Wednesday, October 05, 2011

Final

A bit of insider info on this one: The bike in the painting is one I had as a kid. It was called an "Open Road" (at least that was what it said on the pads). Even though it was yellow and blue and has a really lame name it was the coolest thing on the block. It had two speeds. (That's right two speeds.) I would race other kids on the block and shift to the second speed like I was hitting a "Turbo Boost" button. I loved that bike.
A bit of insider info on me: Until I was about 13-14 years old, I believed I would be visited by an alien. NEWS FLASH: I was a nerd. Yes - I was brainwashed by E.T. and The Greatest American Hero. (I know I'm dating myself here.) Something inside me said, "One day they're going to choose you!" I think somewhere deep inside that kid still exists and relives those dreams through my art. Ok...I'm still a nerd.

20 comments:

Dougmian said...

Beautiful illustration! I liked that climate of mystery!

Unknown said...

Woah! Beautiful piece. I love your art.

Jeff Call said...

Great painting! And the confession of nerd-ism is pretty funny!

b - boyer said...

Brilliant!

Le Tang said...

These are awesome buddy!!

Andrea Fernandez said...

Cool piece!

Victor Preto said...

Amazing blog you have here!

Heather Dixon said...

Wowzers! You are crazy good! So glad to connect with you ^_^

On the alien thought: when I was in 2nd grade, I had convinced my classmates that I had played Dorothy in "The Wizard of Oz"...like, the actual MGM Dorothy Wizard of Oz. I had convinced myself too--I remember thinking, well I don't NOT remember playing her...I'm pretty sure kids's brains are made of putty.

Trevor Spencer said...

awesome man, such a sweet piece. thanks for sharing :)

Danny Araya said...

Turned out awesome!

Malgorzata Arska said...

wow! great blog :)

amazing talent

Nicholas Hong said...

Dropping by your blog, Jeffords. I got inspired by great emotional and storytelling artwork! Thanks for sharing.

Ems said...

Great mood and light!

Unknown said...

I dig how we're seeing the two worlds visiting each other. Both will have the chance to take the other's ride to see what it can do. Love the role reversal. :)

froggie is... said...

hee, hee...i waited out every night in our backyard from age 9-11, after i saw ET and then close encounters on BETA. (yyeesh!)

this REALLY captures that feeling...that it could totally happen to a kid just by looking up. it's a great piece. ty for posting it and your process, brandon! "-)

NelsonG said...

This is a really great piece of storytelling!

I had a Huffy Pro Thunder 4 as a kid. It was black with yellow pads and could break the speed of sound with just the right tail wind. I could always outrun those pesky aliens.

Ben Clanton said...

Awesome! love the perspective
who knows . . . maybe they still might choose you. best luck!

Sarah said...

Awesome illustration! You're very talented :)

Paul Linsley said...

Hey Brandon. I met you the other night at the KFP premiere. Really dig your work! Do you have any books of your work? Prints? Laters,
Paul Linsley,
polijive@yahoo.com

Eric Henze said...

great piece!