Sketches and Photos from SWEENY TODD: Prog Metal Version

This has been the longest lapse in ArtByJaredBlog postings ever. Well, the dry spell stops TODAY! Below are two images of one of the big projects from this past Summer (BTW, Summer is gone y'all) and I am hoping to get everybody caught up over the next few weeks as we ramp up for HALLOWEEN!

So, in keeping with the Halloween spirit, here are the sketches and set photos from Sweeny Todd: Prog Metal Version (Landless Theatre Company)

Set Design, Sweeny Todd, Pencil and Photoshop

Production Photo (sorry I dont remember who I got the photo from) Andrew Baughman and Nina Osegueda pictured

Imagination Stage's Childrens Ball and the Three Amigos

Since Yuri's Night has closed I have been busy working on Imagination Stage's Children's Ball, which happened this past Saturday...below are the set designs and then event photos of the final product...the theme this year was essentially paired with their current theatrical production, a hip hop version of Cinderella.

 A big thanks goes out to Jason Krznarich for building from my photoshop wizardry...Rachel Garmon for making it all happen on the I.S. tip, Pavlos Karalis for the event photos above and big ups to my long-suffering wife who was instrumental in the design process.

Also, I should mention that I participated in the "El Mundo De Los Luchadores" show with Art Whino (at the DC Fairgrounds) and a lucky couple was able to walk away with my luchador art...

Los Tres Amigos, Acrylic on Masonite 48" x48"

I was perhaps over-thinking the project...but basically, I was envisioning a hopeful sign painter in the 1950's in the small town of Santa Poco, having been told of the exploits of these strange gringos that saved the town in the 1930, and the rousing speech of Lucky Day that said that we all have our own El Guapo to face in life. Since luchadors often have a civic role and a positive message for communities in Mexico, I thought that a second generation of luchadors might have modeled themselves after the three amigos. The hand painted sign was never taken down and got 60 years of weather on it....and then I added the tromp l'oeil Christmas lights for effect...
 

C2YN 2014 Thank You!

I'd like to take the opportunity to thank everyone that came out to C2YN 2014 at the Anacostia Arts center last weekend. It was one of our best shows to date. I will be collecting the photos from the event and posting them over the next couple of weeks. Please, if you have any good photos, please post them to the Astro Pop Events Facebook page.

In the meantime, I will be working hard on recovering from the blowout (I still have to put the many many rockets away). I'd like to remind everyone that the art show, Space Truckin', that accompanied the C2YN event is still up, and will be up for the remainder of the month. Below are my additions to the show:

Moon Scootin' Monkey 8"x10" Acrylic on Board (sold)

Bombs Away 36" x 48" Acrylic on Canvas

The Giving Tree

Oh, I guess before I tell you about how Mardi Gras turned out, I should show you the project that was running concurrently...

Before that, however, I would be remiss if I did not mention the C2YN Countdown Clock:

T-Minus 23 Days Until Countdown To Yuri's Night 2014!

Okay, back to the giving tree event. Well, it was actually a benefit for Children's National Hospital, called the Heroes Curing Childhood Cancer Gala, held at the Four Seasons Hotel in Georgetown. The reason I have called it the giving tree event is because they were basing the theme of the even on Shel Silverstien's book, the Giving Tree. They wanted something that referenced the book, but did not a direct copy of his artwork (which is one of the first things I brought up at the first meeting). So, I whipped up this sketch:

 They liked the tree concept, and the light up heart carved into the tree, but they thought that it was too thick in the middle...so I whipped up a second version with a thinner trunk, after consulting with Walt to make sure that I wasn't making it too skinny to support itself:

 They approved of this version, and added a pair of portals to the order, using the art from Shel Silverstien.

 So, in the end, Walt did a fantastic job of making the armature and branches. He wired up 100 sets of leaf groupings with a small LED that would twinkle when plugged in. The photos I have below do not do the installation justice because A) they were taken with my phone B) the twinkle LEDs are not lit up C) the rest of the room is not set up or lit because these photos were taken at 2am the night before the event....I show them here to give you an idea of how close we got to delivering what was in the design...

Stay tuned for next week, when I show you the final product of Mardi Gras!

WATCH AWARD and Part One of DC Mardi Gras

Right off the bat I should mention that on Sunday I received a WATCH Award for outstanding set design for a musical 2013. It was for Dominion Stage's Avenue Q. It was my tenth nomination. Thanks to everyone who made it possible, especially my wife Kate, Dave Moretti and Arlington County Cultural Affairs.

Before I start this weeks blog post, I should also kick off the the C2YN countdown...
 

Countdown to Yuri's Night Countdown Clock: 

T-Minus 30 days. 

Be sure to get your tickets early...here


So, it's impolite to show designs of a project that is still in progress, because much of the magic of live theater is, well, seeing it live and not a few weeks beforehand on the Artbyjaredblog. So, now that the 2014 DC Mardi Gras is a distant memory, I can share some of the early false starts and progress sketches...

So the client is the DC Mardi Gras, which is the "Expat" New Orleanians annual version of Mardi Gras here in DC at the Dupont Circle Hilton. I have helped design elements for this event off and on since 2002, particularly redesigning the portals for Thursday and Friday nights last year.

This year they wanted me to redesign the ceiling of the main event, Saturday Night. There was not much to go on, other than that they wanted something different and less "Tinseltown"...so in late September, I made a first sketch that I knew would be rejected, simply to "start the conversation". I proposed a giant crown, that would light up, rotate and have large fabric swags:

So they did not like this because it was too similar to what they had in the past, and was still too "Tinseltown". So, I went back to the drawing board and came up with a couple variations on a theme.

The puppeteer jester would be a giant sculptural jester puppet that also had puppets he was controlling...so, he'd rotate and move his arms to control the puppets...below is the sketch showing what he would look like in the space:

I also made a version that would be much larger...

And if they didn't like that, I had a "Jester Band" sculptural centerpiece up my sleeve:

But, as it turns out, these were not what they were looking for at all. So, it started to dawn on me that "Tinseltown" meant something significant to them... These designs were all very "Contemporary" Bourbon Street. That is, they were the type of thing you would see covered in glitter and going down the street in today's Mardi Gras. What they wanted was something that was much older looking...classy...not glittery and gaudy...not "Tinseltown"....Next week I'll show you what came of that epiphany, and actually made it on to the floor of the Hilton...

COUNTDOWN TO YURI'S NIGHT: ANACOSTIA EDITION

I actually have lots of things I want to share with you that have happened in the past few months, but it has become a lot of information to pass along, which means that I have been putting it off every week. And the list gets longer. I will parcel condensed versions of the exciting things that have been happening to me next week, but THIS week I am going to share the announcement of this year's COUNTDOWN TO YURI'S NIGHT!

From the people who bring you Elvis' Birthday Fight Club...  A SCI-FI EXPEDITION ART, BANDS, BURLESQUE, DANCE PARTY, AND MORE... April 12, 2014  |  Anacostia Arts Center | Tickets $25  |  21+ Tickets Now On Sale! Boldly Going Where No Yuri's Night Has Gone Before...East of the River! To make getting to our new C2YN location easier, we are securing free parking and free shuttle service from and to Eastern Market Metro and Anacostia Metro stations. This year we have awesome additions to the performer roster, better views for the show (smaller capacity...reserve early), hard liquor (you may need those shuttles), and an even more ridiculous celestial costume contest planned for you. Details below. See you April 12! Sincerely, C2YN Mission Control, www.c2yn.com Phase 1: An intimate SCI-FI Burlesque Show starring... MR. GORGEOUS, who is winging his 6'6 inches of colassal allure down from NYC for his second Countdown to Yuri's Night; Cos Play cutie MAKI ROLL; the classy, sassy  CANDY DEL RIO; and the glitzy glamour of GIGI HOLLIDAY! The show would not be complete without antics from the Crew of the S.S.S. Gagarin Matt Grant as Number Two, Kittie Glitter as Capt. Ballcrusher, Drinkbot as himself, and Special Guest Patrick Doneghy will try very hard for their fourth episode NOT to be the one with the whales! Shows at 8 pm, 9:30 and 11! Phase 2: Live Bands Keep the Party Engines Running... ...you may think the "Mothership" has landed when JAMES TERRELL THE COLOR OF SOUND mixes some P-Funk Covers into their original rock, blues, reggae and soul music... and BUZZING into the party are the crowd-favorite Surf-Rockin Mutants, ATOMIC MOSQUITOS who deliver a full-on surf assault sprinkled with the with the sci-fi sounds of a Theremin. Phase 3: Make Sure you've packed your moon boots for the Lunar Dance Party... with DJ Adrian Loving! Phase 4: Art Exhibition The opening of SPACE TRUCKIN', an art exhibition where 15 local artists, with an inferior mastery of physics and an abundant admiration of Science Fiction, explore modes of futuristic transportation.   Plus... Celestial COSTUME CONTEST at midnight, Complimentary Space Junk, retro-future Airstream Tours...and more!!!!!! Tickets Now On Sale! The 2014 Countdown to Yuri’s Night is funded in part by the DC Commission on the Arts & Humanities, an agency supported in part by the National Endowment for the Arts. C2YN also thanks Anacostia Arts Center and Zip Car for their support! What the Heck is Yuri's Night? On April 12, 1961 Russian Cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin embarked on the historic first manned space flight. Twenty years later on April 12, 1981, the US launched the first space shuttle flight. We think that's something worth celebrating! Every year on April 12, Yuri's Night parties are held all around the world; it's like the Cinco de Mayo for space. Whereas many Yuri’s Night parties focus on the science-fact of the holiday, Countdown to Yuri's Night (C2YN) celebrates the holiday with silly, creative, and edgy artistic interpretations of space exploration. Facebook Website Copyright © 2014 Astro Pop Events, All rights reserved. unsubscribe from this list    update subscription preferences

My T-shirt design was on the show COMMUNITY!

I am a big fan of the tv show Community. I have seen every episode on Hulu plus (because I prefer to watch things whenever I want, I dont have cable and the HD signal is kinda iffy in my neighborhood). I appreciate the detail that is put into every episode. I was looking at the details in the background this morning while I was eating my chex, and then BAM! right in the foreground was a familiar T-shirt. I paused the playback, and there, plain as day, was my T-shirt design on the chest of the character Abed Nadir!

SEASON 5, EPISODE 4 of Community...featuring my T-Shirt!

The design is actually based on a large velvet painting that I created for Spooktacular VII (2006)...it was the Vegas themed year and Roy (of Zeigfried and Roy) had recently been mauled by one of his white tigers...so, I thought it was an appropriate Halloween painting to give away as a prize. We usually have a game that we make up and play at the Spookatcular, and I create prizes to give away. We put a very high price on the painting (we had lots of gaming chips as the unit of exchange) figuring that no one would actually earn enough to "buy" it...but Yancy Davis (formerly of the Sweettravelblog.com) rounded up all the chips from people leaving at the end of the night...well, a deal was a deal, and I found myself, a week later, delivering a giant velvet painting to his house. Ain't she a beauty?

So, fast forward to 2010 where I get an email from the T-Shirt company Sub_Urban Riot asking if they can use my painting as a design for one of their T-Shirts...I negotiated a deal with them and they printed up some tees, and sent me one which Kate currently wears.

I had forgotten about the whole thing until this morning, eating chex and watching one of my favorite shows. I am honored and humbled because I have great respect for everyone involved in the show...and in a way, I am part of the show now too....if you want one of your very own, you can buy one HERE.

Elvis Birthday Fight Club Round Up

 The ArtByJaredBlog has gone a bit dormant over the past month and a half, mostly because I have been very busy with Elvis' Birthday Fight Club. But also, I think there is an element of "netiquette" at work here. That is, I have not posted lots of the EBFC goings on because I dont want any spoilers leaking out before EBFC. Also, I worry that because we are promoting the show and posting pictures all the way up and through the event that there might be some "EBFC fatigue" out there...at the ABJBlog, I try to keep a record of things done (that's the "log" in "blog") as well as try to give folks a peek behind the curtain of the creative process. So, what I am hoping to do with this post is give a succinct round up of the best of the best of the EBFC photos, and throw in some behind the scenes shots that you haven't seen elsewhere.

...And then we can start talking about C2YN! :)

Promo Shoot...Zombie Apocalypse style

Four 40" x 30" velvet Elvises that I painted as prizes for the Quaalaise toss

Promo Shoot...I love my cake from a trash can lid...

We did not use this promo shot as much as I would have liked...its my favorite of the bunch

Promo Shot with ring girls Candy and Rev Valentine

The Washington Post had a nice Sunday spread with us the following week

The Quaalise logo and capsule sketches

Saturday Night Beaver

VICTORY! (and a great shot of the confetti cannons I made for the show)

A cloud of pure Colombian...

Four Score and seven dollars ago we made this puppet

The Flying Spaghetti Monster tries to intimidate Kirk and Capt Crunch

Saturday Night Beaver intimidates Justin Beiber

Donkey Kong throws barrels at Ding Dong with the help of Stage Ninjas (Koken)

Baby Jesus' take on a "baptismal font"

The traditional EBFC opening

Vladimir Putin threatens to blow everyone up with is nukes

Donkey Kong about to throw some poo

Obama Care Bear 2.0