...and into December!

Hey Paintedbus Fans,

My mom texted me over the weekend: "You are neglecting your blog again." So I guess it's time to update everyone on my projects! Thanks mom~

Anywho, I have been busy playing graphic designer for the last month and have generated a final image for my friend Jorge's stand up paddleboard (SUP) shop. I have also helped my friend Carole >> WWW.VW4CAUSES.ORG << with a sticker and t-shirt logo for her trip. Both of these have been in the works for a while, but were finished up before Thanksgiving. I have also been spending some time on a VW Christmas card design that is still in the draft stage.

Other than that, I have been printing shirts, organizing my stained glass supplies, making new t-shirt screens and designing a few tattoos. It also looks like I will be actually doing a painting soon for my wife's co-worker Shannon (it's been a while!)

Finally, I wanted to let my southern vw friends know about a mid-winter escape I have planned.


First off, LOGOS!

Here is Jorge's Swell SUP Shop logo. Once he has his website up, I will be sure to post it here for you guys to check it out. After several drafts sent back and forth, we eventually settled on a design derived from an image I listed in my last post. Here is what we came of that:




Carole's logo had a few applications, both for stickers and for t-shirts... so I came up with some designs for each. First is the sticker. It ended up pretty similar to the initial layout I designed, but we made some changes to the font and lighting. Here is the end product for the sticker:



The T-shirt design is admittedly much more simple. One color, white on black, plain and simple.




Mike, the guy who had my do the Commack Ambulance logo, is also having me design his Christmas cards for this year. I am usually pretty shy about showing projects in a completely unfinished state, but for the sake of this update and to stoke my motivation here it goes. The sky will be different, there will be words and Christmas lights... there might also be a wreath on the front, shadows need work... lots to do still. But anyway, here is his bus, all covered in snow:




Next, T-SHIRTS!

I have several t-shirts I have printed and shipped in the last few weeks. Here are some examples. This one was printed front and back for a small additional fee and will be headed to Virginia.

Baywindow dash on the front:


Let's go camping on the rear:



I have also printed some bug shirts:

Bug Dash on its way to Ohio:


Another Bug Dash on its way to Phoenix!


and a Flying Bay sweatshirt was a Birthday present for a bus driver in Knoxville, TN:


STAINED GLASS:

I am also gearing up my studio for something I haven't done in a loooong long time. Stained glass! Almost a year ago, Jessica's grandfather passed away and I ended up with all of his stained glass supplies. He was a fantastic glass artist and many of his windows can be found in homes and churches all around New England. I hope to use the massive collection of glass, books and tools to take my work in a new direction. I did some stained glass while in school, but my illustration took priority and I put my interest on the back burner. Now with Christmas on the way, it is time to move that up on my priority list! Look forward to lots of nifty new items in the Paintedbus catalog!

NEW SCREENS!

I have had notable demand for vanagon t-shirts and witty slogans... so I have the screens stretched, new photo emulsion mixed and the $1.35 in my pocket it will take to have my designs turned into photo positives. Now, I just need to draw out the designs and bring them to staples. Should be later this week... again, new items in the Paintedbus Catalog... some patience advised.

TATTOO DESIGN!

Uh... hmm. It occurs to me that the person I am designing this for might also be reading my posts here. Sorry, this one will have to stay a secret!

A PAINTING!

Wow! It has been a long time since I painted something... I am excited! Jessica's co-worker Shannon is having me paint a picture of her mother's tattoo as a gift for her mother on Christmas.
You might ask "Why would someone want a picture of a tattoo they have embedded in their skin?" Well, as it so happens, her tattoo is on her back, and even though everyone else can see it, she can not. I'd bet this happens a lot. Without mirrors, you might even forget that it is there. Well, not if it is hanging on her wall! What a fun idea Shannon!


Finally my MID WINTER ESCAPE!

While I am not entirely sure if the mountains of Eastern TN are the best place to go to escape winter, that is where I am headed. Sometime around late January/ early February I am headed down to Elizabethton, TN (in the Subaru) to visit my friend Boyd, his high roof bus and his delightfully spacious, heated and well-thought-out painting/ body work garage. While down there, I will be painting a mural on Boyd's well known Redneck Hightop bus. I will also be getting a visit from another friend I got to meet while on my Big Southern trip: Ed "Oddyboy" and his bus Hannah. Hannah is a 84 (?) standard full westfalia and it too will be treated to a Paintedbus mural.

If I paint a little on my bus first, I will allow it to remain my lucky #9 bus... So Boyd's bus and Ed's bus will be #10 and #11 depending on who wants to go first. That's almost a whole calendar folks! By the end of 2012, A dozen legitimate Paintedbus's will be cruising all over America, HOW COOL IS THAT?!?


ok, enough typing, lol. BACK TO WORK!