neglected.

I rarely get a chance to update this blog anymore! I've mainly been using instagram to post online, and I've just created/linked a tumblr. I'll try to continue this blog, but if anyone is interested in following with a more constant flow of updates, please check out and follow my new tumblr (gardunoman.tumblr.com), or find me on instagram (ken1028).

Thank you for checking in!

etsy

Again, I must apologize for not posting as often as I used to. I was pretty busy with projects, and life changes but now things are finally slowing down a bit. I've gotten a chance to make work for fun again. I've actually been doing a pretty good amount of that lately. I've also finally updated my etsy store with some smaller original works, including the pieces below.


I'm also going to try adding my shirts to etsy, making it easier for anyone interested to order one. Until next post!

www.kengarduno.etsy.com

good stuff.

This is one of my latest projects. I was contacted once again by Paul Buckley ( who also did the design layout on this cover) for the second novel by Shane Jones. I'm happy that I got a chance to do his second novel cover after doing the cover for his first book, Light Boxes.

APE

Again, I have to apologize for not updating this blog. I've been busy working on projects, and now I'm preparing for the APE convention in San Francisco this coming weekend. This is a new shirt I will have available at the convention.

Email me at Kengarduno@yahoo.com if you're interested in buying a shirt for more details.

GPK

I apologize for my lack of posts here on the blog. After my show, I had a pile of work that I had to catch up on. I have lot's to post in the near future. I'll also get back to making personal pieces soon. In the meantime, I'm posting this piece for a Garbage Pail Kids show tonight at Gallery 1988. This was so much fun for me. I used to be crazy about GPK when I was a kid, so it was great to get a chance to do this.

I've mentioned this before, but if you're on Instagram, look me up. I've been updating there much more often. If you're on Instagram, my username is Ken1028.

preview

If you're interested in seeing the preview for my show, please contact Kim at LeBasseProjects. Her email is kim@lebasseprojects.com

games

I made this Castlevania themed piece for the Iam8bit show that recently passed. If you're in the LA area, you should drop in on the gallery and check out the space.

This Friday is my solo show. If you're in the LA area, please drop in. I'll be posting more info and reminders this week.

Thank you for reading.

iMOCA

I was recently asked to make a new shirt design for the indianapolis Museum of Contemporary Art. I've been in contact with the museum since I participated in a show there. The spaceship will be on the back of the shirt, and the other image will be in the front. I had a really good time working on this one.
Thank you, Shauta!!

something quick

I've been distracted with preparations for my show, but I've also got a few jobs that I've been working on lately. I'll have to find an image of the last job I finished, but for now, I'll post this latest spot illustration for the good people at LA Weekly. Thanks again, Darrick.

I have many more things to post coming up soon, including a link to the preview of my show for those who might be interested in checking it out.

press release

‘Golden Structure’
A solo exhibition by Ken Garduno

August 19th – September 10th, 2011
Artist reception: Friday, August 19th, 7-10p

LeBasse Projects :: Chinatown
932 Chung King Rd.
Los Angeles, CA 90012
www.lebasseprojects.com
Tel: (213) 621-9988


Los Angeles, CA – LeBasse Projects :: Chinatown is proud to announce ‘Golden Structure,' a solo exhibition from Los Angeles based artist, Ken Garduno.

In his new body of work, Garduno continues to explore themes of how people respond to one another, particularly in relationships. Influenced by the overly dramatic Spanish Novelas, Garduno puts into question our own relationships and suggests that real life can easily turn into soap opera-like situations.

Garduno sheds light on our tendencies to construct unrealistic expectations of our loved ones and explores the disintegration of these ideals. The exhibition title, ‘Golden Structure’ is based on an idea of this precious structure that slowly ages and falls apart.

In Garduno’s new exhibition, the artist returns with a matured body of watercolor and ink paintings. Known more by his monotone color scheme, Garduno’s characters are brought to life with a refreshing Technicolor palette. The artist shows us the difficulties in maintaining love and its relationships, as well as the tendencies to take things too far and serious. The central figures create an unsettling dialog riddled with jealousy, betrayal and a pronounced sense of sexual tension.

limited edition

I made a new zine for con called "Dreaming your human".(not "Dreaming you're human"!) I only made 25 copies and I have about 6 leftover. I also have some shirts left from the con. I decided that I would offer the zine free along with purchase of the shirt to the first 6 people. After they're gone, I may reprint them at a later date, but will probably use an alternate cover. So, to get a copy of the first printing of this zine, send $25( + 5 for shipping in the US, 10 anywhere else) as a "gift" to my paypal: kengarduno@yahoo.com

This is a bad photograph of the shirt and zine below.

I mostly have smalls and mediums left in the shirt, with only a couple large left.

Novelas: Golden Structure

That's the official title for my solo show at Le Basse Projects, Chinatown. It's on Friday August 19, 2011 from 7-10pm.
http://www.lebasseprojects.com/?page_id=2807 Come on out! More info and previews will be given soon.

Rewind and delete.

I just got word from the gallery that my show is back on the 19th of August. I apologize if this is causing anyone any issues with making it to the show! I'm hoping that there will be no more changes, but I'll keep you all updated.

Thanks!

Dear blog.

I'm sorry that I've been neglecting you. I'm currently in San Diego for Comic Con, so if you're going, visit me at F1. While I'm writing this out, I should also mention that my solo show at LeBasse gallery in Chinatown has been changed to August 20th. Hope to see you at either!

comic con shirt

Comic con is just under two weeks away. I decided to make a new shirt for the convention. They will be extremely limited, so if you'd like one, email me at kengarduno@yahoo.com. If you're not going to make it down to the convention, it's probably best to preorder one just to make sure they don't sell out!

crazy 4 cult 5

I forgot to mention the annual Crazy 4 Cult art show at gallery 1988. I just got back from the opening. This is my piece from the show.

august 19th

That is the official date of my upcoming solo show. I apologize for the lack of updates. I have a lot to do, so I'll see you all very soon.

teaser

As I've mentioned in a previous post, I've been hard at work making new pieces for my upcoming solo show at Le Basse Projects in Chinatown. This piece will be in a group show at LeBasse Culver City for the art walk today. It's a preview of the series I'm working on for the show. "fission"
More updates are coming soon.

tv tray

I've been hard at work sketching out my show. I've just gotten to finish my first piece for the show, but a preview won't be available any time soon. I did take the time to work on a commission for a friend of mine. She had an old tv tray that she wanted me to paint on. I have to admit that when I first saw the tray, I was pretty intimidated. It had an existing diamond pattern that she wanted to show through a bit. Working with those instructions, I brought out my acrylic paints (which I don't get a chance to use often) and went for it. This is what happened.

3 more

these are the last 3 pieces from the WWA show.

another preview

The work for the show is online at the galleries website. If you can't make it to the show, you can view the work online there. "matriarch"
wwagallery.com

preview

This is one of the pieces I made for the group show I'm in coming up this friday at WWA gallery in Culver City. "coordinates"
Hope you can make it!

back talk

I think I've mentioned on a previous post that I can never get links to work for posts on this blog. Hopefully you don't mind using the old copy/paste method to check this out! This is a short interview that is up on the Juxtapoz website.
http://www.juxtapoz.com/Current/back-talk-with-ken-garduno

Check this out also. I'm featured if you scroll down a bit.

http://industrialsquid.tumblr.com/

on the side

I've started working on sketches and ideas for my show, but I took some time to make this piece today. I've been working this idea out in my head and decided that it was time that it came to fruition. "rider"

group show

I mentioned in an earlier post that I was to take part in a few group shows before my solo show in August. This is one of the shows. It's at WWA Gallery in Culver City, Ca., and is curated by Industrial Squid. They're a nice group, and the space is really cool. I have five pieces in the show...hope you can make it!

brushes

It takes me awhile to break in a new brush. Just as they've reached perfection, it usually means that they're close to be retired. This is a cycle that I've gotten used to after years of inking with a brush, especially when doing pieces like these below with fine lines. "adaptation m and f"

linework

I did this late last night, and was too tired to scan it after I finished. It's quite relaxing for me to work solely in black ink.

check your bulk mail sometimes

American Illustration notified the illustrators that made it into their annual(30) book today. I saw a couple posts on facebook about friends that made it in, and since I didn't have an email notification, I assumed I didn't make it in. "Oh well, I'll try again next year", I thought. I have to admit that I was pretty disappointed. A few minutes later, I thought that maybe I should check my "bulk mail". As soon as I opened it, there it was. I made it into the annual after all with this image! "birthday party"
I'd like to thank the judges for including me in the annual. This will be my third time being published in American Illustration.

sketch pile

I've been neglecting my daily sketchbook posts, so they've piled up. Here are some of my recent pages from my sketchbook.

in the near future

I finished this piece late last night, but I was too tired to scan and post it. I'll be adding it to my etsy store momentarily.(kengarduno.etsy.com)
Now that it's confirmed, I can mention that I have my next solo show scheduled for August of this year at LeBasse Projects in Chinatown (Los Angeles). I went to check out the space this past weekend, and I'm pretty excited about it. Mark your calendars!! That means I may not get a chance to post as many finished pieces as I have been. Rather, I'll probably be posting mostly sketches in the coming months while I prepare for the show. I also have a few cool group shows coming up including the Edward Scissorhands group show, a group show at WWA gallery in Culver City in May, and a few other that I'm not remembering at this moment. I also have Comic Con coming up in July, so it's going to be an interesting next few months. I'll post more info on the upcoming shows as I get it.

japan

My friend Christina Conway put together an awesome charity auction with the proceeds going to aid Japan through an organization called Give2Asia. Artists were asked to paint an Ema, so this is my contribution. This is a great opportunity to own original art, as well as helping the people of Japan. If you're interested in bidding, I'm posting the ebay link below. I think the bidding starts at $25, and goes on for 6 days.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=120709492261#ht_737wt_1141

reject?

Not really. This piece wont be included in the five pieces I'm going to have in an upcoming group show. The other piece I replaced it with seems to meld better with the others. I'll post more info on that show soon. "Crimsona"

mars

This is my latest piece for the illostribute.com blog. The post probably wont be up for about a week, but you should check it out when it is. This piece is a tribute to the vintage travel posters of David Klein.

rainy days

This is another gouache piece that I finished today. Rainy days are great painting days.

bar sketch

As the blog header suggests, this is a sketch done last night at a bar. It's a bit tricky to sketch under low lighting...even when you borrow a few candles from neighboring tables. I've been tempted to bring my own portable light with me to sketch at bars since the lighting is usually pretty bad. The ambiance more than makes up for it, though.

last night

I made this before I fell asleep last night. It's drawn with ballpoint pen with added gouache washes. "Accumulation"
Also, I was notified that I'm a featured artist on bluecanvas.com right now. If you're on that site, add me on! Also, if you have an iphone and you have instagram, add me there too. (ken1028)

gouache attack

I had a great time working on this piece last night. Gouache used to be difficult for me to use. My previous experience with the medium was painting swatches in a design class. It's a lot more versatile a medium than I once thought. "Chaos"

you guessed it.

Here are a few recent sketches...