GH- Tell us about yourself. You grew up in San Diego? Were you a surfer?

MO- Born and raised in San Diego, yes. Surfer? No. Boogie-boarder? Yes. Left there at 22 for Cal Arts, stayed there (literally, no car) for 4 years “studying” experimental animation, met my son’s mom on a Spring Break trip my Junior year, moved to Portland to be with her after graduation in 96. Many dumb temp jobs later I saw an art show of your work and thought, “Hey, that’s awesome, and I can make art like that” and got to working on my first show. It all snowballed from there, right here to this interview. And now you and I are best pals.   I am part Wizard, part Warrior, and part Werewolf.

GH- Sometimes your fans are afraid to approach you, so they talk to me instead. Do you want people to know you are super soft and cuddly on the inside with a giant heart?

MO- I thought they only contacted you when they’re pissed that they can’t get me to ship something they commissioned from me? Hmm. I wasn’t aware that I could still intimidate anyone. Okay, that’s a lie, I still get that once in a while. There was a time that I was just negative enough to actively wear that scary persona that people assumed I was, but I’ve softened up quite a lot over the years, especially after meeting the some of the nicest people on earth, my friends. So yeah, it’s okay to think of me as soft and cuddly on the inside. But I’m no pushover, all the same…

GH- Let’s dispel a myth. You draw everything by hand, right? These are not digital creations? Right or Left? How do you keep your hand so steady? Do you still use those purple gloves? Tell people about your brush, your paper?

MO- Everything is by hand, yes. Pencil to paper, brush and ink. I think I had a friend show me how to vector/use Illustrator once, like, 10 years ago or something like that. I watched his demo for about 5 minutes and thought, “No thanks”. The only thing I ever do digitally is scan in ink drawings into Photoshop and color them for publication spots or to layer them for screen prints. I’m not opposed to people who do vector everything, it’s just that I can do it better by hand. I’m a lefty. Well, more ambidextrous. I only write/draw/hold chopsticks with my left, and do most other tasks with my right, like bowl. Yes, I still use the purple gloves on occasion, when I’m painting toys or larger pieces. It just helps keep everything clean. I’m probably going to switch to black latex gloves though, because you know, METAL.   My brushes are primarily Windsor & Newton Series 7, size 3 for line work and further up for details. I SWEAR by this brand. Steve Lieber (of WHITEOUT fame) recommended them to me years back when I was starting out, and the man really knows his tools. I also use Da Vinci brand, because I often find them in larger sizes for a bit cheaper. I’ll buy crappy brushes for filling in or layering backgrounds (Flats mostly) because I usually don’t need them for much beyond that, but usually dunk down money for real sable because it lasts longer, and in the case of Rounds, they keep their tips longer. I mean, any musician worth their salt is going to invest in good equipment, and artists shouldn’t sell themselves short on tools either. I’ve advised many a newcomer to shell out a few extra bucks and quit buying shit brushes. I used to paint primarily on wood panels, but a few years ago I had some thick, coarse, cold press watercolor paper lying about and used it to whip up a couple things quick. I instantly fell in love with the way the brush flowed over it, especially with ink, and haven’t turned back. You can buy a huge sheet of it for under $10 and cut that up into several pieces that will ultimately net you dozens more bucks back. The coarser the better–you can pull off good dry brush or spray fades on that shit like no one’s business!

GH- I don’t think people knows much about that last toy you made for Gargamel. Where does it come from?

MO- It comes from a piece I did years back for the second “I Am 8 Bit” video game themed group show, of which there have been many since and I think a couple of books. I painted a picture of Pac Man, only the ghosts have slaughtered/hunted him down, because my take on the game was that he is an invasive species/predator eating their eggs and they have every right to kill him. Kiyoka Ikeda of Gargamel really liked the painting and suggested we make that ghost design into a toy, and I don’t say no to Kiyoka. I couldn’t come up with a name for him so Kiyoka called him “Nanashi” which means, “No Name”, and I thought it was great. I’m doing a few customs of him for this tiny show, turns out he’s a good platform, lots of space to draw shit over.

GH- You’ve been doing a fair amount of rock posters lately. Can you talk about that a bit? Seems like a hidden passion that came to bloom more recently. I know you have done them on and off for quite a few years, but seems to be exploding as of recent.

MO- It is a passion, as I am passionate about Rock and heavy music. My creative influences growing up, besides comics and sci-fi/horror, were Rock bands–their music and their album art. Then later on, when I started going to shows, it was flyer art. Raymond Pettibon’s Black Flag flyers, Mad Mark Rude, Pushead, but especially when Kozik got in on the action, and later on Coop and my buddy Guy Burwell. I didn’t know it could be that cool, I was pretty blown away and wanted to get in on it. It’s something I’m able to do more of now because I’ve made friends with a lot of local bands who just fucking RULE and as such, I feel it’s on me to provide them with quality work on their posters. I owe a debt to the music I love, it will never be paid in full, and this is how I pay it. It’s my contribution to the scene.

GH- The forms of the bodies you draw seem to be getting more twisted, tortured and abstract… what is your inspiration when drawing and painting these days?

MO- That’s kind of a head-scratcher… I probably can’t go into this without sounding all emo… On the technical side, some time back I was really more about keeping things super tight and symmetrical, masking things off, shading a lot. Then I got sick of that and let myself get loose and weird, tried to add more spontaneity in. It could be that this newer style is just another evolutionary step; it’s certainly more organic and curvaceous than ever. Another thing is that I really find it hard to be subtle, to leave any area sans detail. On the emotional side, over the last couple of years I think I adopted a different attitude because of certain experiences (negative and positive) I went through/am going through, and this new attitude is: No matter how fucked up things can get, I cannot be destroyed, I am worthy of every good thing that comes my way, and I am good at what I do because I’ve worked really hard to get here. Took up yoga for a bit, exercised more, gradually opened a channel in me that let Flow move through more than it had before… and when you line that kind of energy up, it will eventually find its way into the pencil and brush. I have my internal struggles like anyone else (and HOW), I guess mine also manifest themselves into “tortured” forms. Maybe I’m exorcising my demons. I’ve also taken a shine to drawing the female form more often, which I think is a sign that I’m confident in my skills enough to pull off stuff that’s more seductive and sensual, not just grotesque. I know this all sounds a bit disjointed, and it is. I suppose my inspiration at this time is just finally, really owning up to my powers as an artist and pushing myself to kick more ass than ever.

GH- Any last words?

MO- Mem-mem, Pep-pep. Paynus. Quall. Napple. Salamé.

GH- What’s coming up that you’re excited about?

MO-   ”Malformations and Maleficarum”, new works by me at Rotofugi in June! Can’t wait to go to Chicago again. SLEEP is touring, playing “Dopesmoker” in it’s entirety, and I have a ticket to see it. August at Compound Gallery here in Portland with Arbito, Oliver and Spencer Hibert, Buff Monster, Grant Wiggins, and me! Working in my studio as much as possible. Murals. Hot weather and river swimmin’. Hanging out with you.

Next week we have a mini Martin Ontiveros show. We did a little interview and I’ll get that up in the next day or two. Next weekend Hungry eyeball, Tripper, and GH will be boothing it up at Wonder NorthWest. It will be the second year of this comic, toy, sci-fi, roll playing, film festival right here in Portland. At the same time I will be Down in LA for my show with T9G at TAG.

The following week we host a Yasmina Dedijer-Small show, and at the same time a mini yet not so mini as there maybe be 20 + artist show celebrating Cupco’s very first vinyl toy.

And Holy jesus stuck to a kaiju cross! I totally almost forgot. We are finally getting in a new shipment of Buta No Hana. Monday the 28th I post it all online in the toy section along with a ver yrevided lsiting of all the goods we have in stock and are sold out of. lots of goodies to list and a bunch of stuff that is way sold out that needs to be taken off the site. So… Monday 28th will be grass hut toy renewal day.

Bigger pic here.