11/2/08

Back from a break...

Hey y'all,

We are now into November and the past two years have been seriously the most difficult and challenging years of my life. Its been one snafu after another. So I'm back from a brief break. I've had some personal challenges to resolve. Relationship troubleshooting, career decisions and creative fatigue are some of the issues that encountered in the previous weeks. Now that I've taken care of that, I'm back and I have some cool shit in the pipeline. I'm currently working on retooling the blog design as well.

Stay tuned...

10/16/08

Me Chillin...


Whuddup y'all...
The shit has been real crazy lately. My personal life is on code orange. Chaos is in the air. I had to say hell with it and decided to just chill the fuck out! Right in the middle of the 2008. The year that "It all went wrong". I said to myself, I said...Dave, we need to say fuck it and shut down for a quick minute. I know its Thursday...I know hours are short right now. So I did, and this is a snapshot of me havin a chill. Notice the rediculously small coffee I'm sippin on as if it were english tea. (Note: bookstores in the rich areas give out free samples of coffees and sweets...) A good read in a warm coat. A soft chair in a mellow place. My idea of a good time. I'm workin towards gettin back to scribblin and sketchin...stay tuned.

10/6/08

Mondays...




Sometimes Monday can be a real pain in the ass...Every once in awhile, a cool Monday will popup and suprise you.

10/4/08

DJ Render reviews The Wackness...


Today I watch a great flick released earlier this year titled The Wackness. I enjoyed it because this story is set in New York summer of 1994. Although I was only thirteen back then, I can relate closely to the lead. Besides the decent story and solid acting, this movies best credit is it’s soundtrack. This flick features all the very best rap and hip hop of the mid nineties. The story follows a slacker pot dealer on his day to day affairs. He befriends an older customer and falls in love. He ultimately is more mature by the end of the film. Josh Peck, Ben Kingsley and the sexy new Olivia Thirlby star in this throw back. I also liked Thirlby in Snow Angels, which she was great in a supporting role. An overall a good flick and worth watching. Especially of you are between 25 and 30.

Reason I worship my wife #158.

I have this blanket. It’s very soft. The blanket is really thin and light. It keeps you warm like a heavy down comforter. This thing is perfect for earlier afternoon chills while taking a nap. It is my favorite possession. Because of frequent use and wear and tear, the blanket can get pretty funky.
I haven’t seen the blanket in weeks. It’s been on my mind more and more. Where is my favorite possession? Without it I will fail.
Today I remembered it. I was preparing to chill the fuck out. I had the food. I had the flick. I had the drink and the smoke. I had the couch…It was fucking beautiful. All that was missing was the blanket.
Where the fuck is the blanket? Dammit! My time and stress filled week of working. I forgot the fucking blanket. I dash into the laundry room. Is it dirty? It has to stink of hellish odor. Look in the dryer. No way in hell it’s in the dryer. We didn’t put it there…
The blanket is in the dryer. It’s clean and fresh. It’s soft. Who put it there? The one person in the house who can put it there. The goddess I worship. My wife. I love you peach. I take it and get comfortable. It’s going to be a great afternoon.

10/1/08

The Tortures of Intimacy...

Love is a fucked up thing most of the time…I mean it, love causes more chaos and can completely ruin a man. I give you one small example of the tortures of intimacy.
Over the course of our marriage, we’ve learn much about each other’s bodies. Early on, I would go exploring the endless utopia of her body. It’s the middle of the night. One of the frequent dead sleep times of early marriage sex, where you both get off and the whole event is numbing, focused and intense, I wandered into the creamy vanilla neck region. After extensive helpings of tasting the area, I found her neck to be the sweetest best kind of delicious heaven. It wasn’t until the next day, another frequent early marriage sex sessions, that I began my torture sentence. While getting it on during the day, I remembered the previous night’s neck discovery and went straight for it. My advance was blocked by her neck slamming shut and her chin smashing into my right temple. It happened so fast, I blanked out for a second and forgot what I was doing. She looked at me angrily as if suggesting I was at fault. I was confused.

“Fuck that hurts! Honey, what the fuck? ”

“I’m sorry, but you tickled me.”

“Huh…”

“My neck is very ticklish. I can’t have anything touch my neck.”

"Oh…ok. Wow, I’ve never met someone like that.”

Such is my struggle. I can never have the most amazing and sweet splendor of her neck. It’s dangled out in front of me. I’m a lion in a cage salivating over a massive steak kept just beyond my reach. It’s true and utter torture. That which is desired most can never be had.

Later, I explained about that night. That I had tasted her neck and enjoyed it. And that she hadn’t protested about it tickling. She looked at me and casually explained that she was mostly asleep and that your body turns off the tickling switch when you are in a deep sleep. Another life lesson. Another miserable test for the quest of the myth that is a great marriage. Good thing for me her body is an endless utopia ripe for exploring.

good luck until next time,

DJ Render

9/30/08

Daily sketch...


Some graphic design work...

DJ Render Documentary- Intro

Hey Y’all,

Okay so, here’s the thing…I’m just an information provider. I’m not here to tell you what to think. Or to judge what you represent. I’m not trying to fuck with anybody. I just provide information. I’m letting you know what is happening from my point of view. If that can somehow also help you is great. I’m documenting history. Here is your DJ Render documentary. The terms, language, artwork and emotional regional slang are from my mental viewfinder. I am one kind of infinite filters to review the past. History is a stained glass window at which you can witness a singular event through different colored pieces of glass and get two amazingly separate stories. Both are equally tragic in form and intensely honest in nature. If you feel this message, there will be more. Much more…

-DJ Render

9/29/08

Feel the Burn...


My Falling World...09/28/2908

9/29/2908
I sit at the edge and take in the atmosphere. Today is clear. It’s the first tolerable day in 9 days. The fucking humidity chokes me. Today is starting out decent. From this point, I can see the whole damn valley. Sometimes you have to be thankful for fucking blind luck. I’m thankful that I went and got a job driving around the city daily. I have a front row seat at watching the destruction of a society, strangling itself. Lucky I don't always have to be down in the middle of that mess. You may say, Oh well this is just vulgar hateful ridiculousness. It’s worthless nonsense. I may not disagree with you. However, in a time such as this, the one who sits back and witnesses the destruction has just as much right to as the ones who fight. And since entertainment values overtook moral values back in the day, fuck off.

From way up here, daily human activities look like a bad video game. Or worse, bad realities TV show. This vantage point must be why the CEO’s and executives look at us like we are so small. They live up in these insanely over priced compounds. Up above in the hills. They wake up in the morning naked, looking over the whole valley like a Monopoly game board. So when I walk by their kind in a grocery store, they look right past me. It’s as if I were a ghost. During the day, I walk among them. I’m in their world. I work there. I lunch there. It’s may be the closest I get to being one of them.

Stay with me,
DJ Render

9/28/08

Thoughts: Marriage...

The following is a passage from a great book I'm reading.

"It laid clammy hands over my face and clamped a grip on my rib cage, stopping breathe, spiked the hairs on my neck and sent a single twitch through one eye."

-Kovacs

Thoughts: agressive hapiness...

My wife and I have three young kids. I want to say to my children. If there is one piece of knowledge I can give to you, it is this: learn everything you can ever learn about money. Learn how to make money well. Learn how to be patient and invest wisely. Get to know finance and balance sheets. Study, get better every day. Get comfortable in a corporate mind frame. Master reading people and trust your instincts. Always maintain a smooth while aggressive personality.
If you can follow these guidelines, you will have a moderate chance at success in your career as well as your lifestyle. You will reach an increasingly difficult level at which people make their own choices and you decide your degree of happiness. That is always better than the alternative.

9/27/08

something to look at...


2009


Thoughts: 2 Angels...

I have two amazing angels, my daughters. Still young. They are pure innocence and beauty. Soon, in a few years, they will leave and go out on their own as individuals. Into this scary, mean, cruel, hateful world…

I want to give them everything good and healthy. I want to train them to be smart, fierce and independent. I know this is the best way to ensure their survival and safety. Their best chance of reaching true happiness.

In only a few short years, they will be flung out into the world, forced to learn and adapt. You find comfort in feeling responsible for her abilities. You are proud of your great accomplishment. You trust that you have provided the best chance at nirvana.
How will it happen?

Keep working…there is still much to do.

Thoughts- the arts...

For as long as I can remember, I’ve truly ever been only one thing. Perhaps I should say that I’ve ever only been one thing…truly. I am an artist. The one solid statement I can make about who I am. At a very young age, say four years old, I learned something about myself. I learned that I was different somehow. I wasn’t normal. Something inside of me said that I had an ability that was unique. Although I couldn’t fully understand what it meant, I trusted it. When I thought about it, even at four years old, I felt pure, confident and proud of my gift.

Here is a little perspective. I am 27 years old. I’ve had a college degree for 7 years. I’ve been a father for 9 years. I’ve been married to the best person I’ve ever known for nearly 10 years. All are great accomplishments I’m proud of. I’ve worked extremely hard to succeed in those areas of my life. I have been an artist for nearly 25 years…

Being an artist is unlike anything else one can be. It is a discipline that I respect and appreciate. Being an artist is the ability to create. Having unlimited access to drugs like inspiration and creativity. It’s being a master of the machine called imagination. Being an artist is freedom. It allows an opportunity to be a producer rather than just a consumer.

It is such a wonderful and powerful craft. Many dedicate their lives to the study and growth of the arts. Each day you work to achieve the best and highest levels you can reach. Pushing yourself to your limits, serving the great ability you’ve been given. It’s being in the best fraternity ever, where all the smartest, most talented cool kids choose to produce what the rest of the world will like and consume. It’s a mutual respect and appreciation of your peers in all areas such as painting, writing, music, drama, comedy, sculpting, architecture, etc.

Art makes the world tolerable…

I am David Salinas. I am an artist.

9/15/08

Fallen...


a quick sketch in photoshop with the wacom.

Tush...


Here's a little something...I drew the sketch last week, but just got around to ink and color today.

9/7/08

Waking...


I had a good time with this one. Inspired by my wife waking up after a good sleep...

9/6/08

The Hardest Hitter in the country...


My tribute to the best linebacker in college football. USC...Fight On!

Tempting economics...


I'd love to get your thoughts on this.
Let me know if you dig this kind of art...

The Kush Kampaign...

Ladies and gentleman,
I'm very proud to release this awesome project I've just completed. I was comissioned by a great friend, southwest rapper JT Sacc to make this flyer for his upcoming performance. For anyone interested in attending, here is the info.

October 22nd, 2008
Blockbuilt Records presents: The Kush Kampaign
featuring JT Sacc and Devin the Dude.
The Venue in Scottsdale
7117 e 3rd ave. Scottsdale AZ
480.495.8042 for ticket info.
18 years and over
VOTE KUSH!

9/4/08

NOCTURNAL.coming soon

I'll be posting sketches for the book periodically. Stay tuned...

9/3/08

Welcome to my world...

Over the next few days I'll be posting about the behind the scenes of me, sort of a poor mans MTV's Cribs. This first one focuses on my workspace. This is where I spend countless hours creating amazing things. Sometimes upto 20 hours a day!

The Workspace.
1. Laptop- Sony Vaio- never leave home without it...
2. Sturdy drawing table- Every artist should have one.
3. Tools of the trade- markers, brush pens, straight edges, etc...
4. Bulletin boards- I used these mostly for storyboarding.
5. Expensive noise cancelling headphones- gotta have beats...

The Desktop.
I use my old desktop occasionally.
Notice the maditory framed matrix poster. (official nerd requirement)

The Stuff.
1. Several books. Various genres.
2. Essential inspirational DVD's. I have about 700 dvds, but a select few are kept within reach.
3. Tripod...self explanitory.
4. Junk box. Everything that doesn't fit in a specific place lands here.
5. Toys...ah, I'm mean, collectibles. Many more not pictured.
Stay tuned for the next post: The gym!

8/31/08

My girl...



Thats my sweetheart Stacey modeling for a female fragrance line. Some logo design work by me...

8/28/08

Nocturnal Color Cover...




Color added to the previous post.

Nocturnal...



I'm working on my first graphic novel. Its called Nocturnal and I'm writing and illustrating/coloring it. I hope to have it done by spring next year and will most likely self publish it. The story involves a gravedigger named Lincoln Basher. Think of a mix of the x-files meets Blade in the 1950's. Here is a wip of the cover so far. I'll be providing updates regularly.

8/27/08

Night and the glow...

When I sleep at night, I like it dark. I like my bedroom, my temple, dark and cold.
That is when I sleep my absolute best. I fall into a deep coma.
I completely disconnect from the world. It is fucking great.
When it goes dark, the room lights up.
Tons of little green and red and blue stars come out. It feels like space.
There's the solid vibriant glow of the 19 inch widescreen monitor power light.
The cyber funk techno light show of my modem. The chargers for the cellphones and acessaries. The keyboard light. The laptop light. The TV light.
And the clocks....

Let me tell you about the clocks. Four clocks in all.
The cablebox clock. Usually the only one that is right.
The Wall clock. Not practical in modern technology,used mostly as decoration.
The desk clock. Mine is a basketball shaped clock complete with buzzer beater alarm.
I recieved it as a gift when I was eleven years old. Sentimental...
Last is the Alarm clock. The alarm clock is in the hall of fame of clocks.
Its simply a good idea with a terrible track record. Limitless possibilities.
A cool gadget with many features. A worthy investment.

They've failed us...We blame them for our lack of disapline in waking in the morning. Or waking in the evening for those unfortunate souls that work the graveyard shift.
Its usually two or three minutes off. They are now reinforced durability.
Built to withstand powerfull blows from tired and angry wakers.
Some people have one alarm clock last a good 12 or 15 years.
Illuminating my deep space groove.
The steady humming of a box fan to avoid the scary abyss of silence.
I drift off confident that my alarm will save me once again from the terror of dreams...

8/26/08

Daily Sketches 8/26






Just some doodles....JT SACC and Devin the Dude concert flyer concept...Hulk with a headache...evil lookin chick (I've been working on hair)...cute DJ girl.

8/19/08

One Scary Mutha...


Ah...The scary beast that haunts white peoples nightmares...Kimbo Slice.

8/17/08

Jules...


"Shiit yeah, got my routine down and everything....I don't be tickling or nothin."


8/13/08

The View...


Did this tonight. I also picked up some new supplies today. I buy a few prisma color markers every other week. Also got a sketch book...

Big bad pussy...




I'm not sure where this came from...I sat down and this came out...

8/10/08

USC crushes ASU...


Every year at this time,


I am awarded a few certain gauranteed events...They include the following.

-The kids go back to school.

-My baseball team takes a dive on their way to last place.

-football starts and my pro football team starts on their long ass road to last place.
And then...
USC whoops ASU's ass in football!

And so it goes...

On Sundays...I hide from the world.

All week long from Monday through Thursdays, I work. Its straight work too. I mean driving, sweating, stressing, angry thoughts, at war to make things work and maybe have one good night of sleep. You're a zombie by Thursday night, for sure. Then Friday morning arrives, not a minute late, and the shit gets good. Real good. Friday is the stress free work day. Going into it, you know its gonna be an early day. Whatever the hell happens, you know its going to pause for the weekend. You get 48 hours off before you have to even think about that bullshit problem on Monday. You coast, sit back and wind down to a comfortable ten miles an hour. Friday night is chill. You put the kids in bed and get numb. I'm talking zone out.
You wake up Saturday after that one good night of sleep. You have energy and you want to be productive in some way. Accomplish something for you. Saturday is the kids day. All day, your kids are the most interesting, important and magical things in the world. Its a rare chance to have fun and go back in time to being a kid and feeling awesome. Saturday night is pure energy. The best movies come on HBO. You get online and catch up with all the latest sports headlines, new downloads, emailing the people you care about. Catching up on messages and phone calls. You stay up late and sleep even better because Saturday you used up ever once of energy you had.
Sunday, you hide from the world. Sunday is the day of deep thought. Sunday, you get rid of useless info you've collected during a busy week. Sunday you want be productive, but you really lay back and relax. You keep the room dark and cold. You enjoy coffee and cruise the internet seeking humous entertainment. Video games get attention. You rest through out the day. You are popular with your kids, but they know Sunday is your day of rest. You eat well. By Sunday evening, you start preparing yourself for the oncoming week. You move slow but get things set.
Over this 48 hours, you have a great chance getting the best sex. A few times over the weekend, You're woman will make sweety dirty love to you. She will love you so good, it gets you through the next week of hell. Sunday night you don't sleep as good as the last two nights. You know what's coming.
Monday morning always comes too soon. Its so fucking tough to get out of that comfortable weekend. You are mentally strong and you force your body into motion and finally get going. Everything thing speeds up. Things go fucking crazy and you are trying to stay focused on not wrecking the bullet train of family life. Kids are back to being pissed off dictators. The wife is dominant and intense. Monday night you imagine Friday morning and getting back to nirvana. You don't sleep much...

and so it goes.

You've just read the beginning pages of a film script I'm currently writing.

daily sketch...


8/6/08

Scary Girl concepts post #1



I'll be posting some concepts from time to time for a project called Scary Girl. Its an illustrated childrens book I'm working on. Here are the first ones. The story revolves around two sisters competing for parental attention...

8/3/08

Samurai Girl...


Did this this weekend. It took roughly 6 hours...wacom and photoshop.

8/2/08

The Dark One...


Wacom and photoshop. 3 hours...

7/31/08

The Stand Off...


Did this tonight. I finally got what I was going for with the gunman/shotgun sketches.

7/30/08

New digital painting


Did this tonight. I'm working on mastering digital painting. Got a long way to go. Tools- graphire wacom in photoshop cs3. 2 hours

7/28/08

The Batman


A quick render of the dark knight...

7/27/08

Scarlett


quick pen doodle...

7/23/08

Fresh sketches






Wow, its been months. I'm so neglectful. I'm trying to get better. Here are a couple of concept sketches for a project I'm working on.

4/2/08

Design Coding!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a0qMe7Z3EYg

This is the best thing I've seen in awhile. An amazing video for design geeks who keep it hood! Wow...

4/1/08

2008 Phoenix Film Festival


It's that time of year again! Time for one of the great valley events of the year, the Phoenix Film Festival. This year the festivies kick off On April 3rd and run through April 10th. A full week of screenings, competitions, panel discussions. Basically a film geek utopia for seven days and nights. Follow the link for more information. I hope to be there reporting on all of the cool events. Stay tuned.



Dave

3/24/08

My Discount Online Gallery

I've finally got around to getting an online gallery up and functioning. Its nothing special. I simply watched a tutorial on the layers site about photoshop and setting up an online web gallery. I'm running it off of a free hosting site since funds are tight right now. freehostia was pretty user friendly and quick to set up. I plan to purchase my own domain soon and am hard at work on a badass real site for my work. This will do for now. Have a look and let me know what you think. (of my art, not the site).

http://dsalinasdesigns.freehostia.com

Cheers,

Dave

3/17/08

Sign of the Gemini


Here is a tatoo design I was conmissioned for. The client wanted the symbol and the dual faces incorporated into the design.