Here is some new mural work for Elixir Bar & Grill in Edison, NJ. I had previously done some work for them a few years, so here’s some previous mural work as well..haha! Go check them out if you’re in the area for some good Tex Mex eats!
Category Archives: Graffiti
Graffiti Spaces
I’ve always been fascinated about what makes graffiti artists choose a particular spot to paint. Some times it’s about high visibility and other times it’s about safety and seclusion. Whatever the reason might be, we invade these spaces, sometimes with heavy planning and other times it could be totally spontaneous. I always felt a bit like an urban explorer. Graffiti has taken me to some pretty strange places over the years.
Back in 2010, I had spent some time thinking about all of this and decided to start a website that was less about the graffiti but the total environment of the spaces we create our art. The site was called Graffiti Spaces and was basically a person photography project of mine. It only last a year or so, but I wanted to document some of the photos I posted because there were some good ones in there.
Virtual Reality Graffiti
2020 was a really strange year in more ways than I care to remember. With so much going on in the world, I barely had time to really think about painting and struggled with finding the inspiration or energy to really get busy in the way I normally would. I guess it was time to explore some ways I wasn’t so familiar. I picked up an Oculus Quest VR headset a few months back and was browsing the app store one day and came across KingSpray by the awesome teams of developers at Infectious Ape. I was totally blown away by how well executed the experience is. They did a great job of recreating a real life graffiti simulation in virtual reality. From the way can control is pressure sensitive to how the paint goes on wet and dries quickly, it all feels very realistic. They have real world fat and skinny caps, and they even have a whole library of real colors by Ironlak. And the environments are really cool too. They have subway stations and freight yards, and alleyways and rooftops and more. All designed in great detail and with interactive tools like ladders and buckets to stand on.
Another really cool factor is that it has an online mode where you can “paint” virtually with up to four people from anywhere around the world. I’ve had a chance to paint with writers from Montreal, New Mexico, LA, China and even as far as Australia! I look forward to continue working on more walls with cool writers in the future. I would even go as far as saying this platform is a great way to practice and experiment in VR and that it could absolutely translate to better executing in real life. I could even see it as a great way to give graffiti lessons virtually.
Here are some pics of a few walls I’ve worked on recently…
Tammany MurAl
I am excited and grateful to finish the #Tamanend mural . I know sometimes it may seem that these projects are coming together so quickly and effortlessly. In reality art and murals are hard work. I have been working with Erica from #VURT and building owner Don since June. We overcame several hurdles . This … Continue reading Tammany MurAl
The post Tammany MurAl first appeared on LeonRainbow.com.
Elixir Bar & Grill
Here is some new work I did recently for Elixir Bar & Grill in Edison, NJ. Check it out…
I had done some work for them a few years back, so this place is jammed with some funk from yours truly…
Go check them out for some good Tex Mex eats!
Love Over Hate
It’s been a few months since I posted anything up here and the world has flipped upside, especially in my part of the woods. With a global pandemic changing everything, followed by a series of horrific events related to racism in our country, the world seems desperate and divided. It felt right to paint something that could spread a little positivity so I went with a “Love Over Hate” lettering approach. Nothing too crazy, just simple, straightforward with a little style…haha. Check it out!
Love Over Hate
With a global pandemic changing everything, followed by a series of horrific events related to racism in our country, the world seems desperate and divided. It only felt right to paint something that could help inject a little positivity so I went with a “Love Over Hate” message. This one was inspired by my boy, the late Jerome “Cuzo” Gonzalez. I originally painted this phrase as part of his memorial mural in downtown Somerville, NJ.
This time around, I kept it simple and straightforward, but with a little style. Check it out!
Alphabeta
I was originally working on this collection of letters for the 36 Days of Type project, but was sidetracked by the COVID-19 craziness and decided to stop at “Z”. In any case, I am happy with how these turned out. I’ve always been really critical of my own letters and making sure they have good flow and movement. Graffiti should feel like the letter have come to life. I was also intrigued to play with layering different types of mediums and the abstraction of the form. Alphabeta is an exploration of those two things. Here is what I came up with…
Alphabeta
I was originally working on this collection of letters for the 36 Days of Type project, but was sidetracked by the craziness of life and decided to stop at “Z”. In any case, I am happy with how these turned out. I’ve always been really critical of my own letters and making sure they have good flow and movement. Graffiti should feel like the letter have come to life. I was also intrigued to play with layering different types of mediums and the abstraction of the form. Alphabeta is an exploration of those two things. Here is what I came up with…
Showtime at Morris Museum!!
Here are a few video interviews I did about the Aerosol exhibition at Morris Museum. Big thanks to Discover Jersey Arts and an extra huge shoutout to Charley Pellecer and the team at Saint Films for documenting this show!
Also, I worked on the title artwork for the first film…check out the still below.
