Grafix Jam - John Rios

(iphone wallpaper above)

I decided to create a caricature of Steve Jobs holding an iPad. If you didn’t know I am a fan of all things Apple. The iPad is no exception to that rule. Sure there are people that say “Ya, but it doesn’t have a camera, it doesn’t do this or that.” I agree, those things would be great. What the iPad does have is “elegance” It’s not clunky to use. it’s the perfect size. It’s a Mac. I know that it will be a pleasure to read the news paper, watch movies on it or surf the net on it… among other things.

I’ve posted 2 versions of my Steve Jobs caricature. The smaller one is set up to work well as an iPhone wallpaper. What better way to tell someone “Bye me an iPad” than to thoughtfully load this wallpaper on their iPhone for them.

The larger version is just so you can see the details of the caricature a bit better. Hope you enjoy.

Super Bowl Sunday

The NFL’s highlight event will be happening soon. I love to watch football although as I work seven days a week, It’s rare that I take the time to watch game. Super bowl sunday, this will not be the case. I will have my Jerk Hot wings ready to go by pre-game and will enjoy watching this event, Commercials and all.

My only personal experience with the NFL was when I was part of the Super Bowl XL host committee and I created graphics for an event that welcomed the NHL to Detroit.  Great experience to meet the people on the business end of the NFL. Something you dont think about on sunday is how much good the NFL does for a town when they come for the Super Bowl. When the game is over the effect goes on for years after.

The image above was inspired by my anticipation of the game. Not supposed to be anyone or team in particular. just love that FOOTBALL!

Michelle Obama

I did this caricaure of Michelle Obama as part of the ISCA forum  . This was my contribution to the “birthday sketch” section.

Michelles’ features where great to work with. big smile and eyes.. Lots of character.

Conan VS Leno VS NBC stats, Day4-

Another day of Conan kicking major bootie on this public opinion poll and with NBC. Latest rumor is Conan will walk with a pile of cash for himself and for his staff. One more day of voting… Can Conan bust through the top of this chart? Results to be posted saturday morn. see you then.

You can vote again at the link below.

CLICK HERE TO VOTE

conan vs Jay stats day 3

Looks like Conan is building on his commanding lead. Jay has flatlined and NBC is pulling ahead to take a second place possition.

Thank you for voting. If you’ve voted once please go ahead and do it again. Your favorite is counting on you.

CLICK HERE TO GO TO VOTE PAGE

Leno vs conan stats 2

The results are in for Day 2 of my late night vote. Conan is taking a commanding lead.

You can vote too by clicking on the link below. Voting will take you to a page where you can download a free wallpaper of either Conan, Leno or a peacock for your iPhone or computer. No registration is required, no loging in and we are not collecting data about you.This vote is for fun and so you can show your support by displaying a wallpaper of your favorite.

CLICK HERE TO VOTE

conan vs jay stats day 1

Here are the results from day one. You can see Conan received almost twice as many votes than NBC and Jay.

I hear the Letterman trial starts today. That has to be good news for NBC…

You can vote too at the link below. Dont forget to download your free wallpaper for iPhone or computer.

CLICK HERE

Leno VS. Conan

Just for fun I made my own vote/poll for the Leno vs. Conan debacle. I’ve created wallpapers (iPhone and 1024×768) you can download by clicking on the vote link for who you think is winning this battle. Will post results the following day for the next couple weeks right here on my blog.
http://www.grafixjam.com/latenight.html

2010 catalog

The new catalogs are in and my graphics are featured on the cover. I’m posting a link to the download page so you can get your hands on this publication which just came out this week. Page 6 features my designs.

VPC went to the SEMA show (automotive after market show) and they gave away small samples of their window graphic lines. Harley Davidson, Mossy Oak etc. as well as my line of window graphics. Every day, my window graphic line was the first they ran out of and they actually had to have more of mine over night shipped to the show.

I hope this means people are digging the art. I really tried to come at window graphics from a new perspective. While there are several window graphic designs on the market that can make you feel emotion, I really was focusing on approaching the graphics from almost a Tshirt design perspective. I feel my desings can strike a more personal chord with people. Hope you agree and enjoy. If you think the designs look cool on your computer screen wait until you see them spralling across the rear window of your truck or car. They just reek of attitude.

DOWNLOAD CATALOG HERE

Nugent 2010

As you can tell by the title of this post, as of this month, I’ve been working with Ted Nugent for 18 years. How do I remember that. I can still hear the first phone call in my head. I was checking my answering machine from work and I hear ” Hey John This is Ted Nugent. It’s January 12 1992. I saw your artwork and I want to put it in my magazine. wonderful stuff John! Call me.”

I rememember playing that over and over again. Wow.. Ted Nugent called me. That started years of Illustrating the Gomer Award for deserving folks, Concert Tshirts, Stage props, and later creating art for CD’s like Love Grenade, Full Bluntal Nugety, I am the NRA.. and also backdrops and tour theme art, and the cover of his New York Times Best selling book= Ted White and Blue.

If it wasn’t enough to be such a huge part of his brand for the last 18 years, He has also been responsible for hooking me up with opportunities to create art you would not imagine. If you asked me what do Ted Nugent and Mattel’s Barbie Doll Toy have in common the answer is I have illustrated them both and the reason is Ted introduced me to Tommy Shaw from Styx, who introduced me to Gary Wright (Dream Weaver)  who introduced me to his Web Developer Dan who’s girlfriend works at Mattel. So I illustrated a Barbie comic book for Mattel when she needed an artist. The list of cool opportunities that I can attribute to Ted goes on forever.

Whatever you think of Ted, I tell you this. I’ve known him for a pile of years. The man treats his family and friends very well. If you read his book, Ted White and Blue you’ll get to know him better. In a nut shell, be an asset to your community, don’t look for a handout. If you’re going to hold up someone at gun point, be ready to look down the barrel of someone elses gun. Don’t mess with my rights and we’ll get along fine. That’s Ted.  I have a couple dozen other stories that can wait for another day….Love you Ted. Thank you for everything man.

One thing I have in common with him is hate mail and mean spirited comments about my work. Below is the kind of comment I get for my blog.

A nice guy from Georgia wrote the below comment about my post regarding someone steeling my artwork and claiming it as their own. Notice their email address… It’s funny!  I love it…