Author: josean

I draw skulls, dinosaurs, girls, and things pertaining to Phish.
Original artwork and prints http://www.etsy.com/shop/joseeen
Select giclee prints http://josean-rivera.artistwebsites.com/
Ramblings and pics https://twitter.com/joseeen

Categories
Art Drawings

Thrilling, Chilling Phish Tour Posters

posters header

I’ve had a busy year so far (although I haven’t posted enough here!) Since the beginning of this year, I have been working on a series of posters for Phish’s summer, and eventually their fall tour.   The series is inspired by vintage sci-fi and monster movie posters, inspired by Phish songs, lyrics, as well as where the shows were taking place.  Since the tour dates this year were announced early, I had plenty of time to research and find the right theme.  I was drawn to the vintage posters, finding many I wanted to recreate.  I didn’t realize at the time, but the ones I choose were often illustrated  by  Reynold Brown as well as Albert Kallis.  I recreated the posters as ink and watercolor illustrations, trying to make them as similar to the originals.  As I became more comfortable recreating the style, I took more liberties with the images.  The posters were created in segments, which were then scanned and digitally put together to create the final poster.  I had planned to only to do a summer tour series, but the feedback and requests inspired me to also continue the series for the fall tour.  I will create one more for the New Years Eve run at Madison Square Garden, and then the series will come to an end.  All prints are available in my shop, www.joseeen.esty.com.  They are 13×19 prints on cardstock, signed and limited to an edition of 150.

Summer Tour

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tahoe-copy  da-gorge-web-e1528927800875 sf-web inglewood-web  austin-web  alpharetta-webcamden-web   walnut-creek-web   mpp-web   curveball-web  dicks-web

Fall Tour

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Albany web   Hampton web   Nashville web    Rosemont web   Las Vegas web

 

Pantoja Art Fundraiser

Buy some art and help out my classroom!

Not just reading the book,

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When I’m not drawing Phish related things, I’m an elementary and middle school art teacher.  I want nothing but the best for my students (all 750 of them), and lately our budget has shrunk to almost nothing.  Sadly, as a teacher it is expected to raise funds for your classroom, since most school budgets won’t cover everything that’s needed to ensure successful learning.  While most of my coworkers opt for some great websites such as DonorsChoose, I decided to do things a little differently.  Almost all my art starts out as ink and watercolor illustrations that are then scanned and digitally arranged.  Some are randomly given away, but must are put in a portfolio where they are forgotten.  Rather than let them sit and collect dust, I came up with an idea to get them out of my house and help out my classroom!  I’ve reopened up my old…

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Categories
Art

Cats Down Under the Stars

I recently finished my latest Dead inspired print, Cats Down Under the Stars.  It is based off the song by Jerry Garcia Band, as well as the art of the album by the same name.  The original was watercolor and ink, and printed on 13×19 thick glossy cardstock and limited to an edition of 50.

cat twitterfb copy

Prints are available in my shop , and I’m currently running a 20% off sale in my shop from 2/11 til 2/18, no coupon necessary!

Categories
Drawings

Dead and Company Philly 11/16/17

I recently created a print for the upcoming Dead and Company show at the Wells Fargo Center on 11/16/17.  My print was inspired by an old print I came across of Ben Franklin and his son conducting his famous kite electricity experiment.  The original is ink and watercolor, and prints are signed and numbered, limited to an edition of 75.  I will have these on the lot at Wells Fargo, and the remaining prints are currently available in my shop!  www.joseeen.etsy.com

riveraprintkeg - Copy (2).jpg

 

 

JRAD Shirt Presale!

Not just reading the book,

jrad bears new done proof copy

I recently created a new shirt design, inspired by the Grateful Dead bears and the JRAD logo!  I’m currently doing a presale in my shop for shirts and women’s tank tops, available in multiple colors (during the presale only!)  After the presale period (which ends Friday, October 20th) a small amount will be available, in the the most popular color.

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https://www.etsy.com/listing/549630156/jrad-grateful-bears-shirt-presale

Shirts are printed on Next Level Premium Fitted Short Sleeve Crews. Available in S-2XL

Presale color options for shirts:
1. Warm Grey
2. Royal Blue
3. Kelly Green
4. Heather Grey
5. Forest Green
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https://www.etsy.com/listing/550119298/jrad-grateful-bears-shirt-presale

Tanks are printed on Next Level Ladies 1533 ideal ladies racerback tank top. Available in S-2XL in heather grey.

JRAD bear gildan

https://www.etsy.com/listing/563421937/jrad-grateful-bear-shirt-presale

Printed on Gildan Heavy Cotton shirts (50% cotton, 50% polyester) Available in S-2XL

Presale color options for shirts:
1. White
2. Black
3. Navy
4. Military Green
5. Charcoal
5. Brown Savana

I…

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Categories
Printmaking

Direwolf/ St Stephen Prints

I’ve recently finished up 2 more linocuts inspired by Grateful Dead songs, the 9th and 10th in an ongoing series. Although I have previously done both illustrations and linocuts, I feel I’ll probably be doing more linocuts for future songs.  These have been a challenge, but I’ve enjoyed both the process and the research involved in making these.  I’m hoping to work larger, although it seems a printing press of some sort will be necessary to accomplish that.

Dire Wolf

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A 9×12 Linocut inspired by the Song Dire Wolf .    Printed on 11×14 98lb paper. Hand pulled and printed, limited to a signed edition of 50. Prints available in my shop

St. Stephen

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One of my most ambitious prints to date, This linocut is inspired by the song St. Stephen. 11×14 print on 14×17 98lb white paper.  I have 2 versions available in my shop: the original, limited to an edition of 30, and the color variant, which is limited to an edition of 15.

View Previous song illustrations:

Cosmic Charlie/ West LA Fadeaway

Cumberland Blues

Grateful Bears

Categories
Printmaking

Spring Update

So it’s been a while since I’ve posted here! The last couple months have been very busy, work and artwork wise. I recently revamped my shop to include a lot of my recent printmaking  I’ve been focusing more on printmaking, including a few new prints and variants.

New prints!

Pizza Time

Taco Time

I created these for my 5th year at the Tattooed Mom’s tent for the South Street Spring Festival in early May.  I had fun with these, creating several variations, including a 3D version that comes with cardboard 3D glasses!  I have a few of these left, which are available in my shop.

Spring Fest!

It was an honor to be asked to join the TMom’s tent during the South Street Spring Festival for the 5th year in the row!  I was able to join a couple other amazing Philly artists to sell artwork and represent the spirit of Tattooed Mom’s.  The owner is a a big supporter of Philly Street art ( just go upstairs!), and rather than just sell some swag in their tent, he’d rather have artists sell their art! Thanks, Tmom’s!

New Shop!

joseeen215

I recently update my shop to include all my printmaking work. Since I’ve started doing my Phish inspired art, my main shop has been filled with that.  I created another site for my other artwork, www.joseeen215.etsy.com.  I must admit it was often neglected, but I’m working to prevent that!  I’ve added new work, and may add new as well as some older work.

Phish!

Of course there’ll be plenty of a Phish art for the near future.  With summer tour approaching, I’ll be making some posters for some of the concerts, with the Baker’s Dozen Run (13 show at Madison Square Garden during July/August) poster almost done.  I will also be vending at 2 of the PhanArt Shows at the Hotel Penn, right across the street from MSG.  With so many shows in NYC and no vending allowed outside the venue, this will be the chance to grab some Phish art from myself and a bunch of other awesome Phan artists!  I’ll be posting all about my posters for summer tour as well as more in my other site: http://www.phishart.net.  I’ll b repost onto this site, but will be sure not to overwhelm the non-phans!

Categories
Art Printmaking

Grateful Bears

I recently finished up these two linocuts, inspired by the Grateful Dead Bears.  They were originally sketches for a Splintered Sunlight poster I worked on a couple months ago, but I put them aside and forgot about the until recently.  I have been working  mainly with linocuts this year, and was eager to find something new to carve.  The first bear is a mashup between a bear and the skull and roses image (aka Bertha), and the second is an accurate bear skull. I’ve also be trying out new printmaking techniques, so the Bertha Bear is a 3 color reduction print, and I plan to do some handcolored versions of the other bear.  I currently have a small edition of both (or as a set) in my shop.

I’m also currently working on a shop that focuses on my printmaking work.  It’s a work in progess, so more items are being added constantly, both old and current prints.

Categories
Art Printmaking

Cumberland Blues

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I recently finished up this linocut inspired by the song “Cumberland Blues” by the Grateful Dead.  My largest print to date (12×18), this was quite a challenge since I was using a soft cut linoblock, which has the tendency to move when lots of pressure is applied.  The print came out better than expected, and I ended up making 2 variations.

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The regular edition was printed on 14.5×22 90lb cream paper and limited to an edition of 50.  The variant was printed on 15×22 140lb cold pressed watercolor paper (hand colored to create a “tie-dye” effect), and  limited to an edition of 25. Both are currently available in my shop: www.etsy.com/shop/joseeen

Categories
Art Drawings

Drawing to the Dead

I recently finished two new illustrations, inspired by the music of the Grateful Dead.

Cosmic Charlie big copy - Copy.jpg“Cosmic Charlie” Ink, watercolor, digital.

Prints available

wla-fadeaway-copy-small“West L.A. Fadeaway”  ink and watercolor/digital

Prints Available

I also created some variants of this illustrations:

wla-fadeaway-set

Although I’ve been a fan of Grateful Dead, I had’t done much art related to them until recently.  Last year I was asked to create posters for Without A Net, an all star lineup of musicians playing the music of the Dead. This led me to create a few other illustrations that took elements of my own artwork with a GD twist, which I used to create some posters for the Dead & Co. show in Philly in 2015. And most recently, I created a poster for Splintered Sunlight, an east coast Grateful Dead tribute band.  I avoided illustrating songs as I do for Phish, although I had plenty of people suggesting I do.  It wasn’t until Phish’s recent Nashville show, which had Bob Weir sit in for their second set.  They ended up playing 4 GD songs, which of course I had to illustrate!

bob-weir-setSET 2: Julius > Fuego > My Friend, My Friend, Samson and Delilah[2], Twist[3] > Miss You[4], West L.A. Fadeaway[4] > Playing in the Band[5]

ENCORE: Quinn the Eskimo[3]

[2] Phish debut; Bob Weir on guitar and vocals.
[3] Bob Weir on guitar.
[4] Bob Weir on guitar and vocals.
[5] Phish debut; Bob Weir on guitar.
This show featured the Phish debut of Samson and Delilah and Playing in the Band. West L.A. Fadeaway was last played October 6, 2000 (383 shows). Samson and Delilah through Playing in the Band featured Bob Weir on guitar. Weir also sang vocals on Samson and Delilah, Miss You, and West L.A. Fadeaway. The soundcheck’s Blues Jam featured a verse of Funky Bitch from Trey and Walking Blues featured Weir on vocals.

I plan to do a couple more songs in the near future, but I’m in no rush.  I want the ideas to come organically, and for it to be original. This can be difficult, on account that fans have been creating Dead inspired art for almost 50 years now!  But it’s a challenge I’m willing to take on!  Stay tuned for some new art in the coming months!

Setlist/notes © 1990-2016  The Mockingbird Foundation, Inc.