MONSTERS (In My Head): The Disturbing Illustrations of Larry West

The Monsters are no longer confined to under your bed!

Philadelphia Artist/Native Larry West returns to the Philadelphia Art Scene with his next art show, "Monsters (In My Head)". After 6 years of toil, agony, and fear, Philadelphia Artist Larry West unveils the monsters that reside in his head! An exhibit in the macabre and disturbed pieces of art that he constantly refers to as "The art of a madman", the show will show 10 of the most raw, imaginative, and heartfelt pieces of the illustrators life.

The artwork deals with a lot of lost that the artist has gone through. "I call them the monsters in my head because, well, that's what they are. But in a lot of ways, they're the ones we all see. Pain, misery, loss, anger, anxiety... they all take different forms. Some are scarier than others, but all of them are always clawing away at us at one time or another."

This marks Larry West's second art show, as well as his second at Digital Ferret. Larry's art will be shown in conjunction with live performances by Worms of the Earth, Vicious Alliance, and DJ Stalagmike.

The opening reception will be held September 24th at 7PM - 10pm, and the show will run until October 20th. Prints of all the pieces will be available for purchase.

Larry West's artwork can be viewed at his website:
http://www.larrywestproductions.com

About Larry West: Larry West is best known for his 2007 run for Mayor of Philadelphia. He has since then taken a larger turn towards his artwork, and still comments constantly about politics in Philadelphia, and the world.

LAST DAY to SAve on Artwork by Philadelphia's Own Larry West!!!

EVIL SCREAMING MONKEY BRAIN! by LuvataciousSkull
Browse the poster designs at zazzle.com

SWINE FLU - Beware The Pandemic! by LuvataciousSkull
Browse Swine flu Posters

The Chosen Mousepad by LuvataciousSkull
Make computer mouse pads at Zazzle

You're Life In Flames by LuvataciousSkull
See other Evil T-Shirts

Philadelphia Artist Larry West (OK, that's me) is having a sale on all his artwork that ends today though Zazzle.com! This includes 40% off all posters, 25% off all mousepads, and 15% off all t-shirts!

Check it out, and support the arts in Philly!

The Demoness Said KILL! - My Sweet New Skateboard from Zazzle!

I came home yesterday to my custom skateboard deck made by Zazzle.com. I've trusted these folks with helping to spread my art and designs through merchandising, and they've yet to disappoint. This morning I finally cracked open the package of the skateboard I ordered and, well, it was AWESOME!!!!

For the skateboard techs, here are the stats:
Independent Stage 1 Trucks
Ricta Natural Wheels
Bullet Bearings

Really happy with the deck! Took it for a test run, and it ran smoothly out the box! No lie! Easy glide, nice turns... it was basically fine-tuned out the box! SWEET!



Make sure to get your own here:

The Demoness Said Kill! by LuvataciousSkull
Browse Demon Skateboards

MAJOR SKATEBOARD SALE! 40% OFF ALL DECKS!!!!

OK, this is just plain AWESOME!

Zazzle, the company that produces my skateboards, has a sale going on where you can get 40& OFF ALL SKATEBOARD DECKS! No kidding! 40%!

Basically, the decks cost about $25 - $30, which is the CHEAPEST you'll ever find these for anywhere!

The sale is going on until Monday, August 10th! In order to get the deal, just type in the coupon code BTS40OFFSALE.

Order today and get one soon! Who knows, maybe you can shred around Philadelphia on one of these! Skateboard shops Nocturnal and Exit: GET THESE DECKS NOW! This is basically a wholesale price for you guys, and if you get them now, you'll be able to buy them cheap!

Please check out the selection, I'm sure you'll be amazed!

Live Fast, Die Old! Skateboard

Live Fast, Die Old! Deck by LuvataciousSkull

I guess in a few ways this is a sort of "old school" skateboard deck design. I did this piece back in 2004 or so (which makes me feel even older than I should) and its one of my favorite pieces ever! I did it in response to all the people who think they deserve to get off the trains and buses first. You know, the little old ladies who rush to get off the train first, yet take forever to get off the train itself and walk to wherever they're going? Entitlement... age doesn't mean you get it.

So if you can, pick up this deck and support me fiscally!

THE RULES DO NOT APPLY! - Poster

RULES 2 Distressed by LuvataciousSkull

I decided to kinda break the trend I had and just post something different. This time it's my "RULES" poster. Really fun poster to make, sort of a totalitarianism-style going on here.

Enjoy!

THE CHOSEN! Skateboard

The Chosen by LuvataciousSkull

I did this back in November, and its one of my favorite pieces ever! I did it based on the song "The Chosen" by Unearth, which is only available (I think!) on the Aqua Teen Hunger Force Soundtrack. I'm not a big Unearth fan, but that song constantly blows me away every time I hear it!

This deck is a personal favorite, and I hope you get the joy of shredding on it one day yourselves!

New Blog Up: The Offical Larry West Productions Blog!

I started a new blog just for stuff related to my website, Larry West Productions and all the business-esq stuff. I will have articles on art, design, etc... Give it a look!

Larry West Productions: THE BLOG!

DESTROY WHAT DESTROYS YOU!

Destroy What Destorys You! by LuvataciousSkull

I came up with this piece about 2 weeks ago. I didn't know where to take it, and right now I still don't know. I like the quiet silhouette nature of it against the white background. There may be another version of this down the line or something, but I doubt it. Feel free to support me and buy a poster.

Lot of Stuff In the Works!

I still have people asking about the roboto and the entire "The End Is Near!" thing. Again, when I want to, I will have a statement and an announcement. It may be sooner than you think.

I'm home sick today. Not feeling too good, and my stomach is making sure I remember that, along with my head. 

Despite that, as always, I'm still working on a million and one things. I'm working on about 3-4 illustrations, I have a logo I'm trying to get done, a book or 3 to plan and layout and finish, and a lot of other things to plot and plan and prepare. 

Look for more art this week.

It Is Done! It Is Done! At Last, The World Is Free!

I love quoting the Ralph Baski movie "Wizards". Great film, too, if you've never seen it.

I was greeted this morning with a look at my web site stat tracking that I had gotten basically more hits in the last 12 hours on my web site, morisecomics.com, than over the course of a normal month. Turns out I made the cut and am now part of the greatest inspirational website I've ever seen, Notcot.org!

Artists, designers, and people all over the world come to this site and look for the latest in interesting and inspiring things, and to make the cut... well, it's just plain awesome!

You can see the original post here.

So far, it's earned me two different blog posts as well, which I think is sweet!

Kellypuff's blog said he was a "cute little guy." Thanks!

Technoarts.net had a nice write-up of my website. Here is what they wrote, translate and re-phased:

Portfolio of the designer and independent illustrator Larry West. Graphic design, illustration, web design, photography… Seen at notcot.org.

Larry says thathis art and its style has been influenced from everything from punk rock to Walt Disney, and that he began to draw at the age of 10. In any case, his independence and liberty are patents, given that neither the charismatic new leader of the White House, nor his 'friend' Hillary, are saved from his critical vision and little optimism of the current world.

I left it largely untouched, but you get the idea. :)


Just got one from awesome dude in Germany on the blog diskursdisko:

Larry West informs the world by means of more than a cute little Cardboard Robot that the end approaches.

Why he does this, his secret remains (for the time being).

Here are some more links:
Moustier-City - Photos
Vi.Sualize.Us - More photos here and the site is nice!

More as this develops!

THE END IS NEAR!

OH NO! THE ROBOTS ARE ATTACKING!!!!!!

So this little guy is not the reason for "The End Is Near", but it is the Larry West Robot. I just wanted to give everyone a place to go to check out and kinda direct traffic here. I'll explain everything later.

If you took a photo of my "The End Is Near" robot, PLEASE upload it to the Flickr "The End Is Near!" Photo Pool. Also, please check out my website, Larry West Productions.

Thanks!

SERPENT OF DEATH!!!!!

Serpent Of Death by LuvataciousSkull

This is my new piece. Buy a copy and help out someone who loves drawing weird stuff!

Government Censorship: Protecting YOU From Reality!

GOVERNMENT CENSORSHIP Black Shirt by LuvataciousSkull

I was going through my records to see what images were getting linked where, and I found out this is a fairly popular image. Awesome! Well, support me, buy a shirt!

SHRED KRISTIN COLLISIONS FACE!!!!

This has to be my favorite skateboard deck that I've ever designed... really happy with it, one of my best designs... I could just go on. Please check it out and if you buy one, please take some photos with it!

The Rules Deck by LuvataciousSkull
Shop for skateboard decks at Zazzle.com
Browse more Vintage Historical Skateboards

New Shirt Up: NUNS BEHAVING BADLY

OK, this one is fairly tame, but there is a series in the works of having nuns behaving very badly. This is the first in he series, but more are on the way!

Nun's Behaving Badly: Praying Nun by LuvataciousSkull

I Have a Sketch Blog Up!

In case you didn't know, I actually have a blog up just for sketches I've done. I'm trying to keep it updated daily, or at least semi-daily, so keep your eyes out for this thing and check on it whenever you can.

Larry West Sketch Book

Here are a few random images:

My Pepsi Redesign Attempt

OK, so since October a lot of people have been up in arms over the new Pepsi logo and have done everything to belittle it. From comparing it to ass cracks, Korean Air, and even the Obama campaign logo (which was idiotic since the Obama logo was compared to the Pepsi Logo as early as February of 2008!) I got sick of it!

I didn't mind the alteration myself; the tilt to make it a "smile" is cute and clever. The Pepsi can was becoming a lot more cluttered lately, with really crappy designs hogging up a ton of room better left to, say, breathing room. The thing became a Photoshop nightmare, so cleaning it up to a more flat vector-esq thing again is a great thing!

Now, my problem is simple: The PACKAGING is generic! It's bland, boring, uses a generic font that's unappealing for something that's supposed to have impact... it isn't "PEPSI" anymore! It's "....pepsi....", a timid little thing that is afraid of being on the shelf and wants to be second-banana to Coca-Cola.

So when the new ad campaign came out, I was kinda glad to see the logo with a font that was better! The font used in the advertising actually has some weight to it and some impact. It isn't thing and kinda airy and thin; it's bold and strong! That, to me, is what is missing in the new Pepsi packaging and the font.

So I found a font close to the one used in the ads, made a few adjustments to it, and added a background that I thought made it say "POP", or at least "Soda Pop"; I wanted the fact that Pepsi is a large part of POP-Culture to be in it.

This is just me screwing around and actually putting my money where my mouth is.



Original:




Check out more of my art here: LARRY WEST PRODUCTIONS

Another Awesome New Interview!

Actually, this interview is old by a month. It's my own fault for not posting it sooner, but with work and getting the site re-launched, I hope you can forgive me for not posting it sooner. SheVibe Magazine did an interview with me after seeing some of my pieces and I'm pretty glad to get the attention! Check out the awesome interview, "The Larry West Interview".

I've Relaunched My Website! AWESOME!

I've actually had my website finished for a bit now, at least November 1st. I've been insanely busy lately with the relaunch, the election, and a few other things.

So the website is now up and this may become my "official business blog". Thought I would add that.

Just click on the image to get there: