Big Trouble Maker

Gerald Okamura

I've had the immense pleasure of being able to collaborate with the Legend, Gerald Okamura. I met Gerald at WonderCon many years ago at Jerome Lu's Hyperactive Monkey booth. A soft-spoken gentleman, I was immediately a super-fan. When I started working on my Big Trouble in Little Aztlan piece, Jerome showed Gerald, since I had included him and another legend, Al Leong in their Wing Kong attire.

Gerald and I got to communicating about how a sticker based on the Wing Kong would be a great idea. That kicked off a creative flurry of collaboration between us. Since then, we've worked on his own line of Sriracha sauce, stickers, skate decks, t-shirts, and he's even had custom figures created based on designs we worked on together.

A few of the collaboration projects between NOPAL and Gerald Okamura.

It's always been fun and always been creatively rewarding. I look forward to many, many more collaborations with my friend, Gerald Okamura.

If you want to join the Gerald Okamura fan club, you can do so here.

Big Trouble in Little Aztlan

I'm a big fan of Big Trouble in Little China, so I decided to see if I could do it justice in an illustration. I realized very quickly that there was a lot to cover from this awesome  movie. Inevitably, some stuff didn't make the cut. The Pork Chop Express? Nope. Egg Shen's bus? Nope again. But I did try to squeeze as much as possible in.

Initial inked drawing

Final illustration

The piece came out better than I even expected. I had some metallic stickers made that look amazing.

Stickers and prints can be found in the shop.

Star Wars X AZTECA: Part TWO

When I posted the STAR WARS x AZTECA design on Instagram, I mentioned that I eventually wanted to get one laser engraved in wood. Very quickly I received a DM from 2ndwnd expressing that they could do the job. After we traded some emails, it became clear they could do the job - and boy were they right. They created three 12 inch prototypes laser engraved in Baltic birch that captured all the detail in the original design.

Of course, having seen the 12 inch version, I wondered how a larger one would look. Again, 2ndwnd delivered with an amazing 2 foot version that has to be seen to be fully appreciated.

I would highly recommend them to anyone looking for quality woodwork. And for kicks, I had them engrave a plexiglass master with the intent of casting a few to simulate stone or metal. That piece by itself is beautiful.

I now have a prototype of antique "metal" that was hand finished using successive layers of my favorite metallizer, Rub n Buff. The finished piece looks like it was just unearthed from an archaeological dig.

Can't wait to try out a faux stone finish on another prototype. Stay tuned.

Star Wars X AZTECAS

I've been preoccupied with mashups for a bit and I had an idea to mashup the Aztec calendar with all the narrative from the Star Wars universe. It took a bit but its finally done.  The next step is finding a place to get it laser engraved on wood. Hopefully soon...

Below is some of the process on how it was created.

Hero Complex Gallery - LEGO Memories Show

Hero Complex Gallery has a great new pop-up show called LEGO Memories that just opened. It features art by Dan Shearn and depicts classic pop culture icons in LEGO form. All your favorites are represented from RUN-DMC to Blade Runner and Princess Bride. The show runs til June 29. Make some time and get over there. In the meantime, take a look at some of the great pieces below.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

Hero Complex Gallery: Hellboy 20th Anniversary Show

The Hellboy 20th Anniversary Show ends this Friday, May 23rd, and oh man, what a show it is. Hero Complex Gallery has more than 100 artists contributing to the show, all with their unique takes on Big Red. The works include drawings, prints, and sculptures. Check it out before it's gone.

  

See the full gallery here.