September to Remember

The last 30 days have been jam packed!

I ended my month of August by picking up my limited run of only TWENTY-FIVE prints of my Kendrick Lamar portrait and was ready to list them online for you to own. Of course, life happens around art and I quickly found myself in probably the busiest month of my life with a whopping total of only 6 days at home(Count Tyrone Rugen could count those on one hand!). A mixture of jobs and wedding related things took me from Phoenix to Medford to Palm Springs and finally Orlando; I've barely had time to catch my breath let alone sell products online.

So now as I sit in my Orlando hotel room, staring at the tallest points of all the amusement parks I'm not going to, I want to give everyone the opportunity to put their thumb on their own copy of my KL portrait before waiting for me to get home. That's why I have decided to have a pre-sale! Grab your print this week and when I get home I will ship my little heart out on October 3rd.

Click here to head to my store and get yours!

(If you haven't already, check out my time-lapse process video in the post prior to this one.)

I Remember You Was Conflicted

Enjoy my 2-minute cut of the process of me making my most recent Kendrick Lamar portrait entitled, "I Remember You Was Conflicted".

The title comes from the poem Kendrick reads repeatedly through the album "To Pimp A Butterfly". I was inspired by the symbolism and detail Kendrick had in his songs, brought to my attention by the beautifully crafted podcast, Dissect(S1). I wanted this painting to also hold that strong symbolism, focusing on Kendrick's inner duality fighting between his life in Compton, and his new life in Hollywood.

The symbolism and references in "To Pimp A Butterfly" are so dense that this project was overwhelming to plan for. I went into it knowing I wouldn't be able to show as much symbolism as I would have liked. I relied heavily on resources out in the world; magazines, coupon books, newsprint; I really do like that 'luck of the draw' feeling when using collected magazine clippings.

This painting was a really fun process! I don't usually post time-lapse videos before the final one but I enjoyed posting my process to Instagram and hearing all your feedback. Even when the face didn't look exactly like Kendrick, you all stuck in there with supportive comments.


So, who should my next subject be?

High Art 2018

What a crazy 4/20!!

In the beginning of March I stumbled across a 4/20 art contest via Instagram, HIGH ART. The theme was "Freedom" along with "cannabis" of course so I figured my red, blue, and white style would be a good match for this theme. The contest was also being hosted by Juxtapoz Magazine, which I(and many) consider to be one of the top art magazines currently. I was stoked to be a part of something they were putting on alongside Natural Cannabis Co. located in Santa Rosa. This was their 5th annual High Art contest yet the first time I was hearing about it.

After I submitted my painting "Onjha" online, I waited. I've submitted to contests in the past which usually end up being a popularity contest. Winners are usually chosen by how many votes they can get from the "public" which leaves a lot of room for dishonest votes. That is why I was so excited to hear that High Art would be judged by a panel of 7 judges. Then, just a month after submitting, I got a notice that I was a finalist! Out of over 5000 submissions, I made it to the top 100! The wait was on again with 2 more weeks until the final announcement.

My submission entitled "Onjha" (pronounced 'on-yuh')

As two+ weeks passed and 4/20 finally arrived, Morgan and I did what we normally do on that date since our time in Seattle, hit up the pot shops! After showing some face at The Pottery in LA, and passing through Delta9 we headed home just in time to relax at 4:20pm. We were casually laying on our bed browsing social media when my phone DINGS with a new email...

"YOU HAVE WON HIGH ART 2018!!"

Excuse me? Me? I have? I frantically read the entire email thinking "is this a mass-sent email and am I just reading the subject line wrong??" Reading...reading...reading...My name and the title of my painting were IN THE EMAIL. This was sent directly to me..... I had won! FIRST PLACE!!!

Since Morgan and I were originally considering heading to Natural Cannabis Co. up in Santa Rosa to make 4/20 a little more fun, I had completely forgotten that the winner would also be announced via Facebook live. Still laying on our bed, my fingers raced to Natural Cannabis Company's Facebook page. Their latest video, 11 minutes of judges revealing the top 5 contestants. A little bit of scrubbing and there she was, Onjha, in all her glory, in the #1 spot! It was such a surprise, Morgan and I were hugging and kissing and celebrating. What better way to celebrate our recent engagement than to win a cash prize that can help make our special day even more special?

Special thanks to Morgan for taking the original image and to Onjha for being in it!

I must say, some of those finalists were so impressive, I am honored to have even been in the top 20! I never would have expected my 1am submission to an online art contest would have gotten me to the final spot and I can't be more grateful.

If you're curious about the 10k worth of donations, I've asked NCC to donate it all to Red Cross International. The Red Cross has always been a part of my life, especially with my prior involvement with Music Saves Lives and I know how important blood can be to we humans. So next time you donate blood, ask for an extra orange juice, on me!

If you'd like your own copy of the winning painting, prints can be purchased HERE along with a ton of other merchandise.

Feyoncé

I liked it so I put a ring on it!

This has felt like the longest, most eventful week of my life. On Monday I was proposing to my girlfriend Morgan and by Friday I was winning an international art contest, and so much in between!

More on the latter in my next post... more on the former for the rest of my life.

Mike & Morgan forever.

Feelin' Dirty

I turn 30 next week.

I imagine the morning of the 20th will look something like this:


See you on the other side!

RAW Natural Born Artists - ENVISION

Calling all SoCal art lovers!

I will be showcasing at this years RAW:OC arts show entitle ENVISION on January 24th.

Over the 5 years I spent living in Seattle I began to experiment with only using red, blue, white, and sometimes black paint. All of these paintings were created after my local Seattle art gallery shut its doors for good meaning that this January event will be the FIRST time I showcase this series of paintings in front of real live humans! I have shown some of these pieces on my website before but am very excited to give everyone the opportunity to see these up close and personal. I will be selling all of these paintings at my booth including some newer ones.

Tickets to the event are $22 and you get so much more than an art show. There will be live music, dance performances, live painting and a fashion show to end the night!

As a bonus to everyone who buys a ticket from me, you will be automatically entered to WIN an original art piece. A name will be drawn at random on the night of the event so you can go home with your new art! Your ticket must be purchased using the link below to be entered.

Be sure to add "Mike Oncley" as your "artist" when you purchase your ticket.

See the other artists HERE