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...

a few things

1.I had the rare opportunity to work from a model tonight. My friend Mercedes was visiting from New York, and was nice enough to sit for a quick portrait. I was pretty rusty at first, but I think I warmed up on this drawing. I used a combination of ballpoint pen, acrylic-ink wash, and marker on this piece. I'm going to try to work with her one more time before she leaves. I miss doing drawings from life, so hopefully opportunities like this happen more often!


2.Some friends of mine started a new art/culture magazine. The first issue was just released this past weekend, and they've included a couple of my images. Check out Debaclemag.com to find out where you can get your hands on a copy.
3. I'm part of this group show coming up. It's going to be great. If you're to be in the area, I'll see you there.

blue

This is another marker sketch that I did yesterday. "Evette"

copic round 2

I didn't get a chance to post this last night. I like that I can easily do artwork anywhere with the markers. I've been doing a lot more sketching at local bars.
I have to get back to my acrylic-inks soon. I"m going to take full advantage of this experimentation time. I have some group shows scheduled in the next few months, and if everything goes according to plan, my next solo show coming up in august. There will be more info on that later...

on a roll

I think it's pretty obvious that I'm really enjoying my sketchbook. I'm loving the freedom. I'm actually carrying around art materials now that haven't seen the light of day in YEARS. Today, I broke out the copic markers. I'm a little bothered by the way they bleed right through the sketchbook pages, but I'll get over it. I hope I don't snap out of this experimental sketchbook phase anytime soon.

Gouache and...

I got a bunch of gouache a while back, and it's been sitting around since. I've made an attempt to use them a few times, but I get easily turned away when the medium doesn't do what I want it to. I've gotten used to acrylic-inks and I'm pretty comfortable using them. Tonight seemed like the perfect night to give the gouache another try. This is what I came up with. "Bernadette"

This is my sketchbook work of the day.

tonight

Here's a quick sketch that I just finished.

blue mountains

I finished this piece last night. "unmasked"

and then there were 2

I got this in the mail today. It's the latest cover that I worked on for Penguin. I'm really pleased with the design. If you've followed my work for awhile, you may remember this piece. The original piece is called "Birth of Color".
I'd like to thank Paul Buckley, once again, for his wonderful design work as well as having me involved in another of his projects. Thanks, Paul!!!

break

I thought I would give the sketchbook posts a break and post this new piece that I finished last night. "Dweller"

Blame the weather

That's right. It's another sketchbook post.

sketchbook love

Here are a couple more sketches...