black ops studio » Art

jamie foxx- he loved it!

duane fernandez — Tue, 01 Mar 2011 07:23:20 +0000

I’ve been a huge fan of Jamie Foxx for over 20 years – as a stand up comedian, as an actor and as a musician. What he has been able to accomplish is rather remarkable. Getting a chance to meet him was insane. To have the opportunity to create something for him – even more insane…
He really loved it.
He was digging on the box and when he saw the cuff he was absolutely stoked on it! He put it on immediately and wore it the rest of the night…
Pretty rad.
I couldn’t do this without Nate and Greg over at Spexton – with every project they go above and beyond. Thank you for all your hard work.

@johncmayer

duane fernandez — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 18:32:32 +0000

As some of you may have noticed on twitter, I didn’t get to the painting portion of this project until late last night. May have been a little too close for comfort, as the concert is tonight, but I’ve been working on a handful of video projects as of late and didn’t have the time. Anyway, it’s complete, it’s delivered and I’m stoked on it. I ended up really distressing the jewelry box this time around. I used a high grit sand paper to create a lot of texture. Painted the box. Sanded. Painted the box. Sanded… etc. [You get the point.] I used his heartbreak logo on the top and a simple MAYER stencil around the side. John Mayer will receive the piece tonight in Tulsa just before his concert.

The wooden box is 4.5″ x 4.5″ x 3.5″

One Time

duane fernandez — Mon, 05 Jul 2010 17:29:28 +0000

Here is the finished piece for Justin Bieber. I delivered it on Friday and he will be given it tomorrow, fun stuff. Now that that box is finished, I will be working on the new SEEK piece. I thoroughly enjoy any opportunity I get to use “that that” in a sentence. I remember the first time I read “that that” in a book, I thought I had found a typo. It had not. Happy fourth of July weekend! I’m a little behind schedule, I do apologize. I hope you and America had a fantastic weekend.

I had to make a trip to Whole Foods on Saturday and although it was insanely busy, it was Whole Foods. However! I witnessed three older ladies, who were not impressed with how long the lines were, huffing and puffing. I don’t think they had ever been into a Whole Foods before. They were really grumpy. By the time they got to the very kind hipster/hippie hybrid cashier, they were making very snide comments. I became irritated with their rude behavior. The cashier kept her smile and moved them along. On their way out of the store, out of spite, one of the ladies threw her receipt on the ground. I gasped! She just F*cking littered in a Whole Foods!
CAN you do that?! I was waiting for some sort of patchouli police to come down and take swift action. Nothing happened.
Needless to say, I was disappointed. But there is nowhere to hide, you can’t mess with a Whole Foods and get away with it.
If Karma exist, it most definitely exists in a Whole Foods.

UPDATE: Justin Bieber with our artwork: http://blackopsstudio.com/2010/07/19/justin-bieber/

Michael Buble’

duane fernandez — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 15:35:36 +0000

Two antennas got married, the ceremony wasn’t much…
But the reception was excellent!

There is your joke for the day, now go spread some cheer. Other news: Just put the finishing touches on the Michael Buble’ piece and I am running it over to the BOK Center in just a moment. I don’t listen to Buble’ a whole lot, but he’s got an incredible voice. AND he was funny on SNL.
Anyway, I enjoyed working on this piece and I have to say, it might be one of my favorites. Hope he enjoys it.

It’s summer time! You know what that means – It’s time for SEEK! My first piece will hit the streets in July. Some straight forward clues for you: Pee-Wee Herman and Los Angeles. More details will follow via twitter.

aerosmith art – done

duane fernandez — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 22:15:12 +0000

Aerosmith art complete! Overall I am really stoked on how it turned out. I will be honest, painting 5 at once was a little difficult. But it’s for Aerosmith!!!! That’s rad. If any of you are wondering what method I use, I keep it real = Tried and true stenciling = I sketch out the artists from a photo onto a normal piece of paper – then I remove as much as possible from the drawing – I like to keep it minimal – which is also the reason I only use one color – I then cut each stencil by hand using an xacto knife [I have so many xacto knives, I should be sponsored - I have been using this technique for over 10 years now] – I then put the stencil over the distressed jewelry box [which is another HOW TO] and put down one color of aerosol paint and I’m very particular as to where I hit the stencil with spray, it’s not an even coat…
Screen printing would be so much easier. But consider me a purist. I want each piece to be an interpretation, I don’t want to copy and recreate something.
I hope they love it! Now I have to jump in the shower and get ready to photograph them + ZZ Top.

aerosmith art and rain

duane fernandez — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 22:18:42 +0000

The Aerosmith project has turned out to be a lot of work… 5 boxes for one event.
Trying to sketch out all the faces was a task. Especially since Tom, one of the bandmates, has been replaced for a few shows [medical] and the gentlemen filling in for him doesn’t have many images on the world wide web.
I was able to prep all the boxes while I was sketching and cutting out the portraits.
I’m exhausted.

jamie foxx – artwork

duane fernandez — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 00:25:48 +0000

Getting ready for the Jamie Foxx concert tonight!
Here is the box I painted for Mr. Foxx.

Lawyers for the Arts Program

duane fernandez — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 17:56:53 +0000

dang, where do I begin?
I’d like to apologize to everyone for being a bit behind on my correspondences. This frenzy I have been in started last week and forecasters say it should should continue on through middle of next week, so please be patient. Busy is good and I’m stoked. Trying to find a balance: mentally, physically, geographically, creatively and socially. It is awesome.
First, like I mentioned on Monday, we had a press conference here in the studio on Monday to announce the new Lawyers for the Arts Program here in Tulsa. It is a very exciting new program that was created to assist artists in our community.
A few more things to say, so I am going to break them up into unique posts! See you in a few!

sexton – art show @ left field project

duane fernandez — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 17:50:43 +0000

Last week I had a post titled which had some stills I had shot while I was on location. We were there to do an on camera interview with Mike Sexton, but I couldn’t help but take a few shots of his environment – it was incredible. Jason Burks was my DP, Joel was our grip and we set up in Mike’s little studio above his garage.
A few weeks prior to this event I came up with an idea to do a trailer for our next art show. No posters, no postcards – just a raw look into the artist’s mind and life. Most people go to art shows and never know what the artist is like, what their voice sounds like or what they look like. It’s a shame, because that is almost more important than the forms they paint or capture – understanding the creator makes the work that much more powerful. At least it does for me.
We shot about 30 minutes worth of footage.
My trusty Assistant Editor Rebecca and I cut and deleted and trashed and added and subtracted and a few hours later we arrived at something we both agreed on was “perfect”.
I love this piece.
And I hope you all do as well.
Enjoy:

mike sexton vs LFP from left field project on Vimeo.
I’d like to thank Rebecca for her patience and for her help on this, I couldn’t have done it without you… I’d like to thank Mike for being Mike. It’s just as I thought it would be. I’m lucky to be surrounded by people that can help me take something that lives somewhere in my brain, find it, cultivate it and reproduce it in this world – just as I saw it in it’s infancy. I’m fortunate, thank you.

The show is on Friday. Hope to see you all there. Please cruise out to support and meet Mike.

Next/Now art show

duane fernandez — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 01:16:36 +0000

Thanks to everyone that made it out last night for the Typros Next/Now art show! It was a complete success! And only because of the support of the community. Thank you. THANK YOU!
Deeko of course killed it with the soundtrack last night. Much thanks to the breakers from Movement918, it’s nice to be around some true blue bboys again. Always a good element to any event. Here are just a few pictures, you can view the rest on shoplfp.com. Be sure to subscribe to our mailing list – we are about to bring some sick shows to the Tulsa area and we want you there……

david choe

duane fernandez — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 19:30:40 +0000

Whether it’s a mass e-mail or not, getting an e-mail from David Choe is always entertaining. David is one the first interviews I did for LFP. It changed my life… David has been one of my favorite artists for years. The dude is passionate and real. His words are sometimes hard to string together, but it’s worth it. The documentary about his life is FINALLY premiering this month. All you Cali Kids should hit this premiere. This is from his e-mail:

The nightmare is over just in time for another one to begin, the cameras have stopped rolling and the documentary is finished, if you happen to be in Los Angels on June 21st you should come out and watch Harry Kim’s documentary about my bullshit life, almost a decade in the making , I thought I could slip this one through the cracks of my parents sight, however my new nightmare – my parents have just figured out how to use the internet(google) and they are internet stalking, and they’re favorite subject is me, so they found out about the LA film premier (thanks harry! I can’t thank you enough for choosing L.A. my parents hometown for the premiere of your fucking movie, you fucking asshole) as well as my gambling problem amongst other things, if you are a sick fuck, and want to watch the slow motion car accident, which is watching my parents watch their son act like a complete fool and watch footwear fall out of women’s asses, on the big screen on opening night.

our beats are nice

duane fernandez — Thu, 22 May 2008 19:39:30 +0000

I’ve got a few updates for your face. I feel awfully blocky today, so I am going to write this entire blog in one continuous paragraph. It’s going to be random, so I recommend you grab a cup of your favorite caffeinated flavored addiction and try to follow along. Lakers beat the PISS [lol] out of the Spurs this weekend. Just embarrassed them. Yes, I do realize that the Spurs came back to win the 3^rd game, but I don’t care. I am going to start a petition to remove “WHOM” form the English language. SPOILER – Indiana Jones is horrible. We did a late night Taco Bueno run last night and it was delicious! I forget how good that place is. Thanks for the reminder. I awoke Saturday morning to Michael playing my guitar in the living room. I stumbled out there and sat next to him. Allow me to preface this by saying that Michael has been on a “journey” of self discovery. [I’m smiling] He has really been trying to be more aware of his life and his consciousness. The little things. One of the things he has been doing these days – interpreting dreams. I think he fancies it a great deal. You know how I fancy shoes or watches? He fancies understanding – NOT just his dreams, but anyone’s dreams. I’ve been listening to him talk about it for months. As much as I ramble about BS on this site, I’m still extremely private. I don’t let people into my subconscious. Ever. So, I never talk about my dreams around anyone. So back to my story. Squirrels are funny too. I walk out of my room on Saturday and see michael playing the guitar. We chat for a moment, AND I suddenly realize that I had a dream that I was hanging out with some friends. [This is one of your only few opportunities to peak into my SC – Sub Conscious – Follow along now – keep up] Yea, this dream was very real, in the dream I just picked up the guitar and started playing everything and anything I have ever wanted to play. It was so fun! Because in the dream, I knew I couldn’t play the guitar, so being able to rock it was rad. [History – I may own a guitar, but I can’t play it] It was awesome. This dream was almost as awesome as the dream I had where I was dunking on everyone. That was tight. So, I’m excited because I just remember my dream and I tell Michael all about it. I’m clearly not thinking straight. It was Saturday morning and I think I had a hangover. Michael doesn’t pay much attention to my outburst. He keeps playing. I go brush my teeth and walk back into the living room. Michael is still playing. He stops and looks up at me – “It means there is harmony in your life…” I stop brushing my teeth. What the fuck?! I was totally stunned; he goes back to playing the guitar. I’m left wondering – “WHAT”? I let him IN! But it was sort of brilliant. I keep brushing, walk back into the bathroom and look into the mirror. Interesting explanation Michael…. I can still hear him playing. I walk back out there still kind of shook by the info and he stops again – “I totally missed this the first time” he says, “But with PURPOSE”. He returns to playing the guitar. I was totally shocked……………. Finally, it’s about time to get ready for this RIGHTtoLEFT Tulsa show! I spent most of the weekend working on the FINAL press release, which I’ve been working on for months…. I will be spending the better part of the next week sending that across the country/world. AND with the help of my “in house” editorial team, it’s almost done. You guys are amazing and I really appreciate your time. I really really appreciate your time. THANK YOU! I encourage you all to save a copy of the flyer and paste it all over the world wide interweb. FRIDAY JUNE 6^th is next Friday! Be ready for one hell of an art show: Artifacts 8 – 10pm. Then please join us for a special LFP RIGHTtoLEFT celebration party at Tiny Lounge following the show. For old time sake, Thomas and I will be selecting special tracks for you kids to move to. The show isn’t worth a damn if you don’t come see it, so please plan on it. And make your friends plan on it. And make your friends friends plan on it. Thanks for all your support……………………… OH – I almost forgot, I added a new featured interview on the Left Field Project site! I ask each artist in the RIGHTtoLEFT show: “who are you?” Just some more background info for the show….

* duane fernandez

embrace

duane fernandez — Sun, 13 Apr 2008 20:06:25 +0000

So I was heading back up from the deli downstairs. I walked into the elevator and there was a repair man working on the control panel.. I was kinda startled and said “Oh, I am sorry..” and began to walk off the elevator. He replies “It’s ok, what floor are you on?” I said “4”…. Up we went. Somewhere between the second floor and the third floor I thought – This job really has its ups and downs. I made myself laugh.

What is the purpose of life? Surely I can’t be the only person that has an opinion on this. I’ve decided to produce a short on the subject. I’m going to spend the next 4 weeks doing a series of interviews on the subject. I am interviewing complete strangers, coworkers, friends, family..etc. Production time should be short, as I will be attempting to shoot the entire documentary with a certain philosophy in mind. Life has no reshoots, no edits, no location changes – I will create the entire documentary in essentially one take. My personal work has always been an extension of my life/philosophy. I can’t make a mix tape without my philosophy. Every song has a purpose – its placement within all the other songs has a reason…. In my art work I have layers upon layers upon layers of content – I create these layers before I ever begin working on the “actual” piece itself. If you own a painting of mine, there are countless excerpts of my journal in there, layers upon layers upon layers.. It’s slightly insane. I end up thrashing all my paintings, I take tools and scrape the hell out of them, I take sandpaper and destroy them, I throw them, and then I paint over it. I apply another verse or quote, perhaps a significant date in my life and the cycle begins again. Layers. Many of my paintings will end with an iconic symbol to draw the eye, I consider this the “stylizing” process. I dress it up. I make it presentable or I will make it particularly significant to the person who is receiving it. But to me, the beauties of my paintings are never realized, because to me, the beauty is within the process, within the scars, the textures and the layers. The things you hardly ever see. The beauties I find in others are not what I consider the stylizing of our lives, but the substance of who you are. More often than not, I love you for your scars – your cuts. Who are we without them?

So yea, I think life is pretty amazing. I can’t stop thinking about it. I love that we all see this world differently. Life is so intricate and yet so simple at the same time. Maybe that’s why I am drawn to try and understand it. Life. “Because we do not know when we will die, we get to think of life as an inexhaustible well, and yet everything happens only a certain number of times … How many more times will you remember a certain afternoon of your childhood … that is so deeply a part of your being that you can’t even conceive of your life without it? Perhaps 4 or 5 times more. Perhaps not even. How many more times will you watch the full moon rise? Perhaps 20. And yet it all seems limitless.” It’s a fascinating perspective. I try to embrace the idea that we don’t have all the time in the world… How many more times will I “feel” this? How many more times will I see you? Yet, it’s true, it just seems limitless… Life is about love and love is about life. A love for the moments your heart feels like it’s going to rupture because that person you are with can have that affect on you. A love for letting go and giving in. A love for embracing the pain, a love for learning, a love for living. A love for wanting to leave my mark on this world. A love for not being afraid to fail. A love for new life experiences. Love. LOVE! It’s absolutely ridiculous.

Anyway, I will probably be hitting you up for an interview, so start thinking about it. You get one take.

If you are going to be in NC for the opening LFP “Right to Left” show, you will get to see my latest series of paintings titled “8.31”, I think it’s my best work yet. I’ve been working on them for over 4 months, and I should be complete by this Wednesday. 7 pieces which include a WHOLE lot of layers, words, quotes, dates – topped with a few coats of white paint and stylized with Abraham Lincoln, Beck, Hunter S. Thompson, 2 separate paintings of Nike Dunks (the editorial dunks and my lucky dunks), Al Capone and Woody… What the fuck do all these things have in common?
*duane fernandez

rostarr on fairfax

duane fernandez — Sun, 18 Nov 2007 21:55:40 +0000

The Stereo Sound Agency has once again teamed up with New York artist / Left Field Project participant Romon Kimin Yang, better known as Rostarr in an art exhibition presenting their work at Turntable Lab off Fairfax, Los Angeles. The Korean born, Brooklyn based artist originally began in art direction but eventually turned the corner to become a full fledged artist. Along the way his work has allowed him to create many opportunities and given him the chance to showcase his creative talents. If you are in the Fairfax, check out the exhibition at the address seen below.

Rostarr & Stereo Sound Agency
Turntable Lab LA
424 North Fairfax Ave.
T: 323.782.0173

the show

duane fernandez — Tue, 11 Sep 2007 22:03:03 +0000

I had an amazing opportunity to paint on stage with one of my childhood best-friends a few days ago. Courtney and I grew up in Hancock Park – Hollywood. Aspiring to be pro skaters and world renowned graf artists Courtney and I wrote and skated almost every single day. Somewhere before my 7th grade year I moved to Denmark and sorta lost touch. Throughout the years I would hear about Courtney, he was getting up with the CBS kids, blowin’ up in a hip hop crew called Shape Shifters and basically continuing to build on what we had started long ago. Following my own path, we kinda stayed connected through a few degrees of separation. It’s insane to think that before last week, I had not seen Courtney in 18 years. Somehow, shit had not changed. Here we were, 18 years later, and we were about to get on stage to build once again.

I decided to paint Che` for the show. Seemed appropriate somehow. I can’t tell you why, but it did.
*duane fernandez

don + bob

duane fernandez — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 22:07:42 +0000

Double whammy! Left Field Project participants Don and Bob are intermingled once again for a new project.

Little Giants is a documentary series that focuses on influential artists who are connected to contemporary art, street culture and skateboarding. The series will humanize the names behind the artwork and will allow the viewer a look at the artist’s personalities and history. By way of interviews with their peers, pro skaters, industry moguls and the artists themselves, each volume will focus on a single human (one “Little Giant”) and will be distributed to skateshops and boutiques as well as being available for download through 411’s iTunes Store.

Filmed entirely in HD, directed by Bob Kronbauer (of MumbleMagazine.com) and distributed by 411, each installment will be 30 minutes long and accompanied by a collectible booklet. The retail price has been set at a reasonable $19.95 and volumes will be released twice yearly. The first volume will be out this November with skateboarder and artist Don Pendleton.

Way to go dudes. Love it. Keep rockin….