Category Archives: Union Square

Amazing Strangers, Art, Freelance, Inna, News, Portfolio, Union Square

Bummer Summer

Art Projects

goth girl art
Portrait of Nicole digitized in Adobe Illustrator

Lately my happiness has been coming from drawing people. Stylish, striking, sexy people. I’ve always had this passion. But lately it just beats all.

Please don’t misunderstand. From the wispy goth rocker Nicole, to the hulking beefcake female bodybuilder Tracy, my range for what I find stylish and sexy spreads oceans. And I just have to do them. I cannot stop myself. I don’t even try.

John Waters said, “Life is nothing if you’re not obsessed.”
That’s what it is.

portrait of muscular punk woman
Portrait of bodybuilder/trainer Tracy Argo digitized in Adobe Illustrator

So when I’m not being hired to draw people, I’m picking them out myself and doing it for fun. I can’t tell you how much I’d like to have project assignments like this coming in, but either way that’s what I’m loving, so more’s on the way.

If you do indeed have the inclination to hire me, I am available. Tell me what you have in mind, your budget, and I bet we can work something out.

Union Square

What I’m not loving at the moment is Union Square. It hasn’t been stylish, striking, and certainly not sexy! It’s hot, and stinky, and nothing’s really happening. Well, besides ball playing.

They’re throwing the football around all the fucking time. The day before yesterday they whacked Tabatha in the back of the head with it, and I flipped! I was so pissed I was yelling at them all calling them all pieces of shit! I’m just sick of the constant ball playing, and hitting people, and everyone else having no problem with being hit! You know. Just sayin’.

I’m not sure what this all means exactly. There’s still no postcard done, and my urge to make it is fizzling out. Could be just the summer heat, but I can’t say for sure. Sure as hell no love to be found there! Things have been changing at the park, and in my head.

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Amazing Strangers, Art, Blog, Freelance, News, Portfolio, Union Square

I Have Returned

hot girl with leg tattoo
Sasha from Paterson NJ

Not sure if you noticed, but the site’s been down for a couple weeks. I was having it moved from an old server to a new one by my host so it’d run faster, and it took longer than expected. WAY longer! Nearly 3 weeks for it to be up and running properly again! It was terrible. It killed my online sales, traffic dwindled to nearly nothing, and you can’t imagine how frustrating it is getting emails saying “Do you still sell your magnets? You should start doing that again. They were cool!”

But now it’s back up. And it does seem to be loading faster. Do you agree?

Also,  guess what. I finally got a smart phone! No kidding. Up until last week I’ve had a flip phone. One that my friends and family all made fun of. And whenever someone came up to me at the park accusing me of making money off the homeless, I’d pull it out and say “Paid for by the exploitation of the homeless!”

Anyhow, if I expect to be making videos, taking pictures, drawing pictures and putting them on the web I had to get a new phone. Which also means I can finally get on Instagram! Go see for yourself.

Art

I’m not sure how many of you know this, but I like to consider myself an artist. I’m an artist for pleasure, and for hire. There’s been a few pieces I’ve completed recently that I’m quite proud of. One of which is a job I did for IFBB Pro Bodybuilder Tammy Jones.

drawing of muscular female bodybuilder
Portrait of female bodybuilder Tammy Jones IFBB Pro digitized in Adobe Illustrator for promotional use on her site.

A portrait for use of her up coming show. I can’t express loudly enough how these sorts of projects are my favorite kinds of projects.

Christopher Amotharis Bunny censored digitized in Adobe Illustrator
Christopher Amotharis Bunny censored digitized in Adobe Illustrator

Also, I recently drew a portrait of Christopher Amotharis. I’d seen this German death metal kid online posing in some of the most bold & alluring looks imaginable. It’s a beauty I don’t see celebrated enough in this world. So I feel it’s my job to do it. There’s also an uncensored version NSFW as well. You cannot view a fully accurate illustration of Christopher unless you’re willing to go uncensored. Sorry, but it’s true.

drawing of girl art
Portrait of Lola digitized in Adobe Ilustrator

And the same goes for the gorgeous Lola. A piece also to celebrate an under appreciated beauty. Lola with the Universe in her Eyes needs to be seen up close to be fully appreciated. Soon I hope to get enough of these printed and framed to have a show of my own of some sort, somewhere. That’s always been a rarely voiced dream of mine.

Union Square

I plan to have the new postcard out next month. And of course during this time of absence from the internet I’ve busied myself taking lots of photos and videos at the Square. I’ve been enjoying the process of creating this imagery more than ever before. I just love it, and I feel like I’m doing some of my best work lately. Now if only I could figure out how people get rich off it.


Amazing Strangers, Anthropology, Fundies, Union Square

Visitor’s Beware

Amazing Strangers Wendell icon

Something’s happening. I’m getting about 100 new subscribers every couple days on YouTube. This month I’m easily going to surpass 10,000 subs, and never before have I felt so at ease behind the camera as I do now. That combined with how manically I’m pursuing interviews & events there, 2015 is looking to be a stellar year for Amazing Strangers.

Viewer take note: A warning to anyone entering the park. Beware of the screaming lady with the Pitbull! They say dogs take on the personalities of their owners? Well then, this one is coming completely unhinged and on the verge of attack the first unsuspecting do-gooder who gets too close, and getting itself “put down.” It’s a clear recipe for disaster. Watch the video and you’ll see just what I’m talking about.

And the guy in the red coat? I’ve been calling him Slipknot, because that’s what I’ve heard him screaming (in that special Slipknot bellow) at times underneath those headphones. Seems also to be another regular, until he’s locked up somewhere.

There are going to be several new groups added to the map this year. The Fix-gear bike-messengers have squeezed themselves in between the skaters and the Flips section. And there’s a good, solid circle of Christians finally calling a spot at the Square home. And this bunch I think might actually stick it out, because they’re not quite as enraged as past prostilitizers. That goes a long way in securing their longevity there. One of them is Tom, the Bible-believing Christian, whom I interviewed during the May Day Demonstration.

Also, more than ever before, I’m shooting photos. Lots of them. I’ve found going back through filed of the last 13 years that I haven’t been doing that enough, and the images I do have are priceless. Here’s a gallery of the latest.

Amazing Strangers, Anthropology, Art, Blog, Freelance, Jesus Dressup, Magnets, Union Square

Calmly Begging for Rescue

Hire Me

Normal Bob sits above No Your City sticker
Normal Bob sits above No Your City Normal Bob place-holder

Yesterday I had an experience with a client that sent a chill down my spine. The client, who’s hired & paid me good money for an art  job told me, “I’ve got other jobs I’d love to have you working on, but you look so busy, I assume you don’t have the time for more stuff.”

In that brief instant, during a time when I’m scrambling around for money to pay bills, I imagined dozens of other potential clients saying to themselves, “Dammit! I’ve got jobs for this guy but he looks too busy to do them. I’ll go look for someone else I suppose.” Then flash forward 6 months to an image of me packing a U-Haul with what’s left of my possessions which have been put on the street by my landlord, on my way to a new life in Idaho to make some lame map of a park there that no one will ever care about.

Let me please be as clear as I know how to be. I need work. I have time for work. I LOVE to work! I also love to be all caught up on bills make-believing I can afford to still live in this city on a starving artist’s income. Please, for the love of God, if you’re out there needing art, or any other elements of my creativity, and you’re happy to pay, contact me! Prolong my stay in this expensive city! And thank you very much.

If you don’t have a job for me, but you’d still like to see me continue what I’m doing here, visit my store. That helps pay my bills as well.

I’m happy to say that after expressing these same thoughts to the aforementioned client he immediately sighed with relief and began a list of more jobs for me.

Jesus Dressup

This has been the toughest year for the magnets yet. The stores who’ve got them on their shelves have no problem selling them, but far too often I’ve been losing them because of customer complaints. It’s an ongoing problem I’ve always had to deal with (others frowning upon me profiting off the crucifixion), but I’m shocked at how many store managers as of late just don’t even want to chance it.

I’ve been dying to produce the new Batman Jesus Dressup I’ve got it designed and ready to go, but as I mentioned in the previous entry, I just can’t seem to accumulate the necessary funds to get that ball rolling. I’ve gotten a few stores recently who are very excited about Jesus Dressup in general, and it’s because of you people that I was able to find those stores and send them samples. So if there’s a store in your neighborhood you think might be interested in my magnets, please don’t hesitate to pass their name onto me. That simple act can make a world of difference.

Union Square

Amazing Strangers Wendell icon

Things are just getting underway at the Square, and I’ve got the camera rolling. Everyone’s been asking about that hat thief kid, whether or not he’s behaving himself since then, if he’s crazy or on drugs, and anything else I might know about him. All I can say is he’s been at the park several times since and has been pretty subdued. No other excitement from him yet, and from the looks of it he appears to have learned his lesson.

I’ve avoided tracking him down and grilling him for answers simply because if he wants his space I’m happy to give it to him. Also, I always have the lingering fear in the back of my head that when we finally do talk he’s going to ask for the video to be taken down. Yes, that’s what I have to deal with regularly in this unconventional hobby.

And then today, Apr 21, 2015 he approached me having just seen the video for the first time, twenty days later. His reasons and explanations may not be what you expect.

I got word that Chewy (Tarzan) got caught trying to sell dope to an undercover, and because he’s got priors he’s been put away for more than a few years. Matty Ice has been MIA since the last video. And there’s no sign yet of Lotion Man either.

I could go down the list of everybody who’s made an appearance thus far, but it’s easier just to show off the photos I’ve been taking.