A delightful lil’ App for the Oakland Museum

Oh, you crazy kids and your kooky iPad Apps. Get off my i-Lawn!

Here’s a free app that features lots of nifty artwork by yours truly!

We don’t have an iPad, but I have to clear the screen of drool every time I hold one. Anyway.

Check it.

xm

michael wertz at oakland’s first friday

dear friendlies,

i’m thrilled to announce my first show of artwork in a long while. nat swope at bloom press and i have been producing prints together for a few years, and this will be a showing of a few of the work we’ve produced together (among other things). the show will be at bloom press, 2310 telegraph avenue, in oakland, on may 3, from 6pm – 9pm sharp. i hope to see your shining faces there. the image below is a preview of one of the prints that will be available.

xm

wertz illustration spring 2013 : what is the what

Hey you all,

greetings from the Land of Oaks! There’s lots of things afoot here (I can’t tell you about them quite yet – but soon), and I’m taking advantage of my Spring Break time to catch up and say hello.

First of all, I helped to produce a groovy set of snakey stamps for the Elsewhere Philatelic Society‘s Chinese New Year event..

.. and here’s the gocco-printed postcard that went with the stamp.

Check this poster design I did for this sweet couple gettin’ hitched this year.

A good deal of my time lately has been spent at my alma-mater, CCA. I’ve been teaching a Digital Tools class for the Illustration Department. I was asked to produce a Thank You card for visiting lecturers. I’ve had lots of great visitors to my class : Jim Winters, Beth Dean, John Mattos, and Gordon Studer have all dropped some wisdom in the student’s heads. Here’s what I came up with for the card:

I drove up to Mendocino College to teach a screenprinting workshop for my dear friend Susan Gross’ printmaking class:

and the results were fantastic!

And, finally, a cover illustration I did for Bay Woof magazine:

Ok, my Peeps. Enjoy your Springtimes!

xxm

moment of zen : links for my students @ cca

:::: and now ::::

:::: your moment of zen ::::

new ways to market your illustration

the art of illustration

winsor mccay – little nemo

do the scariest thing first

barry mcgee & margaret kilgallen

lynda barry & technology

gary panter interview

fellow who built a traincar in his basement

burma superstars

ny times opinion pages

the institute. the institute trailer.

powers of ten

disney’s journey to mars : 1957

mr. wertz @ the sfcb

gary panter’s sketchbook

Sister Corita’s Rules for Students and Teachers

What is Art

ICON 7 Keynote Speech

noah purifoy : joshua tree

23 envelope

steampunk octopus

hank rollins

one minute movies

in the street

secondhand sureshots

andy kaufman

john cleese on creativity

speed levitch

communication arts 2013

Friendlies,

five of the images I created for the new Camper Van Beethoven release “La Costa Perdida” have been accepted by the 2013 jury to appear in Illustration Annual 54, the May/June 2013 issue of Communication Arts.

Exciting!

xm

La Costa Perdida

Friendlies,

the new Camper Van Beethoven record is out today, and it is, indeed, a goody goody. The package design and illustrations were done by yours truly. You can stream the whole thing here, and you can buy yourself a copy here. I recommend getting a “hard copy” of the CD, since that will give you the full sensory experience of owning the record (as opposed to having these little pop gems lost in the “shuffle” of your playlists).

Go ahead, treat yourself. Buy the CD from your local music purveyor, wait for it to arrive, pour yourself a frosty beverage, put the CD on, find a comfortable place to sit and listen, and relax. Listen to each track carefully, noting your physical reaction to each song. You might get distracted. That’s ok. Sit back down, and listen to the next track. And so on. See? Feels good, right?

Do you know Camper’s older musics? You might start with Popular Songs of Great Enduring Strength and Beauty. This is a good collection. If you like that one, you’re ready for Cigarettes and Carrot Juice, a box set of their early records. Key Lime Pie is another favorite. Listen, it’s all great. Trust me.

You’ll find me at The Rickshaw Stop on February 16.

xm

Have a Scruffy Coffee Chrissmess

The t-shirts and hoodies from the Santa Monica – Venice Xmas Run arrived. Cool, huh? Notice that I did not type the word “Christmas”. That is because there’s a War on Christmas in this country (as evidenced by the lights and baubles and wreaths and whatnot on every single street corner in every single town). Apparently Chrissmess turns me into Snarky Mike Snarkerson!

Hope your Chrissmess is lovely and warm!

Thanks to Mick Hodgson and Ph.D, a Design Office.

xm