Summer Time Golden State of Mind

Hardwood classic with a Golden State feel... don't forget the flip flops!

Back at it again. Just how serious am I about starting my own T-shirt designs? I don't know... I do know that I wanna just have some fun with it. A couple of months ago I had a would be client try 2 hustle me for designs. He told me, maybe if you design me 10-12 designs I could choose a few to buy... in this struggling economy, times been money but the idea of designing a lot and choosing a few isn't gonna stop me LOL. So far, getting the shirts out is gonna be small time hustle. Print out a few, try to create a buzz and spend the least amount of money possible... 1 color T's. (a few 2-3 color T's) Shoot, Puff Daddy and Jay-Z can do it!

Summer times coming up and I want my homies at Golden State of Mind to rock something special during those hot days around the Bay. I'm just messing around with familiar type cases and having fun with it. We can reverse the colors if needed, I'm more of a Golden State blue kind of fella. Simple design, one color and I'm sure it will catch some heads taking notice. I didn't want to throw in the Cali State, it's been done. Besides, peeps know how Golden Cali is.

Stakes is high... Monta Ellis

They said... a whole lotta $h!t! ...but Ellis is putting up some ridiculous numbers!

Since Monta Ellis's return from injury last week, Monta has been absolutely on fire! Ellis has scored at least 26 points in each of his last five games, with 4.6 assists, 4.4 boards, 1.6 steals and 57% shooting from the field over his last five games... Love him or hate him, I'm glad M.E. is back! I've read countless posts, articles and blogs suggesting that the Front Office should just void his contract and find someone new. Everyone is entitled to their opinion no doubt so here's mine. Keep him. The dude's learned his lesson, he's glad to be back playing ball and is putting up some ridiculous numbers!

Off the bench... Corey Maggette

He's The 50 Million Dollar Man off the bench... Corey Maggette

I remember 3 years ago (before the "We Believe" days) My wife and I went to see a Clippers game vs. Golden State. I vividly recall myself saying, "That would be dope if we had Corey Maggette on our team... that dude is explosive on offense!" 3 seasons later we actually got him! (Turiaf too who I wanted last season lol!)For 50 million dollars, I wasn't quite happy hearing the news of him coming off the bench at that price but he's putting up some serious 6th Man of the Year numbers. (20 points per game, etc) Maggs is the type of guy we need to boost up an already deep offense. But we also need a true point guard and some serious bigs to compliment Biedrins and Turiaf on the defensive tip. (Wright and Randolph are dope but don't help us produce wins, sooner or later they will!) Having Maggette sign to our team was a surprising move this season, I was hoping we'd go for a big man... like Elton Brand. Overall, I called it 3 years ago and I ain't too mad to have Corey on our squad. Just for laughs...

Warriors vs. Suns Tonight

BOOMSHAKALAKA! A 16-bit Warriors game never looked so good! (brings back hella memories!)

I told myself that I wouldn't post any photoshop related parody's on my blog (unless requested by a client) but I just couldn't pass this one up. How many of you guys remember that classic arcade game NBA Jam from back in the days? How about them graphics... 16-bit, a gang of pixels and a limited resource of graphic elements... with that said, the game was VERY addicting. Fast forward to 2009 and I'm recreating tonight's match up against the Phoenix Suns using NBA Jams elements. The classic game is pure run and gun which is what I'm hoping for tonight. I predict a 40+ 1st quarter with our team lighting it up. I'll see you all at the game this afternoon! (6pm start time)

Join up on the Open Thread on Golden State of Mind!

Another Satisfied Customer

My Homie Chris (of Solano County) is 2 for 2 in getting my prints on TV!

"Tony, can I buy one of your prints and can it say "I Love Ellis" (with a heart) for Fridays game? ...it's for my daughter, not me!"
No doubt Chris! Out of all my friends, Chris has the absolute best seats in the house... courtside! Thanks for always buying prints from me and making sure it gets on the tube! You're famous Brotha'! I knew this season was gonna be a tough one for us. My wife and I have only been to 5 games and if there was one thing we loved doing was bringing sign designs for the players and fans to smile about. Since I started selling prints, it's found its way to the Arena and I greatly appreciate the exposure. It keeps the fun alive! Thank goodness he didn't whip out the "We Suck" signs out during the Dallas Victory last Friday!

Anthony Randolph (best kept secret)

Lean... Mean... He's only 19!

What a performance last night from Anthony Randolph! The kids got hustle and is coming of age within Golden State. AR has always been an underdog in my books, he has his moments of greatness and has his fair share of Rookie mistakes. Somewhere down the line, Randolphs gonna be a great player. Folks are already comparing him to Kevin Garnett and other great Power Forwards. I can forgive AR for his Rookie mistakes... in return, I wanna see that sense of greatness within the coming years under a Warriors uniform. This image kind of says it all... the dude doesn't always have a lot of emotion but is a joy to watch develop.

Lights out with Jamal Crawford

Ive been missing for a hot second... I've been wanting to post up the past few days but have been caught up with some serious deadlines. Half of the stuff I can't even show folks, sooner or later it'll be on the blog! Anybody catch Jamal Crawford shoot lights out this past Wednesday against New Jersey in the fourth... and he did it coming off the bench! While many folks love him and hate him, JC has his moments. I just wish it was as consistent as Wednesdays game throughout all 4 quarters. I gotta give it up to the guy, when he shoots lights out, it's pretty entertaining.

Be on the lookout for more Golden State Folks on the illustrator tip... Randolph, Maggette, Wright, Belinelli, etc... I've taken in so much freelance work as of late (just to get by) I miss having these small drawing sessions giving props to my favorite basketball team. This was for the sake of having a great time out in the drawing boards! Big ups to Marcus Thompson for the extra push in creativity!

I wanna draw you... Ed and Maritess

I was stoked when my longtime friend Maritess B. (all the way from middle school!) asked me to draw her and husband Ed. Drawing your friends is a little more tough than your average joe... You wanna make sure it's proper and that you don't disrespect their request. Of course I was nervous drawing them, the original pic she handed me had that suttle vibe of happiness, I didn't want to mess that up and I wanted to make sure the vibe transfered when I redrew it! Anyways, with that being said... the project turned out great and became a very personal one illustrating 2 great friends (Ed and Tess) who turned their love into an everlasting marriage. Also... check out Maritess's blog site. It's gotta touch of everything on the wedding tip... makes me wanna get married with my wife again!

WonderCon 2009

Were you there? Pick up any new books? Did you see that one crazy costume? WonderCon is an event that only happens once a year and each year, it just gets bigger and bigger. For those of you that don't know... WonderCon is an annual comic book, science fiction, and motion picture convention, held in the San Francisco Bay Area since 1987. It's a venue for previews and early screenings of major motion pictures, in particular ones based on comic books. Basically, it's one big party within the comic book community for folks to pick up anything comic related, dress up and meet people in the industry. Each year I go as a casual fan of the comic arts,pick up a handful of books and take part in a number of activities and panels within the event. With the way the economy is, my wife and I made the best of our time at Wondercon picking up some wonderful bargains and checking out the unique costumes at this years con. We had a lot of fun just being a part of this big event! WonderCon has become an important part of my life and is a genre I fully support!