Hey, The Quickness...

Grand Master Flash

2009-01-06T00:40:00.000-08:00

Two days ago, my brother received Call of Duty World at War for his birthday. A day later, I popped it into the PS3 and fell in love with the gorgeous motion graphics that the loading screens had. This is when I fell in love with motion graphics.

Adobe After Effects has always been a software that I've wanted to learn, but it wasn't until recently that I realized how powerful of a tool it is. I mean... I have a passion for illustration, design and t-shirt art, but no matter how much I love them, something in the back of my head wishes that they could move! Motion graphics is where my passion for animation and design meet and it is with this skill that I think I can be really happy creating cool looking animations.

I read somewhere that the art of motion graphics is an unnoticed art form, which I believe is true. I mean... how many times have you NOTICED animated promo commercials and effects on television? It is said that every 15 minutes on TV, you will see the work of a motion graphics artist. After falling in love with motion graphics, this is ALL I ever notice now.

Anyways, here is my first exercise. An animation to a clip of Grand Master Flash's "The Message." I actually don't think it looks bad at all. Only 4 seconds long, but hey... it's practice!

Don't Push Me After Effects Test from Jerome Villagracia on Vimeo.

On another note, I'll be posting some new designs soon.

Take care.

I wish I could slow things down

2008-12-28T01:53:00.000-08:00

Slow Motion Punches to The Face from Eduardo Wydler on Vimeo.

Then...

Hurray for Winter!

This Is Bad... Very Bad!

2008-12-18T15:14:00.000-08:00

Now up for voting at Threadless.

Send some love that way, and I will love you back!

Komplete

2008-12-14T14:37:00.001-08:00

A friend if mine suggested I add Lichtenstein's halftones, so I did. Came out much better! Thanks Newman!

4:00AM

2008-12-13T04:08:00.000-08:00

And I happily finished some art.

I'm sleepy. Good night.

Cocoa Puffs

2008-11-29T02:43:00.000-08:00

It has been years... and I mean YEARS, since I've had a nice, tasty bowl of Cocoa Puffs. Well, for some odd reason, I started jonesing bad for this chocolaty treat a couple of days before Thanksgiving. So off to Albertsons I went to satisfy my nostalgic craving.

After strolling down the cereal isle, I found my box of Cocoa Puffs. However, I noticed something on the box that I have never noticed before when I was a child. On the box of Cocoa Puffs, it said something on the lines of:

"Whole Grain Guaranteed"

Whole Grain? Really? I had absolutely no idea this cereal contained whole grains. I was so hungry for the super unhealthy, sugary breakfast cereal, and to be honest, reading the words "Whole Grain" on my box of Cocoa Puffs made me feel a bit strange. Well, I purchased it anyways, excited to chomp down.

At home, I made myself an epic bowl of Cocoa Puffs and began to munch. I don't know if it's because I am older now and my tongue is more mature than it used to be, but I swear that this cereal was not as enjoyable as it used to be. I could TASTE the grains! The whole grains! And it took away from the rich, chocolate goodness of my memories! I remember as a kid, I'd plow down bowl after bowl of Cocoa Puffs with its soft, chewy outside and crunchy inside and I would savor the cocoa puffness. Now... I just taste cardboard. I'm sorry Sonny, but I think I'm gonna have to set you free. Go back to your Cuckoo Bird family, your ship has sailed. If only my taste buds weren't so sensitive.

And no, this post was not inspired by Chuck Klosterman's Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs (A good read, by the way), it was inspired by me expecting something amazing and getting something mediocre.

To be honest, I'm not upset at al about this cereal situation, I just wanted to write something that has sort of been in the back of my head. But anyways, here is a collection of awesome pictures I've found:

Antarctic Junkie now available!

2008-11-23T19:08:00.000-08:00

Shifted Image is now selling Antarctic Junkie by yours truly. This shirt rules because penguins doing drugs is funny and it's printed on super soft American Apparel.

http://shiftedimage.bigcartel.com

Funny story behind this design is that, I drew it and originally entitled it "Arctic Junkie." It wasn't until I sold the design that I found out that penguins only live in the Antarctic, not the Arctic. So let us just say that this penguin strayed to the other side of the hemisphere to get his fix.

In other news, the new Watchmen trailer is out which features "Take A Bow" by Muse.

Click here to watch!!!!

This trailer shows more of how the movie will actually feel, however I love the impact that the first Watchmen trailer had. I think it was because "The Beginning Is The End Is The Beginning" by The Smashing Pumpkins is such an epically awesome song!

Fucking nerdy, yes I am, yes I am!

New design up for voting at DBH

2008-11-14T23:19:00.000-08:00

Hello people,

I have a new illustration/design up for voting at DBH called "Take My Mind."

http://www.designbyhumans.com/vote/detail/36291

I'd appreciate a vote! Thank you!

Adventures of Ghoul Gang

2008-10-25T00:09:00.000-07:00

My buddy Mike and I spent Wednesday night writing music for his spooktacular band, The Ghoul Gang.

With Mike on bass, and me on drums and keyboard, we spent the first hour playing with bass lines that sounded halloween-y and spooky and playing with drums and some melody on the keys. After discovering that playing piano and drums at the same time was difficult, we settled on the goal of trying to complete an entire song with just the drums and bass before the night was through.

This is what we came up with.

Needless to say, I had a blast writing it with him. We are gonna try and finish writing a quick second song before halloween and recording both of them for the halloween party. Jamming has to be one of the most fun things to do. There's nothing like creating live music with your friends and having everyone sync together perfectly. With my renewed love for playing music, I hope something cool and fun can spawn from The Ghoul Gang.

I love my drum set. <3

I can watch/listen to this all day

2008-10-21T00:41:00.000-07:00

Damien Rice - I Remember (live)

Lisa Hannigan is awesome, and Damien Rice is absolutely amazing.

The best way to listen to this song is as loud as possible.

Yes, yes, ya'll!

Jerome Villagracia featured at pleasedressme.com

2008-10-16T11:41:00.001-07:00

So the super awesome dudes over at pleasedressme.com have made me their featured artist profile of the day today (10/16/08)! Totally unexpected and I had no idea I was going to be up there so quick, so I'm pretty stoked!

Click here to view the featured profile

Anyways... what is on today's agenda?

After school I'm going to design a skateboard for someone's birthday, should be fun.

That's all I have for today. <3

The Quickness over at DBH... really?

2008-10-13T01:11:00.000-07:00

Holy hell! "Lanterns In The Night" is now printed over at www.designbyhumans.com yay! I'm so incredibly stoked on how the print came out, it looks almost exactly like the mock up, and what's even better is that it glows in the dark!

Design By Humans is located in Irvine, and I think it's kind of funny that these "hot" OC peeps are modeling the shirt.

Although, I think this one is my favorite

Boobs!

So if you guys want to buy a shirt, please follow this link: http://www.designbyhumans.com/shop/affiliate/heythequickness

Then proceed to purchase it. If you do so, you get a cool shirt, and I get 2 dollars store credit =)

But I just want to say thank all of you that supported me and voted for me, you're all super duper.

The mail man is my best friend...

2008-10-11T13:48:00.000-07:00

... because he always brings me such nice goodies! Got my Electric Zombie shirts today! They're sooo sick! Exclamation points!!!

The above picture should be flipped because I took it in the mirror, but it's alright.

Today, I was also able to finish "Tied Down, Fearing 9-5." This design is for sale. Yay!

That is all for now.

Blue Skies, Broken Hearts... Next 12 Exits

2008-10-10T23:34:00.000-07:00

On Wednesday night I went to go see my favorite musician, Kris Roe of The Ataris at Chain Reaction. It was so totally rad, as soon as I got in I went straight to the back where he was selling prints of his photography. I snapped a picture with him and chatted it up a bit about cameras and toiletry.

Kris started his acoustic set off with Losing Streak, followed by 1-15-96. As opposed to his advertised "Blue Skies" tour, he played a mixture of songs from all The Ataris' albums, which was great. I was so happy that he played "Summer Wind Was Always Our Song" because that's my absolute most favorite Ataris song and he didn't play it at his last show. Then, he ended with "Looking Back On Today." That was the first time I've ever heard that song played live, so it was definitely a treat!

What a wonderful night with this lovely lady...

With all that said, I need to start being hard core when it comes to my blog.

Antarctic Junkie now up for pre-order!

2008-10-10T08:56:00.000-07:00

My design, "Antarctic Junkie" is now up for pre-oder over at Shifted Image.

If you like heroin and penguins, this shirt is for you!

http://shiftedimage.bigcartel.com/product/arctic-junkie

They're going to be printed on American Apparel white by Jimmy Heartcore. Pick one up!

Wario for the Wii

2008-10-09T22:54:00.000-07:00

This game looks RADDDDD!

Have fun!

It's A Grizzle

2008-10-05T19:13:00.000-07:00

Straying away from drawing and thinking of designs makes me lurk around the interwebs to shop for things I can't afford. Don't worry, I didn't buy anything. I'm just "window shopping" online for things that I can't afford, like diamond encrusted brass knuckles, Boba Fett sweatshirts, Star Wars Adidas and computer shnitzels.

Anyways, last night Kimbo Slice lost to some dude he wasn't even supposed to fight, and it was terribly embarrassing.

There is no justice in this world!

/ Pointless blog post.

Hard work and sleepless nights

2008-09-14T11:24:00.001-07:00

I swear... staying up until 4 in the morning working on art work really pays off. It's all worth it when you check your email the next morning with an offer to buy your work. =)

I haven't had such a wonderful morning in a long time!

What I've been doing for the past 2 days...

2008-09-07T12:33:00.001-07:00

My brother and I were asked by my other brother to paint a gigantic mural on his new born son's wall. The mural is supposed to match the style of art that is on all of my nephew's blankets, sheets...etc. The mural took a total of 2 entire days and I really think it came out great!

My nephew will be really happy when he grows up. He just better appreciate the hard work that went into this, and not paint over it and put up fuckin'... P.O.D. posters or something. Haha. I also did this while sick =(

Enjoy!

Pure Buttons

2008-06-15T14:51:00.001-07:00

The awesome people are purebuttons.com were kind enough to offer 50 free custom buttons!

Check out the original post here http://emptees.com/posts/2581-everyone-gets-free-buttons

The rules are posted there on how to get your buttons, but I just sent them mine and hopefully I'll be getting some sweet stuff soon! Check it out if you're interested!

Electrodependence

2008-06-15T02:56:00.001-07:00

Submitted at DBH, pending approval.

Starting Monday Apparel!

2008-06-11T22:58:00.000-07:00

It's up! Please visit Starting Monday Apparel to buy some dope shirts!

I Love This Deadly City

2008-06-08T23:03:00.001-07:00

The Lighter Side of Kimbo

2008-06-07T22:57:00.000-07:00

Here is another design for a shirt that I hope to one day print. It was done pretty fast using Painter X, Cocoapotrace, Illustrator and Photoshop, but I definitely want a shirt with Kimbo's giant head on it. This particular design, I don't think I will be able to print at home since it has multiple colors. I think I can only afford to do single color designs...

Get Me Out Of Here!

2008-06-07T19:53:00.000-07:00

What's up, bitches?! When I start printing these, I'll give a few out for free! If you've done a favor for me in the past, you'll get one. If not, I want money or sex!

Jerome vs. The Fuzz

2008-06-06T22:40:00.000-07:00

On July 8, 1988, a chubby baby was pulled from the stomach of his mother, all covered in ooze and other vile fluids. That baby was me, Jerome Villagracia.

In my short life of 19 years, I've done many great and fun things. Hmm... if you consider getting drunk and stoned in high school with your friends, older brother and his friends, great and fun, then we're on the same page. But back to what I was going to say; In the midst of chugging Pabst Blue Ribbon and taking giant bong hits, I've never had one run in with the cops. Keep in mind that I did much of my "partying" in high school with older college people, so now I'm pretty much an empty shell of a man, but more on that later. It was wasn't until recently, maybe around late 2007, where I've had almost a constant run in with cops.

I think the first incident that sparked his terrible chain reaction was when I was pulled over for my tinted windows. That I can understand, it's illegal to have your front two windows tinted, but shit man, it's fucking hot in California. Whatever, luckily for that, my girl's sister's fiance is a cop and he wrote off the ticket, so my awesome little car got to keep it's shades.

The second run occurred shortly after the first incident, where my Pops had me go to Albertsons to pick up his medicine. I took the scenic route to the store, which actually means I made a right out of my neighborhood instead of a yielded left. So there I was, driving 25 MPH near my elementary school, when I came to a stop sign. I swear, I must be half retarded because as I approached the stop sign, I could CLEARLY see the cop camping out, waiting for assholes like me to roll it. Well, I did roll the stop with full knowledge of the cops presence, and the rest is history.

Three; my girlfriend and I were parked at the top of a hill which overlooks my city. It was night and the lights made Rowland look slightly beautiful. Her and I bought some food and had a picnic on the back of her car underneath the stars because I'm awesome like that, and it was a glorious night. Afterwards, we went to the back seat to have some sex. Nah, I'm kidding. We didn't, to be honest we were just talking, seriously. After about 10 minutes, we see a blinding light flashing through the window. Can you guess who it was? Yep! You got it! The cops pulled us out the car and immediately began questioning us. Apparently, if two kids are in the back seat of a car, and the guy is sweet talking the girl to the point where she begins to tear, then he must be beating her. Because, you know... girls NEVER do anything wrong, laugh out loud. The copper puts me in the back seat of the car and keeps insisting that I struck my girlfriend. I think it was at this point where I couldn't wait for GTAIV to come out. Long story short, the piggies let us go, but one of the cops says to my girlfriend, "Remember, if he lays one hand on you, don't be afraid to PUNCH HIM IN THE NUTS!" Yeah! Punch me in the fucking balls! Yay!

Okay, fourth, and I guess latest incident was when I was pulled over again by a bike cop for speeding. I was speeding because I was going to work on a day when I usually don't work. Bad shit always happens when you're "not even supposed to be here today," I feel ya' Dante. Anyways, speeding ticket, tint citation again, and no proof of insurance. Sometimes I wonder if I'm just unlucky or if I'm subconsciously doing this to myself. Either way, I'm stupid and now broke because as of today, I paid off that ticket which came to a total of about 368 dollars, plus 15 for traffic school, an increased insurance rate and 5 dollars in my checking account.

It's 11:16 in the PM, I'm drinking some 2% milk, I'm 47% angry and 100% broke.

Messy Thinking: Part 1

2008-06-02T21:35:00.000-07:00

It's 9:38 in the P.M. as I begin to write this blog. I'm at my girlfriend's house and she's asleep next to me on the couch. I'm totally distracted because Family Guy is on and just watched Brian get his ass kicked by Stewie because Brian didn't have his money.

As I sit here and slowly think of things to type, I can't help but wonder what I would be doing if I were at home. Would I be doing the exact same thing as I am doing right now, or would I actually be working on something productive? Not to say that blogging isn't productive, but it's not something that I can actually use on a resume or portfolio. But to be completely honest, I don't mind doing what I am doing right now. It's fairly relaxing to just chill and not have to exercise my mind working on a new piece of art or song, but it's definitely not a habit I want to fall into. I do, however, want to develop the habit of having something creative to look forward to when I get home from work or some shit. Technically I do, because I've been fucking around with Corel Painter X for a while, but it's not like I have any solid ideas or anything cool to work on.

I guess I've been wanting to screen print some shirts lately, but I do not have any designs. Hey! That is something that I could start working on, some sick ass designs or something. Yeah... I'll do that.

Which leads me to my next thought; This is exactly why I wanted to start blogging more often again anyways! I believe through the logging of thoughts, I can discover things about me that I wouldn't be able to discover if I were to simply vegetate. And aside from using this blog as a vehicle to transport myself from boring and uninspired to interesting and insightful, I must admit that I'm using it to whore myself out. Because... you know... who doesn't like to be noticed from time to time? Shit, I don't even know if anyone will read my shit anyways.

On another note, today was the first day of my last week of work before I'm off for two weeks. I'm pretty excited because it will be the first time in a long time where I won't have shit to do. So I will probably use that time to work on some art, web, or portfolio stuff. I'll miss my work for those two weeks and my desire to leave completely or just have a vacation has subdued ever since summer started, but I know that it will be good for me. Thinking about it, I really do enjoy work, I just can't stand my fucking boss. She's okay, but I can't stand the dino-looking bitch. I would elaborate on this thought, but really don't feel like complaining about work. I've always been annoyed with people that constantly complain about work and don't do anything to fix their problem. But as far as my job goes, I have awesome co-workers who are very fun to work with, and the joy of working with them outweighs my hate for my boss.

Well, it's 10 now, My Name is Earl is on and I just realized that this show has a great formula for story possibilities. Aghu, fuck it, who cares. I'll wrap this up; Tonight when I leave, I'll probably stop by Jack in The Box to pick up a few burgers. I'm hungry as fuck, then it's straight to Painter... or possibly (and most likely) Grand Theft Auto IV.

I'm not productive at all, ha.