For over 20 years I’ve had the honor of creating the Christmas card for Russ Berger Design Group. Russ has always been a hands off client, allowing me to have fun with whatever silliness I can come up with. Russ creates audio design for some big names and it’s always a fun challenge every year to find a new angle to keep them guessing. The majority of cards have usually included Russ and his employees. This year was a departure with a scientific approach to the magic of Christmas. Below is a sample of a few from the 21 cards I’ve created for Russ over the years.
Tag: Phillips
ChetArt at Blue Genie Art Bazaar
The 2013 Blue Genie Art Bazaar is a month-long holiday retail venue of artist’s work. Check out 140+ artist’s work, including items from ChetArt, now through Dec. 24th. More pictures of the venue to come.
Non-Sports Update Magazine
A big thanks goes out to Roxanne Toser for this great spotlight on the Non-Sport Update Magazine blog. An even bigger thanks to the legendary Len Brown for pointing her in the direction of my work. I had the pleasure of meeting Len, now a fellow Austinite, at a recent showing of my work.
Blue Genie Art Bazaar
Starting this Friday through the 24th of December, you can find a variety of ChetArt merchandise available at this year’s legendary Blue Genie Art Bazaar. If you’re in the Austin area during the holidays, be sure to put a trip to this fantastic shopping experience (140+ artists) on your list of things to do. Find out more about the event HERE.
This is not a dog
Born on this day in 1898, surrealist painter RenĆ© Magritte gave the world a unique vision. My tribute to the artist, titled RenĆ© Pugritte celebrates his many visual accomplishments including his painting of a dog collar titled “This is not a dog collar.”
Truthiness
“Truthiness” is my tribute to the comic genius of Stephen Colbert. I can’t imagine having to deal with the insanity of politics without Mr. Colbert’s brilliant ability to provide a humorous release valve. He’s not afraid of tackling any issue. (Except…. bears.)
Visit the online shop here for the signed 11 x 14 tribute print.
2014 ChetArt Calendars
Land of Kaiju Desktop Calendar
New ChetArt 2014 Desktop calendars are now available. Choose from Japanese monsters, Literary Pets and Sinister Simians, or put one each in every room! CD calendar case design. Pages are contained within a specialized calendar CD case, which flips open to easily display on a desk, table or any other flat surface. 12 individual, one-sided pages for each month. Each month’s page measures 5.4″ x 4.65.” Printed in rich full color on bright white 60 lb cover stock.
Visit the online store here to see more.
Literary Pets Desktop Calendar
The Society of Sinister Simians Desktop Calendar
Available in the ChetArt Shop
The Return of Big Tex Art Show
“The Return of Big Tex” by Chet Phillips
Last year Big Tex, the iconic statue and official greeter to the annual State Fair of Texas, was destroyed in a fire. The new version was recently unveiled and there will be an art show to celebrate his return. The Return of Big Tex art show opens next week, October 7th at the Atrium gallery with visual interpretations from 26 creatives. The show is organized by fellow illustrator Ray-Mel Cornelius who will also be exhibiting. My entry (above) is a parody of cowboy movie posters of years gone by, with a special tip of the cowboy hat to Gene Autry.
ChetLights
Nightlights with a ChetArt theme, ChetLights is a new online store offering a variety of whimsical imagery. From cowboy monkeys, canine Lucha Libre, Googie signs and more, these nightlights will conquer the darkness with a mini masterpiece of glowing ChetArt.
~Click here to see the selection in the online shop.~
Heisenberg, Bueller and Ralphie
A series overflowing with incredible writing and acting,”Breaking Bad” dropped its viewers into a beaker of highly volatile creativity.Ā Vince Gilligan presented us with a unique cast of characters and plot lines that can be shocking one moment and slyly clever the next. It’s sad to see it end. This is my small way of paying tribute to one of the very best TV dramas and the most infamous chemistry teacher on the planet.
This image, as well as the following two are available for sale as signed 11 x 14 prints. Visit the ChetArt shop to learn more.
“Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” represents a signature piece from the 80s and one of John Hughes’ finest creations. Chock full of clever writing and a great message about seizing the day, it also serves as a love letter/postcard to the great city of Chicago. My tribute embraces Mr. Hughes’ genius and I wish he was still with us, creating more gems like this.
In 1983 Bob Clark transformed the incredible words of Jean Shepherd into the holiday classic “A Christmas Story.” The end result brought forth a flood of memorable and hilarious quotes that I’ve paid tribute to from this warm story of childhood dreams and nostalgia.
All three of these tributes are available as signed 11 x 14 prints.
~Visit this link for signed prints~
Norman Lear and The Princess Bride
The legendary Norman Lear poses with his framed print of my Princess Bride “As You Wish” image. Serving as executive producer for the film, he took a liking to my rendition of famous quotes, characters and icons of the cult classic. With this in mind, I happily worked with Act III LicensingĀ to produce a framed version for his birthday.
Growing up with the genius of his groundbreaking sitcoms “All in the Family,” “Sanford and Son, ” “Good Times,” “One Day at a Time,” “Maude,” “The Jeffersons” and “Fernwood Tonight,” it’s truly an honor for me to have a connection with him through this tribute print. A big thank you to Julie and Penny at Act III Licensing for making it all happen, documenting it, and to Mr. Lear for his appreciation of my efforts.
11 x 14 signed prints are available here.
September Austin Flea
Join me along with dozens of great artists for this month’s Austin Flea. The setting is the fantastic Spider House Ballroom located at 2906 Fruth St. Featuring a performance by HoneyPunch, the event runs from 11-5.
Painter X3
I received my complimentary version of Painter X3 yesterday, handsomely contained in a mini collector’s can on a flash drive. It prompted me to recall purchasing version 1 in 1992 (pictured on the left) that was packaged in a standard sized gallon paint can filled with a fistful of diskettes and manual. A lot has changed through 13 versions of Painter, but it still remains my program of choice for creating artwork. This new version looks sharp and runs stable. Learn more about this product here.
Steampunk Monkey Nation and Gear
3 new portraits have been added to the series Steampunk Monkey Nation in which characters are displayed among a gallery of all of the tools of their trade or military unit. Each of these stalwart monkeys and apes utilize specific weapons, clothing and support equipment in order to complete their challenging and dangerous tasks and missions.
All portraits showcased are available as signed 11 x 14 prints in the ChetArt Shop.
Find the print series here.
And the Gallery of Heroes Card Set Here.
Toy Joy Art Show 2013
The jury is back and ChetArt will have 5 pieces included in the 2013 Toy Joy show.
Toy Joy is an Austin institution, offering up a slew of wild and crazy fun. This is my second year to exhibit for this fun venue. Show details to follow soon.
ACR Summer Show Booth
The 2nd annual Austin Craft Riot summer show was a big success. Loads of crowds passed through the Austin Music Hall to shop, eat and enjoy the great music. The ChetArt booth was designed with a hands off approach this time around. I floated in the background, allowing elbow room and privacy for folks to pick and choose their favorites. There are so many amazing people in our newfound home of Austin and I was honored to meet them over the weekend and receive their great support. A big thanks to the ACR board members, planners, volunteers and to all who came out for this great event.
Austin Craft Riot Summer Show
This weekend marks the 2nd annual summer show event hosted by Austin Craft Riot. 70 vendors anchor 2 days of art, music and food trucks at the Austin Music Hall.
ChetArt will be represented with a booth full of signed prints, card sets, books and more.
Steampunk Monkey Nation and Gear 2
Two new additions to the series “Steampunk Monkey Nation” portraits with gear. The ladies are represented with Penelope Lavinia Obscura, an espionage agent and mechanic Calpurnia “Flywheel” Camberforge.
Prints of both available in the online shop.
Steampunk Monkey Nation Portraits and Gear
Introducing the new series: Steampunk Monkey Nation character portraits with gear. From a strange and simian-based alternate universe comes this collection of figures from all walks of life and occupations. These portraits attempt to shed light on what it takes to survive and engage within the world of Steampunk Monkey Nation. Beginning with these three notables, Mordecai “Gunny” Gundersonne, Samson Meriwether Riddlewitte and Gabriel Warwick Thorncastle, others will soon follow to join the ranks.
~Signed 11″ x 14″ Prints Available Here~
ChetArt at San Diego Comic Con 2013
San Diego Comic Con 2013 was a great experience with high energy fun, over the top creativity every where you looked and record breaking sales for us. We enjoyed seeing our fellow Small Press vendors from years back and meeting many new creatives. We had lots of return buyers and fans visit us and purchase some new offerings, along with a visit from Bob Leeper of Nevermore Evermore (see his Nerdvana Comic Con reporting HERE) and Don Thompson of Blurppy fame. We enjoyed a surprise visit from our good friend David Patton and his family and he was kind enough to take a picture of us in our booth. (above) Celebrity sightings were sparse, but did see Stan Lee signing across the aisle from us and Molly C. Quinn wandering by and posing for fan pictures. Frankly, we kept our heads down so much with transactions there’s no telling who may have walked by the main aisle next to us. We were proud and happy to see and sell alongside our great fellow Small Press friends Dane, Ashley and John of Monkey Minion Press, Paul Horn of Cool Jerk, Matt of Mincing Mockingbird, Ryan Claytor of Elephant Eater Comics, Paul Friedrich, George “Geo” DavisĀ and Bill Robinson of Flimflammery. Elsewhere on the floor we were happy to spend some time with Cesare and Kirstie of Curio and Co. and see Daniel and Dawna of Steam Crow, both with amazing booth designs.
Below are lots of pictures from the event.
Hopefully the view of the Ender’s Game pavilion from our hotel room is a lucky sign that my artwork will make it through film editing and show up on a wall in Ender’s room.
Our location in the Small Press area.
Video pan area indicated in red to give a perspective of the enormity of the room.
(Click pictures to enlarge)
These dapper gents really liked my Steampunk Monkey Nation portrait with gear prints.