Open Call II

Open Call [Part Deux]

Hey again all you awesome folks out there!

This is an open call to everyone and anyone who can take and/or has taken pictures... whether professional or amateur... super high quality or ghetto fabulous point-and-click...

As you can see from the pictures on my blog, I'm a visual artist who's process begins with a photograph every time. I've been keeping busy with my own pictures recently and also making custom orders, but in the spirit of mixing it up and keeping things interesting I figured:

"What better time than now to get people involved and share the creative vibe?"

That being said, I am officially inviting you amazing people, whoever you are out there in internet land, to email me some pictures you'd like to see turned into custom stencil paintings.

In the world of up-and-coming artists, the key to survival and exposure is mutual promotion so in that spirit, of course, anyone who's photo would eventually be used will get full credit for the original picture [and a link to your website if you have one].

Disclaimer:
I need to make sure everyone understands that not all pictures work for this kind of work so don't take it personal if your photo doesn't get used. BUT, I encourage you to send them all anyway since in the past, I've used: professional pix, ghetto scanned pix, blurry shots, partial pix, etc. it's hit and miss with what works and inspires me... it can be anything!

[Don't get me wrong... the better quality resolution of the picture the better... I mean, if you have a shot in 300 DPI, please try to send it as such rather than make it smaller for emailing purposes...]

You reserve the creative rights to your photograph and it won't be published in this blog unless you've agreed to it. The painting will be for sale at large once it's done [the point isn't to make a painting with your picture and sell it to you, but if you're interested in the finished product for sure a finder's-fee type discount will be very feasible].

For images larger than 10MB, I suggest a free service called yousendit.com - it's very easy and very convenient.

So on that note... Please send your photohraphs [in .jpg and/or .pdf format] to:

P.Summind@gmail.com

I look forward to seeing what I get!

[And a special shout out goes to my dog Umaa and cat Ignatio (feat. thumbs)... they get a little bored when I'm not painting...]

Peace [...]

Parc & Van Horne

Parc & Van Horne

Acrylics & Spray Paint Stencil'd on Canvas
24" X 36"
October 2010

Once in a while I step outside to clear my head. I always bring my camera just in case I spot something interesting [e.g. trees, trash cans, Lady Gaga, etc.]. I never really look for anything in particular and usually end up dumping 57 pictures of rocks and bicycles. But once in a while there's a randomly taking picture that will scream "stencil me" and so I must oblige.

[Disclaimer: I feel it important to remind everyone that I am not, nor have I ever claimed to be a skilled photographer and that "good picture" doesn't always equal "good stencil".]

This picture was taken in February 2009 back when I still lived on the Plateau by Mile End [how's that for hipster hood name dropping?]. I've wanted to make a painting with it for the longest time and have the multiple photoshop sessions to prove it but somehow I've given up every time due to the intricacy of the buildings, cars and snowy corner so I've put it aside 10-15 times or so.

So...
1.75 years later...

A different approach:

Instead of going with crazy multi-layering, I finally decided to make a pot of coffee, throw some paint around, stencil one layer on top and put this picture behind me. This took somewhere between 10-12 hours of very careful cutting over 3 days but in the end, I'm super happy with the result since I didn't have any concrete expectations.

I feel much better now that I've been able to get this picture out of my "dump" folder and into my "finished projects" folder and mostly that I got to throw paint around in the process [...]

Woody Allen

I have a new website!!

Please click this link to find more up to date work!

www.kevinmxdermott.com

Thank you!!

Woody Allen
30" X 15"
Spray Paint Stencil'd on Canvas
September 2010
Custom Commission Piece - SOLD

A work colleague and friend of mine asked me to make him a custom painting for his new place. Of course I said yes.

He told me he would be interested in a portrait of Woody Allen with a vibe similar to the portrait of Johnny Cash I made last year.

Absolutely!

I immediately got on board because I feel Woody is a great idea for a portrait. In fact, I'm surprised I didn't think to paint him before! His face has a unique quirky sadness and despite his controversial lifestyle, he remains one of the most creative minds of his generation.

I hope all you Woody Allen fans out there enjoy this piece as much as I enjoyed making it!

Smile

Smile
12" X 24"
Spray Paint Stencil'd on Wood
October 2010
To be auctioned off benefiting United Way

Why are the most powerful smiles are on the faces of those who have the most reasons to frown?

My employer has made a corporate decision to support exclusively United Way.
Skeptics will say that this is one big tax write-off and blah blah blah but honestly, when it comes down to it, I don't personally care about alternate fiscal motivations as long as the people who need the support end up getting it.
That's the only thing that matters.

That being said, I've been asked if I would care to donate a painting to help raise funds benefiting United Way during this year's corporate fund raising effort.

Done.

I've painted one of my dear friends Pierli and a child he met while he was in Kenya a few years ago. When it comes to smiles & hearts, Pierli is a force to be reckoned with so this choice wasn't hard to make. I'm blessed to be surrounded by amazing people in my day-to-day life and he is only one of them.

I can't wait to see how this piece does in the auction. I hope with all my heart it goes for a large amount but in the end, even if it goes for just a few dollars I will be happy because it will have allowed me to do my part and help those truly deserving.

I haven't been briefed on the details of the auction in terms of WHERE, WHEN, HOW. For the moment, only the WHY is known and that's enough for me.

As soon as I know more about this I will be sharing it with all of you so that you can participate [if willing & if possible].

For now, I leave you with a quote from the song "Smile" by K'Naan.

[Smile] When you're struggling
[Smile] When you're in jail
[Smile] When you're dead broke
[Smile] And the rent's due
[Smile] You ain't got friends now
[Smile] And no one knows you
Never let 'em see you down, Smile while you're bleedin'

Trash Boudoir

Trash Boudoir
13.5" X 30.5"
Spray Paint Stencil'd on Wood found in the Trash
September 2010

One man's trash [...]

About six months ago, someone threw out this wood panel.
It's the kind of thing you would see on opposite sides of a window.
My girlfriend found it and brought it home... in her usual "I support you enough to pick up garbage and bring it home to you" fashion.

The original photo I used was taken by Laurent Castellucci.
The model in this shot is my girlfriend Hilary Keithlin.
The picture isn't posted here for privacy reasons.

Derek

I have a new website!!

Please click this link to find more up to date work!

www.kevinmxdermott.com

Thank you!!

Derek - GIFTED

30" X 36"
Acrylics & Spray Paint Stencil'd on Canvas
August 2010

People, meet Derek.
Derek, meet people.

You may know him better as Toronto MC: D-Sisive. He's been around doing his thing for a long time and has only just recently has he gained some well deserved recognition.

When he saw the piece, D's answer was:

"This is super overwhelming. I don't know what to say. It's an honor, sir. Makes me want to cry a little. I love it so much."

As an artist, it doesn't get any better than that. A paycheck pales in comparison to that kind of response.

I discovered D-Sisive when a friend 'shared' me "The Book EP" and "The Idiot: Hijacked Mixtape." Albeit dark, his music was very deep and pregnant with imagery so it was hard to turn a deaf ear. His lyric style reminded me of Buck 65 when he's on that "The Floor" vibe.

Needless to say, when the next album "Let the Children Die" came out I was very excited, but somehow it didn't have the desired effect. Something was missing. There are some definite standout tracks on that album but the whole package didn't do it for me. I reverted back to "The Book" in the meantime and waited patiently for more.

I wouldn't be disappointed. "Jonestown" [a free digital download] and "Vaudeville," his latest efforts, mix both the grim imagery, the crystal clear storytelling and the clever punchline rap very well and display perfectly his progression in all aspects of his writing as well as his vocal delivery. I recommend his music catalog to anyone and everyone, hip-hop fan or not.

You can read more about D-Sisive by clicking here.

You can get it straight from the horse's mouth [his blog] here.

You can download "Jonestown" for free [legal] by clicking here.

The original photo was taken by Tobias Wang. You can check out his Flickr page here.

Enjoy and share!

pockets empty, canvas loaded

In this world of Facebook events happening every 5 minutes...
It's sensory overload and, for the most part, events get a 'maybe attending' and get forgotten...
Then once in a while an event hits you when you're not yet awake and you actually look at it...

Here's an event created by Mary Musyl:

pockets empty, canvas loaded (art show to benefit Sterling schools)

It's happening in Sterling Il.
I have no idea where that is but the idea is dope:

The artist requests that you donate a school supply in lieu of admission. (Markers, lined paper, scissors, and pencils are the items which are most needed, though all donations are greatly appreciated.) All donations will benefit Sterling schools.

So what it's far away... it's a great idea... Period.

So I took it upon myself to contact Mary and get her address so that I could send her some supplies even though I'm obviously not gonna show up... I mean... I don't even know where this town is!

Pictured above is the care package filled with goodies for her kids as well as herself [for being so awesome] she will get in the mail... The jet pack looked like it needed a little soul so I put Buck 65 on it!

Anyway... long story short... I suggest you do the same and mail her kids some school supplies... it's back to school time and everything is super cheap... remember... cheap for you can relate to 'too expensive' for someone else... it's time to give a shout out to less fortunate people who are killing to learn... but can't afford the stuff they need...

Email me at p.summind@gmail.com and I will provide you the mailing address... I figure it would lack friendliness to post her address online...

The bottom line is: making a difference is easier than it looks.

Gerrard

Gerrard - SOLD

[Commission Piece]
24" X 12"
Spray Paint Stencil'd on Wood
March 2010

One of my friends asked me if I could make a custom painting for her boyfriend's upcoming birthday. She said he was a huge fan on football and of Liverpool FC. I'm a big fan of the game of football but unfortunately don't have the time or patience to follow it very much. After a little more sneaky probing she was able to find out that his favorite player was Steven Gerrard. Turns out this guy is pretty well known (I had never even heard the name - my apologies to all football fans - I'd be upset if you'd never heard Mariano Rivera so I fully understand... it happens!).

That being said, I put 2 and 2 together and started work on a piece that would become 'Gerrard.'

I'm very satisfied with the end result and am I was also very happy to find out yesterday that:

1- The dude loved it
2- I now had permission to post it online (since it was a surprise)

So there... if anyone out there has had the idea of getting a custom piece done... remember that I'm always interested in stepping out of my comfort zone in terms of inspiration.

Finally... I'd like to give a big shout out to my cat Speaker for always sneaking into pictures and making the girls go "aaaaaaaawwwwwwwwwww!!!!"