Abandoned mini munny - kidrobot, hoakser

   The most un-appealing side to graffiti as an art form ( for most people ) is often the tags and throwups -  commonly called -mindless vandalism..Believe it or not, that is an art form in itself..
  I wont get into it too deep, but without handstyles graffiti wouldn't exist today, so it's important to have one if you consider yourself a writer / graffiti artist.. ( Just because you use spray paint that doesn't make you a graffiti artist..) Once you understand how to have style and can control, tagging gets as tech as calligraphy..
   In the right settings a burnt out car or decaying building makes a nice scene, photographically.. and that's almost the same for graffiti.. Some of it's accepted, some of it's not, but it will always be around, and has been since the days of cavemen...
  This is a mini munny I defaced to try and illustrate my point..If you take the settings of an abandoned burnt out building and put them in a gallery, or on a canvas, it gets looked at differently..If you lived next door to a building that looked like this would you go inside?

     This is the first munny I've treated as a canvas and not a character..I don't mind if people don't like it...Your not supposed to are you?
Comments and feedback welcome... He will go up for sale at somepoint this week....... and to show how disposable graffii can be, he will be up for auction ....FROM HERE....starting price just 99p. You could grab a bargain..Or a piece of mindless vandalism depending what your views are...

Either way it was fun...
Thanks for looking... more coming soon...

mini android custom - graffbot 01..

        This is a little 3" android custom that I finished over the weekend..He has a worn rusty look and is programmed to paint any style, anywhere..

Graffbot 01 is my first custom android, with a few more to come...

He is now up for grabs from my STORE now for just 12.99.

If you want him, you know what to do...

Thanks for looking..

NEW Dominant Species graffiti figure 3 - Pokadot

      This is Pokadot - a custom one of a kind graffiti figure made by me.. This is the third custom in the Dominant Species range, all of which are unique and come with an original signed sketch of the figure, and a certificate..
If you missed the first two,"Union Jack" and "WhyFront" you can read about them in my blogpost here.. They also gathered some attention from the likes of  SpankyStokes, Toysrevil, and Trutek you can see them featured on their blogs, by clicking the links...(Thanks guys- much appreciated.)

Pokadot is available to buy from my online store and as mentioned before, he comes with an original sketch and a certificate..I will also personalise the sketch to whoever purchases him, if they wish, making this even more collectable..

This figure has 3 points of articulation in each arm, and joints in his knees and ankles too, so you can pose him in a number of ways..He stands just shy of 16cm tall..

Coming soon will be number 4 - "Unknown" ...I also have another two that are in the painting stage, details on those coming soon... Thanks for looking...

new wall HOAKS - FLUID

This is my latest piece, painted on a wall above Fluid.... This was just a quick one, painted in a few hours, Fluid went back to do a bit more to his piece today as he wasn't fully happy with the pics..This is the finished wall, snapped just before it got dark..

STYLE DEVELOPMENT OVER THE YEARS..

   Having my own style with letters has always been important, as it should be for all graffiti artists...I've recently been going through loads of old files, after kindly been given a new P.C, and have decided to share some...

   I've always tried to develop my piece every time I paint...There's no such thing as a right way to do graff, but there are, or used to be, certain unwritten rules you had to follow or understand...I like seeing an artists work that has always been in progress.Without the obvious biting of another persons work...It seems these days graffiti magazines are like style catalogues for some, where artists switch styles depending on what's popular..It's difficult not to get inspired, (whoever put bubbles behind their letters first has been copied the most) but copying or obvious switching of styles has never been my thing..

  I started to find my own style in 2002 after a few years of sketching outlines and tagging..Since then I have painted regularly and will hopefully continue to do so.. Below are some pieces from each year to show how my letters have slowly evolved..

     

   These days I paint most of my pieces freestyle- without a sketch, mainly because I'm comfortable enough rocking a HOAKS piece spelled in a number of ways..HOAKZ,HOAX,HOEX,,HOEKZ,HOEX,HOEKS and a there's a few more. I do still sketch every now and then, it's always good to have something in mind before painting, but depending on all the factors- weather,space,time,paint - I tend to work around that more..It would be nice to have a big wall with a whole week to spend painting it in the sun with an endless amount of paint, but that's never the case.. Most of these paintings were painted in a few hours, some of them in the cold with whatever paint I had or could afford at the time..Those are just some of the joys of our art form, which some people don't realise.. ..

   More walls coming soon !

   Thanks for looking, 

why front ? dominant species graffiti figure 2

   About to become available to buy,  for one lucky person is the 2nd figure (of 4 so far)  from the "Dominant Species" series..This one is called Why Front?.. The first 2 figures go on sale at the same time.. To find out more...please read on...

Why front? Comes complete with a hand drawn illustration and certificate,  and is a completely unique model..to see how I made these figures check my blog post here.. He has loads of detail, including some nike trainers, battle damage and loads of gore..

The sketch was hand drawn by me, in pencil and white pen on quality thick A4 brown card.. These are drawn after the toys are made..The sketch will be personalised for the buyer too, to frame and hang by the figure, hopefully..

              

 

  Each figure stands 16cm tall and has articulation in his shoulders, elbow joints, wrists and knees allowing him to be positioned in a variety of poses.. This is not a toy, it's a collectable one off custom figure, complete with a signed and personalised illustration and a certificate too..

He is now available from my EBAY store for £64.99....

Next up will be number 3..."POKADOT"

"UNION JACK" Dominant Species custom figure 1..

 

  After finishing my first two "Dominant Species"  custom figures in my last post here, I've been working on a few more, all complete with one off original sketches for each figure, and a certificate...The first two are about to go on sale..This is the first one.

   I named this one "Union Jack" - for obvious reasons. I painted him with those pants as a little nod to my giant evil bunny qee custom who had the same ones, only a lot bigger... I mentioned before how I wanted to make more with different pants on - there is a theme here... or there will be..

  Union Jack was the first one I finished, he's proud to be British and everything he sprays comes from inside..I handpainted him with acylics, after burning and mutilating him badly.. Something as graffiti artists we always try to do - burn toys! Each figure comes with its own original sketch of the characte, with a HOAKS piece and will be personalised to whoever gets in there first...

    The sketches are hand drawn by me, in pencil and white pen on quality thick A4 brown card.. These are drawn after the toys are made, I didn't work from the sketches to make these toys.

  Jack  stands 16cm tall and has articulation in his shoulders, elbow joints, wrists and knees allowing him to be positioned in a variety of poses.. This is not a toy, it's a collectable one off custom figure, complete with signed and personalised one off illustration and a certificate of realness..

 This figure and sketch is now on sale in my EBAY store  for £69.99 plus postage

Number 2 " WhyFront?" is up next...

McDonalds.. The Unhappy Meal - John Henry Lorimer vs Hoakser

  Some of you may have seen a few of my doctored old paintings in the past, where I adapt / change / doctor old paintings with a graffiti influence. - as if the masters had been into graff for years.. This is my newest one, over a print of "Grandmother's Birthday by John Henry Lorimer.

Here's a shot of the original, before I got my hands on it..

I didn't have much of a plan when I started painting this. As I started doing the Hoaks piece, I decided to give all the kids a McDonands. Kids normally like McDonalds.. All of them had their heads down  praying, maybe, but you couldn't see their hands, so it started looking a bit like they were being told off. I decided to run with that, and call it THE UNHAPPY MEAL....

Below is a shot midway through my letters, where the idea started to take shape.. 

After that I decided to give them a guest appearance by the man himself, Ronald..One of the evil maids got   dressed up as The Hamburglar, while the other one donned a Grimace face mask. I left the head scarf on Ronald, to spoil the illusion for the kids - they all know he's not the real one..

   None of the kids looked too happy to have been given this treat.. Someone must have told them  Happy Meals are no good for you. This is the finished piece before I framed it and covered it in perspex..

   All framed and mounted this piece measures 63cm wide and 53cm tall.. With a nice 2cm thick wooden frame..
The finished piece is now available to buy from my EBAY store...

 I re sprayed the frame in a complimenting dark brown, and resprayed the original mount in brown too. I replaced the glass with a brand new piece of perspex, so it's shatter proof and lighter to post..

    Due to the poor lighting in my studio, and the reflectiveness of  the perspex it's behind, taking photographs of the finished item is impossible without having my reflection showing.. Which is why I took shots of it before it was mounted and ready to hang,(photographing anything behind glass or perspex always shows reflections..) This is what I mean, and how it looks all framed and mounted..

                  All images and artwork- copyright - hoakser.. Hoakser.com..

DOMINANT SPECIES GRAFFITI FIGURES

    Here's something new that I've been working on recently. Just finished are my latest creations, the sort of thing I wish I had when I was a kid. I made these by adapting wrestling figures into these one of a kind graff models..I acquired the figures a while ago after finding them in a skip, and held onto them knowing I'd try and make them into something.. I finally got round to it and made them both at the same time...Introducing the DOMINANT SPECIES...

   After switching the heads for nozzles, I began the burning and punishing of toys.. (something as a graffiti artist I always try to do.) After inhaling plastic fumes for a bit, I had the idea of including a flow pipe / wire from the nozzle to either their guts or hearts, so that whatever comes from the nozzle, comes from inside..
    I painted them with acrylics after undercoating, and built up the worn battered look I wanted.. The first one was given a pair of classic union jack pants..The second was given a pair of red Y fronts which he likes..Both of them are rocking Nikes on their feets and have moveable joints from their elbows, wrists, shoulders and knees.Midway through the paint job I had other ideas for more crazy underwear - maybe with matching footwear? More coming soon!!

           

 

           

 

            

 

           

 


     Each figure stands 16 cm tall and is signed by me.. They will be for sale soon and will come with a certificate of authenticity and a sketch..Details to be announced.. If you would like a heads up when they will be released drop me an email at  hoaksah@hotmail.com ..

I made a short video of all the photographs I took whilst putting these together.To watch it click HERE.

first piece for the year.

   It's all slowly getting back to normal now after the Christmas and New year madness...(phew) I hope everyone had a good one...Big thanks to all who showed support / bought something or helped me out last year..It's very much appreciated!! thankyou again..
   I've had a nice few days off, chilled out with family and friends and am feeling fully charged, ready to get busy for another year..I've been working on a few new toy customs - coming soon, painting a new canvas and doing plenty of sketching- in between eating, drinking and watching crap t.v....

   Today I went and got probably too much fresh air, whilst painting my first 2012 piece next to my good friend FLUID...It was windy, cold and rainy, we battled on and painted as quick as we could..The weather definately wasn't on our side so we finished up after abandoning once before to take shelter..

It would have been nice to have spent longer on it..My outline was from a sketch I drew in 2008.Parts of this I might try and combine with the wrong 3d's I've been painting in my pieces lately..It's a good start for 2012 though, plenty more walls, toys and customs to come..Happy New Year everybody.. keep an eye out for things to come...