18Demon

A new demon has been summoned by an unknown artist in the 18B Arts District. This black and white image completely reminds us of tattoo flash artwork right off the bat, and makes us wonder if it might be someone just like that. We've seen quite a few different tattoo artists getting up using their own artwork in the Las Vegas streets, and usually they don't come off as an advertisement. And that is the case here, in fact we have no idea who put this up. Aside from an cursive uppercase "L" over some Kanji, the artist is a mystery to us. We do rather enjoy the time and effort it must have taken the artist to add all that great heavy stippling. Combined with strong and solid lines, we really enjoy this piece. When will we see more from this artist? And an even better question, who is this artist?! We will most definitely be on the lookout for new artwork in this style, so we'll see you when we do!

Are You Experienced?

Another celebrity sighting in the 18b Arts District, sorta. We found another poster behind bars, and from what the same unknown artist and/or artists. This time it is non other than Jimi Hendrix, the incredible and mind blowing guitarist from the 60's that was taken way too soon from an overdose. We really enjoy this image of Jimi, and think its way more effective than the previous John Lennon piece from this artist. His eyes grab you right away, it seems as if you've caught him starting at you from behind those metal bars. Is their a message with this piece? If so, we couldn't find it anywhere. So this kinda comes off as just some fan art on the street, come to think of it...Most artwork is fan art in some way or another. Sometimes its obvious like what we have here, and sometimes far more cryptic. We gotta say we do enjoy trying to decipher most of the artwork we've seen, but its really good to just hit them over the head...HARD! But first...Are You Experienced?

Inverted

An older piece from It's Me It's Erik gets an update via some mystery person armed with yellow spray paint. This piece has been riding since January and has been left alone, well pretty much. The piece has been deteriorating in the cold, rain and heat for months and the distressing on it looks amazing. We've seen artists work quite a long time to get that look on their artwork, but real time aging just can't be topped! But recently someone decided that it was time to make that cross more noticeable, for whatever reasons we are guessing. Using a completely different yellow, they added a drippy version inverted cross on top of the previous one. We did notice a few crappy tags in the same color but we didn't even bother to read or photograph them. Poorly done tags are just something of no interest to us, but we've include their "collab" with It's Me It's Erik in this post for what its worth. Interesting, I wonder what else (if anything) got a random update? Time will tell.

Give Paste a Chance

A very familiar face peaks out at you between some bars on an 18b Arts District window. It is the famous face of John Lennon, wearing his infamous NYC shirt. We've seen several artists use this very same image for art, and we guess this won't be the last either. A store bought black and white poster with some added orange and black spray paint. We're guessing in an attempt to make this more then some stolen image poster they bought and pasted up, with a poorly placed peace sign has been sprayed and is dripping right into the quote for this image. This feel to us like some pretty novice work, with random dots and lines painted all over the place. Maybe it is just us, but it doesn't come off great. We do however enjoy the feeling of catching someone starting at you out of a window, and then you realize its just art. We love that part, and with a little work this could be done way better. We hope we get to see that, when and if!

Birthday Bunny

First off, yes we know we've only posted twice this week. Not really too much artwork and/or photos happening, plus we might be losing stream with this blog since we've been doing it for about three years now with no break. There have been times where we had to search for hours just to find something to post on this site, so we feel that we might have reached an impasse. I guess if we keep posting, then we are still here! Til then, Milk The Bunny made a run recently in the 18b Arts Disctrict. Around Keith Haring's past birthday to be exact, and gave us this tribute to the late artist. A direct copy of one of Haring's most popular images, but she has added her trademark bunny ears in an effort to make it her own. We have to be honest, sometimes when we see artists paying tribute to other artists it is just usually a fairly bad ripoff of said artist. We don't think that is the case here with MTB, she has added her own charm and flair to keep this piece original even though its a tribute. Good job! But what about that heart that was left by Jennifer Korsen in 2013 still riding up above this piece?! All the paint is gone and only a wooden piece in the shape of a heart remains, we love it. But damn, she needs to come back with fresh artwork and get back up soon and regulate!

Blickhead

Um, ok then. What is really going here? We spotted a few pasters with the Blick's logo on it of all things! We know that a ton of artists go to and/or use their products, but did someones district manager think this was a good idea or something?  We like to imagine it would go something like "Hey everyone, I know how we can hit the urban street art demographic" Ha ha ha, seems rather unlikely but then again we've seen weirder things. But anyway, we've got three pasters with Blick art materials printed on it. We don't have any idea who this person was that put these up though, was it an artist? Was it an employee? We don't really care either way, but we can tell you one thing. We REALLY hate it when companies that have money for legit advertising try this kinda thing on the streets, exactly like what we have going on here. You people have the money, you people have the means but you don't have the skills nor the wit to pull it off with any success. Found pasted to a light pole on Art Way in the 18b Arts District, how apropos......or so they thought!

Window Display

Man, Dekoe is one busy individual! Between doing live painting events and huge murals, he still finds time to get up with some new wheatpaste pieces. This grouping of artists was spotted on the corner of Casino and Charleston in the 18b Arts District, and this spot always seems to have something pasted on it as of late. It is good to see these staying up and new artwork being added on the regular, they seem to buff all the larger pieces that were just to the left of these. But these can stay, no idea why but we are just glad they are there. Dekoe gives us four versions of his trademark character, one large tiled black and white combined with a few different colored versions below. Also on the scene, we have There She Is and You Killed Me First with new art as well. There She Is with a hand painted Madame Leota from Disneyland's Haunted Mansion, and well that is a switch! Usually its her art partner YKMF that would be the one paying tribute to the theme park ride, but not this time and we like it! YKMF with another one of his spooky looking Quija pieces in the shape of a coffin to dig a little deeper into the unknown, so to speak. Finally we have a bunch of the usual boring tags and some ads for some show we don't even care about, so yeah those flyers are working great! Great job!

Samo Thing

We saw this smaller paster on the Coolidge building, it was a rather bad print of Jean-Michel Basquiat. Upon closer inspection we saw this was from someone named Tazmatic618, we aren't 100% sure this is a painting though to be honest. It looks exactly like a Photoshop effect we've seen numerous times, and we aren't sure if the artist is trying to pass it off as a painting. We have seen artists like Jerry Misko use Photoshop to their advantage and make stock looking images have an original feel. So like we said, we aren't too sure what is going on here. Well besides like we said, a rather bad print of some artwork with a red rectangle added with artist info. Not the cleanest delivery we've seen, and certainly not the worst but this leads us to this question. With people idolizing past urban artists mostly known for artwork in the street, will we have to see things like Shepard Fairey's face next to Andre the Giant's up huge somewhere on some billboard? Now that would be kind of bizarre, but that is pretty much we are getting here. No? We are sort of interested in seeing more of Tazmatic6087's artwork in the future, just to see what is exactly going on honestly. Found in the 18b Arts District.

Brows

We saw a couple of girls with some big eyebrows hanging out in the 18b Arts District recently.  This new offering from an artist we've never seen, well so far that is. These pieces are from an artist named Ashley Vegas, which we are guessing must be a local artist from the name. I know, I know we must be detectives right? Well anyway, this new piece that looks like its ink on kraft paper. To be honest we thought this was a new piece from Avantarded or maybe It's Me It's Erik, these three artists kinda have the same thing going on with their artwork being black ink on Kraft paper. So we aren't THAT crazy in assuming we wouldn't think, but we have to say that we do like this new offering. Two girls with rather forlorn faces, or maybe that are just copping a model pose. One thing for sure though, they have some mighty big manicured eyebrows. We enjoy the deliberate thinner lines and the almost haphazardly applied thicker lines as hair, the one on the left looks like shes bald with two locks handing on either side. Did the artist mean to have some a punk looking image? Who care, we dig it! But it almost feels like the girl is dreaming of being someone else, is the girl on the left her ideal image of herself? A lot of questions with this piece, and we enjoy all the possibilities.

The Beast From Anaheim

We spotted a familiar face on this utility meter while walking around the 18b Arts District. Looking a little like something from a 50's Sci-Fi movie, with the head of Mickey Mouse and the body of a wasp with a rather large stinger. We have a product of mad street scientist Zork, who we haven't seen in the streets in awhile so it is a welcome and frightening sight. He offers us a smiling and happy Mickey who is sorta of showcasing the artists name with his hand, but is he giving a warning with that dangerous looking stinger? We really enjoy this black and white and almost retro looking piece. Zork had really been going large with his pieces and doing some cool new things before he disappeared from the street, so we hope to see more and soon. The utility meter's neighbor is absolutely slammed with so many stickers that we won't even attempt to name any of the people and artists, so just check em out if you get a chance! Or better yet, get some stickers of your own and join em!

The Cleaners

We spotted a couple of new hand painted pasters from There She Is and You Killed Me First in between downtown and The Strip. Right in front of Super Cleaners, on Las Vegas Blvd and Gass to be exact. Since relocating from Los Angeles to Las Vegas a few years ago, these two have been working together hand and hand in the streets to make their presence known. Be it with small black and white pasters or with huge neon colored pieces, they are felt on the streets to be sure. There She Is offers us an image of the Gorgon sister better known as Medusa, with her trademark large eyes and pouty lips make this a striking portrait. Complete with snakes slithering around on her head as hair, she beckons you closer with her gaze to meet your fate. What will it be, hmmm? You Killed Me First continues his tour of Disneyland (so to speak) with another on of his Haunted Mansion plaque takeovers. YKMF has been using the Disney theme park as inspiration for street art for years, and apparently he isn't going to let up any time soon. It seems to us that these two have been inspired as of late, as we keep spotting new pieces from the duo around town. We can't wait to see what new and well, sometimes warped new artwork they will get up with. Stay tuned!

Headless Children

At first glace we were kinda horrified at this latest piece, but after closer inspection it wasn't some kid cut in half like our warped minds thought.. Well it IS technically, but it is half of a whole piece from Milk The Bunny. Had we not caught her show at Twisted Gallery, we might have not known this was a smaller version of her "Swinging Baby Omy" canvas piece from said show. This self portrait of the artist as a small child was also used to promote her show, and we just happened to catch it on the street. It was kinda tough to spot on this wall on 1st, cuz that spot is getting jam packed with artwork of all kinds. Some great, some good but seemingly mostly bad. So to us, this is a little bright spot on the wall or window rather. The artist has this to say about this piece, "Swinging Baby Omy depicts the magic of being free". We can relate to the feeling of being young and free, but at this point its just a feeling to relate to with us. Artwork can transport you to a different time and/or feeling, but sometimes you just need to know where to look. Be it in the world or within yourself, and this time we found it!

Corner Crossing

We found another new piece is from Drew OTR in the 18b Arts District, on the corner of Boulder and 1st. This spot gets a lot of action from what we've seen and keeps changing and changing. New pieces will show up, pieces get removed and pieces get replaced and so on. Seems like someone finally figured out that Begsonland piece was printed on one of those removable stickers, and took it right on the pole! The funny thing to us is that the most consistent piece is advertising a show thats already over. And it is made from the same sticker material! Guess no one wanted to try to take that one, or maybe they are too scared since its a high profile spot? People put it up, so people can take it. Don't be scared. I guess we will see if anyone takes us up on that offer, seems like they might have in the past since the others we've mentioned are now missing from the street. Damn, does that make us half accountable for its disappearance? Oops!

Tiled

Dekoe returns to the 18b Arts District to get up with this tiled piece on the artistically explosive wall on 1st. Dekoe has made a huge mark on Las Vegas with his artwork, and the thing we dig about him is that he uses anything and everything at his disposal. This time using his signature character in different colors up top, and tiling a larger black and white piece below. We've seen him get up with wheatpaste, tags, stickers, aerosol and pretty anything else you can think of! He works hard and he works a lot from what we have seen, so its definitely not going unnoticed. Also below Dekoe we have Drew OTR, we have been seeing more and more of him lately and we aren't sure its him getting up alone or if this was a co-mission. Either way, we are enjoying seeing this image in this city. Drew On The Run has been getting up in and around Southern California for a long while now, and its awesome to see that he has zero plans on stopping. The cool thing about these pieces is that they are both from artists that use a multitude of mediums to get up with, so it is pretty cool to see them up on the same wall with possibly the same paste.

Hidden Heart

We were so close to missing this little guy on Charleston on our last visit, only by chance did we look up to discover him. While are aren't 100% sure who the artist is that left this cute little heart, but we sure as hell love it. His little shocked "o face" and his X'ed out eyes make him look very cute but also very dead. We are kinda tripping out a little bit on the choice of placement the artist decided to go with though. Could a random passerby have messed with the original placement of this sticker, or was this really this unknown artists first choice? We have quite a few questions about who, what, when and where with this spot and piece. Mostly just cuz we like, even if a little puzzled by it! But all in all, a fun little find on the corner of Charleston and Casino in the 18b Arts District.

Asian Eyes

Another trip Downtown to the Art Motel finds the entrance updated with another round of fresh artwork. Joining Anilyz Something and Skull Capper on the front we have new pieces from There She Is and You Killed Me First. YKMF with another one of his Frankenstein movie posters, this time updating it to a red version. We still enjoy the addition of the Las Vegas skyline under The Monster's feet, a fun little detail that makes this piece feel complete. But this time it is the piece from There She Is that really grabbed our attention. Known for using completely hand-painted pieces to get up all around town, she sticks to her normal M.O. but gives us a little something new with this piece by using Asian newsprint to paint her latest portrait on. The perfect placement of the Asian characters under her painted eyes make it look as if she has been crying, like her eyeliner is running or something. Combined with that sad look on her face, it just completely makes this piece for us. What a wonderful new addition to this spot, can't wait to see more!

Compliant

Anilyz Something has been one busy guy in the Vegas streets, we are seeing him far and wide in this city. Now he is giving a little bit of help to Houston, Texas artist Thieve to get up on this 18b Arts District dumpster. We are digging the black and white images on the blue and tagged up dumpster, they really pop in your face. With some added red spray paint over the skulls eyes and the phrase "Compliant Silence" stenciled on Thieve's skull, they just look and work great together. The combination of a human skull next to an.....what is that thing, a alien skull or what? Well anyway, they look great together and beckon you to photograph them. We know we've already said it but, Anilyz Something is really going for it with the amount of pieces he is putting out. Combine that will killer high profile spots with quality artwork, and you got a man on a successful mission. Killer work, keep it up!

Green Box

We spotted a few familiar faces on this box off Sunset, just south of the Strip. Hit by stickers, tags and a few pasters from a wide selection of artists and people. We like the Elbert Einsteinish looking one the best, the look on his face is neither friendly or unfriendly. Just sorta indifferent, and we like that. Next to an older piece from Visual Bluff, who we haven't seen in awhile come to think of it. So it is a welcome site to see them again. On the other side we have one of those Enovizin pasters all the way back from 2014, a quick check (cuz we forgot who they are) learns that they are now defunct. Seems like they were a film company and/or some street brand. Hmm, does anyone do street art for art anymore? Wrapped in tags and stickers this box looks pretty decent, they do a ridiculous amount of buffing around the strip. So they further you get away from the casinos, the more artwork and stickers you can find. Sometimes its worth taking the time to look, just like we lucked out finding this one. Keep looking people!

Neon Nights

There She Is and You Killed Me First hit the 18b Arts District with some large new pieces to announce their return to the street. These pieces have been painted such bright neon colors that we could see them a few blocks away, a technique that these two have used before with much success. We always enjoy how the two artists paint with the same colors to match the others piece, they take being a couple to new levels within their artwork. There She Is offers us one of her painted ladies with her always present large eyes, with all the paint drips all around she appears to be crying. The pieces she paints can have the most forlorn and yet beautiful faces to them, combined with the almost subliminal tears really makes this piece grab your attention. Plus the fact that its about 4 foot tall doesn't hurt either! You Killed Me First with another tribute piece to Disneyland's Haunted Mansion. We've seen him use quite a bit of artwork based on the theme park ride, so we are definitely feeling the artists love when we spot them. Using pieces from the Haunted Mansion clock and an eroded typeface from the attraction ride, then adding a distressed and splattered effect by hand to finish it off. These two pieces work really well together, just like these two apparently work well together in real life. Let's hope we see more artwork from them around town, and soon.

Relabeled

The mysterious artist we call Skull Capper has made another wheatpaste run downtown in the Fremont East District. We aren't exactly too sure who this person is but we definitely know their artistic agenda. They like to cap people! Seems like this artists mission is almost solely covering other peoples art, so we kinda figure there must be some artwork covered up on this can. We are pretty much going with the law of averages on this one, and you can't really blame us. Always using the same bad copied image of a white skull, sometimes with an added X and sometimes not. The one thing you just can't deny, is that you can always count on Skull Capper getting up around town. This guy never lets up, and you gotta admire that right? I don't know how capped artists feel about it, but we are enjoying the action on the streets and walls. Joined by a large piece from Anilyz Something, and that one must be new too cuz we see its on top of those others. Nice!