High Plains Drifter Pin Update! process #3

I've been pretty busy getting things ready for my show on Friday night at The Big Frame Up in Littleton. So I'm really getting in gear to bust out this last pinup so that I can have it ready to hang before Friday Night. Here's just a quick process shot of where I am, I'll have a more refined version to post, tomorrow, but I just wanted to show you that I'm still working and revising.

High Plains Drifter - Process update 2

I'm playing around a little with different hats. I tried a straw cowgirl hat and didn't like it, so in sticking with the Man with No Name theme, I gave her an Eastwood hat. Not sure if I like it brown, but I'm going with it, for now. I haven't tucked all of her hair in, yet, because I might get rid of the hat completely in the future. So here's a little bit more rendering on the skin and face, haven't gotten too much into the bike yet, but I'll get there soon enough. I'm just glad that my Kawasaki Drifter 1500 doesn't have too much chrome. The American Ironhorse Chopper took a long-ass time because of having to render all of that chrome. I recently found out that my buddy Eric has an 800 Drifter, so now I'm getting ideas of doing a piece with two girls and two Drifters.

High Plains Drifter Pinup

Howdy Fans, Working on something that is very close to my black little heart... My OWN BIKE! Freakin Sweet! After nearly a month long Holiday away from pinups I'm back on track and this time I'm using my very own 1999 VN1500-J Kawasaki Vulcan Drifter. That's 1500cc's of fuel-injected, shaft-driven, two-wheeled rolling classic beauty with all the classic flavors of a '47 Indian Chief but all the kick-ass power and performance of the 21st century. This will also be the first pinup in a line that will be exclusively designed for print on tons of novelty items from buttons to posters, coffee mugs, sweatshirts, and whatever else is available to print on. This is still in the early stages, obviously, but I thought I'd post a quick process shot to show you that I haven't been entirely sedentary since my last post. My bike currently has Vance and Hines pipes on it, but I still have the original 2 into 1 Fishtail pipe, as well and I thought that the original pipes have a nice classic look to them that I wanted to preserve in the painting.

The Burial of Mr. Sweeney Todd

Today, this 16th day of December, Two-thousand nine, we remember the life of a very beloved Crown-tailed Betta fish, Mr. Sweeney Todd. He was the most daring and fierce Betta fish that I've had the privilege of owning, thus far, and lived a good life in a spacious 2-gallon tank. He'd swam around great reefs, plant life, and even a sunken Man 'o War battleship, during his lifetime and blew great joyful bubble nests when he wasn't flaring up his gills at his fellow Betta. In attendance of his funeral was his beloved owner Christopher Manzanares, his friends Kristiana Miller, Mr. Tobias (Toby), and Mr. Poe. Also witnessing the burial of Mr. Todd was Pete the neighboring Black Labrador.

This is the last resting place of Mr. Sweeney Todd. Buried next to his dear friend, Archimedes, who passed away earlier this year from natural causes.

Mr. Sweeney Todd
Brought home early in the year 2008
Passed Away the early in the morning of December 16, 2009
He is estimated to have lived 3-4 years.

I woke up this morning to find Mr. Todd lying fin up in his recovery bowl. He'd been battling with a fierce Swim Bladder Disorder for nearly 2-weeks, and it seems as though his treatment and medication just weren't enough to get him back to health. Unable to swim to the top, except for air, he hadn't eaten anything since his sickness started.


Filled with sorrow, the other Betta couldn't bring themselves to say goodbye to their dearly departed friend.

Toby turned his back to the scene,
and Poe simply hid amongst his plants.



Named after the infamous Demon Barber of Fleet Street, Mr. Sweeney Todd was bold, fiery, and spirited. His colors were fitting to his daring personality, red with black-tipped fins.

We say this to you, Mr. Todd, you shall forever be missed, and though your tank may be occupied by another in the future, you are truly irreplaceable. We love you.

"Life is eternal, and love is immortal,
and death is only a horizon;
and a horizon is nothing save the limit of our sight."
~Rossiter Worthington Raymond

Pinc Tacos - Board Bunny #1 Final

I just now realized that I hadn't posted the final draft of the Snowboarder. Pinc Tacos told me that there was something that they didn't like about her face, originally, so I had to go back and redo everything from the neck up.

"Board Bunny #1"
5" x 12" x 300ppi Digital Painting
Adobe Photoshop CS4 w/ Wacom Intuos 3 tablet

Pinc Tacos - Spray the White Poster!

I've finished the ski bunny. So I wanted to share the image that we all agreed upon. we had some issues with the font, initially, but we came to a satisfying compromise.
Christopher Manzanares
"Spray the White"
9"x12"x300ppi Digital Painting
Adobe Photoshop w/ Wacom Intuos 3 Tablet

One Hot Burnout! Pinc Tacos Poster.

Ok, so now that we've settled on the image, we're throwing in the neon sign and a little bit of flavor text. The text may change or we may throw it out entirely, but we'll cross that bridge when we come to it. I'm a huge fan of all things classic, so naturally I chose this very attractive Art Deco font for the flavor text.