Here are some new paintings I finsihed and put up on Etsy. I know my site is mantastic CRAFTS, but painting is in my soul, so I do both. Click on the images for bigger view. And click on the headline if you want to leave me a comment.

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I finally finished my tree of life sculpture. It took a few days but it was worth it. With clay and wire you can make just about anything. I’m going to be posting this for sale on Etsy!

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I’m on a roll with this internet stuff, so my wife helped me set up an etsy store. We have our ChicanoPopArt shop that we’ve had for years, but Kathy says Etsy is where it is at. I just posted two paintings and a birdhouse.

Thanks to all of you for embracing my new endeavor and making me feel at home here. Damn, I’m even twittering now too, thanks to Kathy!

Mantastic Etsy Store

Mantastic on Twitter

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I love pirates. When I was a kid and my mom would take me to Disneyland. I used to think about how I could hop out of the boat and hide in the props of the ride. I’ve seen the Johnny Depp movies more times that I can count. I made my wife buy me a pirate chest DVD player for Christmas. I love pirates and want to be one  except that I don’t do well in water. Go figure!

I made this bobblehead from polymer clay and a spring. I made the body and then mounted it to a block of wood. I painted it and attached a spring on top. I made the head and left the face smooth so I could glue a picture of my face on it. I used a marker to make a mushtache. This picture shows how I constructed it. You can make a bobblehead out of anything as long as you have a spring!

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My wife, Kathy, just recently stumbled upon the art of print making using linoleum squares and some wood carving knives. It’s called block printing or lino cuts. She was so thrilled with the technique that she carved a whole bunch, running in and out of the art room waving her newly pressed prints like a kid. She bugged me to try it but I’m the kind of guy that’s kinda reluctant to be pushed to do something, especially if its a new technique. But I did it today and there was a kind of therapeutic experience carving into the relatively easy lino board, and the prints have such a nostalgic look to them. You got to try it!!  This was  a fun and definitely MANTASTIC. Kathy said she is going to share the directions on her blog later this week. Stay tuned.

CLICK ON THE TITLE OF THIS POST TO LEAVE ME A COMMENT. I’m new to blogging and comments are fun!

Hope this is not too racy (laughs). I used to always carry around a blank sketchbook with me when I was in high school. I doodled in it in class when I was supposed to be taking notes. My wife always teases me that I like to draw curvy women, sometimes she even makes me tone it down. I tell her “amor, I’m drawing you” and then she gives me her blessing. This is a drawing I did in high school in my sketchbook. Guess I was bored in that class whatever it was! The drawing was inspired by an iron on t-shirt design I had.

Nowadays people call it a journal. But the mantastic term is SKETCHBOOK, ok? This started in pencil, then I went over it with Pentel markers. In case you are wondering, no I was never in a gang. I did have a 48 Chevy bomb and I was in a car club called The Untouchables here in Phoenix, but that was after high school. We all fixed up our cars and we lived to drive them up and down Central Avenue to show them off on weekends. That was in the mid to late 1980s. I don’t think they let you do that anymore. We used to chauffer quinceneras and weddings for our friends and families, and they always let us crash the reception. Ah, those were the days…

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This is from a new comic book I’m drawing. With this project, i’m going back to my roots of line drawing. Black ink on white paper. First I sketch in pencil and then go over it in ink. I’ll be posting my pages as I finish them. These could turn into t-shirts, postcards whatever the imagination calls for. A piece of paper and a pencil, when I see these I see endless potential. CLICK ON TITLE AND SCROLL DOWN TO LEAVE A COMMENT.

What’s up people?

Patrick here,  knee deep in clay and glue and even glitter! I’ve been working on making some merchandise for a store in L.A. called Handmade Galleries that carries our art. Our booth just got filmed on a reality show called, “The Cougar”. It’s a show about a 40-year-old woman who is on the prowl for a 20-something. On the episode, they guys competing for her had to shop for her birthday. They stood right in front of our booth! The film people fuzzed out some of the parts of my paintings, but you can still see them.

However it was still mantastic!

I am also working on a tree of life project for a tabletop or altar. I’m using some wire hangers, some clay, a lot of glue, and some found objects..its gonna be so too much! I’m still working on figuring out how to construct it. Also I am currently making a mantastic version of the old scrap book…I know what you’re thinking – and you’re right! But here it goes anyways!

I am going to post these ideas complete with the how-to’s very soon!

Stay MANTASTIC!

My wife Kathy asked if I would teach a class on making these on her cruise. At first I didn’t want to share my secret recipe, but the chicas on the cruise were so nice and I’m glad I went ahead and shared my idea. Que chula, man. I was blown away at all the ways they made their sculptures! I’m already thinking about what I’m gonna teach next year! This class will be hard to top.

Want to create the look of tile? I tried this on 4×4 squares of cardboard! It is just acrylic paint and varnish. These are good for display purposes. I made them for our Heard Museum exhibit. Hollywood prop style…you know.