Comicon 2006

Back from the San Diego Comicon... this will be a long entry.

Wow what a long draining weekend. It was the first con I’ve been to in 10 years where I actually had to be certain places at certain times for signings. Sure in the past I worked too but it was different. I was one of the kids standing in long lines to meet editors from Darkhorse or Image or whatever. I’d show them my hastily put together portfolio of fine art painings and undeveloped fully painted graphic novels. Needless to say I was always turned away and told to pick a focus in comics and come back next year. That was a long time ago, and these days the Con is a different beast in my eyes. It’s a very rewarding way to meet other artists and talk with the fans.

Our journey down to San Diego started on Thursday morning. We saw some awesome hot pink balls on a truck, I can’t think of a better way to start the day. I asked Jennifer if she wanted a set for her Corolla but you can guess her answer. I think I’ll get a pair for my Saturn.



Shannon Daisy slept most of the drive (she doesn’t like car rides usually).





We stayed at the Wyndham which was pretty nice. Very 90’s ish for some reason. Maybe all the emerald plexiglass and gold lines...



We had a great view of the Horton Plaza/Gaslamp district, and were right across from the city jail. San Diego has some great architecture if you’re into tall buildings. I love the jail, very modern looking (reminds me of something from The Fifth Element). It’s the one on the right.



First stop was the Hi Fructose booth. Barely made it on time for my signing. Attaboy is such a nice guy. I had a great time meeting everyone and I did a ton of drawings over the 4 days- maybe a hundred in all (probably why my wrist is jacked again).



Went by and talked with Jonathan Wayshack for a bit. His new stuff is looking rad...



Mark Murphy was there with his excellent collection of books. I had a few signings at his booth throughout the weekend. Thanks to all who found us over on aisle F!



Maxx and I ran into our old friend Cara who now works in San Diego. Maxx was there for my very first Comicon way back in 1995 when we all thought we were getting hired by Image comics to do coloring work. He is a true Comicon junkie. Wouldn’t be the Con without Maxx...



Shannon Daisy in the convention center. She was loving it at first but we think there was just too much going on for her. Can’t wait till she’s a little older. Maybe we’ll dress her up as baby Princess Leah...



“Plotting to take out the competition”... My friend Jon came up with that caption. I never really know why these guys every year dress up as fast food Jedis.



Levon Jihanian and Tom Neely of Igloo Tornado at the Global Hobo booth. They were nice enough to put up some of my prints. Me and Levon go way back, we went to college together in Pasadena.



A Levon pen and ink piece...



I met artist Chris Ryniak for the first time in person. Here he is showing us his kids. Awwwww.



Tim Biskup and Bwana Spoons came by to say hi...



When I did signings I drew some wacky shit for people. I know alot of artists signing drew the same little characters they’re famous for but I don’t really have a distinct image, and besides I wanted to keep it fun for me and the fans. So I did stuff like spikey aliens, tree stumps, triangle cheese people, box jellyfish (below), some robot-like things, and I even did a skyline of San Diego. It’s tradition for fans to take sketchbooks to the Comicon and though my wrist was killing me every night, I had fun drawing for people. Only thing kinda weird was people with canvases, fancy artists’ papers and whole blank toys (Qees and Dunny’s). Like, are they going to just eBay that shit? Didn’t seem like that was their intention but makes you wonder. In any case I tried to do the biggest and best drawings to the kids and people that just wanted me to sign their copy of Potato Stamp Dreams. This just may be my next toy project...



I did a signing with Toy2R on Friday. Wow, Raymond is such a nice guy. Dig my double chin. Time to regrow a beard or lose weight haha...



Tara McPherson poster. She had some nice work up. I bought her lil’ Qee toy but forgot to go back and have her sign it..



I don’t know who this guy was but he was good. It’s really nice to see traditional oil painting going on at the Con. So much stuff is digital these days.



Deph signing his Dunny. Not many people know this but we were in a graffiti crew together about 7 years ago called Bashers Crew. It was great seeing him and his numerous fans.



One person I’m always happy to see every year is the Portland homie Martin Ontiveros. He makes me want to regrow my beard.



Sci Fi channel always has the coolest looking booth with the most boring shit to do.



O.G. CVC honorary Soto brutha Grant Robers with Soto designed tattoo.



Day 3 and Jennifer and Shannon went to Sea World with the grandparents. I love Sea World- manatees, tropical fish, bat rays, etc. We’ll have to go back when time permits! I don’t know where this shot was taken but Shannon loved the Penguins and the Shark Encounter...



Souther Salazar at the Buenaventura Press hangout. I always admire this guy- Souther is one of those artists that’s just pure somehow. He doesn’t compromise with his work and I get the sense with his art he’s doing exactly what he wants to do. I don’t really know how to describe what I mean, eh nevermind. Good stuff and a true homie.




L to R- Mark Todd, Martha Rich and Esther Pearl Watson. They all have new books
out and I have them all. Mark and Esther have “Whatcha mean what’s a zine?”, a how to book about making your own zine. After skimming through it I’m ready to get going on making my own zines like I’ve done in the past. Martha’s new book is called “Freedom Wigs”. It’s a great collection of her work.



Mark Todd Skeletor shirt...




I like Warcraft, and I’m not trying to judge, but man, there were some dorks hanging around their booth. Then I realized that I was hanging out a little too much. I had to leave when someone said, “Shit, you see that 72dps one hander!? No way!!!”



This guy had the sickest costume. Diapers for the win! And to top it off he was coming out of the men’s bathroom. haha, it was probably his truck on the 15 cause you gotta have balls to wear a Depends in public!



Sammy Harkham at Drawn & Quarterly. Love this guy’s stuff.



I talked with Martin Macintosh and family. Martin owns Outre Gallery in Australia and is a great guy. Very cute baby too!



Bob Dob was on hand to sign his new book at Mark Murphy’s booth.



Cameron Tiede’s custom Qee giant.



O.G. Bashers PRski Steven Daily was there with Roman Dirge signing at Slave Labor.




Legos!!!!!! I wanted to jump in and play but left it to the kids.


This guy Murrugun performed at the Last Gasp booth and it was pretty sick. He crunched and ate lightbulb glass (and that shit was real I touched the bulb before he broke it). He pierced his biceps with a giant surgical needle. He ate dry ice. And he swallowed some big swords. The kids in the front looked horrified and my pal Jon had to leave!







That was pretty much the end of my con experience this year. It was crazy to say the least. We headed over to Jon and Lani’s place in Carlsbad and stayed the night before our drive back to the I.E.

Jon studying for a job interview the next day.



Shannon checking out Kramer’s Ergot. She has pretty good taste for a baby...



Monday we headed back and saw another awesome ball sack on a truck. This one was bigger and more realistic. It was a great way to end our hectic little getaway. Damn there are a lot of balls dangling on Interstate 15!



Jeff signing off.....

On Saturday night Jennifer, Shannon and I went out to have dinner with artist Shaunna Peterson, her husband Mike and their lil' baby Dylan. They just moved to a new house in Yucaipa, a beautiful house actually. Shaunna has a really nice studio space that I forgot to get a photo of. The babies had tons of fun chasing each other around and pushing each other on toys.



Like the Soto's, they collect art. I ran out of room on my memory card so I didn't get to shoot everything (and some of what I did shoot turned out too dark). Here are a few tidbits of their collection...


Biskip painting...


Glen Barr pressure prints over the bed...


Dan Santat piece. We wnt to school with this guy...


Some of Shaunna's drawings in the hall....



Viner giclee. He is looking for hotel recommendations in the LA area for his first visit to the Left coast. Email him if you have any idea where he should stay...


Vintage life cover in the bathroom...


Mammas with their rascals.


I believe this is their cat Sammy. I think that's the right name...

We had a great time and want to thank Shaunna and Mike! And... the heat continues in the IE. When we left around 11 it was still 93 degrees. Scorchin'
Jeff signing out...

Comicon is almost here and I'm scrambling to get stuff done. I'm so far behind on my jobs at this point that I'm embarrassed. But so it goes... I will be signing copies of my book and my new 8" Egg Qee colorway, the "San Diego Egg". Some people have asked what booths I will be signing at. My schedule is posted below. Hope you can make it...

Thursday
12-1pm Hi Fructose booth 4735
and
3-4pm at Toy2R booth 4636 (debut of the San Diego Egg)

Friday
12-1pm with Giant Robot Booth 1729
and
6-7pm at Murphy Books (table F5)

Saturday
12-1pm at Murphy Books (table F5)
and
4-5pm at Murphy Books (table F5)

Sunday
I will be there but I don't have a signing schedule. Look for a guy dressed up as Dog the bounty hunter.


Okay so I'm kidding about Dog the bounty hunter. I've just been watching his show and it's very entertaining actually. Kinda like Cops, but Dog has a heart of gold. Dog is tough but he's really a big softy. And he wears some strange shit in his mane. You can't fuck with his style cause it's so 80's heavy metal meets weightlifter meets Crocodile Dundee. He looks kinda like one of those GI Joe guys that rode speeder bikes in the swamps. The dreadnoks! Yeah! But c'mon, wouldn't his outfit make for a great costume?




Anyone watch Dirty Jobs? Now that show is pretty addicting. I'm a SUCKER for some good reality tv.




And as the heat wave rolls on here in the IE one has to wonder if Snoop will ever melt? Doesn't it get to 140 degrees in a car with the windows rolled up? Even my cat sticker is turning brown from the intense heat.



See yuns at the Con...
Jeff

Yesterday was hot, and today is too. I think the IE is melting.



I hope that's wrong. My pal Jon from Riverside (and recently relocated to Carlsbad) came by yesterday, er, Thursday? My days are getting mixed up.He was bragging that the high in carlsbad was 77 last week. Lucky bastard. Riverside is usually pretty smoggy but to make matters worse there are a few huge wildfires north of here that are bringing in smoke.

People have asked to see a step-by-step of my painting process. I posted one for Artdorks a while back but I think it might have gotten lost. I'll see what I can do. I am working on a commission right now but I don't want to show the images yet.

I thought today, since I haven't posted in a while, I'd show something I collect. They're postcards from art shows and self promos from artists. I have been collecting them since around 1995. To the artists out there reading this, you might see one of your cards in there (might have to click to enlarge)..



It's mostly stuff from lowbrow or pop surrealist or street art (or whatever this art movement is called) shows. I have hundreds of cards, maybe a thousand. I dumped out the box and flipped many of them around so the front is visible...









These are some of my favorites:


Top Illin' was a graffiti art show in Los Angeles in 1995. This show is still one of my favorites. Mear, Twist, Toons, Zodak, man, the list went on and on. This show gave me a lot of hope and made me really start to crave doing gallery exhibits. After seeing all my graf heroes up on the wall it made me want to do the same.


Joe Sorren and Eric White at La Luz de Jesus, 2001. Rad paintings. And I remember just gazing for a long time at this piece in particular, trying to figure out how they did it.


This piece is like, my favorite piece of art ever. Well maybe not ever but it's close. Fred Stonehouse, 2003. As an added bonus I got a parking ticket while at the opening.


The design on this card is just okay. It's the memories that make it special. Hanging out in PDX with Ryan Smith and Daniel Chang, ah man, what a great time. 3 Person show at Compound in Portland, 2003.


This one just sorta freaks me out. It's a cool image and all but it's the photographer's prostitute mother (that is the story I was told anyway). I think it's rad that these got sent through the mail. Leigh Ledare at New Image Art 2001.


This one just makes me sad. This is the card for Rebecca Westcott's solo show that opened shortly before her death in 2004. I got to talk to her a couple months earlier in Philly and I had shown with her a few times, so while I didn't know her well, I was in shock when I heard. I felt terrible about what happened. She was too young to go.


How can you go wrong with Barry "Ray Fong" McGee? Giant Robot 2006. I remember when he was Twist and painted screws all over the place.


This was a hip hop show we put together back in 1997 in Riverside. Everything went well until my graf buddy Maxx got accidentally punched in the jaw and knocked unconcious during a fight. It was a crazy late night- we were at the county hospital with Maxx who was suffering from amnesia. It was a trip, he was remembering things from a month ago but had no memory of the show we did or preparing for it. And he was asking me the same questions over and over, "Why am I in here?" and "Did I get in a fight Trek?" "My jaw hurts." After a while he got back to his normal self but there's still that month that's completely gone from his memory. The brain is insane when you think bout it...

One more...

This was the card for my first solo show. It was at New Image Art in LA, opened September 1, 2001. Just a few days before our country was in for some big changes.

Damn, I like the long blogs. I think it'd be cool to do an entire museum show of these cards someday. No doubt someone has a better collection than I do. Maybe we could pool our resources.
Jeff signing off!

Well Tuesday’s here and that means... well, it doesn’t really mean anything, just another day. Another day with deadlines looming! Fedex truck came by, something from Dov at DKE Toys Toys. Hmm, better get this thang opened...




Snoop Dog figures!! Hells ya. One, two, three, an to tha four Snoop Doggy Dog toys at Jeff’s door.


Uh... so sorry about that rap. It’s embarrassing actually, and I should delete it but eh...
Here are some of the Post-It’s I drew on for an upcoming show curated by Mark Todd and Esther Pearl Watson. The show is at GR sometime later this year. It was fun working on some quick drawings- a nice refreshing change from painting.





One more pic. Self portrait in the bathroom mirror sans beard.


Alright I spent enough time on here. Back to the 95 degree oven I call my studio....
Jeff signing off...

What is the problem with fast food places these days? Rubio's screwed up my order the other day (there was a taco instead of a burrito). Gus Jr's gave me flat diet pepsi (that I didn't drink until I got back to my studio). El Pollo Loco charged me $1.89 for a large soda even though it said $1.59 (they said it wasn't changed on the menu yet, I said give me back my 30 cents and let me speak to your manager!). And today Taco Bell took 20 minutes to make my taco and meximelt. They weren't even that busy, they were just teenagers screwing around in the back. Laughing, giggling, pushing each other. Maybe I'm old fashioned but when I had a fast food job, or any of the jobs I had, I lived in constant fear of getting fired. I was on my best behavior and took the job seriously. These kids didn't give a shit. Anyways, I guess I'm grumpy. The heat does that to me. It's almost too hot to paint here in my studio. It's been hotter but it's so stuffy in here with no windows. Some days I resort to painting almost naked haha.



Yesterday at our apartment our air went out. Apparently we had it running so much that the lines froze! The filter was also badly clogged. It just seems like this summer has been consistently hotter here in Riverside. Too many days over 100 degrees. Gotta keep the baby cooled off. Nothing worse than seeing a clammy sweaty baby. As a parent you don't want them uncomfortable. So we let the tubes thaw out, changed the filter and we're "good to go".

Anyways, people are probably reading this going, "so, sooo boring". You want to know more about some art stuff. Right? Hmmm, well I should be working on about a million things right now but it's cooler in the office so I'm writing this blog. I played video games for about 30 minutes earlier today and realized I need to delete the game off my computer for a few months. I already deleted it off my laptop. Sometimes it can be a distraction to me, it hasn't been lately but I'm getting into crunch time where I have a bunch of demanding projects coming up. So for now my Tauren "Sotofish" will have to wait around until I have extra time... fuck I'm a dork...



I should write about art in here since that's what I do. Hmmm, nothing to say just tons of things to get ready for and I have to keep painting. I am behind on all my deadlines and the heat has definitely slowed my progress. Fucking Riverside summers! My studio has ants too. There's no food in here, I keep it pretty tidy. I think they're trying to get out of the heat or going for the water in my toilet. When I have to do my business I first have to wipe away all the ants. Let me tell you, I forgot to clear the ants last week and got bit on the taint. That stung. And I think I've said enough today. Damn, I can't believe I just told the world (well the 6 people reading this) that an ant crawled out of my toilet and chomped down on my taint.
Jeff signing off...

Got a shipment of my toys in from Toy2R. These are the 3 different colorways of my Terrarium Keeper Egg Qee. They don't want me showing what they look like but I can tell the names- Orion Egg, Minnesota Egg, and San Diego Egg. I'm really happy with how they turned out. I will have some for sale but I have to wait until after they are announced by Toy2R. Many companies such as Toy2R pay in product and this is how the artist makes their share of the profits.

In other news we have two movies from Netflix Jennifer and I need to watch- Eraserhead and Murderball. We've had Murderball for over a month, it's hard to find the time to sit and watch a movie these days. Anyone seen these movies? People are surprised I've never seen Eraserhead.

My '99 Saturn SL2 is having problems. The cooling fan motor is out plus I have a leak in the plastic radiator and it's been overheating. Bah. Cars. I always play with the idea of buying a new one but the Saturn is a good lil' car and got me through college and has never had any major problems. I'll keep it another year or two.

Here is a picture of Shannon Daisy...



Jeff signing off...

This is my first entry into the world of blogging. Well, no actually I did the "Week with Jeff Soto" at Fecal Face back in August 2004. That was a fun week, but I don't know if my life is that interesting these days. Scratch that, my life is just as interesting just not as glamorous. I don't get out to L.A. as much, I don't kick it with other artists as much, I'm way more of a family guy now. More of a homebody, I'm usually in bed by 11 on weekends. During the day I'm at my studio painting, doing office stuff, taking care of paypal orders. I don't know if I have anything interesting to write about, and I don't know if anyone will tune in to read. But I like to read other people's blogs; they're super interesting and there's a total voyeuristic thing to it. So I thought, why not. I'll do my own blog and try to make it fun.
Here is some background on me. I'm an artist, I mostly show in galleries and do the occassional illustration job. I'm starting to get into designing vinyl toys which I find a lot of fun. Let's see, I was born in 1975 in California. Always loved to draw and (later on) paint. Went to community college and got my A.A. degree then went to Art Center in Pasadena, CA and finished there in 2002. Since my high school years I have wanted to show in galleries and do commercial work. Somehow I ended up doing both, though lately I have been doing much less illustration work. I paint and draw alot but as my career has grown it seems there is always more and more office busy work that needs to be done. I always find it a little funny that the more success I have in the arts, the less actual art I seem to make. Never thought it'd be like this but I'm not complaining. Most days I love going to the studio, then again some days I find anything to distract me from actual work (kinda like this blog!)
Besides my art I'm a family guy. I've been with Jennifer since 1993, we are married and have a 10 month old daughter Shannon Daisy. I will post a photo as soon as I figure out how to do it. That lil' baby just melts my heart. Her favorite words are "dat" (that), "ba" (ball), and of course "mama" and "dada", though she calls many things dada!
So that's my intro. Hope this thing is interesting....
-Jeff