Dreaming at Twilight

Going Dark January 18th

2012-01-18T00:00:00.003-06:00

To anyone who visits today, I am observing the dark out against SOPA/PIPA. For those unaware, please check out the link. In response to the event, I made this graphic to work on my facebook timeline page as well. It's a silenced version of my "In The Groove" character for the day. I felt he'd be appropriate.

12 hours on Wednesday, January 18th, 2012. 8am EST to 8pm EST. That's all we ask. STOP using the internet for one day. Show your personal defiance of this bill. The bill itself may be shelved at the moment, due to such uprising, but still show your disapproval for it by turning off your computer and going outside to shovel away the dreadful snow, curl up to read, or anything far more worthy of your time. Be sure to tell people you won't be using the net today. Tweet how you will use your newfound time and tag it: #SOPASTRIKE

If sites like Wikipedia, Google, Reddit, Flickr, WordPress and thousands of others aren't even going to be online, why should you?

Hipster Animal Derby

2011-09-16T00:00:00.003-05:00

The Do-Over Derby Returns!

2011-08-26T00:00:00.006-05:00

And Now... For Something Completely Different (digital art - request)

2011-06-17T05:00:00.000-05:00

I don't do this enough: create pieces strictly in the name of fun. This piece below was a request from a friend. The idea? Create a piece based off old recruitment posters of the 17th and 18th century, only with a steampunk twist. Here's the example shown to me, however I proceeded to look further online to find similar pieces to use as ideas. Now, I admit, I have no experience drawing detailed steam ships of the 17th and 18th centuries. I honestly would not know where to begin. So, at the request of my friend, he suggested I use the ship in this scanned lithograph and make some modifications to it: firstly, that flag had to go and fly the colors of the Grand Union flag. Next, the litho needed to look like it had seen better days on aged parchment paper. with a little fudging, removing any color and switching to a custom sepia tone, I came up with a custom graphic for the ship. I went in search of a random parchment paper texture, since I don't currently have the materials to create my own, I came across artist, caminopalmero. Her textures are subtle and easy to use for the purpose of this free project.

The textual layout was most important. Odd spacing and kerning, unusual punctuation, multiple font usage, and a lot of information needed to grace the page. After about six or seven modifications, the text finally laid exactly where required. The result? A poster fit for the upcoming crew of the Narwhal.

Anthropormorphic Food Derby

2011-06-03T00:00:00.003-05:00

Shirt Titles Reinterpreted Derby

2011-05-06T00:00:00.011-05:00

So It's Not In Teen Magazine, But ... (CottageLife)

2011-02-01T00:00:00.019-06:00

I should have written about this prior to February. Especially when their next edition is due to hit Canadian mailboxes by mid-February, and newsstands by the beginning of March. With the holidays and all, consider it missed due to being extraordinarily busy. Yes, we shall go with that.

I got an email in September/November of 2010, asking if one of my designs could be used in a magazine article. I'm thinking, "Great Camp Tees". Nope, the request was simply for a piece of artwork as part of their layout in which they tested Marshmallow makers. You guys remember "Oh BURNED!!!", right? The tee that also ended up on 'Spencer Shay' on iCarly? Well the staff at CottageLife decided to use my artwork to detail the high risk of burning your marshmallows in a campfire, versus in a microwave. The result? After a quick email to shirt.woot to gain permission, and a small payout from the magazine, we ended up with this magazine page shown below from the Winter 2010 edition of their magazine. You don't see the artwork on the website if you go to their trimmed down write-up, but I believe, if you sign up for their online version, you can see this same page on the subscriber area. So here it is, my first design in a magazine... for all of you to see. :)

I Dreamed A Dream (Shirt.Woot)

2011-01-27T00:00:00.001-06:00

It's finally happened. I let my mind wander and out pops a pun of sorts, and thus On Cloud Nine was created. Most surprisingly, shirt.woot scooped it up before any other site could get their hands on it (sorry, Nathan). Be that as it may, I've been waiting for months to see what the fate of this design would be. Late December? Early March? I had no idea. And every night, I've been waiting to see when it hit the site. Earlier this week, in the post below this one, you'll see I was printed at my workplace, Tilteed, in honor of the one year anniversary of my starting with them as a curator. Who knew the site at TeeMagnet.com would show not one, but two of my tees at once? I'm floored and ecstatic all at the same time. Will it sell 3,000 tees in 24 hours? That's up to you guys. My first prints ever sold out the max levels set at woot in the past. This may not hit the bar, but dammit, we're gonna try.

On shirt.woot.com, Thursday, January 27th, 2011, you can buy this tee for $10. If it sells out, you can't get it again til Friday, January 28th, 2011 after 12:01am for $15. Get it now, before it falls off the shirt.woot top 20 list!

Oh TeeMagnet, you look so pretty :D

Talk Punny To Me (Tilteed.com)

2011-01-24T14:00:00.002-06:00

I know what you're thinking, "Gee slacker, when are we going to see you print again?" Believe me, when I say I've been working on it. Some things become a priority over my drawing for the moment, which ultimately makes me weep bitter tears, but I think I may be done for the winter's lull and hopefully will be back in full swing soon. So what do I do to satiate those who want to see a print? Simple. I grovel to my boss at Tilteed.com and ask him if he could feed one of his own starving artists. Nah, you guys know that's not how it goes over there. I love working for Tilteed and I encourage anyone interested in printing with us to hit me up (at the Tilteed email on the side bar). In the meantime, I suggest you check out a slightly modified version of a piece I did a couple years ago: Ewe-Boat. Yes it's a horrible pun, but face it, that's what you people love... deep down inside. And if you don't love it... BAHHHHHHHHH!

It's available for $12 from Monday, January 24th 12pm PST through Thursday, January 27th 12pm PST

Tilteed's Tiny Treasures

2010-12-15T00:00:00.001-06:00

Most of you know I work for Tilteed.com - a T-shirt shop based out of Portland, Oregon and bringing you new tees every 72 hours. Shop owner, Patrick Treadway decided to 'sweeten the pot', we should also have freebies to give to the fans when they make a purchase. The idea became: Recreate the Tilteed logo in your own style. The first four were created by tee greats: A.mar.illo, Wotto, BootsBoots and Againstbound. They were well received by all and many people loved the designs. After we passed out a large amount of those, Patrick ran a double set: four buttons with the manipulated logo by four new artists and four random tees turned buttons. This second batch had one of my creations in it: "Tentacular Tilteed" a sea-inspired button with the company logo. Here are some pictures of all the buttons and the artwork, up close and personal.

Oooh You're So Sticky (StandOut Stickers.com)

2010-11-03T00:00:00.013-05:00

I'd been waiting like a kid in a candy shop. That is to say, if said kid had to wait for nearly a year to get her freebie stickers from a promotional deal at StandOutStickers.com. I can't hate on them... the stickers were free! But alas, sitting at the door every day, waiting for that little package to come was far more than I could bear. Then one day, not realizing I hadn't worshiped the postal service gods (maybe I should have been praying to postal saints... are there any??), it came. One crisp, white package with my name on it. And within? Stickers created by me, printed by SOS.com, and hopefully coveted by you guys. Maybe I'll run a contest. What do you say?

Fall Colors Derby

2010-10-22T00:00:00.005-05:00

I Love Baseball, But You've Gotta Go... (Custom work)

2010-09-17T00:00:00.083-05:00

So Patrick, the owner of Tilteed.com, comes to me last week, "I need a logo for a softball team that has a weird name." No problem, right? Take a look at what I came up with and see if you can figure out the humor in this Oregon team's name.

Deja Vu? Double Whammy Write-Up Week (Cottonable.com & S2SNation.com)

2010-09-17T00:00:00.082-05:00

Here we are, just another day in the life of JadenKale. Little did I know I'd be so popular this week!! S2SNation.com decided that I would grace their blog this week with an interesting, Canadian take on my designing and social media prowess. All I learned how to market myself, I learned from the internet.... or something like that ;) The write up isn't much you don't already know about me. I mean, the name of my site pretty much sums up the story: An Insomniac's Desktop Designs. My late night hours of basking in the creepy glow of a 17 inch monitor as I suck down copious amounts of water and design my little heart away. And I guess there's a bit of talk about how I support charity websites as well.

Speaking of charity websites, my most recent print, "He Wanted To Fly So Badly", was recently written up at a great little tee review site called Cottonable.com. With the help of Goodjoe.com creators Jourdan Yeh and Nathan Pham, my sixth tee has printed with them and it seems that Cottonable has decided to step in and tell more people to love my tee. I'm all for it. Buy it! Wear it! I should have one of the first print runs of the tee by this weekend, and I'm psyched! With the exception of my first print, my tees have printed with discharge printing, keeping the feel soft and pliable for easy movement in the shirt. I think, if I ask now, they are running my first print, "All That Jazz" the same way. The prints, as well as the customer service and pride in what they do are all what makes them such good joes.

Now, go read their write ups and come back to check out my stuff! :D

Double Whammy Week (Goodjoe.com & Stupidhurts.us)

2010-09-02T12:00:00.002-05:00

Most T-shirt artists live for weeks like this. It feels like a million bucks when you get printed, especially at a place like Goodjoe.com with my 6th and newest piece: He Wanted To Fly So Badly. A kid-inspired, yet adult-friendly depiction of how friends can help other friends achieve desired goals. This tee is still $12 til Sunday, September 5th, then it goes to $18 after that.

But the feeling is a million times a million when you find out you'll have 2 tees running at the same time! StupidHurts.us, picked up Peyote Bird for their temporary line! They actually print up a number of tees before they put them up for sale on the site. That way you can see EXACTLY how the design will look. Pretty slick, right? This poor little 1-color design had a rocky start. First, it didn't win the shirt.woot derby I entered it into. After the 60 day design hold they have on all entries, I had it print at Squidink (a now defunct 1-print every 24 hrs website) back in April. Sadly, the sales were low, and even worse, the company printed it poorly and in the wrong place. A double whammy of the worst kind. If even I won't wear the tee, you know it's a loss. So I never thought it would ever again see the light of day. But when StupidHurts.me changed over to StupidHurts.us and revamped their site, I decided to try them out. Just from the photos below, I'm excited to finally receive this the way I had intended. And, it looks great on AA's organic Galaxy colored tee! A definite must for fans of my work. $13 (plus shipping) will send a Lakota-inspired design out to you, post haste!

Hang Ten, Dude! (S2SNation.com)

2010-07-20T12:00:00.005-05:00

After a few years of trying Bottle Boardie (also known as Tiny Surfer) at places like Shirt.Woot, Threadless.com and AllMightys.com, The miniature surfer has ridden on the waves of success and landed upon the shores of S2SNation.com! Bottle Boardie became one of the first five winners of S2SNation's monthly contest for June. Personally, I'm stoked, because this will be the first time one of my designs will grace a bamboo/organic cotton tee. A tad expensive at $36, watch here regularly for a coupon to save anywhere from 15%-20% off the price, dropping it below $29! There's only 500 printed through the site at the moment, so pick one up now and get it before it sells out!

Newest 20% off code: S2SGREENLAGIRL20

3 Derby

2010-07-16T12:00:00.001-05:00

The TeeFurian (TeeFury.com)

2010-07-11T12:00:00.001-05:00

A few weeks back, I was contacted by David Essex, known to most of the t-shirt community (and specifically, TeeFury.com) as FuzzyLogic. He asked me to create something as part of the TeeFury 2nd Birthday Give-Away. He had noted that people would be sending sketches, stickers, tees and buttons and asked that I create something specifically 'TeeFury' in nature. I took on the task with an open mind and simply said, "I'm thinking about making something 3-D."

After planning it out on paper, here is my 4" MUNNY that I created for TeeFury's 2nd Birthday Give-Away.

Please welcome, "The TeeFurian":

Kawaii Derby

2010-07-09T12:00:00.004-05:00

Shakespeare Derby

2010-06-25T12:00:00.005-05:00

GOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAL!!! (Goodjoe.com)

2010-06-04T00:00:00.004-05:00

This is the piece I created for Goodjoe.com's FIFA Soccer World Cup competition. A quick one, resulting in very few entries, but hopefully it results in a good pick to be printed, supporting Homeless World Cup: An annual, international football tournament, uniting teams of people who are homeless and excluded to take a once in a lifetime opportunity to represent their country and change their lives forever.

Please vote before 12AM PST June 5th! Thank you!

Don't Re-Leash Me From My Bonds (Threadless.com)

2010-05-24T21:45:00.000-05:00

I decided to pull out an oldie of mine and run it at Threadless. Please give Monster's Best Friend a little love (or a lot of love :D )

Hey Friend, How About Some Help? (Goodjoe.com)

2010-05-13T12:00:00.000-05:00

A new, never before-seen piece I created is now up for voting at Goodjoe.com. Unlikely Friends was created in September, but I held off on it. The piece shows that while you have friends who are like you and you regularly relate to, every once in a while, there's an unlikely person who comes along and is just the friend you need, when you need them most. Again, this piece hasn't been seen elsewhere, so take some time to vote for it and comment on it at Goodjoe today. Help decide what color it would be best on.

The Psycho is On the Loose! (Cameesa.com)

2010-05-09T12:00:00.000-05:00

It's about damn time, right ladies and germs? The mercury-rubbed psycho is soon to grace the chests of approximately 50 people (with more to come, I hope). What the heck am I talking about? Why Quicksilver Psycho, of course! That's right... Cameesa has finally sent out a promotional email for the first time in MONTHS and it's resulted in my receiving the last 13 supports needed to get him printed. This is just over 2 years in the making... can you believe it? Two years... I can't believe that in September, I'll have been designing t-shirts for approximately 3 years, and this just printed. Guess it's as good as any other reason to have a design with silver metallic ink on my tee. So swing by Cameesa and pre-order one now. I just okay'd the proof (shown below) so it should be printing and out to people very soon. It will be $21 but it's on sale now for $17 - yes, it's currently less than the support price!

Spring Derby (2010)

2010-04-30T12:00:00.002-05:00

Uŋȟčéla Ziŋtkála Wakȟáŋ (Holy Peyote Bird)

2010-04-01T00:00:00.001-05:00

My take on the Lakota symbol for 'Renewal' has found a 24 hr stay at 5quidink.com. Please swing by there Friday, April 2nd and pick one up for only $12!

Harvesting Wishes... I'll Take 3, Please! (Threadless.com)

2010-03-04T00:00:00.006-06:00

Hopefully this has enough whimsy to print with the folks at Threadless. Care to help out? Please, vote for this little gem over at their site :D The link below shows you how much time you have left. Don't waste time! If this ever gets printed, I'll be sure to give 3 lucky people a t-shirt. You can hold me to that. And give it some love over at Emptees too!

I Need A Killer Wave. Swish it again... (InkBlitz.com)

2010-03-04T00:00:00.004-06:00

Inkblitz.com is new to the t-shirt scene. They seem to do well with their printing, as was seen recently at IAMTHETREND.com's review this last Monday on their webshow. They specialize in sports-related prints so I'm trying out Bottle Boardie there. Feel free to give it a vote and a comment.

Vintage Derby

2010-02-26T12:00:00.002-06:00

Double-Take Derby Eight

2010-02-12T12:00:00.002-06:00

I Have The Memory of an Elephant (or a Teddy Bear)... (Goodjoe.com)

2010-02-08T02:00:00.003-06:00

Goodjoe.com prints my work again. This time, 'I Haven't Forgotten You' prints as the Valentine's Day tee at the good-for-the-community site. $10 gets you a pre-order for this shirt but wait until after Sunday, February 14th, and it will be $18.

Added Bonus this week: If you follow me on Twitter, I'm giving away 2 tshirt packs from Goodjoe. Just describe your favorite toy/childhood memory and tag it with #IHFY (the initials of my t-shirt title) before Friday 11:59pm CST, you'll be in the running for one of 2 packs. So Come over and tell us your story in 140 characters.

That's One Baaaaaad As Hell Design

2010-02-01T12:00:00.000-06:00

I've been talking with James of Bad As Hell Clothing off and on over the last couple years and come to know him pretty well. Seems he's looking to recreate the 'logo' on the site. He feels the exploding skull just doesn't relay the name of the company well enough. We've talked on and off about it and he's come back to the idea of a sheep in some form (since the site's initials are B.A.H. or the sound a sheep makes). He's gotten a couple ideas, but I decided to go irreverent with my idea for him. For those unfamiliar with the iconic imagery I've used, it's a play on the Lamb of God. We'll see down the road if he uses it for the logo or on a t-shirt, or both.

Heart Derby

2010-01-29T12:00:00.000-06:00

V Derby

2010-01-01T12:00:00.002-06:00

2009 Woot Collaborative Shirt Prints!

2009-12-31T00:00:00.001-06:00

WOO HOO! The Collaborative Shirt is finally released at woot and I'm happy to say, I made the cut! See if you can find mine! Or wait until you get it in the mail. $10 gets it for you today, and then tomorrow for $15.

Artists/Guests/Guest Artists:

1. Adam Koford
2. Andy Pitts
3. artulo
4. Blair Sayer
5. BootsBoots
6. Chris Dixon
7. Daniel Paquette
8. dankstick
9. DeadFrog
10.Drakxxx
11.Edgar R. McHerly
12.Eric Nava
13.Esther Aarts
14.fablefire
15.Garret
16.GIMETZCO!
17.Ian Leino
18.JadenKale
19.Jeni Paltiel
20.Jewelwing
21.Josephus
22.jublin
23.Julia Sonmi Heglund
24.Kdubbs29
25.Kenney9226
26.Kris Robinson
27.lucky1988
28.Luke Kackman
29.lunchboxbrain
30.Maxime Francout
31.Mikko Walamies
32.MJ (geekfactor12)
33.Nick Perry
34.no1
35.Omnitarian
36.parrotworks
37.Patrick Spens
38.Ramy Badie
39.Robbie Lee
40.rushblume
41.shan24
42.Shantyshawn
43.Shigwarm
44.Sokowa
45.Ste7en
46.ThatRobert
47.theinfinityloop
48.Tom Burns
49.Wenceslao Almazan
50.Will Bryant

I Haven't Forgotten You (Goodjoe.com)

2009-12-30T19:45:00.000-06:00

Renewal Derby

2009-12-25T12:00:00.001-06:00

Bird Derby

2009-12-11T12:00:00.002-06:00

The Night Watch is Looking For You! (RIPTapparel.com)

2009-12-09T12:00:00.002-06:00

For one day only RIPT Apparel will be selling one of my own designs!!! Whoo Are You? (from woot's Mystery Derby and Do-Over Derby #6) Please come over at Midnight CST, Friday, December 11th, 2009. Only 24 hours and then it's no longer for sale!

Shoot for the Mooon Actually Reaches Its Goal (Goodjoe.com)

2009-11-30T02:00:00.000-06:00

Christmas & Holiday Songs Illustrated Derby

2009-11-27T12:00:00.003-06:00

Sacred Heart Community Service Contest (Goodjoe.com)

2009-11-24T01:38:00.005-06:00

Propaganda Derby

2009-11-13T12:00:00.002-06:00

The Things You Discover When You Check Your Web Stats

2009-11-06T15:45:00.004-06:00

I'm okay with most things online. I understand that people will come across artwork and be forever in love with it. But every once in a while, I get worried when I see multiple links to image searches of my work. For those of you that don't use them, I totally suggest a Free Web Stats program for your site. Motigo is a definite favorite of mine, since I can see when people come and go, search words used, the amount of traffic on any given day, and how people are clicking through to my site.

When I checked up on some stats, I noticed an unusual Czech site as a direct link to my own. I figured someone wrote about me in a blog, since the name was unfamiliar to me. After translating the site, I spied this little gem at Základní článek Hnutí Brontosaurus Slunovrat or Basic Rule Movement Brontosaurus Solstice: a non-governmental, non-profit organization dealing with volunteer work focused on helping nature and historic objects (castles, ruins, chateaus). It associates young people who enjoy improving the environment and offers an alternative to the current trend of today’s consumer society. Take a look at the translated page, for all of you who do not speak Czech. It's a little clumsy, but you get the gist of the group. Why all the hubbub, bub? They came over and snagged my 'Tea Leaves' design to use on their page to promote a Tea chat. It's cool, they credited me for it. Just... next time guys... drop me an email first? ;)

Double-Take Derby 7

2009-11-06T12:00:00.000-06:00

Flight Derby

2009-10-30T12:00:00.000-05:00

Shooting For The Moon (Goodjoe.com)

2009-10-24T08:00:00.003-05:00

Based off the quote "Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you'll land among the stars." ~Les Brown

Don't aim at easy-to-reach goals. Go for something that shows the best of your ability. So aim high, because even if you don't quite get where you're going your first time, you'll get close enough to try again.

Marshmallows Never Looked So Good!

2009-10-18T07:00:00.012-05:00

I'm usually on top of things: watching for shirt sitings both on the net and when I'm out and about. So when I found out a little while back that some people had seen a Shirt.Woot print on the Nickelodeon show, iCarly, I was curious to see if I'd ever see one, myself. Oh, in the afternoons I'd turn on Nickelodeon, on the off chance I'd spy a hint of desu here, and a horribly designed entry there, desperately hoping to only see decent shirt prints. A couple times I thought I noticed Spencer (actor, Jerry Trainor) in a piece like woot's More Skulls, or glanced at the screen, thinking I saw Urban Meltdown peek out from beneath one of his many flannels and cowboy plaid shirts. But I never laid my eyes on a woot shirt there, with exception to the one everyone at woot had seen: The Madness of Miss Stereo. So as is so common with my rare woot sitings, I stopped watching for them and went on about my business. However, I never stopped turning the TV on in the mid-afternoon to Nickelodeon to see if I caught a glimpse of something as I walked from the computer room to the kitchen. You know... should that odd happening occur.

For the first time in months, I was busy with designing, planning for the debut of my first curated piece at RIPT Apparel, and constantly reminding myself I was due at a small get-together last night. Just as I was finalizing some information and walking out the door, I noticed it: a new PM in my shirt.woot inbox, plainly labeled - iCarly. No... I couldn't have missed someone's shirt tonight? I quickly clicked on the fresh message to see a simple, two sentence post from mrtuba9 (a wooter I've never seen before on the threads.)

"So you probably already know this, but they just showed your shirt on iCarly on Nickelodian! Spencer, Carly's brother, was wearing it for the first half of the show. Congrats!"

I was struck dumb. (Family and friends who know me well, will attest that this is quite the rarity.)

I quickly replied to the PM and went off searching the forums to see if it had been mentioned in our "Woot shirt sighting... seen any Out There?" thread. Lo and behold, another wooter had spied it on the same episode, ever-so-politely posting the link to the shirt seen and the name of the specific episode. BLAST! I couldn't look now! I was late for the party I was to attend. It would sadly have to wait.

Upon my arrival home at nearly 2:30am, I had to find it. I needed to see if there was a video of it on hulu, youtube, or the iCarly/Nickelodeon site. Nothing. I was beginning to think this was a cruel joke. Maybe they had seen a different marshmallow shirt from another site and just thought it was mine. I believe I dug for something on the order of 4 hours til I finally started getting somewhere. I had found a shirt I own, Wandering Bert's 'Finding Technicolor', as well as a reference to a shirt still on the woot's sale charts in an interview with Spencer's costume designer. Then it happened, quite by accident, as is so common with most of my sitings. I clicked on the wrong photo link and ended up in a livejournal conversation. And there, three photos of Jerry and his stunt double were posted wearing my 'Oh BURNED!!!' design. The LJ chatters were asking about the specific episode, the shirt, and some additional information as to the person responsible for the photos being online in the first place: Ryan Happy. Yes, that IS his name. From what I gather, Ryan is the stunt double in the photos with Jerry. If Ryan happens to slip on by, I hope he doesn't mind my using them, because I'm so very happy to see something other than a shoddy screen shot or a photo of a television screen. And if others are looking for the episode name, it's 'iHave My Principals':

(Thank you to mrtuba9 who responded to my PM with this video. Take a look at about time marker 6:01):

Oh Burned!!! won 3rd place on shirt.woot.com, Officially Released June 1st, 2008. Retired September 29th, 2008. 17 week run.

'Oh BURNED!!!' is no longer for sale (unless shirt.woot decides to offer it again as a classic). However, I know there are a few up for purchase at teetrade.org, a shirt trade/buy site where people try to get rid of shirts they hate and find shirts they love. Head on over to day and see if you can get any that are still available!

I said it on woot, but I'll say it again, if Kris Dangl ('Spencer's' costume designer) ever ventures across this site... I so <3 you right now...

Halloween Derby

2009-10-16T12:00:00.003-05:00

Give Music Life Competition (Goodjoe.com)

2009-10-16T11:00:00.001-05:00

You guys remember, Fender Music Foundation, don't you? Yeah, I knew you did. I've mentioned them in just about every Goodjoe.com post since I first printed there. It seems my request to have them as one of Goodjoe's organizations they support spawned an interesting connection between the two. Now Goodjoe is sponsoring a Fender Music Foundation competition called 'Give. Music. Life.' The message is to encourage individuals to get involved in supporting music education because music is life. After sketching it all up two days ago and working on it like a dog all yesterday, I finally have it up at Goodjoe for voting. Here are the pieces below for you to look at and see how you like it.

The basic concept was that, when I listen to music and find a song I really love, I tend to spread the word and make sure others hear it. Taking that idea, and expanding upon it, I wanted to show how one person, one song, one powerful message, can influence many and bring joy to their lives.

Please vote and remember that when you buy at Goodjoe, you can choose Fender Music Foundation as the company that receives a $1 donation for every shirt you purchase.

Would You Prefer Your Tea Leaves With Sugar or Honey? (Goodjoe.com)

2009-10-05T02:00:00.001-05:00

Well, it's official. My fourth print is premiering this week at Goodjoe.com (This is my second print there.) Tea Leaves has traveled around a few places, Starting at woot last fall for their Autumn Derby, tweaked the design a little, then a few months back, I tried it at Threadless.com. Now I'm proud to say it's found a home with the folks at Goodjoe. Like All That Jazz (which is still available), it will be $10 this week, and after this week $18. Also, even though my favorite color has this shirt on brown, please consider that I asked the gentlemen at Goodjoe and found out that Men can get this shirt on Sand if they'd like and Ladies can have it on Creme, should you not care for dark shirts (Just for this week only! so choose quickly!). Please make sure to choose an organization to receive $1 from each shirt sale. I'll suggest my personal fave: Fender Music Foundation, but you are welcome to choose any of the groups that work hard to make our communities so great. And Goodjoe's community is great! Thanks for voting and commenting on it, and now buying it!

National Park Derby

2009-10-02T12:00:00.003-05:00

Harvest Derby

2009-09-19T12:00:00.002-05:00

This shirt received an Honorable Mention after this week's voting and will be in the following Double-Take Derby 7.

And on the B-Side, is Goodjoe (Write-Up)

2009-09-11T01:17:00.004-05:00

Recently Gigi, a co-writer for The B-Side, went to the Art and Soul festival in Oakland, CA and spied Nathan and Jourdan selling their tried and true brand: Goodjoe. It seems she was taken with my design: All That Jazz but waited until their exodus from the festival to snag one for $10. To know there are other people wearing my shirt makes me all warm inside. Even better when people write about how much they love the shirt. Perhaps it's a good thing I grabbed a pint of ice cream to cool me down this humid evening.

Will Goodjoe Make Some Time for Tea? (Goodjoe.com)

2009-09-10T21:00:00.002-05:00

Architecture Derby

2009-08-14T12:00:00.004-05:00

Goodjoe.com: More Than Just a Good Joe. (Print #4)

2009-08-03T00:00:00.002-05:00

It's the beginning of August and I can't help but notice that it's been like fall in Wisconsin for the last month. Today, even more so. I, personally, am not opposed to this since it allows for great outdoor concert weather. You know the concerts I'm talking about: taking a blanket, sitting out in the park with friends, and listening to great music, be it someone local or a famous group you've been dying to see. While I can say I have missed out on a great deal of music experiences such as this, this summer makes me pine for these concerts all the more.

So why the talk of concerts when there isn't one that I'm going to? Because I possibly have the next best thing at the moment: A design printing that shows that love for music that everyone should have. The guys* at Goodjoe.com have decided that All That Jazz will finally be printed. The tri-color piece will be offered for one week in a large variety of colors: asphalt, metal, baby blue, turquoise, pink, cranberry, gold, brown and military green/army, with the primary color being asphalt. Lots of options for anyone's taste.

While you are over at Goodjoe to snag the shirt, which goes on $10 pre-sale Monday August 3rd (then goes to $18 after August 10th), check out the foundation I suggested to the Goodjoe Bucket: The Fender Music Foundation. I found it fitting considering the shirt's theme. $1 from each shirt will be put in the Goodjoe Bucket and sent to the Foundation to continue helping both children and adults with everything from music education and awareness to a creative outlet and personal healing through the power of music.

Want to help further? You're in luck. The Fender Music Foundation also has a 'Causes on Facebook' page where you can join and donate to help spread music everywhere. You don't have to donate right away if you want to join the facebook community over there. They welcome raising awareness. Not inclined to do that? That's okay, just telling friends and family where they can purchase the shirt will raise money as well for the Foundation as well. And while you're at Goodjoe, remember you can help any number of organizations just by purchasing any of their shirts, and you are welcome to suggest organizations, give suggestions for other designs or create your own design with a positive message. Who knows... perhaps yours will be the next to print at Goodjoe!

*Special thanks goes to Nathan and Jourdan of Goodjoe for working with me to get everything from just pushing me to put the design up there to modifying code at the site to allow for all the shirt previews.

On The Precipice...

2009-08-02T02:00:00.001-05:00

I know... I can hardly contain myself! But I will.

Stay tuned. ;)

Double-Take Derby #6

2009-07-31T12:00:00.003-05:00

Here we go, ladies and gents! The mystery owl has come back in style in the double-take derby. He's searching for your votes, so please toss it one today!

Be sure to watch for this design. Shirt.Woot

Covert Derby Group: Contest #3: Invasion Derby

2009-07-31T00:00:00.001-05:00

So I had attempted to come up with a half dozen different ideas for this special derby put on by the owners of Compete-tee-tion/TeeMagnet and Singularitee: Geekfactor12 (or MJ00) and AdderXYU. The long and short of it, even though I wanted to stay away from the traditional alien theme, I came back to it, because things like cats being overrun to the hilt with mice and such just didn't seem to pan out quite like I had hoped. My distaste for anything ant-like kept me from pursuing a picnic theme. And even my alien characters creeping INTO Area 51 to get their ship from a hanger didn't come across well. So what do I do when my design just isn't up to snuff? I ignore it, leave it for four days and come back in a tizzy with a whole new perspective on it, remembering I have a cut off date.

Instead of focusing on my alien characters, I zoomed out of the picture and created an amusing and charming scene... with a touch of carnage in the background. I hope others agree that Invasion of Love is just that. It's a comedy of errors/romance comedy feel about it. The little ship falls in love with the street lamp, it's similar shape and glowing light drawing it in like a moth to a flame. It classically confuses it for another alien ship while others from the armada, small and large alike, are wreaking havoc on the metropolis in the distance.

I hope you all enjoy it, and I'd like to thank everyone who critiqued it in it's assorted stages so I could make it flow as well as possible.

Tattoo Derby

2009-07-17T12:00:00.001-05:00

Jazz May Have a New Home (Goodjoe.com)

2009-07-12T00:00:00.005-05:00

After debating for a bit here, I decided to pull the shirt from teextile and try it at Goodjoe.com instead. It happens, and I probably should have listened to Nathan when he first ooh'd and ahh'd over it. I'll learn in time. I have it up there in a few different colors: one with the original white hair and face, and one with black hair and face. Vote for them when they upload, please. They should be up soon. I'm sure that Nathan will be elated to see them at Goodjoe.com finally.

*update: Jourdan sent me a message telling me that they won't be separated, I'll be able to load them all on to one vote block. So I also submitted the cranberry version as well for viewing. It's all the same file, just a matter of the inks being changed, depending on the shirt color.

Taking Flight, Little Star? (Teextile.com)

2009-07-12T00:00:00.003-05:00

I decided that since I pulled my jazz piece at Teextile.com, I should try something else over there instead. I figured it may be time to see how 'He Wanted To Fly So Badly' could do. Whimsical, and fun take on parasailing, I'm hoping he gets some well deserved love over there. Especially with 'Funky Colors Week' coming up in August. Click the picture at the bottom to see a larger view. Or just click on the 'vote' right below :)

Pressure Derby

2009-07-03T12:00:00.002-05:00

Snazzy Jazzy (Teextile.com)

2009-06-29T20:30:00.006-05:00

I'm wondering if I should have sent this over to Goodjoe.com after a recent comment I received on facebook about it, but I thought this may gain more love at Teextile.com, plus it allowed me to play with some colors. I'll give it a little time, and if it doesn't work, watch for it over at Goodjoe.com.

Inspiring the Winds of Change (Goodjoe.com)

2009-06-29T16:30:00.001-05:00

I signed up to Goodjoe.com recently after a friend got a print over there. I went through and I swung my rather harsh voting finger about as I went through their site. I wasn't THAT mean, but I'm so used to other places that I got a little heavy handed. I rather quickly received an email from Nathan Pham, one of the gentlemen behind the Goodjoe name. After talking a bit, I decided I'd enter this piece as soon as I could... and after waiting the 60 days, I decided to enter it and see how it fares. If you liked it before, please don't hesitate to vote for Thumbelina's Kite Day.

Threadless Loves Pre-Loved (Threadless)

2009-06-22T18:00:00.002-05:00

Back in February, shirt.woot had a Heartbreak Derby where this little guy broke the hearts of many a voter. He didn't win, but he placed fairly well. I ended up tweaking my 'Forgotten' entry just a little for this competition. Instead of a broken heart and feeling abandoned, I wanted the heart complete to show that even broken and battered, he still has love to give.

Mystery Derby

2009-06-19T12:00:00.003-05:00

Be sure to watch for this design. Shirt.Woot nominated this for a Do-Over Derby. Be sure to watch for this in the future.

Sun Derby

2009-06-12T12:00:00.001-05:00

Tea Leaves (Threadless)

2009-06-08T10:00:00.000-05:00

I know, it's JUST getting warm (at least here in the Midwest) but I have to think ahead 3+ months if I want any chance of seeing this design make it into print this year. You'll remember it from the Shirt.Woot Fall Derby in 2008 complete with the tweaks I gave it after the derby. It got lots of raves but that's not why I love it. I love the retro feel I ended up with and of course, look at the tea pot!

Quotation Derby

2009-06-05T12:00:00.001-05:00

Covert Derby Group: Contest #1: Doppelganger Derby

2009-06-01T00:00:00.002-05:00

So there's a little group of us at woot who decided we needed to go out on our own and create our own little competition of sorts. It's really open to anyone with an open mind and I've recently noticed (with Contest #2, which, unfortunately, I was unable to compete in due to being out of town and without drawing capabilities) new members are joining, which is spectacular. The first competition ever was to be randomly paired with another artist from the Covert Derby Group and mimic their style and they, in turn, would mimic ours. We submitted under one covert group name: 'April Fun Club' and people were welcomed to guess the artists and whom did which entry in the woot forums. I waited til the competition was over because we didn't want to reveal who did which piece. Of the designs submitted by our little group, I came in 4th. Not bad for our first competition.

This my entry. I tried to mimic her shading style, not necessarily a piece she did:

Sokowa was my bizarro doppelganger partner and modeled this off a piece I did:

Monster Collab (Teefury.com)

2009-05-27T23:00:00.005-05:00

TeeFury asked designers to team up in honor of one of the best loved books of children everywhere: Where the Wild Things Are which was turned into a movie and will soon be out in theatres. Well today, for one day only, you too can snag a monster tee for $9 (plus shipping). Over 35 artists created monsters for this collab (some did multiples), including my Sir Snaggletooth. He's rather creepy if you have a thing about teeth, as I do. And at this moment I just want to thank Jimiyo (curator for Teefury and the mover and shaker behind this collab) for adding the little detail that I forgot to in the monocle. I was totally planning to add those glassy streaks across it. Now, since this is a huge group collab, we don't keep any of the proceeds. Instead, all of the proceeds will be going to the Save the Children organization help children like Max from the story.
Take a look below, but don't forget to buy this before 12:00AM EST/11:00PM CST tonight! And see if you can find this little guy:

While you're checking out the shirt as a whole, try and find your favorite, then find the artist (artists linked on the TeeFury.com page):

1. WinterArtwork
2. Jimiyo
3. Jeremy Hanlin
4. Quakerninja
5. Challen Carland
6. Joe Baron
7. Brian Luong
8. Brian Walline
9. 110specialblack
10. Recycledwax,
11. AJ Paglia -
12. Jeremy Hanlin
13. Adam Vaudin
14. Jeremy Hanlin
15. Oddeti,
16. Jeremy Hanlin
17. MJ
18. Jeremy Hanlin
19. Ray Masaki
20. Tom Philibeck
21. Rob Dobi
22. Stormink
23. 110specialblack
24. Kevin Luong
25. JadenKale
26. dunz0
27. Quakerninja
28. Gaunty
29. DesignByRyan
30. ansharp
31. Jumpy
32. yeshua machado
33. Snarkygal
34. XIEX
35. Wiz
36. Rashaun Collins
37. Organs
38. LitoQ
39. Davee Bee
40. Dennis Beatty
41. Barrios
42. Ryan Pimental
43. Daniel Martinez
44. Altercrisis
45. Liviu Matei

Less Is More (a Threadless Competition)

2009-05-11T12:00:00.005-05:00

Air Derby

2009-05-08T12:00:00.002-05:00

Reworked Designs (All That Jazz)

2009-05-01T12:00:00.004-05:00

This was originally a doodle, which I then turned into a design for shirtfight.com's Black, White and ??? Color competition. I modified some of the colors, put a version up at Emptees

Black, White, and ???? Derby (ShirtFight.com)

2009-04-24T00:00:00.001-05:00

Happy Birthday Miss Etti Derby (ShirtFight.com)

2009-04-10T17:00:00.000-05:00

Get Out of the Way! Wahmbulance! Coming Through!

2009-04-10T13:49:00.004-05:00

I've tried for months to get this up to Loiter, and for one reason or another it would never load to their servers. Perhaps this is a good omen that it uploaded this time around since a $1000 prize on the line once more. Wahmbulance! Was a piece from the Emergency Derby at woot, and was graced with an Honorable Mention and landed in the 3rd Do Over Derby. Anyone can sign up and give it a 5 stars (you can give it less, but really, why would you?) so vote today!

Almost Derby

2009-04-10T12:00:00.000-05:00

My Patience Has Paid Off... With Shirts and Money! (Print #3)

2009-04-06T21:00:00.002-05:00

It was only half a month ago that I asked you, begged you, to vote for my shirt at Ink-Hound.com. 'Eat Cake, Honey' was an old piece from a shirt.woot derby revolving around the theme 'Join the Revolution' (and I don't mean a turntable). From her sure and sly smile, to her ample ::coughs:: we won't go there ::coughs::, all the way down to the red velvet cake being thrust upon you in that very queenly generous "Oh I insist, you have a bite, my dear!" 'Eat Cake, Honey' has been a design I've loved for quite a while.

Today came the email I had hoped for: "The people have spoken and they love 'Eat Cake, Honey'!" I'm ecstatic to see this finally grace a navy American Apparel traditional or fitted shirt for $12, organic or long sleeve tee for $14, or a sweatshirt for $30. I'm also tickled to see who my hat partner is at the same time (I'm going to guess 'Monsters & Ghosts Oh My!' by wotto), but we'll see who that is when the time comes! Thank you to all who voted, and I hope that we'll see it printed again in the future should you happen to miss out on it this week.

Buy it now! One week only!
April 7th 12:00am EST - April 13th 11:59pm EST

Update: Friday April 10th, 2009: Tcritic wrote a great review on Eat Cake, Honey

I Feel The Need, The Need For Collabs

2009-04-06T18:45:00.001-05:00

What, you thought I was going to rhyme it? XP
TeeFury is asking designers to team up again in honor of one of the best loved books of children everywhere: Where the Wild Things Are. We were asked to make more magical rather than disgusting, and I think Sir Snaggletooth falls right in the middle. He's rather creepy if you have a thing about teeth, as I do. But he's not that vile (except for maybe that British halitosis wafting from the side.) The best part? All of the proceeds will be going to charity to help children like Max from the story.
Make sure to watch TeeFury and here for updates. And look out for this little guy:

Dinosaur Derby

2009-04-03T12:00:00.001-05:00

Art Deco Derby

2009-03-20T12:00:00.003-05:00

Old Ideas, New Places (Cameesa.com)

2009-03-17T15:30:00.008-05:00

While I've been trying to come up with some new ideas, I've been trudging through my portfolio, looking at pieces I like and trying to see where they could possibly run again for those who also enjoyed them. Even though I have my CafePress store, I'm not particularly fond of putting my artwork there. I'd rather have a quality print shop make them for those who wish to own them. There are many times I look at my pieces and wonder "What other place would best accept/appreciate my designs?" And even when I'm trying to make a serious entry, I find myself looking at something not quite as intricate or detailed to make it at some of my favorite sites, should I wish to carry it on to another competition or design shop. A couple have made their way to the recent Allmightys.com Underwater Competition seeing as the level of work there varies so greatly. I figure at least one or two have a chance. After much debate, I've decided to try two more at places. One, I'm not entirely sure how well it will fare, but let's just say I'm giving it the old college try.

Cameesa:
What a great site. You put forth $20 towards the shirt(s) you wish to support, and once your shirt gets $500 worth of support, they print the shirt for sale. Supporters get a shirt for the design(s) they support, so it benefits them as well. This is a perfect place for Quicksilver Psycho (which previously ran in the Your Favorite Elements Derby at woot) And even though it made 6th place in that derby, it had quite a few followers: A bit over 450, in fact. It even got a nod as a BestLoser HM as well as an Overlooked Award at BestLosers.com. Unfortunately, woot didn't seem it fit for an HM, so hopefully that means fans will come buy and drop a $20 spot for support.

Ink-Hound:
This design is more of a long shot. I love Ink-Hound. I think they will bring some unique pieces to shirt fans. I pulled an oldie out: Eat Cake, Honey (from the Join the Revolution Derby at woot) I know the monochromatic blue Marie got the ultimate nod from BestLosers.com but I felt with a little color tweaking on the Red White and Blue version, Marie would show the most promise. Plus, she's got Red Velvet cake... WHO DOESN'T LIKE RED VELVET CAKE? Seriously, that stuff is good eats!

WOW! This ended up being much longer than I expected, but the write up is well worth the time to read and vote/support if you enjoyed either of these designs.

TV Show Titles Re-interpreted Derby

2009-03-13T12:00:00.005-05:00

A write up was done on this piece at SingulariTee after the derby ended.

Allmightys.com: Underwater Competition

2009-03-08T12:00:00.005-05:00

I went through my older entries and decided to submit a couple to Allmightys' 'Underwater' competition since I was unable to compete at woot with my computer 'in the shop'. Please, take the time to vote on them. Voting ends March 20th. (links to individual entries are below):

Tiny Surfer

Lots of Hugs

Swimming & Spouting

Ewe Boat

Ocean Derby

2009-02-27T12:00:00.002-06:00

Individual Derby

2009-02-13T12:00:00.000-06:00

Heartbreak Derby

2009-02-06T12:00:00.005-06:00

Myths and Legends Derby

2009-01-23T12:00:00.003-06:00

Vote Now: Hippocamp: Poseidon's Steed

Winter Derby '09

2009-01-16T12:00:00.007-06:00

The idea, overall concept and fine tuning came from AdderXYU, the writer and critical eye of the tee shirt blog, SingulariTee. I'm all the blood, sweat and tears (ie. I sat up and sketched it out and put it together in Photoshop.) ;) Enjoy!

Continuous Line Art Derby

2008-12-19T12:00:00.003-06:00

Ring My Bell: Eat Your Heart Out, Anita Ward

2008-12-19T11:59:00.004-06:00

ok, so a little background. Basically? I went to a Christmas Work Party with my hubby and a manager from his work kept playing Anita Ward's Ring My Bell on the CD jukebox. You combine that with a little too much to drink and you get an artist that couldn't help but make this design and sketch it out in the middle of a bowling alley after only bowling a 75 (yep, after my first game, I go downhill. Although, the liquor doesn't improve my game any XD )

Update: I also decided to make little icons of the design for fun (if used, PLEASE CREDIT ME):

Optimism Derby

2008-12-12T12:00:00.001-06:00

Springleap.com: AMD Challenge (part 2)

2008-12-07T00:42:00.004-06:00

My Springleap entry is up for voting. Please go now, simply set up an account and vote for me (I'd appreciate the big thumbs up! ;) ) Wyrm of the Winds is ready to get some love! Just remember to do so before December 19th!

Voting Starts - December 7
Voting Ends – December 19
AMD Decides Winner – December 22

Book Titles Re-Interpreted Derby

2008-12-05T12:00:00.004-06:00

Springleap.com: AMD Challenge (part 1)

2008-12-04T02:00:00.003-06:00

Springleap is a new South African based design company that has popped up in the last few months. Some great pieces have already come out of their basic competitions, but this quick little one got my ideas flowing a bit:

AMD is a computer technology company that designs next-generation computing and graphics solutions for people at work, home, and play. AMD will be launching new PC technology codenamed Dragon. Dragon will give consumers an exhilarating experience when gaming, video or design editing, and using all types of different multimedia files and applications.

We challenge YOU to submit a PC related t-shirt design that takes into account any ONE OR MORE of the following words/characteristics:

Dragon, Phenom, Energy Efficiency, Video Games, Strength, Wisdom, Power, Do It Yourself Tools, Ultimate Visual and HD Experience.

The prize? The winner will receive a brand new AMD POWERHOUSE Desktop PC with their brand of top of the line graphics and computing technology WORTH OVER $1500.

I felt that a sleek, slender wyrm would be the best style for design. I already figure there will be very stereotypical dragons of all sorts. This gave me a chance to really work with the slender version of how I've drawn dragons since I was young. Since I wanted nothing to do with fire (as it's on blue and I only wanted 4 colors in my palette), my dragon is blowing large gusts of wind. Different, and not what you think of when you hear 'Dragon', but I'm hoping AMD and Springleap both see it the uniqueness of it. (due to their strict notation, I decided against adding my name anywhere on the work, but rest assured, it IS mine)

Voting Starts - December 7
Voting Ends – December 19
AMD Decides Winner – December 22

Thrift Derby

2008-11-28T12:00:00.004-06:00

7 Deadly Sins Derby

2008-11-21T12:00:00.005-06:00