i don't know the things i want

Pandora Needs Your Help!

Oh, great and powerful Illustration Mafia! Sorry to spam you like this but the IF challenge is picking 25 best from this week (voting goes on 'till the 18th) to be in a show at Open Books. I want to be in that show for one big reason - it's 4 blocks from my house. So, if you could find in your heart and busy schedules to vote for me, I'd be much obliged.

Go to Illustration Friday and vote for me! Follow the directions there and scroll down until you see "mike r baker" and click the star next to my name. You can vote for 5 illustrations.

Pandora for IF's "open" theme - gouache on bristol.

UPDATE 10-19-07 - I'm in the show! Thanks a ton, all who helped me be there!

welcome to africa!!!

ok, so it's a week late, but i'm coming out of a month long dry spell, sorry...happy ghost month e'reybody!

Its October

So lets pretend this is my Africa, even though it has nothin to do with Africa. Ive been super busy lately. We will resume topics next week!!

Heya buncha' mugs, sorry I've been absent from our little gathering for a while. The posts have been great, I really dig them. Its not a new piece, but I thought this fit the Crypto category well. Peder Singleton, master of the press, has just opened a new addition to his shop called SmashThis! The shop sells limited edition letterpress prints and has opened with three prints from artists John Powell, Dan Christofferson, and yours truly.
I've been given five artists proofs, which I will be selling on a personal basis. They will be personally signed and numbered. If you interested in one of these ultra-limited proofs, feel free to email me.

Croc-o-Pig

If this isn't in African lore somewhere, it should be damnnit! Croc-o-pig I tell you! I'm raiding the archives for these so forgive me please:) I haven't had much time or energy to do anything outside of work lately. It's been a bit crunchy. -R

Boardillo

Here's an old one from the sketchbook. I thought it might count towards Cryptozoology. Better late than never I guess:)

Sorry for the blurry "African" Hippo

I am unable to use my scanner and make this one pretty . Too much crap in my computer at the moment. Sorry fellas.

African Myth - Anansi

Yo, brethren! Looks like we're all mólto busy here. I didn't want the Africa theme to slip by without an illustration so I did a quick one - Anansi, the trickster spider.

update

to my mafia brothering i will have some drawings for the last few post when i get a min . to think i have been working on my moms house painting and putting down a new floor so when its all don't and i can get back to scanning work or drawing y'all will see them. so dont put a hit on me yet i started this and i wont turn yous guys over to the G-men. nice work to the new family and keep it up. o0o and I'm glad Mr. Hoye deiced to take over the assignment part thanks.

holla
mike

Taming the Business Illustration Monster

Full page feature illustration for IBM Systems Magazine. Lots of fun, and got some good art direction from the guys at MSP Publishing.

Shameless Plug

Sorry I got to do it. The POPGUN Vol. 1 will be out in stores and available at Amazon and other fine comic retailers online in November. " The first PopGun Comics Anthology is well over 500 pages and it's a
beast. The idea behind the book is an anthology that appeals to a
wide market. There are no safe anthology stories here, and PopGun has
a real life and a pulse to it. PopGun screams rock 'n roll, Andy
Warhol, super spies, rocket packs, grindhouse flicks, vinyl records,
old comics that time forgot. In a way, the book is a love letter to
everything we love about pop art - comics, records, movies, etc.
PopGun is a four color mixtape for the planet to plug into and come
out realizing comics are part of the larger pop art spectrum."

http://hiddenrobot.com/POPGUN/

http://www.comicbookresources.com/news/newsitem.cgi?id=11982

http://forum.newsarama.com/showthread.php?t=130072

http://www.wizarduniverse.com/magazine/wizard/005715724.cfm

LUNA ROCA blog

Ive made another blog, this one is to show all my sketches and unfinished stuff. Its called "Luna Roca" go check it out to see my studio! Bookmark it, cause it will be updated daily!!

http://lunaroca.blogspot.com/


p.s.
im still working on my "Africa"

9/28/07- NEW TOPIC: "AFRICA"

This weeks assignment is "AFRICA- people, places or things." This is a wide open assignment. Do what you will with it, just dont come back with empty pockets and pumped fulla lead. So get your slimy mits on alilbit uh paper and break a leg (prefurably someone else's).

Mothman

I decided to do the mothman. I wanted for him to have a hana-barbara feel, you know something shaggy and scooby would run away from. I want to do another one... maybe Yowie (Its australia's bigfoot).

the devil lives in Jersey

"I looked out upon the Delaware River and saw flying diagonally across what appeared to be a large crane, but which was emitting a glow like a firefly. Its head resembled that of a ram, with curled horns, and its long thick neck was thrust forward in flight. It had long thin wings and short legs, the front legs shorter than the hind." — E.W. Minster, Bristol, PA. Sighted on January 16, 1909

yes, the Jersey Devil. though some would argue that title should go to a few of the more colorful citizens of the garden state.
though this was tough. coloring wise. and i'm not too happy with it, so don't be surprised if you see a TOTALLY different version of it...or not

Good Day Sir! (Bigfoot and Yeti edition)

Bigfoot, Yeti, Loch Ness Monster, all of that stuff facinated me as a kid. It still does today, but I tend to get more excited about weird animals that they really do find, like furry lobsters. I've got a couple more ideas for some cryptid art, and if I'm lucky I'll get to it this week.




By the way, I'm Matt Schuster and it's nice to meet everyone. I hope to be more of an active member in the community and post some thugs soon.

Joey "Da Brick" Risso

Throwing in a gangster... because, y'know, I don't like to be left out.

Cupacabra

Chupacabra, the legendary "goat sucker." I figured if you really want to suck a goat, you should romance her a little first.

My first post - Thanks for inviting me, Josh! Hope I can live up to the awesome standards I see here.

Aww poor Yeti

Air Guitar 101

I know you ask yourself all the time, "I wish I could play the air guitar better, but how?" Here are a few important keys to unlock your future as a "jedi master" of air guitar playing.

New Assignment?

Hey everybody. Just throwing out an idea on a new assignment. I thought it might be cool to use the topic of Cryptozoology. I wish I new what the actual definition was, but feel free to do anything from Bigfoot to Lochness to Giant Squids and everywhere in between. Like I said anything.

Let me know what y'all think or offer your own ideas on something different.

and a new deck

live it up suckas the king pin has posted again.



holla at ya boi.

mike

new stuff outa the sketch book

Vote for my cards!

Hey everyone I submitted two cards over at Custom52.com! You can go over there and vote for the ones you like. If I win I get my designs printed on those cards for the pack. This one is my fav.

New/Old hearts
by: Josh Hoye

Just a little something fun.

Aloha from Hawaii Texas

Hey guys, I just felt the urge to post something new. I hope you don't mind that I took inspiration from your style Josh? The flame in the background is from a picture of a past dinner at Benny Hanna's, but it is supposed to bee a roaring volcano of fury. Quiver in fear, I said Quiverrrrrr!!!!!

2 New

"Sloth crush"

Imaginary friend created for Art Jumble

Havent dropped in forever so...

Thought I would take some time today and drop some recent works.. promise to be around more often now that I am getting more time to draw!

Some warm up sketches

Some warmup sketches from the other morning...

i really don't know

did this for stress release, but didn't have much of a concept. feels like i closed my eyes, and this dropped in my lap. maybe i should stress myself out some more, eh?

Sketch

Something out of ye old sketchbook I decided to color. Looking down on busy city street. Its outta my head, I didnt use any reference (as you can tell).

Pin-up Mermaid

This is a Mermaid I did with RSA for my sisters board. She wanted a 50's pin-up type mermaid. So this is what I came up with.

Da Warrior

This is a commission piece I did for a guy in Hawaii. The area is called Honopu Valley, which is located on the Na Pali coast of Kauai. The warrior is a traditional hawaiian warrior with helmet and shark tooth spear.

The Children's Hour

one of the few finished illustrations i've gotten to.
did this after watching the movie with the same name as the post title, staring audrey hepburn and shirley maclain.
hope y'all like.

Zombie Monkey Grinder

Those street performers with the dancing monkeys are called Monkey Grinders aren't they?

Hank

Between moving and starting a new job, I have been really busy and haven't had a chance to do much blogging lately. But I'm working on an ad for my design job that's going to have a comic strip. The company owner wanted it to feature a "man's man." I had no idea what that meant, but I came up with this guy in about 10 minutes. I got the go ahead so I'm going to start the comic tomorrow.

up dadt

i havent done any revisions to this stuff yet so i know that it had misspelled words and stuff im working on fixing that kind of stuff now. let me know what yall think

mike

I've been working with some huge photo files lately that require a long time to save. Luckily, I have a stack of post it notes nearby...

Don't just chew .......... "Chewbacca"

Thanks Rayford for letting me use your edible Star Wars characters theme. It was fun to do. Now someone needs to do a Jar Jar Binks.