Critters in Sweaters and Such

They are critters. They wear sweaters and such. See more at BenWalkerArt.com

See more at BenWalkerArt.com

SF Wildlife - Day Dreamer Ring Tailed Lemur

If you caught my last post you know, I am switching gears a little for my SF WildLife blog. For these upcoming entries I am featuring a select group of Bay Area friends. These are guys who I admire a lot, and who have a great personal style. 

To start, I present a guy who has a subtle, approachable style. He enjoys classic men's fashion, and has a sense of humor about it all too.  Plus he was quickest to respond, and was happy to model for free.

It's Me.

This is my typical, every day look. There are a few things that I am very likely to have on me. Here are a few of my staples. 

1. Mr. Jones pin

In Daniel Clowes' graphic novel, Like a Velvet Glove Cast in Iron, this secret mark was forcibly scratched into the heel of the hero. The symbol meant the wearer had the correct "mental frequency" and had been visited by the mysterious "Mr. Jones". Don't worry, I don't think this nightmarish story was meant to make any sense. Wearing this single pin on my corduroy blazer is my little nod to the secret society that is comic book geeks and art dorks. You don't have to wear a polyester Spider-man hawaiian shirt to represent. This pin hasn't sparked any conversations yet but I'm sure when it does I will make a new friend. 

2. The Graphic Tee

A coworker just asked me, "Do you have any T-shirts that aren't your own designs?" Not a lot. My every day clothes usually involve a neutral colored T-shirt that is either one of my own designs or made by my friends. 

• Gama-Go
• Skinner
• Zerofriends
• Upper Playground

I design shirts I want to wear and I would rather advertise for friends than just grab something from Urban Outfitters.

3. The Socks

I started wearing non-white, non-boring socks around age 12 and never looked back. Unless I am rollerskating, I am wear socks that are colorful and possibly weird. They may not even match. You can laugh but a friend of mine got a job for doing the same thing. Yep, the interviewer was on the fence about him, but when he noticed my friend had two different argyle socks on, he knew this guy was alright!

4. The Chucks

Converse has also been my go-to shoes since the 5th grade. In the two years that I have lived in San Francisco, I've literally walked the soles off 3 pairs. This pair was a gift and they are definitely my all-time favorite. Black leather, lace-less low tops. They have a  Ramones-meets-RunDMC vibe that I dig.

5. The Hat

I've always loved hats but they fell off the radar for me for most of my adult life. Now that I live in the City (and lets face it, my hair isn't as thick and lustrous as it once was), hats are non-negotiable. I owned half a dozen before I started working with Goorin Bros. Now my hat wall is looking pretty crazy. I've been hat greedy. But lets face it, if I wear a hat nearly every day and I still want to match all my various clothes, I gotta mix things up. It's mostly flat-caps (news boys) and a couple fedoras. 

By the way,  stay tuned on developments with Goorin Bros.!

6. The Man-Bag

I realize that for most of the country this is still called a purse, but my man-bag has become a necessity to living in The City. I walk or bus everywhere and I need a few basics every time I leave the apartment, including but not limited to: 

• Sketchbook
• Pens & pencils
• Business cards/postcards
• My keys. I hate having a bunch of crap, especially keys, scraping against my legs and bulging out of my pockets. I don't want to look like Khaki Koala.
• Groceries. Yep, San Francisco charges for bags now, so if I buy a bottle of wine on the way home I might just put it in the man-bag. 

My leather messenger bag was a gift from my lady. Its by Andrew Marc and it's awesome. 

7. Oh, and The Jeans

I have a few pairs of Levi's 511s. One each in blue, grey and black. I love them. They aren't too baggy or too close. There are no ridiculous stitched flourishes on the butt or hammer loops coming off them. I've been told they are ass-complimentary. That's all a guy needs.

Thanks for reading! Who is next? Check back in the coming days.

-Ben

New Blog Location!

Migration home to BenWalkerArt.com

Hello friends, I want to let you know I've migrated my blogs. They are now integrated with my web site, BenWalkerArt.com. I will post art news and progress pics there. I've also started a daily sketch blog to document my adventures in the wilds of San Francisco. Check out San Francisco WildLife at BenWalkerArt.com/SF-Wildlife. Learn all about the fascinating inhabitants of The City with these illustrations and short descriptions. Here are some to get you started!

You can also follow me on Twitter or Instagram for SF-Wildlife on the run: @ArtOfBenWalker

(Now, let us never speak of Blogspot's layout editing tools again.)

Rex Goliath rules

HIS ROYAL MAJESTY

I tell you what. Rex Goliath kinda rules. He has been here with us for some great nights. So this is my little tribute painting of Rex.

I must admit, despite the fact that I have spent a good chunk of my life in Wine country (the North Bay area), I don't know a lot about the subtleties of wine tasting. But who cares? It's becoming clear that there might not be any true "wine experts" anyway. In blind taste tests, experts had trouble identifying a $10 bottle of wine from a $200 wine (Check out the Wine Trials 2010). All I know is I love (good) red wine and I can't break the bank on it. The thing is, if you are spending less than 8 bucks on a bottle you could end up with something tasting like fruit punch with a splash of vinegar.

That's why Rex Goliath rules. Aside from sounding like the name of a speed-metal band, RG also rocks for tasting lovely, robust and expensive. Oh and it's almost always on sale for about 5 bucks in most grocery stores/bev-mos.

Rex was a real-life rooster and side show attraction in the early 1900s. He weighed in at 47 pounds. Holy crap-bones! Do I even need to make the joke?

More info at www.rexgoliath.com.


-Ben Walker

Available Tees

MAD TRAPPER Comes With a Beaver

Albert Johnson was a real man who led the Canadian Mounties on an enormous man-hunt in the 1930s. He was wanted for allegedly disabling animal traps and hanging them from trees. No one knows for sure what started it all, but the "Mad Trapper" may have been the Yukon territory's first animal activist! He was basically Gentle Ben meets Rasputin.

For the month of November, every Mad Trapper T-shirt ordered ships with an original Ben Walker sketch of a Beaver. Available in Men's sizes Small - 2X. Only from Benwalker.bigcartel.com

YOU and WHO - WINNER!

You and Who is a T-shirt company with a simple mission: Sell one-of-a-kind designer T-shirts that help worthy causes in cities across the country. Every time they sell a T-shirt, someone in need receives the same shirt. So pick up one of my WINNER tees and someone in San Francisco will get a little pick-me-up. youandwho.com

Thanks for readin',

Ben Walker

Sequential and Comic art

I don't know if anyone has noticed but the style of my illustration and gallery work is steadily shifting into a "comics influenced" realm. I love working with a brush and india ink. And now that I have started using earthquake putty to keep ink bottles in place, the lack of Valdez-like spills has made my drawing experiences even more enjoyable! Check it out.

Some sequential stuff

I did the pencils and inking for this issue of the Gutters web comic