New cyanotype art prints....

So, it's been a while since I've done some cyanotypes. I usually just do "one-offs" and never do the same thing on every print. This time I did it differently. I repeated the same image 15 times. I'm really happy with how they came out.

If I get a good response with this, I'll be doing different cyanotypes prints in the future.

Here's some info:

"SPACE CADET" cyanotype art print. Approx. 13.5" x 20.5" in size. Done on hand-torn, heavy watercolor paper. Signed by the artist (that's me).

Cyanotypes are a photographic printing process that gives a cyan-blue print.

Each cyanotype is independently created by hand. Variations in the exposure and the coating process give each one of them a unique quality that adds to their individuality. As you can see from the few jpgs that I've posted, no two are alike.

Very limited. Only 15 pieces were made. Once they're sold, the image will be destroyed and never made again.

Available at my website's store: robschwager's store

my Serv-o-matics packaging, part 2...

My Serv-o-matics case design.

Mindstyle changed some stuff on my case design too.

That back cut-out with Slap-happy on it, wasn't in my original design. My original concept was that I was going for more of an old radio-tube box style look.

my Serv-o-matics packaging....

First pic I've seen of my Serv-o-Matics packaging design for Brandt Peters. Mindstyle changed some stuff on the slipcase cover, (like adding the painting of Slaphappy on there) but otherwise looks pretty good.

I really hope they didn't change my case design. Time will tell....

Tattoo Highway...

So, tonight is a special night for a Bro I sorta know, Thomas. It's the premier of a his new TV program, Tattoo Highway on A&E. Some of you might remember Thomas Pendelton as the Hart & Huntington tattoo shop manager on the INKED tv show, set in Las Vegas. Well, Thomas was always the most interesting person for me to watch on that show. Everybody else had no depth and personality. Thomas had it in spades. He was a REAL person and artist set against all the phony Vegas fluff and posing that took place on that show. I've been following his work for a while now. He is a true artist and he works VERY hard for what he has. I'm looking forward to watching him again. I think you should watch too. Wed. May 27th at 10pm est on A&E. Best of luck with the show Brother!

Scream, California SCREAM!!!!!!!!

Today is the day! If you're in the El Segundo area, make sure you drop by Gasoline Gallery for one of the best art shows on the planet. Check out the roster of artists on the flyer. Good times!

ZOMbone - on sale now!

Being a bit of a custom type nut, this is a huge thrill for me.  As mentioned in an earlier post, I've been designing a bunch of new fonts lately.  Well, I'm proud to present my first font, called ZOMbone. 

It's in my store and on sale now!  

It's a royalty free custom display font inspired by zombies and old punk rock flyers and posters of mine that I used to print.  It has a killer hand-drawn feel that is ready to be customized for use on any project.  Comes in 2 versions, Solid and Lined.  Buy one, or buy both!  Either way, snag a copy of it and have fun!  Thanks!

New work...

A couple of new faux bomber panel pieces that I've finished recently for gallery shows, private collections, etc... Enjoy!

"Lady Liberty" 2009 - Enamel on metal - 53" x 40".

"California Kitten" 2009 - Enamel on metal - 52" x 39".

Zombone - the font

.
My Bro Hydro got me thinking about fonts a while back. I used to hand letter all of my poster designs back in the day. I loved drawing that stuff. I went through my flat files and found a bunch of old posters and illustrations that I could pull from. So, he offered to help me pull together some fonts and vector textures from my archives.

My first offering is Zombone.

Zombone lined:

Zombone solid:


It will be available for purchase in my store the first week of May. I'll also have some vector and bitmap texture packs taken from my cyanotype work available at that time as well. Stay tuned!

sneakie peekie....

Quick glimpse of a new bomber panel that I'm finishing up. 

Stay tuned for final pics.

*or you can follow me on Twitter and see some process pics I uploaded over the weekend*

for LIFE... again

As I've mentioned before, it's always strange, and yet an honor when somebody gets my art tattooed on themselves. I have 3 of my OWN designs tattooed on myself, but that's on ME. I designed em, so for them to be on me, that just seems normal. Anyway, I came across yet another fan of my Ol' Nasty image.

Anybody else out there that reads this blog and has seen some of my art on somebody or has it on themselves, please, drop me a line. I'd love to meet you. Thanks!

Rob

Who's House...?

As many of you faithful followers of this blog already know, I work closely with the fine artist duo of Brandt Peters and Kathie Olivas. I've been blessed that they enjoy my work enough and enable me to do design and packaging work with them. Plus, they're also great friends. This morning I awoke to find out that something I designed for the packaging of Brandt's latest toy release, the Peacemaker 32.9, ended up on national television.

On last night's episode of HOUSE, my design, (which I re-worked for printing on a large banner for Brandt's solo show at Gallery1988 this past February), was spotted in the background of one of the scenes. Now, I personally don't watch HOUSE, but nevertheless, this made my day.

Check out the screen capture and other images below.

Much love to Brandt and his awesome work! Also, many thanks HOUSE set dressers/art directors for having such awesome taste!

Cheers!


Rob

Where does it all go...?

Sorry I have been neglecting my blog as of late. Between the day job, my night time freelance work and trying to be a better family-man, my time has just been at a premium lately. I've been doing some awesome toy stuff recently. Mostly package design work, as well as some turn around work for a VERY well known artist friend. They're having a major release at a certain limited edition artist toy company next year, and I was honored to be asked to help them out.

So, i'm back to Twittering again. I've already quit it twice in the past few years. I considered it too much of a random time suck, and yeah, like I needed yet another distraction in my life.... Bummer part is, it's the only way I can keep up with what's going on in some of my friend's lives. They don't return e-mails or calls, because they're soo busy too. So, I had to sign up again.

Speaking of trying to be a better family man... 2 things have come up in the past week that have caused a paradigm shift in the way I've been trying to live my life as a husband and father. First, I've been listening to a lot of Mars Hill Church podcasts lately. My bro Don goes to Mars Hill in Seattle and he tipped me off about em a year or so ago. Really good stuff. So, this past weekend Don texts me and tells me that I need to strap in for the latest sermon, cuz it was epic. He was right. It's called "Marriage and Men". I think every man that calls himself a believer, should be made to watch this message. Secondly, I went to an seminar last week about learning how to control your anger. I've had anger issues for a while now. So much so that I've had to see a therapy specialist over the course of four years about them. What I learned last week, and how I affect my family and children when I DO rage, was extremely enlightening and beyond amazing. Now I just pray that I can retain what I've learned and continually put it into practice every waking second.

Upcoming gallery shows... Sat. May 9th at Gasoline Gallery in California.

Quite possibly my favorite gallery show that I do every year. The roster of artists is incredible, and the art is second to none.



Here's a sneak peek of the piece that I'm trying to finish for the show:



Stop back in, as I'll hopefully have more pics of her and other ones I've been working on up here soon. Thanks!


R.

Peacemaker packaging...

A photo of my packaging design for Brandt Peters' 12" tall Peacemaker 32.9 figure.

The figure will be available at New York Comic Con in limited quantities tomorrow, Saturday, February 7th from Noon to 2 PM @ Toy Tokyo’s booth (#858) with Brandt on-hand for a signing. If you can’t make NYCC, the full release is slated for March 10th, 2009.

into his asylum... Brandt Peters

So, this upcoming week, one of my best friends in the whole world, Brandt Peters, will be having his first solo gallery show in L.A. at Gallery 1988. I've had the amazing pleasure to watch Brandt grow as a fine artist since first meeting and working closely with him over 5 years ago. Even back then, when I first saw his fine art, I just knew in my heart that this guy was "one to watch". There was just something magical in his work that screamed out to me. To watch him develop has been amazing. I've relentlessly tried to expose as many people as possible to Brandt's work as I could, through my blog, various message boards, word of mouth, etc... Hopefully some of you have listened. I honestly couldn't be happier and more proud of Brandt and all his hard work as this incredible milestone in his creative world takes place on Tuesday. If you're in the L.A. area, do yourself a HUGE favor and go down to the opening. Check out his work, go up to him and say hi to him, etc... You'll be around for the beginning of an exceptional new chapter in an awe-inspiring artist's blossoming career. Trust me, you won't be disappointed.

Gallery 1988

brandtpeters.com

it's that time of year again....

Yep. It's here. Next week I'll be another year older and hopefully somewhat wiser. All in all, it's been a good year and I thank God for all his blessings on me and my family. Most of all, I'm really looking forward to sharing a batch of my wife's amazing cupcakes with my buds at work. Those of you that can't join us in person to partake in that baked bliss, I'm sorry. But please, feel free to send all cards, well wishes, large sacks of cash and new Nintendo DS or Wii gaming systems to my usual address.

Thanks!

Pinstriping & Kustom Graphics...

So, a few months ago I was contacted by the fine folks at Pinstriping & Kustom Graphics. They asked me to write a tutorial article on how I do my digital painting work. I got my comp copies yesterday. Looking GREAT!

Go out and snag a copy of issue #12.

It's finally here...

A while back I posted my December design for the gigposters.com 2009 screen printed pin-up calendar. Well, the whole thing is finished being printed and is ready for pre-order.  Here's some info:

A 12 Poster set with designs by:

Rica
Tara McPherson
Jesse Phillips
Jeph
Lonny Unitus
Mattdidit
Malleus
Robbie Fuct & 3D Glasses
R. Black
Angryblue
Doggydoodle
Rob Schwager

Screen Printed by: Andy Mac of Squeegeeville

Films by: Monster Press

Directed by: Steve Chanks

10" x 20", 3 colors

Limited to 100 sets for sale to the public.

**NOTE - this is a pre-order and they will ship on January 15th direct from Andy Mac (vancouver island, Canada).

Get em at gigposters.com

my 9" Hazel packaging...

Hitting stores this month, the 9" Hazel figure by Kathie Olivas.  Once again I've been very blessed to be asked to design the packaging for this figure.  Mindstyle always takes my design work to the next level during production and I can't wait until you all get your grubby mitts on one of these figures and see the excellent job they've done yet again.

Oh yeah... and Happy New Year!

New Years Nuisance...

Got any cash left over after the holidays...?

Then make sure you check out

Gasoline Gallery's New Years Nuisance show!

Group Art Show & Party - January 3rd - February 14th 

Artist's Reception Saturday, January 3rd 6 - 10 pm.

the passing of an icon.....

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Bettie Page, the 1950s secretary-turned-model whose controverisal photographs in skimpy attire or none at all helped set the stage for the '60s sexual revolution, died Thursday. She was 85.
Page suffered a heart attack last week in Los Angeles and never regained consciousness, her agent Mark Roesler said. Before the heart attack, Page had been hospitalized for three weeks with pneumonia.
"She captured the imagination of a generation of men and women with her free spirit and unabashed sensuality," Roesler said. "She is the embodiment of beauty."

Anybody that knows me personally, knows my fondness for Bettie. My first glimpse of her was in the late 80's. In a small fanzine called "The Betty Pages" which I picked up at my friend Julia's store, Wax Trax in Chicago. I was mesmerized and proceeded to try to find out whatever information I could about her. This was before the days of Google searches and before you could walk into a local hot topic and buy her image on a shirt. Chicks with Betty Bangs weren't a dime a dozen like they are nowadays. I wrote letters (not e-mails) to the publishers and advertisers in the zine. I had to find out more about this woman. Over the years I proceeded to amass a HUGE collection of Bettie books and photos. I eventually stopped collecting when she became "hip" and everybody was producing tons of garbage with her on it. Most of which I'm sure she never saw a dime of. Ultimately, I gave my collection away to my best bud David after I got married in '97.

After all, I had a new woman in my life to obsess over. A new object of my desires. My new wife.

Rest in peace Miss Page and Godspeed.

The world just got a little uglier without you in it.