I love being uncomfortable with my work. I love the feeling of not knowing what I am doing all the time and creating as I go along. When I feel too comfortable it usually means it is time to change. I can’t do the same thing for too long. I get very bored really fast. Recently I have been experiment as much as possible and I am excited to see where it takes me. Growth is always important.

NEW PORTRAITS

New portrait illustration series coming next year. I was able to present a few (not pictured) for Smithsonian Portrait Gallery /Latino Center while they were in town last month. I am looking forward to following up with them when the time comes.

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PRINT

Illustrating FPH ‘Worst Of…” January Issue

I am currently illustrating the ‘Worst Of…’ January issue of Free Press Houston. It’s lots of work squeezed into only few free holidays. So far, so good.

Houston Magazine Illustration

I was hoping to get a better close up of the full illustration but the formatting on this blog is very limited. You can click on the image to view bigger.

Detail close-ups below.

Free Press Houston – December Issue

Thanks FPH!

Papercity Magazine – December Issue

Look out for Papercity magazine this month. I will be in an article about Winter Street Studios here in Houston.

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UPCOMING

Houston Zoo

I am very happy to announce that starting next year I will be working with the Houston Zoo on a very cool project. I hate saying this all the time but….I will post more info once all the details are finalized.

 

 

I am finally starting on my new watercolor series at the end of the month. I put lots of preparation in this series and I can’t wait to start.
I am still in need of models -> michaelcxrodriguez(at)gmail.com

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Houstonia Magazine

The October issue of Houstonia is officially out on stands here in Houston. I have a write up, photo, and a two-page spread illustration for the article,
“6 Young Artists Who Are Reshaping Houston’s Art Scene” in this month’s issue. I appreciate everyone at Houstonia for everything and Big thanks to Chris and Michael!

I embedded the entire write up below

SET AGAINST A BACKGROUND of generic skyscrapers, we see a series of brightly-colored, cartoon-like figures: a wolf in a leisure suit; two menacing dinosaurs; a robot carrying a scantily-clad woman in his arms; a bear wearing a T-shirt. It’s Michael C. Rodriguez’s latest mural—stretching across an entire wall of the cavernous Winter Street Studios complex—and it cements his reputation for blending the cute and the grotesque, the innocent and the evil. For last year’s Station Museum show dedicated to street artists, Rodriguez painted a stunning image of a boy and girl holding hands, skipping merrily into an apocalyptic landscape where drones patrol the sky and plumes of smoke rise from the ground.

Rodriguez is a mild, soft-spoken man, a man who began drawing because of a childhood illness that often kept him home from school. “It was hard to keep friends in school because I often wasn’t there, so I just turned to art,” he says. “It made me happy—I loved drawing. I’d come home and do that, and I found a lot of comfort in it. Even today, it makes me happy to draw.”

Rodriguez’s murals begin with a pencil sketch, which he then finalizes in ink, using watercolor or graphite to add texture before scanning the image into his computer, where he adds color in Photoshop. Finally he paints the image onto a wall using a combination of acrylic and latex paint. “I’m very digital—I like clean lines, solid colors,” he explains. “I’ll take a long time on a mural because I want everything as clean as possible, like it was made on a computer, and really bright.”

For the past decade, Rodriguez has mostly supported himself by creating artwork for local and national bands, over a hundred of them at last count, including two album covers for local favorites The Tontons. But murals remain his first love, one he’s happily able to give more and more attention to these days, thanks to a growing number of commissions. He says his biggest aesthetic influence is ’60s-era comic books, which his father collected.

“I just love a lot of art from the ’60s—comics, even fashion,” he says. “It just has this romantic feel to me, which I love. I like to put romance into my work.” —MH

I had trouble taking a proper photo of the two-page illustration so I will post it next time!

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Winter Street Studios Mural

Winter Street Studios
Hello everyone. For those who have not seen this hallway at Winter Street Studios, this month (Oct) will be the LAST TIME to see it before it is gone!
‘Making of’ video for this hallway mural coming soon!
Map

 

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Big thanks to RVR Photography for the photo! It was taken right before I about to leave to finish up a painting. This is probably my first self portrait in two years.

 

 

Houston Magazine.
Last month, I was very surprised that Houstonia Magazine asked me to be in their article,6 Young Artists Who Are Reshaping Houston’s Art Scene for their October issue. I had a photo shoot and a nice interview. I was also asked to illustrate a full page spread for the entire article which was lots of fun. A work in progress of the illustration is above. I’m very excited to see how the issue comes out.

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This is a poster that I designed for Young the Giant many many months ago. I somehow lost all the files on a pen drive and didn’t find them until recently. This poster looks simple but the process turned out longer than usual. I think I went through every single animal head I could think of until I settled for a dinosaur. Dinosaurs are the best of course.

I was also able to use this image in a mural at Winter Street Studios last January. Recreating my poster art in murals in something I am trying to do more of.

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This upcoming month OCT will possibly be one of the most amazing months I’ve had in years. On the top of the list is the coming of my new nephew, Maxwell C. Clark. My sister and husband, Matt are some the most talented people I have ever met. Maxwell is going to change the world.
Check out some of Matt’s music below. Good Stufff

Look out for Papercity magazine next month. I will be in an article about the Arts off of Washington Ave here in Houston.

 

 
 
RIP Eric the Actor
 

 

Since 2007 I have illustrated many many covers for the Free Press Houston. I was asked to illustrate the August cover BUT unfortunately there was a short deadline. I was very happy that there was already an idea or I think the art would have suffered. I seem to spend more time than I like on brainstorming and concept. I was given a list of characters and I was able to collage everything together in time.

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FInally, I’m finishing up this big painting in the Montrose area. This is the last time I use paint on DEEP HEAVY textured brick. It takes a great amount of time just to paint a solid color in all the crevices of one single brick. Completing the entire painting will be a challenge compared to flatter surfaces I have painted on in the past. Once I finished the paint areas I will finally be able to move to aerosol.

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http://www.freepresshouston.com/sammyawards/
I just found out that I was nominated for Best Poster Artist for FPH’s Sammy Awards. Thanks Sammy

I had a mention in the month’s Papercity Houston.
I am still trying to track down a copy of this months issue. Thanks to Kirsten Ufer for the photo!

 
 
 

 

All my teams already lost. Go cartoon bears!
I had a fun time animating this one.

Maleza – Station Museum of Contempory Art Houston
This week I had a conversation about a show I was in last year at the Station Contemporary Arts Museum. I really wished I remembered more to discuss with this person. This show was centered around graffiti/street/mural artists painting the massive interior walls in the museum. Although I don’t like labeling myself as any specific artist (street artist/muralist), I was honored to be associated with these talented people.

I don’t remember much, but I know it was a great experience. Everyone at Station were some of the coolest curators I have met. They helped the artists with whatever we needed (food,coffee,supplies). I also was able to hang out and paint next to so many friends all at one time.

I named the mural ‘Maleza’ after a Carla Morrison song that I enabled below. I woke up to this song the entire summer of 2013.

The making of the ‘Maleza’ mural below.

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The time has finally come where I need to start looking for new glasses. Yes, I have been making art and design without my glasses most of this time. This might explain my constant high contrast and sharpening. I have been going through a process of improving myself and wearing my glasses more often is on the list. I am in now need of new brand ones. I see myself picking the worse looking glasses for myself so next month I decided I will need someone to help me decided. I predict that I will end up looking like Mr. Bear up there ^^^

There was a article recently about Houston’s 10 best concert poster artists in Houston Press. I find top 10 articles interesting and they don’t bother me. I have actually found new art and music in these lists many times. Thanks for the shout out HP though many many friends are missing :/

It has been a couple months since I’ve been on facebook but apparently Houston Mayor Annise Parker’s facebook page posted some of my work and gave me a shout-out. Thank you!

 

 

 

 

Pooor Mops