Photos from opening reception of "Nature of the Beast"

Some pictures I got from the Flatcolor Gallery flickr page of the opening of this group show I am in. Looks like a great exhibition and turnout. One day I will get there in person......






















Featuring: Deth P. Sun, Jon MacNair, EGO, Weirdo, Crystal Barbre, Stacey Rozich, Morgaine Faye, Nas Chompas, Sohaila Adela, Matt Kelly, Justin Lovato, Aron Hart, Ian Bragg, Mat Savage, Kris Kotcher

Skate deck for "Open Casket" art show

acrylic on wood - 26 1/4" long and 9 7/8 at widest point

Just wanted to post a picture of the deck I painted for the "Open Casket" show coming up tomorrow in NYC. It's curated by Corpse Corps Boards and hosted by Coat of Arms. My board will be up for auction.

Check out the details of the show: http://64.13.224.56/calendar/NYC/calendar.php?mode=view&id=3412

Santiago Uceda/Jon MacNair Sketchbook Collaboration - Part 6

With this spread I kept the idea of faces on the red page, and decided to do a cutout of the eyes. nose and mouth area that would then create a face of the opposite page.


I liked the idea of the face being a sort of surprise when you turn the page, having elements on the previous pages create the eyes, nose and teeth.


You can see how that works here in these pictures.

santiagouceda.com/

Santiago Uceda/Jon MacNair Sketchbook Collaboration - Part 5

I like the image of the number 8 and the flames-like shape, so I just brought that out more. The opposite page was just an experiment with contrasting image and text that really have no connection, to create new something with a new meaning.



Had some fun playing around with the mutation of this creature. I kept the basic colors and just adding some contrasting blues and environmental elements. Who doesn't like pink shoes?



This guy was pretty cool to begin with. Didn't want to change too much........

santiagouceda.com/

Pumpkin Police!

Yesterday I received a last minute spot illustration from Willamette Week, the alternative news weekly in Portland Oregon. The assignment was right up my alley, a jack-o-lantern. I had to finish it within a few hours, but I think it came out well given the time frame. A big thanks to the AD Ben!

http://www.wweek.com/portland/article-18135-smashing_pumpkins.html

Works for sale!

I was going through my inventory of works recently and decided to do a quick post about what all I have available. If you are interested in anything, please let me know (jon@jonmacnair.com). Appreciate it! Click on the link below to view the works on flickr:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jonmacnair/sets/72157615868225122/

Santiago Uceda/Jon MacNair Sketchbook Collaboration - Part 4

Despite having no arms, this guy is pretty happy. Maybe he's just content in his underwear and crown.



I liked the border Santiago made, so figured a blue cat mummy would be a good thing to fill it with. That and some pink eye orbs on the other page.



Had some fun fleshing out the basic face that Santiago provided. Gave him arms, pockets, and a nifty striped shirt :)

santiagouceda.com/

Santiago Uceda/Jon MacNair Sketchbook Collaboration - Part 3

I gave the guy some hair, even though it looks like a toupee.



Just wanted to add some color to these great snakes!



Initially I did some stuff to this fellow that made him look a bit too much like Pikachu (totally unintentional), so I had to fix that.

http://santiagouceda.com/

Curious Collection No. 9 - gifted

Just mailed this piece to my friend Reid (as a thank you), who helped me a ton with my new website and all the html gobble-d-gook.

Santiago Uceda/Jon MacNair Sketchbook Collaboration - Part 2

before and after pictures......


The left page was kinda blank, so I just made the background gray and then decided I wanted to paint something yellow over top of it. I like that combination. The fish just kinda came to mind, and then the text is taken from a short story by one of my favorite authors, Shirley Jackson. On the other page, "P" is for "pink" or "people" or maybe even puke (hmmm....not sure about this).



The face on the left page was just begging to be made into a skull. The rest of the body just kinda followed. I added the eyeballs later. Makes him kinda kooky looking. The green creature on the right makes me think of a flying grape or something. Maybe I was hungry.....and the yellow iguana was cut out of an old science book. I colored it.



This one I just kinda colored the hell out of. The little figure to the far left is cut out from an old stamp, and the whole text I added at the end. It's from Macbeth. I thought the guy looked kind of kingly......but doomed too.

http://santiagouceda.com/

Santiago Uceda/Jon MacNair Sketchbook Collaboration - Part 1

So I think I have mentioned this before, but I am doing a sketchbook collaboration with fantastic illustrator, Santiago Uceda. Santiago came up with the idea and I suggested we trade sketchbooks so we could work on them simultaneously and each have one to keep. Because we are both pretty busy working on paid projects etc, this got pushed to the back burner for a long while, but I finally got a bit of time to work on it, and I pretty much went full speed ahead. Once I started, I had a lot of fun with it. I played with a lot of color and used acrylic paints, something I don't do too often. I think the nice thing about a collaboration is you already have a starting point when working with the other persons share of art. It's also really cool to see a melding of two styles. I'm posting some before and after pics on here. Since this is Santiago's book, the "before" pictures are his work and the "after" pictures are mine. I have a whole bunch of pages done, but I will be posting a few pics at a time. Hope you enjoy!










http://santiagouceda.com/

Works from "Nature of the Beast" show are now available for purchase!

I already posted the flyer for the "Nature of the Beast" show @ Flatcolor Gallery (for which this image was used), but just figured I'd post a better image of this piece.

Also, all the pieces from the show are now online and available for purchase! Check 'em out! http://flatcoloroctober2011preview.blogspot.com/#!/2011/10/nature-of-beast-group-show-october-6th.html

New work - "Ravished"

This is a piece I completed last month for the "Nature of the Beast" show at Flatcolor Gallery in Seattle. I had a few small works going into the show, and I thought I should also have a larger more intricate piece as well. Something you could really spend some time looking at. It took a while to get the whole composition figured out, and finalize all the details of the various creatures. I had an inspiration for this piece, which was the temptation of Saint Anthony. If you have seen images of this in art, you'll know what I'm talking about. Often this scene consists of a bunch of demons clawing and pulling at Saint Anthony in mid air. A pretty striking image. I've always remembered it and wanted to pay some sort of tribute to that. This was a fun piece to do despite the time crunch I was under. I had a lot of textures to draw, so that was probably the main thing I had to consider, next to the composition. It's a lot of figures and they are very much interlocked together, so sketching it out was my least favorite part. If you live in Seattle, head on over to Flatcolor and have a look :)

details below:

purchase this work here: http://flatcoloroctober2011preview.blogspot.com/#!/2011/10/nature-of-beast-group-show-october-6th.html

Tarot card drawing for the "Bewitching" show at Stranger Factory

Here is one of my new drawings I did for the show. It's based on the 'Devil Card' from a Tarot deck. It's an iconic image that has been illustrated in many ways throughout history. This is my version. He should really be holding the torch in his left hand, but for the sake of the composition, I put it in the right.

this piece is for sale: HERE


below are some tarot card examples I looked at for the design:

A busy month

I've been really busy this month! Not only did a take small trip to Louisiana to visit relatives, but I've been occupied with a multitude of projects, shows and freelance jobs.

I just finished a freelance job for Computer Arts. I'll be excited to see how it all comes out. They are combining the tutorial I did with another tutorial done by an animator. Pretty cool.

I also had three shows open this past week in Portland, Albuquerque and Seattle.

I completed a commission that had been on the back burner for a while now (see "Saints Commission" blog post)

I finished a piece for a skateboard art show where I painted a blank deck with acrylics. I don't usually work with acrylics or paint on wood, so it was a different experience for me. It kind of got me in the mood for painting on more wood, so maybe I will give that wood panels I have a try.

I've been working on a sketchbook collaboration this week. I've had the sketchbook for a while but haven't had much time to work on it. But this week I dove in and am having fun with it!

I have some more shows coming up that I need to create more work for. One in Culver City and one in Albuquerque. I'm also working on another piece for the annual Postcards From the Edge show in NY (early January). I always participate in that, and I figure it doesn't hurt to get it done early. Things get crazy around December.

I am also waiting for some projects and publications to be released. There is a record album I did the artwork for that should be coming out this fall.

And most recently I have been asked to do a tattoo design commission and a comic strip panel. So there is a lot of stuff going on right now. And I'm sure I left out something in that long explanation. I'll probably think of it later......