Long ago Halloween was a night of mystic significance. For Druids it marked the end of summer, which they celebrated with a festival for the Sun God Samhain. Celtic people believed it was a night of witches, a fearful night when ghosts and goblins were free to roam. Some of these beliefs came to America with immigrating families and formed the holiday that we now call Halloween- which we pretty much turned into another reason to party! So get into the carnival spirit!- Just be careful though, look at poor Ash in the spooky clip below. His hand has become possessed by Evil Dead spirits!
Don’t feel too bad for Ash- in the next scene he gets a cool chainsaw arm! Bless you Sam Raimi!
The theme for our Halloween windows this year is Alfred Hitchcock’s THE BIRDS! Oddly enough after watching it last night, my little Parrot has started to bite the crap out of my hands- when that little beak catches and punctures flesh- DAMN it hurts!
So imagine if you will, flocks of angry birds, attacking/pecking/screaming from every angle! This is what makes Hitchcock’s film so frightening! We do not think of common birds as a threat, but if they were aggressive and unpredictable?!!- Well just watch this scene where Ms Brenner finds her friend Dan dead in his bedroom-
Why do the birds attack? Tippi’s hairstyle? Revenge for all the birds we’ve killed as boys with BB guns? Your guess is as good as mine, and for me this is what makes the film so memorable.
For the window design I have a favorite Bird’s scene in mind- Where the main character Melanie is sitting outside the Bodega School House nervously smoking a cigarette while unannounced behind her, crows are silently collecting on the school yard jungle gym. Readying themselves for an ambush on humanity. So in the West window I am assembling a jungle gym prop out of some redwood lattice, and mounting a bunch of crows cut out of masonite atop it.
In the east window I have painted this canvas of mad erratic birds swarming around the schoolhouse. Then I added some simple head illustrations of Melanie and Dan atop our mannequins, and painted the logo of the man himself- the "Master of Suspense"- Alfred Hitchcock.
So HAPPY HALLOWEEN everybody, get out there and make some creative costumes.
The band Anberlin is touring to support their new release NEW SURRENDER and they are running a promotion where you can enter to win a $200 dollar gift certificate for Aqua. Just stop by either shop and fill out the entry at the front counters. Check Anberlin out at myspace.com/anberlin
Maybe everyone has already seen this, not sure- But it is a neat little story of some fishing buddies that use a surf board to paddle their bait out far enough past the breaking waves.
Todd Francis just came thru SF for a show of his work at 3131 Clement and we got to ask him some questions-
Element is one of our favorite brands- and they have “Da Man” as their art director- Todd Francis- Who is Todd Francis you ask?- Come on, Todd has been doodling out some of the most memorable deck Illustrations ever!!!- You know his graphic work
from brands such as Real, Antihero, Spitfire, etc. Todd has a show going on at our Buddy Yong-KI's gallery 3131, so let's ask Todd a few brief questions-
At DLX your graphics communicate your outrageous sense of humor. I see your decks up on our store walls and they get my cracking up. (Note the disgruntle series above.) It seems like almost every topic was fair game with Anti Hero- how do your art direction and themes change over at Element in order to communicate their brand and their market?
Todd- “I’ve had plenty of opportunity with Element over the years to do funny stuff, which I’ve tried to mix with more straightforward content and ideas to hopefully capture the balance that best represents the company’s philosophy and aesthetic. And while nobody is going to confuse Element and Antihero graphics, there are a lot more things in common than you’d initially think. Its all about having fun, something both companies do a pretty good job of capturing.”
A lot of the new Element decks feature wild animals. I like the art
And the design seems to remain consistent even though the drawing style changes drastically from very detailed to simple cartoon imagery.
Where are your influences and inspiration coming from for this new
series? What are you communicating to the viewer with this imagery?
Todd- “One of Element’s bread-and-butter themes has always been the wind/water/fire/earth concept, our ties to the natural world around us. A number of years ago, we latched onto the animal theme, and we’ve always tried our best to maintain that theme and expand upon it without getting boring. The challenge is to always come up with something new that’s both timely and interesting, so we attack it with different stylistic approaches and try and keep it lively.
We’re sticking with the proven classic themes that have always been tied heavily to Element, and bending them to make sense with today’s market, whatever the hell that means.”
Pigeons, pigeons, pigeons! Your design style changes a lot- So your
Pigeon illustrations for me- and I am sure others, are what I most
strongly associate or sign back to the illustrative style of Todd
Francis. Why are Pigeons such a recurring character in your work? I
mean you must have a place in your heart for these little
misunderstood guys. By the way those Limited edition Oakley shades
with the pigeons art were popular- It was crazy!
Todd, why pigeons?
Todd- “Yeah, I’ve clung to the pigeons ever since that first Antihero logo board way back when. Love the little scumbags, they’re funny as hell, and nothing better captures a city and its horrors than the decrepit condition of its pigeons. SF pigeons are particularly damaged, all puffy and diseased and oozing. For lack of nothing better, they’ve become my pirate’s parrot.
Glad you liked the Oakley shades, they were big fun to work on. Hard to beat a pigeon with a needle in his mouth, talk about high fashion.”
The show at 3130 seems to be a retrospective of your various
illustration work- What does this show mean to you- and what pieces
are you excited about displaying?
Todd- “Honestly, this show is an incredible honor for me. 3131 Clement does a really great job with everything they do, I’m still stunned they’d select me as their retarded poster boy for 2008. Seeing all the old Antihero decks alongside the original drawings will probably be nice for folks who dig Antihero, and I’ve got lots of Element, Stereo, Real and New Deal graphics in there. Been doing this for awhile now, and all these pieces alongside each other is solid proof of that.
Just as pleased to present a series of new paintings nobody has ever seen before, they’re an incredibly sensitive and thoughtful trio of paintings, with the series title “When Animals Rape.” Something tells me Oprah won’t be choosing these for her art picks of the week anytime soon. But Bin Laden might.”
So everyone- I'm sure you know- but here are the details. 3131 Clement shows by appointment only so call Yong-Ki at 415 987 2782 to arrange for a viewing of Todd’s work. Also Todd created a deck for the show as well. 50 numbered and with all 4 of logos selected from his glorious past within skateboarding (Anti-Hero, Real, Stereo, & Element), again call Mr. Yong-Ki and get one. You can learn more about Yong-Ki’s gallery here- http://www.equaldist.com/
