Los Angeles

Los Angeles has become such a blur to me now, that I look up places of interest based upon friends recommendations and realize these are all places I have been. One gets the sense that Los Angelenos have a rolodex or catalog of hangouts but it's more of a hazy drifting dream.

More Danger Country coming eventually but at the moment I am working on another comic called Exodus from the Spiral City. That's the tentative name anyway.

If your name is Scott Fortier and you ordered a drawing from me, please contact me.

Danger Country #007

Sharklops on Threadless

An old drawing of mine has been posted on threadless.com as a contender for $2500 in cash and prizes. Go ahead and click there and vote on it if you like it. I would consider it a personal favor! Thanks!

Danger Country #006

Danger Country #005

Danger Country #004

Danger Country #003

Danger Country #002

New Strip: Danger Country

Starting today I'll be posting up a new serialized comic strip story, occurring twice a week. It ties in with a larger form graphic novel set in the same setting. Hopefully I'll stick with the schedule and you'll like the story. Any way, I'm pretty excited about it. Here's the first strip!

Flock it up you Flocking Mother Flocker

Flock it up all over the place, indeed. If you're going to be anywhere in the northern hemisphere between March 27 and March 29, you need to experience the Flock Yeah II Moped Rally: Bird is the Word: A Moped Rally: Held by the Latebirds of Los Angeles. You don't need a moped to partay but it helps! Check out this promotional video, which is the undisputed most badassiest moped rally promotional video ever created. Then, register at the website: thismorningsbonerparty.com.


The Los Angeles Latebirds - Flock Yeah II from Brian Sowell on Vimeo.

Year of the OXXXXXXXXXXX

The drawing above will be a part of the Year of the Ox show. It is my largest crosshatch piece yet. Here's the info for the show.

March 14 - April 15, 2009
Reception: Saturday, March 14, 6:30 -10:00

GR2
2062 Sawtelle Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90025
gr2.net
(310) 445-9276

Giant Robot is proud to host Year of the Ox, a group art show celebrating year 4707 on the lunar calendar. Pieces will include illustration, oils, pencils, prints, watercolor, sculpture, and other media-all dedicated to the hardest-working animal of the Chinese zodiac cycle.

Blogg links

the two best things on the internet are on Jeff Soto's blog. The first thing is his non-boring report on Art Basel, and the second thing is the amazing and hilarious video of his daughter, Shannon.

BEASTS! signing @ Secret Headquarters

I almost forgot about this! If you're in L.A. on Friday night, there will be a signing for the new BEASTS! book. There will be many artists from the book in attendance, and maybe a beast or two.

When:
Friday, February 13, 2009
8:00pm - 10:00pm

Where:
Secret Headquarters
3817 W. Sunset Blvd., Los Angeles, CA

Who/What/ETC.:
This Friday the 13th, the Secret Headquarters presents "Night Of The BEASTS!", an artists signing of the hardcover release of book two, and the paperback edition of book one.

BEASTS! is a beautiful book that features 180 artists depicting mythological and folkloric creatures.

Several artists including Derek Albeck, Ron Rege, Martin Cendreda, Billy Reynolds, Jordan Crane, Johnny Ryan, Levon Jihanian, Mark Todd, Christopher Lee, Tony Millionaire, Joe Vaux, Ester Pearl Watson, Tom Neely, Steven Weissman, Laura Plansker and Tessar Lo will be in attendance to sign or otherwise distinguish your books!

Come on down for your copy of BEASTS! or just drop by to say hello and share a cocktail with us...

A Boy Named Charlie Brown

There are YouTube videos you want to E-mail to all of your friends, and there are YouTube video you never want to end.



via Fantagraphics blog, who found it on the The Daily Cartoonist.

Levon on SketchTheatre.com

One of my drawings was just posted on sketchtheatre.com

I love watching how people draw and even though most of the stuff is different than how I draw, it's still fun to see how other people approach drawing. It's also interesting to me the music they picked for accompaniment... I think i was listening to Elliot Smith or something at the time.

Levon Jihanian + Motorhead video

One. Hundred. BEASTS! This Saturday.

Check out My Ass in the new volume of Beasts!

I am very honored to be a part of volume 2 of Beasts!, curated and edited by Jacob Covey and published by Fantagraphics. You can pre-order copies now on the Fantagraphics site. I'll tell you right now that it's worth the money and will make a brilliant christmas gift.

As someone who fell in love with drawing by meticulously studying a worn copy of the Dungeons & Dragons Monster Manual, I can say that it was an awesome enough world to have a book like Beasts! exist, but to be a part of it is even better.

Above is a preview of my Beast, the Ass. I was given a very long list of cryptozoological beasts to choose from. It was a tough choice, but I opted for the Ass because 1) It has a completely bizarre description, and 2) I couldn't find any reference to it online or otherwise to constrain my creativity, and 3) It's called Ass.

Pre-order your copy today at the Fantagraphics online store.

"KNOW" Exhibition

I was lucky enough to be asked to be in this exhibition organized by the very hard-working Mark Murphy. It will be taking place near Art Basel in Miami this December. He called on many artists to submit 10"x10"x pieces. Above is my contribution. It is a portrait of my D&D character.

From Mark's blog:

"'KNOW' featured at this year's Gen Art Vanguard Fair is an exhibition comprised of many inspired artisans that represent a diverse cross section of the fine art world. All of the work has been created specifically for the "KNOW" exhibition and hopes to introduce you to emerging and known talent who have no fear when incorporating digital painting, mixed media, comics, traditional painting, rendering and photographic styles into their work."

Check out the preview page for this show on Mark Murphy's blog.

commissions for you

With the first 3 done and in the mail, I thought I'd share some of these drawings that I've finished. I hope they are enjoyed by all...

Subaru is doing well, eating and going to the bathroom and has gone through all of her antibiotics. I might take her in again to make sure she is all right. Thanks again to everyone who bought a drawing!

-Levon

$300 Kitty Bailout of 2008

In an unexpected time of crisis, Subaru, my cat, has stopped eating and peeing and needs to go to the vet. Hospitalization, blood tests, and urinalysis is going to run us about $300, and I'm running out of personal belongings to sell.

So, I'm setting aside all personal projects to raise funds for Subaru via commissioned art sale. I'm now doing frame quality top of the line drawings starting at the low price of $20. After the first 5 purchases, the price goes up to $40, until I sell 10 of these drawings, then I'm ending the sale. Just click on the button down there, and you'll be taken to my paypal, where you can order your drawing.

Drawing Specs:
8"x10" paper, signed, personalized, and numbered. Pen and brushed ink drawing in the style of this drawing, on quality Ivory Classic Crest heavy weight cover stock.

This will be a limited edition of 10 drawings commemorating the obscene amount of love I have for this cat.


UPDATE: I already hit 5 drawings! the price is now $40

UPDATE 2: WE'RE SOLD OUT! Thanks to everyone who bought a piece. Watch this space for offers like this in the future and I'll keep you updated on Subaru's health.