admat Tag

03 Mar

Posted at 08:10h in Behind the Scenes..., Painting Story by
26 Likes

“Three-fifths of an octopus’ neurons are not in their brain, but in their arms; each arm has a mind of its own.”  Sy Montgomery

GNARLY OCTOPUS is painted on at 24″ x 36″ Fredrix Canvas, mixed media.  

The painting is a play on the band Dirty Heads’ mascot, the octopus.  In this painting, the octopus is eating Magical Butter off of a spoon.  (Scroll down to see the video of me painting this.)

All of this stuff comes from my imagination, naturally.  People think I take drugs, but I don’t.  My natural state is wide open.

In real life, I see shapes, expressions and bright colors that most people don’t see. I put these things into my paintings.

Would love to send this octopus to a good home.  You can buy it here.

Some of my paintings are created as illustrations for a particular use.  It works like this – my illustration client will buy the rights to use the digital artwork and then I’ll keep the actual paintings to sell to my collectors later.

I create my illustrations old-school and paint them on canvas so that they will make for a collectible piece of art.

The actual painting doesn’t have lettering or anything on it that will take away from it as art – it’s designed so that it will make for art that will be hung.  

It’s a great program, because I have been able to turn most of my illustrations into art that is collected by people around the world.  Over time, many have become a little slice of history.

Usually, I’ll only take on art commissions that I know I’ll enjoy.   If something comes along that I won’t like, I turn it down.  You only do your best work if you’re having fun.

Today’s painting, the Gnarly Octopus, was one of three paintings that I created for Magical Butter.  They wanted artwork for a 2016 summer concert tour for Sublime with Rome and the Dirty Heads.

I loved working with Magical Butter, because they are a company of fun people who are creative and open to new ideas.  And, listening to the bands’ music kept me going through the process.  It was a lot of fun.

If you want to talk to me or Maria before deciding to add Gnarly Octopus to your collection, call or text the studio at 949-678-8133.

01 Mar

Posted at 10:59h in Behind the Scenes... by
22 Likes

“Nature holds the key to our aesthetic, intellectual, cognitive and even spiritual satisfaction.”  E.O. Wilson

The Singing Schrooms is painted on a 36″x24″ canvas, using mixed media.

Scroll down in this post to see a live video of me painting this art piece.

Singing Schrooms is one of three illustrations I created for a concert tour poster for Sublime with Rome and Dirty Heads, sponsored by Magical Butter Machine.  

The idea for this painting was inspired by my fascination for nature.  

Sometimes I look at mushrooms and they look so happy and I was imagining a bunch of them singing.

Then, somehow as I painted, the singing mushrooms took on a life of their own and wound up looking like the three band members of Sublime with Rome; Rome Rarmirez, Josh Freeze and Eric Wilson.  It’s probably because I was listening to their new album, Sirens, while painting.

Would love to see this painting go to a good home.  It was recently exhibited at The Edibles Awards in Los Angeles and is now released to the public.

While it lasts:  you can buy it here: http://store.drewbrophy.com/singing-shrooms-24×36-original-painting-on-canvas-by-drew-brophy/  – Sign up for my newsletters to get 10% off.

If you want to talk to me or my manager, Maria, before deciding to add this one to your collection, call or text the studio
at 949-678-8133.

 

25 Aug

Posted at 05:56h in Behind the Scenes..., Shows & Events, Wheres Drew by
36 Likes

If I’m not on tour , I’m in nature somewhere, usually some kind of ocean.  It’s a tremendous opportunity to be able to spend your life being surrounded by nature.”   Eddie Vedder

As huge Pearl Jam fans, Drew and I were so excited when Eddie Vedder’s people called to have Drew create the artwork for Eddie’s new live event, the Ohana Festival in Dana Point (happening this weekend).

Eddie liked the work that Drew did years ago on the Pipemasters’ surfing contest poster, and so he wanted Drew to be the guy to create his Ohana Festival art.

The Ohana Festival is probably the biggest thing to happen to this little area in a long time – it’s a two day event with a great musical lineup, including Eddie Vedder himself, Lana Del Rey, Mudhoney, Elvis Costello, and so much more!

The artwork was designed to capture the essence of being at the beach with your family, in its simplest form.  The beaches in this area are beautiful and special, and we need to treasure it.  

Proceeds from this event will benefit the San Onofre Foundation, a small group of people who work hard to preserve the San Clemente state beaches and parks;  San Onofre State Beach, all of Trestles, and miles and miles of natural trails, which hosts thousands of surfers and nature lovers every day.  The San Mateo Creek watershed, located at Trestles, is the last intact water shed in Southern California.  It connects Trestles to the Cleveland National Forest; basically connecting the beach to the mountains!  These are areas that need to be preserved and treasured; a natural link from the ocean to the mountains.  It’s only fitting that Eddie Vedder cares about these surfing beaches; he’s a surfer and a nature lover himself.

Ohana Festival includes an exclusive Luau and auction Friday night, presented by Eddie Vedder and Kelly Slater, with proceeds going to the San Onofre Foundation.  Drew will have several art pieces in the auction, including the original artwork painted for the Ohana Festival.  Drew and I both will be there.

OHANA FEST IS THIS WEEKEND!  It’s not too late to get your tickets – we will be there with our kids.  Hope to see you there!

OHANA ARTWORK CAN BE YOURS – NEW RELEASE AS A LIMITED EDITION

Drew has released this artwork as a limited edition print on canvas in two different sizes (see here).

If you opt for embellishment, Drew will hand-paint your family name in the sand on the bottom of the art piece.  (See this video on Facebookof Drew embellishing a print with a family name on it.)

Each one is numbered and hand-signed by Drew.

You can ORDER ONLINE here.

Are you going to Ohana Festival this weekend?  Leave a comment on the blog and let us know, we’ll look for you there!

Maria (for Drew)*If you have any questions, feel free to call me 949-678-8133.

 

THE MEANING OF ‘OHANA:  The word ʻohana means “family” in the Hawaiian language, but in a much wider sense, to include not only one’s closer relatives, but also one’s cousins, in-laws, friends, race, and other neighbors.

But a quote from the cartoon movie, Lilo and Stich, has an even better definition of Ohana that helps you to feel what the word really conveys:  “Ohana means family. Family means nobody gets left behind… or forgotten.”

22 Aug

Posted at 09:28h in Behind the Scenes..., CASE STUDY by
36 Likes

SowFlo-Painting-Drew-Brophy-2015CASE STUDY:  SOWFLO Album and CD Cover for their 2016 release titled SUCH IS LIFE.

WHEN: January 2016

CLIENT: SOWFLO

MISSION: SOWFLO is a South Florida American reggae band.  They were releasing a new album titled “SUCH IS LIFE ” and wanted an illustration that would be so unique and full of life that it would add to the appeal of the album and cd’s.  The ultimate goal was to create an album that would become collectible and memorable.

SCOPE OF PROJECT:  The artwork was designed to incorporate the band’s love for sunshine, good vibes and a Florida feel.  And of course, one of the most interesting features of their region, bales of “herbs” washing up on Florida shores.
sowflo mudskipper art by drew brophy
Drew strove to create a fun vibe with his signature sun and electric waves and of course, a Reggae album cover wouldn’t be complete without a few pot leaves thrown in.  He then decided to add in a few of the strange fish found in Florida, called mudskippers.

Drew felt that he could create a mudskipper with such pronounced personality that it would become an iconic image for the band.  And it did.

SUCH Is Life CD Cover SOWFLO art by Drew BrophyRESULTS:  The illustration printed beautifully, and the band was able to use the art to create other merchandise such as t-shirts and stickers donning the newly infamous mudskipper.  The album release has been very successful.

The mudskipper did indeed become an iconic image for the band.  In just a few short months since the album’s release, dozens of photos from fans have surfaced, showing the mudskipper tattooed on them.  It’s become a memorable image.  Mission Accomplished.

NOTE:  The agreement allowed for Drew to make art prints of the artwork available to his collectors.  They are in a limited edition series, available here.