you come to Scenery Appreciation Nite? Well, you've seen the design for Carrie Potter...but I don't want to give too much away about Twist, so I will only share with you the design for the backdrop:

"London" Backdrop for Christmas Twist
12'x12' Painted Muslin

I wanted this backdrop to double as part of Carrie Potter (you know, that part of town in the potter universe that is in that magic alley?...) but they get to Hogwarts pretty fast in the script, so it will just have to serve as a Dickensian backdrop of olde London Towne....and no, you cretins, that is not the US capitol building...its St. Paul's...you know, Christopher Wren...but it is good to know that could double for a particularly quaint part of Southwest DC in a pinch...

Slowly but surely progress is being made on Reefer Madness...This week has been largely about creating the "anti-marijuana propaganda poster" style flats. Here are some examples of the designs thus far:

DS Right Color Sketch US right Color Sketch

These babys are 14' high and 4' wide...so hopefully they will make the right statement...

And Finally, I have a progress report on the Dirty Show entries. I started to work in earnest on the Sweet Science painting...Its translating relatively directly, but I have been trying to concentrate on making it sorta "ashcan school" because of the boxing theme (and, for that matter, the horror theme of a re-animated "bride of Frankenstein" zombie) So, what you see here is a "knocked back" version...i.e. I painted the whole thing and then did a transparent burnt umber glaze to make everything darker and unify the whole painting...so this should be the darkest it will ever be...all that's left is doing all of the highlights!

Progress on "Sweet Science"
16"x20" Acrylic on Pannel

One of the joys of being in a time crunch is that I seem to make some of my best work when I am procrastinating (or watching paint dry). While I was waiting for the first coats of paint to dry on Sweet Science, I knocked out this little guy with the leftover paint in my palette. I kinda like him, and is certainly a good start for another (non Dirty Show) daredevil monkey painting...

Rocket Monkey
10"x8" Acrylic on pannel

Halloween Aftermath, and REEFER MADNESS white model

I would say that I am mostly recovered from the Halloween party. Its been a week and a half, and the house is 90% back to normal...Most of you are Facebook friends with me, (if you aren't, then what are you waiting for?) so you have probably seen most of the party photos there. But in case you haven't seen them, I have re-posted some of them here:

Photo taken from the upstairs porch of the Kraken at the end of the night...

Fishing for Booty...

When the cops showed up...SYKE! its just our neighbor (who is really a cop...)

Audrey shows her assets to the angler fish...

The Deep Sea Diver and Vampirate are unafraid of the scary clowns!
(okay, perhaps just a little)

So, once and for all, THANK YOU to all those who attended. It was a really great party, and I cant wait to do it all again next year!

Since there is no rest for the wicked, the strike for Evil Dead was scheduled for the day after the Spooktacular...It was rough (Mad props go out to Pete the Spyder!) but we survived...to commemorate the strike, here's a picture of the deadites being sucked back into the hell from whence they came:

Photo Credit: Amanda Williams

Also, since I didn't blog last week, I can report that Hope Operas is now in the history books! It was a really great series for lots of great causes, and it seems that it had some big fans...like, Fred Schneider of the B-52's...

I have also made significant progress on the design for Reefer Madness the Musical. This show's design process has been more about model making than drawing so far, so what I have to show you are a couple of shots of the white model in its very early stages:

Reefer Madness White Model
Paper, Foamcore, Mixed Media 1/4"=1'

The base set for the show consists of luan borders that are painted like 1930's anti-marijuana propaganda. There is a projection screen above the band USR that is masked out to look like its the smoke from the giant doobie on SR. (the band is roughly represented in purple) The rest of the set pieces will roll on and off from the wings. One element I am particularly excited about is the giant Tiki/Hooka that will be used for the orgy scene:

Orgy scene set piece, Tiki/Hooka.

The full cast is on during this scene, so I have added six hoses for them to dance with. The tiki will have smoke coming out of his nose and mouth, a silk flamepot on top and with have an articulated mouth so he can sing the chorus.

I should have the design finalized right after Thanksgiving, so stay tuned!