dektown blog

stone fox (welcome any change)

2011-11-01T09:33:00.000-07:00

16" x 20", oil on illustration board

wine glass - le marche wine

2011-10-28T16:03:00.000-07:00

work in progress - tillo mcknight

2011-10-28T15:13:00.000-07:00

currently in progress, the oils on the character are done, the background still needs final oils added.

esto and the promise (down home country)

2011-09-19T14:57:00.000-07:00

esto and the promise (down home country)
oil on illustration board, 16" x 20"

wine pencils

2011-09-17T10:06:00.000-07:00

pencils for another as-of-yet untitled wine drinker.

untitled wine piece - pencils

2011-09-15T13:43:00.000-07:00

new pencils, may try to blow it up big and paint it up soon.

Laurelle was stolen...

2011-09-02T08:45:00.000-07:00

this painting of mine was stolen from lost leaf gallery in phoenix. let me know if anyone sees it around town.

paintings up at lost leaf

2011-08-25T01:09:00.000-07:00

got a cool little write up about some of my paintings by kelsey havens at the new times. thanks kalsey - you make me sound deeper than i am.
http://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/events/j-w-miller-2476855/

skeches - winecentric pieces

2011-08-09T00:44:00.000-07:00

paranoid android - ink sketch

2011-03-08T21:21:00.000-08:00

pre-paint pen sketch for the robotology show.

guy with coffee

2011-03-07T22:09:00.001-08:00

pen and ink and a grey marker

2011-03-06T18:06:00.001-08:00

some skateboard drawings

2011-03-04T11:40:00.000-08:00

a few new dailies

2011-03-04T11:18:00.000-08:00

esto

2011-02-28T20:50:00.000-08:00

esto & the day of the show - pencils

robotology show at push gallery phx

2011-02-25T21:06:00.000-08:00

i will have something, not sure what yet, up at the robotology show at the push gallery, march 25th, 7pm. just gotta figure out how to paint robots...

more dailies

2011-01-11T19:48:00.001-08:00

01-07-11

01-09-11

01-09-11 (b)

01-09-11 (c)

dailies

2011-01-03T23:25:00.000-08:00

as opposed to the usually sketching i've been doing, i've been trying to do a finished drawing a day. i started on new year's eve, and so far i have 3 finished. the goal is to get 5 or so done a week. yeah, i may try to take the weekend off, or work on a larger painting project.

here's what i got so far:
12/31/10

01/01/11

01/02/11

the wort project

2010-09-29T11:15:00.000-07:00

the first piece has been added to the wort project. check it out here: the wort project blog.

push gallery - phx

2010-09-29T09:57:00.000-07:00

i will have something up at the push gallery phoenix collaboration show.

october 15th
1145 e. roosevelt st.
phoenix, az

brief space - san francisco

2010-09-29T09:54:00.000-07:00

i will have some art up at the opening of the brief space in san francisco.

brief space, san francisco
opening reception: saturday, oct 2nd. 7-11pm
2nd floor of the metreon
101 4th st

sketch for wort project

2010-09-20T09:19:00.000-07:00

new sketch for a project i'm working on, tentatively called 'the wort project.' more to come on that later.

toast

2010-09-16T23:10:00.000-07:00

i said toast mutha-trucker!

wine guy sketch

2010-09-07T10:06:00.000-07:00

untitled sketch, for a possible future painting.

fragment gallery showing

2010-09-01T16:44:00.000-07:00

i will have seven pieces up at fragment gallery in tucson. the opening is saturday, september 4th.

two for brew

2010-08-23T09:48:00.000-07:00

two pieces i did for the sleepy dog brewery.

a half bottle of wine & some paint: vol.1

2010-08-19T15:35:00.000-07:00

'a half bottle of wine & some paint vol:1' is a 48 page portfolio book of some of my paintings is available now - click the button below to get it.

new wine piece

2010-08-19T12:50:00.000-07:00

new wine piece, ribblesdale dayden, on display at the fragment gallery in tucson, az through the wonderful month of august.

wine-centric pieces

2010-03-12T07:39:00.000-08:00

i finished 2 new wine-centric pieces- along with one older one they are beginning to make a series.

howley coyle - cabernet

vic james - pinot noir

wem childress

pin-ups

2010-03-12T07:30:00.000-08:00

i finished two pin-up style pieces - one was for a show at the push gallery in downtown phoenix (titled 'laruelle and the constellations')

and the second potentially for a book cover, if it gets approved, (titled 'ursula - red').

january 1st - first friday of 2010- phx, az

2009-12-28T15:18:00.000-08:00

i will have some stuff up at SuTRA in phx on january 1st for the first friday art walk. come check it out.

SuTRA Midtown Yoga, 2317 North 7th Street, Phoenix, AZ. 85006
SuTRAmidtown.com

prints - available in the storefront now!

2009-12-28T15:02:00.001-08:00

heck yeah - i have prints available now check them out here! dektown prints

skate deck - espresso

2009-12-28T14:30:00.000-08:00

here's a deck i did for the all decks on hand exhibit at the afterhours gallery in phx.

the deck was painted with acrylic paint, and some grip tape stencil.

sauce skate zine

2009-12-28T14:08:00.000-08:00

recently did a few pieces for pod at sauce! skate zine.

this piece is acrylic paint:

and this is the ink drawing version:

and this is a deck that pod silk screened from one of my ink drawings. it happens to be for sale at the dektown storefront as well:

october first friday - down town phoenix

2009-09-29T11:25:00.000-07:00

san samuel at the charging station

2009-08-05T22:13:00.001-07:00

a venture into the sci fi theme:

willie ducharme - the early days

2009-07-28T15:54:00.000-07:00

another piece for the collabo arts san francisco show at push studio.

surficidal tendencies

2009-07-17T09:13:00.000-07:00

a piece that may go into the collabo arts san francisco show at push studio.

these are the pencil sketches i started off with:

obama v. rush

2009-07-08T21:30:00.000-07:00

an illustration i did for the online magazine, nth word.

sketches to paintings

2009-07-06T14:39:00.000-07:00

here are some of my beginning pencils, and also what the final paintings turned out to look like.

jay jamms

pencils

oil on board, 36" x 24"

coffee meets morning

pencils

oil on board, 24" x 24"

wem childress

pencils

oil on board, 8" x 10"

wem childress

2009-07-03T08:53:00.001-07:00

san francisco

2009-05-29T22:52:00.000-07:00

i'll be a part of a group art show put on by pacific art collective on august 1st at the push studio in san francisco.

participating artists:

david choong lee
david flores
duser
jw miller
kevin t.n. nguyen
zoso

dela cruz - orange

2009-05-22T20:43:00.000-07:00

blane - progression

2009-04-24T18:03:00.000-07:00

here's the progression of a piece i did for the stoked sessions l.a. fundraiser art show.

one:
this is the sketch i began with, it's on 14" x 17" paper. i don't worry about the final that the final painted piece will be, this is all about trying to get the figure down on paper.
unless the background is complicated in some way, i usually don't worry about it at this point.

two:
the pencil sketch is transfered on to the illustration board.
this is the point where (a) i figure out what size the final piece will be (in this case, it's 10" x 10"), (b) figure how big i will have to blow up the sketch on a xerox machine (110% for this piece), then (c ) tape the xeroxed copy on to my illustration board, (d) put a sheet of transfer paper between the xerox and the board, (e) and then trace it to the board.
the transfered sketch always has to be tightened up, tighter than the original sketch.
i also ended up editing out part of blane's body from the original sketch. if i had put his whole body in, he would have been pretty small.
i also transfered it on to an 11" x 14" board, and i just figure i'll trim it down to 10" x 10" later.
i think i played quite a bit of nine inch nails when i was working out this final sketch - also some deftones.

three:
here i tone the board i'm going to paint on - with burnt umber and burnt sienna acrylic paints. this takes the bright white of the paper (or gessoed board when i work on wood) down to a middle tone.

four:
this is my first pass at it with acrylic paint.
trying to get some color and values down. this will by my underpainting. i like using acrylics at this point because they dry super fast, and i can try different colors and values pretty quickly. this is usually my time to play around and experiment, see if the colors in my head are going to actually work.
i had a documentary dvd on while i did the first session - i think it was called 'live girls unite,' about strippers creating a union in san francisco.

five:
this is my second session with acrylic paints.
i've worked in the skin tones more, the lights and shadows are more pronounced.
i've also worked in the background more. i originally try a large storage garage door in the background that i had a reference photo for. but in the end i took it out and tried to keep this smaller piece simple. if i redo the piece larger, i may try to work the door in again.
i think i had on a kurosawa documentary while i did the second session, the third disc in the seven samurai dvd set.

six:
these are the oil paints.
the oil paints go over the acrylics - the colors aren't exactly the same as the acrylics, but i don't aim for them to be. when i put down the oil paints, it's my last chance to adjust hues and values. it's still time to play around at this point.
the background and blane's shirt are less blue than in the acrylics, they've been greyed down a bit. they're fairly close in color - the challenge here was to see how close i could keep them without letting them fade together. i didn't feel i needed absolute separation - i thought if they were close, that would let the skin tones and the skateboard stick out more.
at this point it's still on an 11" x 14" board, so i need to trim it down to 10" x 10".
i just had music on when i did the oils, i played a lot of deftones and atmosphere at this point. also some menomena and sage francis.

seven:
this is the final 10" x 10" piece that was mailed off for the stoked sessions l.a. show.

wolverine - gold

2009-04-02T20:53:00.001-07:00

spring training - rommel dwyer

2009-03-18T08:21:00.000-07:00

2009-03-13T12:49:00.000-07:00

march 19th, 2009. 7pm to 9pm

dektown at providence gallery

7036 e. main st., scottsdale, az 85251

i will be slapping some paint down and chit chatting on thursday, march 19th at the providence gallery from 7pm to 9pm. stop by if you're in the area.

-jw
dektown

dektown at providence gallery

2009-02-11T19:54:00.000-08:00

ongoing exhibition at providence gallery.

7036 e. main street, scottsdale, az 85251.

click here to view the dektown at providence site.

gallery hours: tuesday - saturday: 11am to 6pm
artwalk: every thursday, 7pm - 9pm.

artwork will be switched out on a regular basis,
so check back often to see what pieces are available.

lanso head shot

2009-02-05T07:19:00.000-08:00

lanso's head shot - finished oils

lanso in progress

2009-02-03T10:13:00.000-08:00

a head shot of lanso - in progress - the acrylic underpainting.

at the cafe

2009-01-27T12:35:00.001-08:00

finished oils.

x-mas!

2008-12-24T11:41:00.000-08:00

saturday morning

2008-12-19T08:48:00.001-08:00

duarte, the chef

2008-12-11T13:22:00.000-08:00

umbroleski - final oil

2008-11-29T08:32:00.000-08:00

portrait of umbroleski, at the 23rd street subway platform.

pencil sketch

2008-11-23T17:55:00.000-08:00

pencil sketch for a new piece:

lanso on the bus - finished oils

2008-11-12T16:21:00.001-08:00

lanso on the bus - acrylics

2008-10-30T10:58:00.000-07:00

here's a piece in progress, lanso on the bus. this is the acrylic paint stage. i'll be working on the oil paints on it, hopefully later today.

lanso, on the bus

2008-10-20T08:55:00.000-07:00

here's a sketch i did of lanso on the bus, on his way to the record store - this day's trip was to 'big squall's record store,' a shop with new and used vinyl.

new originals up at digi-canvas

2008-10-17T13:59:00.000-07:00

new originals are up at digi-canvas. here are a couple that are up, check out the link to see the rest.

2008-10-17T07:55:00.000-07:00

check out the interview in graphi magazine.

the inside features a new painting of wolverine:

the cover features the painting of 'brayne,' which was recently sold at distinction gallery.

-jw miller
dektown

article on thrillist.com

2008-10-08T09:28:00.000-07:00

here's a short article that was posted on thrillist.com - the chicago edition.
the painting on the left is my portrait of dela cruz. there's a brief mention of my portrait of bastio - i guess i made his hands weird and giant. hahaha.

new portraits - in progress

2008-10-07T16:49:00.000-07:00

2 new portraits in progress, this is the acrylic paint layer, soon to lay under the oil paint layer.

stoked sessions art auction in salt lake city

2008-09-12T09:50:00.000-07:00

the following piece was donated to stoked mentoring for their art auction this weekend in salt lake city. check the link to their site and see what they're all about.

stoked skater - cityscape
oil on illustration board
11" x 14"

surf day

2008-08-27T14:03:00.001-07:00

stealing away from work, with or without their permission, to have a part of what's really important - good waves.

lanso - digging

2008-08-26T21:29:00.001-07:00

lanso, digging through the racks of old vinyl at 'big squall's stacks of wax.'

sneak peak - yari

2008-07-29T10:55:00.001-07:00

lanso

2008-06-12T08:53:00.000-07:00

new piece for 'the art of digging' show on june 14th, 2008 at the light gallery in costa mesa.

sneak peak - piece in progress

2008-06-11T17:18:00.001-07:00

willoughby and laurette

2008-05-05T11:52:00.001-07:00

final piece for the veni vidi vici show currated by pacific art collective. the show is may 10th!

willoughby & laurette:

roof top painting

2008-04-20T08:15:00.000-07:00

actually, my painting setup from the top floor of a parking garage, trying to catch some sunset/building shadow colors. reference material for my cityscape couple painting for the san francisco 'veni vidi vici' show.

pencils for san francisco - veni vidi vici

2008-04-17T21:05:00.000-07:00

pencils for a painting for the pacific art collective hosted veni vidi vici show in san francisco. they'll be put together on to one board to make a single painting.

collab piece

2008-04-15T07:25:00.000-07:00

just picked up a new board from koleszar that we are collaborating on.
here's what his stencil-spraypaint backgrounds look like:

i'll be putting the dektonian portrait somewhere to the left of the lifeguard tower.
koleszar and i collaborated on one other piece so far, the brooklyn dj.

zazzi carpaccio

2008-04-10T10:54:00.001-07:00

new piece just finished for the stoked sessions art auction, to benefit stoked mentoring, an action sports mentoring program for inner city youth.

the event is april 19th at the grind gallery, 12222 venice boulevard (btwn grand view blvd & s centinela ave) los angeles, ca 90066

silent auction begins at 8pm, tickets are $10. buy online or at the door.

two new paintings

2008-02-27T21:16:00.000-08:00

two new paintings.

more sketches

2008-02-13T21:32:00.001-08:00

some sketches

2008-02-01T21:21:00.000-08:00

some pencil sketches that turned into paintings.

skateboard art show at the 'light gallery'

2008-01-07T14:54:00.000-08:00

i'll have a piece in the 'skateboard inspirations' show at the the light gallery in costa mesa, ca.

the show begins saturday, january, 12th.

reego

2008-01-07T14:17:00.000-08:00

here's the third and final piece i had up at koerce media's 'saving x-mas' show in carlsbad, ca.

probably my favorite of the three.

2007-12-28T10:39:00.000-08:00

here's a live painting i did at koerce media's 'saving x-mas' event.

the work in progress:

new paintings for carlsbad show

2007-12-11T18:59:00.001-08:00

new paintings for the 'saving x-mas' show in carlsbad. more info at koerce media

flyer for the show:

the paintings:

k. duley:

roscoe 'swerve':

skatedeck the halls

2007-12-01T12:14:00.001-08:00

flyer for the 'skatedeck the halls' show at the windup gallery.

and the original illustration:

skatedeck painting

2007-12-01T12:09:00.000-08:00

skatedeck painting for the 'skatedeck the halls' show at the windup gallery.

new halloween piece

2007-10-18T15:22:00.000-07:00

new halloween piece for the windup gallery's 'something wicked this way comes' show.

the rise and fall of pom'bia and his pumpkin army
24" x 24", oil on board

some new sketch paintings

2007-08-21T12:02:00.000-07:00

did some smaller, quicker paintings. working that way and that size makes them feel more like sketches.

blue trane, 10" x 15"

reesa, 10" x 15"

eli griggs, 10" x 10"

perkins and dela cruz -finished paintings

2007-06-24T21:49:00.000-07:00

perkins on his morning commute to work along the rizdale beach boardwalk.

dela cruz, checking surf on the north shore of the island of aliney.

both pieces are scheduled to be on exhibit at the windup gallery, june 30th - july 21st.

windup gallery - az artist exhibit

2007-06-21T20:44:00.000-07:00

opening reception: saturday, june 30th at the windup gallery.
exhibit continues through july 21st.

126 west main st, mesa, az 85201.

perkins and dela cruz - in progress

2007-06-10T14:05:00.000-07:00

perkins: morning commute.

dela cruz: checking surf.

first friday - may 07

2007-04-23T08:45:00.000-07:00

first friday, i'll have some paintings up at the wet paint gallery in downtown phoenix, southwest corner of 4th street and mckinley (718 N. 4th St.) in the antispace building.

bobby deeks sketch

2007-04-17T12:38:00.000-07:00

bobby deeks, the young up and commer, from the play 'blood on the canvas' by gus edwards.

first friday at fate restaurant - april 6th

2007-04-05T21:02:00.000-07:00

first friday, april 6th, at fate restaurant. 2 new pieces up; 'brayne' (pictured below) and a portrait of ?urstlove. 9 paintings total will be up.

first friday - march 2nd

2007-02-22T21:10:00.000-08:00

new paintings on display at studeo tad during first friday, march 2nd. the gallery will also be open for the art detour on saturday and sunday, march 3rd and 4th.

the brother's freeze: ray ray and alanso

2007-02-16T20:03:00.000-08:00

hip hop producers ray ray (left) and alanso freese, known as the brother's freeze, standing outside their recording studio, 'the freezer,' in the elvisStrip area of dektown.

view the step by step process for painting the skin tones at the crete mag blog

some sketches from the steno pad

2007-02-15T06:30:00.000-08:00

i do most of my sketches in a smaller 6x9 steno pad. easier to carry around.

from doodle to finished sketch

2007-01-30T11:11:00.000-08:00

two pages out of the steno pad.

to a finished pencil piece. warhol & basquait.

new site design

2006-12-08T15:28:00.000-08:00

dektown,usa just got a much needed face lift. view the new gallery section with bios! news and exhibition sections also.

first friday at the willowhouse, january 5th

2006-12-06T09:48:00.000-08:00

janurary 5th, willowhouse, 149 W McDowell Rd, Phoenix
southeast corner of 3rd Avenue and McDowell

first friday at the new wet paint gallery 12/01/06

2006-11-27T15:47:00.000-08:00

downtown phoenix, 7-10pm
718 N. 4th Street, Phoenix
sw corner of 4th street and Mckinley, in the anti space community

leona up for auction

2006-11-08T15:46:00.000-08:00

the painting of leona will be up for auction friday, november 10th for the aiga art auction with proceeds going to free arts of arizona. the event will take place from 6pm to 10pm at monorchid studio, 214 W Roosevelt, Phoenix, Arizona.

brooklyn dj tee

2006-11-03T07:14:00.000-08:00

a t-shirt of the brooklyn dj is now for sale at cafepress for a limited time, available on several different shirt styles.