Beetle from the Vulcan

Hey everyone~

The newest and the truest work has just been added to the panel, and I can officially say that Panel #1 is COMPLETE!

Before I show off the panel in all of it's glory, check out the addition by free-lance graphic designer Tony Van Groningen:

Tony kind of got bombarded by the travo collabo, and he was a real good sport about it [thanks Tony!].  He is a long time friend of travo collabo contributer Forest Stearns and he happened to be in town when the panel made it's way back to the city by the bay. Check out his work online at http://www.tonyvg.info/ .  Check out the mini-interview:

ETC: What is your name, and do you have an a.k.a or anything like that

TVG: Tony Van Groningen, a.k.a. tonybricker

ETC: What do you do for a living?

TVG: Graphic design / information design

ETC: How did you get started in art?

TVG: I've been drawing since my mom gave me that very first crayon...

ETC: As artists, our styles can constantly change and evolve over the years- How has your style, or perspective on art, changed [if it has at all] since you first started pursuing art as a hobby and then as a career?

TVG: My style has changed so much. When I was a little kid all I would draw were cars and animals and Disney characters. When I was first starting to think about refining my skills in high school, all I ever drew were comic book characters and monsters and aliens, and some more "serious" still life and landscape stuff for school. I got into a studio art program for college and learned a ton about the wide world of fine art, it was really eye opening, and I grew to appreciate the value of social commentary and conceptual forces in art. At the same time, I thought a lot of fine art was overly intellectual and ultimately ineffectual, and I kind of got disgusted with a lot of it. Now I am at a point where I just like what I like for my own reasons, and in my own work, now I get bored really easily if I make similar things over and over in content or in technique. 

ETC: What would be your idea of the ULTIMATE collaboration?

TVG: Let's get fantastic and say a huge piece with James Jean, Moebius, and Syd Mead working on some deep psychologicalfuturescience, with Buckminster Fuller and Roger Waters consulting. 

ETC: What is your favorite medium to work with?

TVG: I love ballpoint pen, or ballpoint pen on top of watercolor. Gouache + india ink is something I have been enjoying a lot recently.

ETC: What inspires you the most?

TVG: Beauty, music, nature, technique, ability, fantasizing/daydreaming, people that are smarter than me

ETC: Will we see Tony Van Groningen on the Collabo again? [in other words, would you be up for throwing down some more paint on another panel?!

TVG: I am definitely up for throwing down again the next time I am in the Bay Area...

Thanks for that Tony~ Next up- the final work! 

Peace and love to all! 

More Bay Area Antics

Panel #1 is well on it's way to becoming the first official completed El Travo Collabo panel, but it is making one last impromptu NorCal stop- more juice on that later. BUT FOR NOW, how about some alien interview action by NorCal Artist, Oscar Padilla-

ETC: What name do you prefer to go by, and where are you from?

OP: I usually go by Oscar my friends call me Oskeezie sometimes, its a rip off Snoop Dogg's lingo. lol. Im originally from El Paso, Texas. Currently residing out of San Pablo, Califas!

ETC: What inspires or drives your to create you art and how long have you been doing it?
OP:  I've been doodling since I was a kid, every christmas and birthday all I'd ask for was art supplies. I remember getting the RoseArt sets with the pastels, crayons, markers, watercolors, etc. and the were the most awesomest toy I ever got, but now that I look back at them, they were crappy ass kits, but thats how I got started. 

Just about everything inspires me, I've done a few protrait paintings that were just inspired by me wanting to paint someones mug on a canvas. I watched a show on elephants that painted one day and was inspired to paint an elephant with rattlecan tusks. At first, elephants were my main focus, I love how they are gentle giants, but at the same time no one messes with them because they all know that an elephant will fuck shit up! Also, they remember everything and alot of my paintings are inspired by random memory explosions that come to mind out of no where. I have a variety of different things I paint because I like to keep my mind busy.

ETC: Favorite color[s]?
OP:  Purple, blue, black, in that order.

ETC: What would be your idea of the ultimate art project or collaboration?
OP: A giant white walled room, scaffolding, abundance of paint and supplies, beers, and a shit load of people that are ready to throw down some shit on every square inch of the walls. Just being able to vibe with other creative minds on something that is such big of a scale would be legit.

ETC: Describe your style [artisticly].
OP: Its graffiti and animation inspired, with a twist of a lost mind.

ETC: Do you aspire to become one of those famous artists we read about in the art 'zines? why or why not
OP: If thats what it would take for me to be able to live off of doing what i love to do, then yes. I think some creative people, and not neccesarily artists, but musician, sculptors, everyone, when they get to where they were aiming to get, they plateau and settle for it, their minds stop racing, and you see the lack of effort in their work. Thats the only thing that i wouldnt want to happen.

ETC:  If you had one last sentence to tell the world what's on your mind, what would you say?
OP: "Si te hace feliz." My mom raised me on these four words. It means "If it makes you happy" She never judged me for who I was, what I stood for, or what I did, she was happy as long as I was happy. I live by it . If it maes you happy do, then you wont have any regrets and it flushes out the chances of any what if's.

Every child is an artist.  The problem is how to remain an artist once we grow up.  ~Pablo Picasso

TOTAL DISTANCE PANEL #1 HAS TRAVELED- 1,696.35 miles

Grab your brushes and hit me up!

ELROD