COSM Workshop 2017

Join us in the soothing setting of Alex and Allyson Grey’s visionary art sanctuary for a 5-day intensive art & painting workshop!

May 31st through June 4th, 2017 - sign up here!

Latest painting

"DakhaBrakha Honey Bucket Afro-beat!"
36" x 48" / acrylic on canvas / 2016  

Created with Morgan Mandala at this year's beautiful Beloved Festival. <3

You can grab a print if you like, from http://www.allofthisisforyou.com/shop/

New Doctor Strange posters!

Here's the the Doctor Strange posters I recently completed for the film's upcoming Imax release! 

So intense working with a design team on a tight deadline; in the end it was a lot of fun and pleased with the way it turned out. Looking forward to this movie big time!

Pixar's "22 Rules of Storytelling"

Below are Pixar's 22 rules they use for the storytelling in their films. Good stuff that can apply to any artist. 


#1: You admire a character for trying more than for their successes.

#2: You gotta keep in mind what’s interesting to you as an audience, not what’s fun to do as a writer. They can be v. different.

#3: Trying for theme is important, but you won’t see what the story is actually about til you’re at the end of it. Now rewrite.

#4: Once upon a time there was ___. Every day, ___. One day ___. Because of that, ___. Because of that, ___. Until finally ___.

#5: Simplify. Focus. Combine characters. Hop over detours. You’ll feel like you’re losing valuable stuff but it sets you free.

#6: What is your character good at, comfortable with? Throw the polar opposite at them. Challenge them. How do they deal?

#7: Come up with your ending before you figure out your middle. Seriously. Endings are hard, get yours working up front.

#8: Finish your story, let go even if it’s not perfect. In an ideal world you have both, but move on. Do better next time.

#9: When you’re stuck, make a list of what WOULDN’T happen next. Lots of times the material to get you unstuck will show up.

#10: Pull apart the stories you like. What you like in them is a part of you; you’ve got to recognize it before you can use it.

#11: Putting it on paper lets you start fixing it. If it stays in your head, a perfect idea, you’ll never share it with anyone.

#12: Discount the 1st thing that comes to mind. And the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th – get the obvious out of the way. Surprise yourself.

#13: Give your characters opinions. Passive/malleable might seem likable to you as you write, but it’s poison to the audience.

#14: Why must you tell THIS story? What’s the belief burning within you that your story feeds off of? That’s the heart of it.

#15: If you were your character, in this situation, how would you feel? Honesty lends credibility to unbelievable situations.

#16: What are the stakes? Give us reason to root for the character. What happens if they don’t succeed? Stack the odds against.

#17: No work is ever wasted. If it’s not working, let go and move on - it’ll come back around to be useful later.

#18: You have to know yourself: the difference between doing your best & fussing. Story is testing, not refining.

#19: Coincidences to get characters into trouble are great; coincidences to get them out of it are cheating.

#20: Exercise: take the building blocks of a movie you dislike. How d’you rearrange them into what you DO like?

#21: You gotta identify with your situation/characters, can’t just write ‘cool’. What would make YOU act that way?

#22: What’s the essence of your story? Most economical telling of it? If you know that, you can build out from there.

"The Portal Series : Arise"

“The Portal Series : Arise”
5′ x 4′ / 2015-2016 / acrylic on canvas

Prints: www.allofthisisforyou.com/shop

Latest finished collaboration with Morgan Mandala <3
 
Thank you for looking!

"The Portal Series: Bloodbath"

Latest finished painting -
“The Portal Series : Bloodbath”
6′ x 4′ / 2015-2016 / acrylic on canvas

Prints: www.allofthisisforyou.com/shop

Collaboration with the beautiful Morgan Mandala from last year's awesome Symbiosis Gathering.

2016 Events

Here are a few of the events Morgan & I will be participating in so far this year. We are super excited about all of these, can't wait to see you out there!!


Papadosio at Red Rocks!
May 7th
Red Rocks Amphitheater 
Morrison, CO
(live-painting)

Purple Couch - Spring Ritual
May 19th
The Glitter Dome
Denver, CO
(live-painting)

Boulder Creek Festival 
May 28th - 30th 
Boulder Creek
Boulder, CO 
(live-painting)

Mountain Jam
June 2nd - 5th 
Hunter Mtn, NY
(live-painting)

Art as Prayer Workshop @ COSM
June 10th - 12th
Wappingers Falls, NY
(workshop retreat)

Sonic Bloom
June 16th - 19th
Hummingbird Ranch, CO
(live-painting)
 + June 13th - 16th
Sonic Bloom visionary art series
(art workshop - sign up here!)
 

Electric Forest
June 23rd - 26th
Rothbury, MI
(live-painting)

Tattoo Masquerade
July 22nd - 24th
Colorado Convention Center
Denver, CO
(live-painting)

Arise Festival
August 5th - 7th 
Sunrise Ranch
Loveland, CO
(live-painting)

Threyda / Group Art Show
August 27th 
Very special  group show of Threyda artists
Denver, CO






*subject to updates, check back soon!

Art as Prayer Workshop - June 10th-12th, 2016

Please join us again this June at Alex & Allyson Grey's New York retreat center, CoSM. Dedicate 3 whole days to your connection to art!

http://cosm.org/events/artasprayer/

New painting: Hokusai - Great Wave (Remix)

In researching this painting and the great artist Hokusai, I came across a Wikipedia article that calls the style and genre he created in as ukiyo-e. This period and movement reflected the lives and interests of the "lowest classes of society", such as merchants, artists and ronin (samurai without masters) . Ukiyo means, roughly, "the floating world".
Since I enjoy a counter-culture lifestyle as an artist, with a pretty extensive background in holistic studies (whatever those are) this struck a chord. At times "the floating world" seems like a perfectly reasonable way to describe the predicament of being alive and conscious.

From Wikipedia:

"It was the novelist Asai Ryoi who in 1661 defined the movement in his book "Narrative of the Floating Life":
'..living only for the moment, savouring the moon, the snow, the cherries in flower and the leaves of the maple, singing songs, drinking sake and enjoying simply floating, indifferent to the prospect of impending poverty, optimistic and carefree, like a pumpkin dragged along by the current of the river.' "

There are many simple joys to be had with this philosophy... we are all, from the right perspective and after all, just floating in the river, regardless of whatever flimsy and weathered old comforts we try to clutch onto to make sense of the world. I believe that if happiness is ever to be found, the places worth looking are those simple things - like washing the dishes, sweeping the floor, or dancing with friends.

I hope you like the painting. I do wish I was able to work on it longer and make it better and better, but... the river is flowing on...

...may all of our work serve the highest good...

<3  RR


 Get prints here!