New Lamb Of God "Bone Mandala" design.

Lamb Of God just finished up their tour with Killswitch Engage, Testament, and Huntress and had a couple of my designs in tow. 

 The new "Bone Mandala" design (above) is one of two new designs that were with the guys. Both shirts had tour dates on back as well. Thanks to everyone who picked one up!

New sketches for Epic Ales.

Sketch for the Farmer's Brow beer.

Sketch for the Salty Ghosts beer.

 I'm working on a new design for High On Fire, but have a break for the next two days and decided to work on a couple of new labels for Epic Ales. Be on the look out for Epic Ales at your local Washington beer store/grocery store/liquor store.

Hopfest 2013.

The awesome folks over at Brouwer's Cafe recently commissioned me to design a t-shirt for this years Hopfest. I guess my work for Epic Ales is how Matt and Nat came to find me and we quickly went to work on figuring out an idea. They had a "hop demon" from previous Hopfests, so they asked that I metal him up and make him look more menacing. Demons are pretty easy to make more grim and they were stoked on the final design.
 You can read more about Hopfest on their blog and if you live in Seattle, WA, you can head down to Brouwer's Cafe starting Thursday, September 26th- Sunday, September 29th.

High On Fire/Kvelertak tour the US and Canada.

 It looks like that time of year when I'll be packing up and getting out of the art room to tour with my good friends High On Fire. I look forward to running across the US and Canada with those crazy Norwegian folks, Kvelertak, too. Along the way, the tour will be joined by Doomriders, Pack Of Wolves, and Windhand. Tickets are on sale now, so buy one, come say hello at the merch table, and watch an awesome night of heavy music.

Here are the dates:
November 10: Masquerade, Atlanta, GA
November 11: Orange Peel, Asheville, NC
November 12: Rock & Roll Hotel, Washington, DC
November 13: Underground Arts, Philadelphia, PA
November 15:  Webster Hall, New York, NY
November 16: The Middle East, Boston, MA
November 17: Corona Theatre, Montreal, QC
November 18: Opera House, Toronto, ON
November 19: Crofoot Ballroom, Detroit, MI
November 20: A&R Music Bar, Columbus, OH
November 22: Metro,Chicago, IL
November 23: Pop’s, Sauget, IL
November 25: House of Blues, Houston, TX
November 26: Tree’s, Dallas, TX
November 27: Mohawk (outside), Austin, TX
November 29: Granada Theatre, Lawrence, KS
November 30: First Avenue, Minneapolis, MN
December 2: West End Cultural Centre, Winnipeg, MB
December 4: Starlite Ballroom, Edmonton, AB
December 5: Republik, Calgary, AB
December 7: Venue, Vancouver, BC
December 8: El Corazon, Seattle, WA
December 9: Hawthorne Theatre, Portland, OR
December 11: Regency Center Grand Ballroom, San Francisco, CA
December 12: El Rey Theatre Los Angeles, CA

Kvelertak's space owl.

 Now that I'm settled into my new art room, the designs have been being pumped out at a quick rate. Take for example the new "Space Owl" design for Kevelrtak. It took only one week to complete as they needed it in a time crunch. Erlend gave me the idea of a sci-fi/robot owl and the first thing that came to mind was more inspired by Bubo from the 1981 Clash Of The Titans movie than a new style mech owl. I also wanted to reference a real owl, so I added the horned owl skull in it's talons along with the real owl's claws attached by thin ropes to the it's jawbone. I wanted it to be sort of a "machine conquering flesh" sort of vibe going on in the design.

The guys are really happy with it and i'm hoping that they'll have them when they head to Australia on Saturday. If not, then they should have them on their upcoming US tour with High On Fire starting November 10th.

Epic Ales Slow Southern Steel beers.

In celebration of the West Coast screening of SLOW SOUTHERN STEEL, Epic Ales has brewed up a special beer. They are hand numbered, wax sealed, and limited to 300 bottles. They will be in stores in the Pacific NW sometime this week.

Now on tap and in stores in the Pacific NW.

Epic Ales Beach Beer and Beet Down sour beers are now on tap and in Washington state area stores. You can also head down to the Epic Ales Brewery/ Gastropod restaurant and pick up a few bottles as well have pints and some of the best food that a metal chef can make.

Brain Scraper's death crest.

 My newest t-shirt design is for Seattle grinders, BRAIN SCRAPER. It's been nice to return to some utter brutality and heavy detail again. Also awesome to do a logo filled with inverted crosses.
They'll be available from the band and at live shows.

You can hear them here: Brain Scraper

A few new illustrations for Epic Ales.

The Epic Ales Beach Beer will feature the bottle character again.

Not sure what Cody will use this for, but it's a tea drinking whale. How can you go wrong?

And, a honey badger for Epic Ales new Honey Beer.

Epic Ales keeps on rolling with several new beers coming out in the next few months including a Slow Southern Steel beer for the screening in Seattle. You can also try all of the Epic Ales' beers on tap as well as grab a bite to eat at Gastropod in their new brewery/restaurant space in Seattle Sodo Area.

CVLT NATION posts the Bone Reader interview.

CVLT NATION just posted up the interview that I had done with Dylan of The Bone Reader a few months back. It's part of a bigger project that Dylan has going with several well known artists from across the globe.
 Big THANK YOU to Dylan and Sean & Meghan over at CVLT NATION.
BONE READER INTERVIEW at CVLT NATION

Slow Southern Steel in Seattle.

Slow Southern Steel is finally being screened out West! CT has graciously agreed to send me the film to screen for all of us that have been waiting for the documentaries release. Tickets are now available online at Santos Illustration page at big cartel.

More info about the night can be found here:
SLOW SOUTHERN STEEL in Seattle!

Sketch fest time again.

Sketch for a shirt design for Brain Scraper (Seattle, WA).

 I've been getting back to the art table lately and trying to get as much done as possible. Right now I'm working on a design for local grinders, Brain Scraper.  I just finished a logo for them, so it'll be awesome to get to use it for the shirt.
 Also getting worked on in this sketch session: Lamb Of God shirts, Black Queen shirt, Epic Ales beer labels, Lace pickups shirt design, art print, and a Kuma's Corner shirt. The last of the arrangements on the Slow Southern Steel front are almost done and an announcement will be made next week.

Progress on many fronts.

 Everything is coming together for the West coast screening of the Slow Southern Steel documentary. I'm working on finishing the ticket design up in the next few days and having them printed and available around July 15th. I'll create an event page on Facebook and update this page, as well as the Santos Illustration tumblr with all of the info. The tickets will be available at 112 Printworks in Seattle, WA and online at the Santos Illustration Big Cartel page, so far. This event is total DIY with no promoters, so i'm going to do my best to make the tickets available to everyone.

 The 3 screenings will be held at the Rendevous/Jewel Box Theater in Seattle, WA on September 15th and will be followed by music performances by Taurus and Iron Tongue.  The next day will see an early evening showing of the new Rwake concert documentary, and possibly a local band, at the Highline.

Among the awesomeness, will also be a special Slow Southern Steel beer brewed by Seattle's own Epic Ales. The beer will be on tap at the Highline on Sunday and will be available at stores in the Seattle area on and around the screening date.

If you don't know what the Slow Southern Steel documentary is, check it out and keep an eye out for more info to come.

Movie tickets

The Slow Southern Steel movie tickets are coming along. Going to start inking this, get them printed, and get have them on sale in then next few weeks. I also think I may use this image for the special batch of Slow Southern Steel Beer that Epic Ales will be brewing especially for the West Coast showing. More to come...

New metal art book PANDEMONIUM is now available!

 Now available on iTunes and for the iPad, is the new metal book compiled by Cristian Campos. There are over 100 artists represented and I am honored to be among them. You can see the trailer and download the App here:

PANDEMONIUM

My first art prints!!!

My first art prints are now available at my Big Cartel store.

They are 2 color 13"x17", printed on ivy vellum by Powerslide Design Co.

Only 25 are available and you can find them here:
  UNDER HOOF OF THE PALE HORSE

THICK AS THIEVES 3 is coming!!!!!

I just sent off the first mass email and will be eagerly awaiting all of the designs for this 3rd installment.

This pack will include: Adrian Covenant, Brian Mercer, Dartworks, Jason Wagoner, Jasper 'Infested Art' Swerts, and Ryan Kasparian

New prints.

Detail of "Under Hoof Of The Pale Horse"

Just in time for summer I'm getting ready to make some of my first art prints. The design will be an older one, but one that has been a favorite of mine for years. The design "Under Hoof Of The Pale Horse" will be printed by Mike Klay of Powerslide Design Co. and will be available in limited numbers. I will be posting a pre-order in the next two weeks.

Torche's new 7" is a good time.

 After all of the snippets of detail have been posted, I still don't think most people were ready for this one. So, here is the art for the new TORCHE 7" coming out on Volcom.

 It's always a blast to work with the Torche guys and this time the ideas took a weird turn. Steve and I took turns throwing out the ideas, which essentially started out with the S&M hummingbird fucking an ear with his condom covered beak. It was quickly changed because like Steve said, "this hummingbird goes in raw!"  The mini gimp mask and chest gear were the first things sketched up and then I thought that a codpiece would bring the look together. I got the idea for the codpiece from W.A.S.P.'s "Animal (Fuck Like A Beast)" single. The saw blade was replaced with the more fitting flower and the tiger stripes replaced with those of a bee. I wanted to add "I suck like a beast" to it, but the lettering would have been lost due to the size. All in all I got to pay homage to codpiece wearing Blackie Lawless.

The nod to Blackie's fashion sense.

 The back cover is where things really took a turn for the awesome. As if it wasn't enough that the cover dons a BDSM bird, he had to be going beyond the peaceful image on front. Then, came the urinal idea. Hey, what kinky hummingbird wouldn't hang out in bathrooms waiting for a golden shower. hahah! Yeah, over the top a bit, but he's so damned cute that you almost forget.

Back cover with the dirty birdie and his bee friend.

Keep an eye out for the official release of the new 7" in July via the Volcom's Vinyl Club. For now here is a link to the first song off of the record.......KEEP UP!

The kink to come...

 I just wanted to post a little teaser for the new Torche 7" coming out soon on Volcom. I decided to add my signature as a bee with a ball gag and paddle for this one. It will all make sense once the cover is revealed. It's a simple design but one that everyone will remember.

Mutoid Man's first EP!!!

 I was pretty honored to be asked to create the cover for Steve Brodsky and Ben Koller's new two man project, Mutoid Man. Their first EP, Helium Head will be coming out soon On Magic Bullet Records on CD/LP  and will have some of the songs that were performed during their performance in New York at Saint Vitus.

listen : Friday 13/8

 When I was on the Converge/Torche/Kvelertak tour,  Ben told me about this new project with Stephen and asked if I could draw up a weird and psychedelic idea for a cover in the same cartoony vein as Torche's Harmonicraft album. After tour, I was sent the lyrics and was able to come up with a scene combining both images from the lyrics and my own strange ideas.

I first drew up the space slug with the television helmet and sent it to Ben and Steve. They liked it right away and then I knew that I could get out of hand with the rest of it. The slug ended up working as later found out the title of the record will be Helium Head (a nod to Sir Lord Baltimore). The image of a space slug with a television helmet fit that title well, even though he's completely ridiculous.

The band of vultures in the background are a hybrid of ideas based off of the first two songs, "Gnarcissist" & "Scavengers". "Gnarcissist" warns of attention whore rock stars and their constant ego stroking. The vultures in the band are all collared with shackle-like apparatus' that have several mirrors hanging from them fitting the need for the constant self love. Also, a part of this image would be the large hole in the place where their hearts would be.

"Scavengers" is a song about people who tend to thieve their sound from other bands and musicians. It speaks of the vultures and their ways and even mentions playing the bones of their creative victims. I know that I made this part of the design quite literal, but I think it's an idea that had to be mentioned and pointed out. That would be the whole idea behind the boney instruments that the band are using.

Littered among the mushrooms are little degenerate frogs and turtles. I just thought it'd be fun to have a knife wielding frog and a cool smoking frog watching the heartless band wail. There's even a beer sipping turtle in the corner waving a pennant that made a great place for my signature.

The back cover continued with the duel turtle idea personifying the rockin' party contained on the album. So the party turtles were made. One with a custom bong shell and the other with a keg contained in his shell. They brought across the great personalities of both Steve and Ben and made these characters a blast to create. Steve also has two turtles of his own, so he really liked that I added some into the design.


Helium Head comes out on black Friday (November 29th, 2013) LP/CD/Digital.

Next up is a new 7" cover for Torche.

Howl's Demons.

(photo from Shirts & Destroy site)

The “Demons” design that I did for HOWL is now on sale at Shirts & Destroy. Or you can pick one up when they roll through your town on their current tour.

HOWL "Demons" shirt at Shirts & Destroy

The Merch Table.

Witchita Hecknaw (aka Jami Forshee) has just started a blog called The Merch Table. It will be a blog of interviews with the people that make merch designs and those that sell them. I'm pretty amped to have been her first interview. You can go and start following here here: The Merch Table

Tone Deaf Touring SXSW posters now up for pre-order.

Erik at Tone Deaf Touring just put the SXSW 2013 showcase posters up for pre-order. They are limited to 150 copies so pick yours up when you can.

You can find them here:
TONE DEAF TOURING SXSW 2013

Beet Down beer from Epic Ales

The next artisan beer to come out from Epic Ales will be their Beet Down beer. As the name states, the beer will be made with beets. You will be able to find it in Washington and Oregon stores next month.

Epic Ales Spring beer.

 In continuing my work with Epic Ales, I've drawn the SAD beer character now experiencing the rains of Spring. This beer should be out in the next couple of weeks in the Washington/Oregon area.

Tone Deaf Touring's SXSW 2013 Showcase poster.

This year I was given the honor of creating the poster for Tone Deaf Touring's 2013 SXSW showcase.  Where else are you going to see The Gates Of Slumber start a show and set the mood for KEN Mode to destroy the stage? Young Widows follow with their brand o' heaviness and Today Is The Day will be ripping y'all a new asshole. Nick Oliveri's Mondo Generator will be tearing up the stage in preparation for UK badasses, Orange Goblin to finish out the night. The whole show will rule!

The idea for poster came from Erik Jarvis at Tone Deaf Touring, who just wanted a giant squid grabbing onto a large fish that is about to eat a smaller fish. So, this image surfaced and turned out to be a feat in stippling for me. The detail on the whale alone took a day to complete. I also enjoyed free handing in all of the lettering that was based off of an old sailor font. I figured that it would fit the theme.

For any of you going to SXSW and want to see a heavy line up, be sure to head to Red 7. And, pick up a poster while you're there.

Progress on the SXSW showcase poster.

Just a quick post to show some of my progress on the Tone Deaf Touring SXSW showcase poster. I think that I've spent more time on this poster than I have slept. I've been doing everything by hand including all of the font. I'll post up the finished designs once I get it colored.

Want to hire me? Here's how I do things.

Business practices.

These basic things will ensure that your needs will be met and also to ensure that I am compensated for my time and artistic effort. ALL designs are done by hand and I only use a computer to clean up files and sometimes separate colors for printing. So, please be patient because these designs and the amount of detail takes time.

1.) All projects must be made in advance. I have a schedule that I adhere to and all projects are placed on the list on a first come, first serve basis. If I am contacted about a project that needs to be done asap and breaks into my schedule, a rush fee will be applied. If my schedule is completely full, a rush fee will not be accepted. Get a hold of me as soon as possible. My schedule is usually set for months in advance, so please keep that in mind when figuring out a timeline for your project.

2.) When I take on a project I will ask several questions and will keep in contact until a final sketch is approved. If you have specific ideas, subject matter, or themes that you would like let me know at the start of the sketching process. I like to get as much information as possible and will then research and brainstorm ideas for the design.

For shirt designs, please let me know if it's going to be black and white or color. Front design, front & back, sleeve prints, etc.

For cover designs, let me know if it's going to be a front cover design, front & back, gatefold, etc.

When the final sketch is ready to be okayed, I will send out a small file for the client to go over. I offer one free revision (if needed) at this time. After, the one I have to charge a fee. Sketches, inking designs, and coloring can take up a ton of time, so constant revising after the final sketch has been okayed is frowned upon.

**Please note that I will work with a client on getting the design to fit exactly what the client wants within the sketching process. The revision fee only applies once the sketch is at the final pencils stage. At the time of the final pencils, the client and I should have already worked out most of the details and that is why only one revision will be free. **

The same goes for coloring. For t-shirts, I will offer 3 color palettes to choose from. Please choose which you would like to go with and I will color it to your liking. The same revision rule applies here, too. For covers, please let me know what color palette you would like to go with and we will work it out. If you don't have a preference on colors, I will take care of it.

3.) All projects will be subject to a deposit of 50% the total cost of the commission, before work can be started. This has had to be enforced to eliminate slow pay/timely pay/no pay and to ensure that you get a spot on the current schedule. Also, it's to keep only serious inquiries on my schedule.

4.) All designs that are used for any products besides the item that the design was originally commissioned for may be subject to additional fees.

5.)I require samples of ANY and ALL products (shirts, hoodies, cds, lps, stickers, beer helmets,  ect.) that my designs are printed on.

6.) I DO NOT draw logos into the designs anymore. Logos are added to the design later in the process.

7.) Contact me for pricing on projects at jsantos.art@gmail.

8.) PLEASE REMEMBER: ALL art is hand drawn. I do not use a computer to draw. I do use a computer to scan, separate layers, and send off files. The detail within the designs take a lot of time to do and often a project will take 2-4 weeks. Once a design is drawn, it usually cannot be changed.

9.) I DON'T do TATTOOS. Long story, but no, I don't do tattoos.

10.) I'm not a graphic designer and I don't have extra or unused designs laying around. Each design is made specifically for the band that commissioned me and all designs and logos are done by hand.

11.) Payments can be sent using paypal. Files will not be sent until the payment is deposited into my paypal account. If commission is paying by check, the file will not be sent until the check arrives.

12.) A "KILL FEE" will be applied to any project that goes to fruition and is declined at the last minute.

**I apply a fee of half of the cost of the project as a kill fee because at the point that the design is finished, the client and I should have had all of the details of the project worked out.**

**************************************
I try not to be a hard ass and can work with people on pricing, but for the most part the prices that I give are the prices for the amount of work that I'll be doing. I need to adhere to that. I live off of the money that I make from art, so this IS my job.

THANK YOU ALL, again, FOR YOUR INTEREST, INQUIRIES, and SUPPORT!!!! I seriously would not be doing this if it wasn't for all of you!

-santos

SAD Winter Beer.

The second beer label that I illustrated for Epic Ales is coming out soon in stores in WA and OR. It's now on tap at the Epic Ales Brewery and bottles will be in stores, too. There will be shirts made for this design and it will be available from Epic Ales.
 EPIC ALES
 EPIC ALES on FB

Posters and packs.

Poster sketch for the Tone Deaf Touring 2013 SXSW showcase.

2013 just started and it's already been a busy one. Right now, I'm working on more beer labels for Epic Ales, a shirt design for locals Brainscraper, a cover for Steve Brodsky and Ben Koeller's new band Mutoid Man, and a poster for this year's Tone Deaf SXSW showcase. There are many more projects on the schedule and this year will finally see me making prints and art shirts.

 I've also opened a store up at Big Cartel for such things as prints, original art, and all other products that I put out. Right now, there are plenty of the Thick As Thieves first edition available, but ONLY 10 LEFT of the second edition.

That's all for now. Back to the art table.

Limited edition Torche Xmas shirt.

I know that the holiday is over, but why not get a jump on next year's holiday with this Torche Xmas design. You can find a limited number here:
   TORCHE XMAS

Honoring the fallen.

Mark called me a few months ago and asked if I would work on a special project design for their upcoming tour with In Flames, Hellyeah, and Sylosis. He let me know that they were working on a section of their set that would be dedicated to the fallen US troops from Iraq and Afghanistan and wanted to have a shirt to go with it. He sent me a picture of the Fallen Soldier memorial idea and asked me to create a design that included that image.
I decided to go fairly simple as to not get off of the main subject, but I also wanted something that looked menacing. All of the lettering in the design was done by hand, including a straight logo for the front of the hoodies that were printed. The design came easy as most things do when you can have some respect for the subject that you're dealing with.