PFTE artwork 2012

This is the piece I created for the 2012 "Postcards From the Edge" show.

"Down Below with the Fishes"
India ink on paper
4" x 6"
2011

 
Pictures from the show at Cheim & Read in NY.

Pencil Sharpener

Check out this pencil sharpener I got recently. My aunt came to visit and it was a Christmas present. Here's the backstory: About 5 years ago, my grandparents both passed away. During the visit for the funeral, we stayed at my uncle's (their eldest son) house. He had all all their things laid out in the dining room and people could take things they wanted. I saw a pencil sharpener just like this one and really wanted it. Being an artist, I would surely make good use of it. For one reason or another, I didn't get it. Fast forward some years later, and my aunt gives me a very similar one to my great surprise and delight. She said it was another one that belonged to my grandfather, and this was the one that was attached to his workbench. He used to make a lot of different things, like furniture and wooden boxes etc in his spare time. So I know he used this one a lot and that made it all the more sentimental. I'm really happy I have it. Right now, I don't have anything to attach it to, but I find that if I hold it a certain way between my knees and carefully turn the handle firmly but slowly, I can make it work. Still a great sharpener, and by the looks of it, it's old. I've tried finding out exactly when these were manufactured, but no luck. But I'd say it's probably at least 60 years.

Postcards From the Edge 2012 - this weekend!

The "Postcards From the Edge" show officially starts today and goes through tomorrow. If you live in NYC, don't miss this chance to snap up some great artwork for cheap!

Cheim & Read
547 W 25th St, New York

Saturday - 10am-6pm
Sunday - 12pm-4pm

Postcards From the Edge 2012

It's almost here! I'm participating once again!

If you live in NYC, go check it out! Great art and at a great price for a great cause. Can't beat that!
http://www.thebody.com/visualaids/current/postcards2012.html

Tumblr

Alright, so I decided to make a tumblr account today. I'm not sure if I have everything set up correctly yet, but it seems to be working ok for the most part. Kinda new to this whole tumblr thing......but hopefully it will prove beneficial in the future in terms of getting my work out into the world. We'll see.....in the meantime, please follow me if you have an account and are a fan of my work. Thanks to anyone who already follows me here on blogger. I appreciate each and every one of you!

http://jonmacnair.tumblr.com/

p.s. I'm still keeping my blog here :)

My sister sent some phone pics of the drawings I made for her, now hanging on the walls.

Juxtapoz Feature

This week a couple people alerted me about a post that Juxtapoz made on their website about my work. They have featured me on the site before, so I was really surprised and grateful that they did it once more. There are a number of images of my work on the site now. A big thanks to Juxtapoz! Really made my holiday :)

http://www.juxtapoz.com/Illustration/jon-macnair

More Christmas Art

This is a drawing I made for my sister as a Christmas present. She's traveled all over the world and lived in Japan for a number of years, so I wanted to incorporate a traveler figure somehow, and of course, a GIANT rabbit too. Please don't ask me to explain that because I doubt I could make any sense of it. It's just a curiously random drawing. The title is:

"Despite Having Never Encountered One of Such Massive Proportions In All Her Travels, She Found It To Be Surprisingly Docile"

India ink on paper
8" x 10"
2011

Bird Painting

Made this watercolor painting for my grandmother for Christmas. It's a European Goldfinch.

Happy Holidays :)

Hoping everyone has been enjoying the holiday season, wherever you are!

I managed to squeeze in some time to make some Christmas presents for family members this year. For instance, I made this for my brother. He's a Star Wars fan. I figured if anything, Jabba would be really fun to draw. His dialogue translates to: "Go Work Out You Weak-Minded Burnout Scum!". Jabba doesn't really have any nice names for people, so this is what you get :)

I'll post some more images of art gifts I made for people tomorrow.

Drawing Do-over

Back in mid-September I sent a piece of art to Romania that was purchased. Unfortunately, it never got there. It was sent as a package and I had to fill out the whole customs form etc. After several months and feeling like it was lost forever, I decided to re-draw the piece. Wasn't a big deal because it was just a small postcard-sized work, but I was nervous if this second attempt would make it there or not. This time I put it in a card-sized envelope, as if it was a letter. And guess what? It made it there in 11 days. Speedy! Glad the whole thing is over and I learned what I did. I guess some countries have more reliable postal systems that others. Here's the piece:


the redo


the original (now lost)

AMMO magazine "Monchrome"

Dave Hughes, the creator of AMMO magazine recently asked me to take part in this special edition called "Monochrome". As the name suggests, it features black and white artwork, and artists who primarily work in black and white. I've contributed to a previous issue of the magazine, and was really happy to be asked to participate again :)

As always, the printing is fantastic and the layout excellent. Each artist gives a little mini interview about their work and why they are drawn to black and white. Check it out if you can get your hands on a copy!

here's the list of artists: Alex Pearson / Alison Richards / Andres Guzman / Angela Keoghan Annita Maslov / Christopher Worker / David Cousens / James Wilson Jeffrey Alan Love / Jo Fallon / Joel Benjamin / Johanna Basford / Jon MacNair / Jordan Debney / Juan David Gómez / Kate Copeland / Kyle Stecker / Lauren Crow / Mr Millerchip / Mr Mead / Mutt / Nick Deakin / Nick Sheehy / Peter Diamond / Pit / Rebecca Hiscocks / Rey / Ross McEwan Simon Riviere / Tom Lane / Yelena Bryksenkova / Yema Yema

http://www.ammomagazine.co.uk/

Adam & Eve

I've joined up with the website Adam & Eve Projects. It's just another way to see what I've been up to (as well as a slew of other artists!). Head on over and check it out (and tell your friends!).

http://www.theadamandeveprojects.com/artist/jon-macnair

December update

These past few months have been busy ones, although I don't have many blog posts to show for it. Been working on a lot of projects and works for things yet to be released. Here's the rundown:

-Just finished working on a record sleeve jacket design (a screenprint to be wrapped around a gatefold record sleeve). This is a project that has been in the works for quite a while. I worked on the cover design for the record back in 2010 I believe. Been so long I can't quite remember. But this is the final part of the project, and it should be released in the coming months.

-Worked on a collaborative comic project. It was my first time doing a graphic novel/comic strip style layout, and I would say I learned a lot in the process. However, if I make another attempt at it, I'll probably illustrate my own narrative.

-Created a postcard for the Postcards From the Edge show, hosted by Visual Aids. That's coming up soon at the beginning of January.

-Made some new images to add to my website. Trying to flesh that out a bit.

-Created a character for a collaborative project based in Venezuela.

-Made quite a few drawings/paintings for Christmas gifts.

"Disiecta Membra No. 2" - SOLD

A new small piece that I recently sold.

5.5" x 5.5" - India ink and watercolor on paper

Pink Elephants

I made this as a secret Santa gift recently for my friend Janette. Normally it's kind of up in the air when it comes to deciding what to draw for someone (when they haven't commissioned you), but this was easy. I knew she loved elephants, so I decided to draw some pink elephants from the movie Dumbo. I'm sure you remember that scene if you've seen the film. I don't know how anyone could NOT remember it. It's so wonderfully weird. I went on youtube and watched the sequence, pausing the clip to draw the elephants. Then I combined a bunch of them into this jumbled composition.

It's drawn in India ink with watercolor 7" x 9"

Saints Commission Update

Just wanted to share a photo of a commission I did a few months back for a relative. This is how the drawing looks framed (colors are a little off in the photo).



You can see a better picture of the work itself in this archived blog post:
http://scritchyscraps.blogspot.com/2011/10/saints-commission.html

Made me chuckle

A guy described my work in a short article written about the Winter Salon show at Stranger Factory. It's a funny description that made me laugh out loud a little. I think because it's a completely accurate description, that also sounds somewhat ridiculous when hearing someone else verbalize it.

http://alibi.com/art/39738/Stranger-Factorys-Winter-Salon-is-like-an-adorabl.html

Winter Salon video - part 1

One of my drawings makes an appearance near the end of this clip.

Buy works from the Winter Salon :)

You can now view and purchase the works online that are part of the Winter Salon show at Stranger Factory. I contributed some pieces to the exhibition, and am in good company. The show looks great and features the work of many prominent contemporary artists. Check it out!

http://strangerfactory.com/exhibitions-current

New Postcards

Got myself some new postcards printed recently.

Vexadorae

Sometimes I have a hard time coming up with names for my drawings. If it's a made up creature, it can be especially trying. In this case, my friend Reid came up with the name.




This is one of the pieces on view at Stranger Factory in NM for the Winter Salon.

Pictures from Winter Salon opening reception at Stranger Factory

Thanks so much to Valency for taking these pictures and sharing them with me :)

















All my works are for sale. Most are in the $200 range: http://strangerfactory.com/exhibitions-current

Also, there may be a video of the show later that will appear on youtube. I'll keep you posted on that...

Ballad of Petra Doe

The kind folks over at Ballad Of... magazine invited me to be part of their new issue. If you are not yet familiar with the publication this is what they have to say about themselves (according to their website):

"Ballad Of… is the product of two Northern Art geeks based in our South London flat finding, publishing and drooling over art we heart. We (Lindsey & Claire) met studying photography at Blackpool, moved to London and decided to produce our own magazine and online exhibition space for brand new, emerging artists – if we love it, if its fresh and new, we publish it. Can’t wait to hear from you via email or snail mail, to contribute or to chat!

balladof.co.uk is the heart of everything we’ve got going on. Everything that we love, do and find flows through it. Ballad Of… in print is published bi annually, and Ballad Of…Presents holds regular events, exhibitions and collaborations. It’s all about getting what we love, seen. And it’s all about you lot getting involved."

You can buy copies of the issue here! (I haven't seen the finished issue yet, so I need to order my copy asap)
http://balladof.co.uk/buy-petra-doe/

Winter Salon @ Stranger Factory

Sorry for the lateness of this post, but the opening reception of the Winter Salon at Stranger Factory was last night. Here is the flyer.

I'll post some pictures of the opening if/when I can find some. Also, once the artwork images are online, I will post that link too. You will be able to purchase works through the site :)

http://strangerfactory.com/exhibitions-view/24