10 of my favorites.

Nickelodeon 2



Mr. Oleg Gladkoff



Play.



fresh.2.def.



no worries.




U.S./Mexico Border.



Guadalupe.



candelas.



Internationally Known.



The Revolution Will Not Be Televised. (24"x24" painting on wood panel. Spray paint and vinyl lettering)

Ooh La La

Hello world. I recently had the chance to photograph the Ooh La La Dance Co. as they practiced for their next show. A friend of mine is one of the dancers and she let me stop by and check it out. Easily one of the best nights of my life hahaha, very beautiful girls, just sayin'. So here are some of the shots from that night. Make sure to check them out at salsasusie.com/ and be on the look out for their performances, definitely worth checking out.



duo.



pose.



shake them dreads.






oh snap.






floor view.



in sync.



watch.



For more photos check out my Facebook Fan Page: Carlos Mendez

"The Lost Film"

I feel like Nasir Jones a.k.a. Nas, he has "The Lost Tapes" and I have "The Lost Film."
After three months I came to realize that I had two rolls of film that I had not seen from my trip to Seattle. They were 35mm film, but they had to be developed at another place than where I usually take them because of the type of film. I had dropped them off a few days after I came back from Seattle and for some reason, forgot about them.

So I recently picked up the film and I came across some shots that I liked.



I hope that in 2011 I have the opportunity to visit more places I have never been to before.




Loback.Meat.Co.



Market.



Welcome.



time.



fresh.2.def.

Big El

<--- Etsy

I made this painting last year. It started off as a drawing and then turned into a 1 time comic strip and then I turned it into a painting. It's on a 12"x12" canvas, painted with aerosol and paint pens. I made it and received good feedback on it. I really like it because it is a simple cartoon character. Solid lines, flat, minimal in colors, and simple child like characteristics to it. When I first drew it, it took me just a couple of minutes to create. I threw on the eye patch as a way to make it unique. An animal we all know, but with a distinct difference that makes him look a little tough. His name is "Big El", unfortunately when he was younger he was horsing around when a fellow elephants' tusk caught him right in the eye. Some might see him with only one eye and perceive it to be a disability, but he takes no pity. Believing that it makes no difference whether he has one eye or two, it is what's inside his heart that makes him who he is.


I'm flirting with some ideas for writing a children's book that would help teach children to accept everyone no matter what they look like, from skin color to any other physical feature that may be different from theirs. Since I created this character, I have come up with about 10 total characters for which I would like to incorporate into different storylines.

For this first character I have created 10 individual paintings. I might make more if the demand is there. This is the first time doing something like this so I wasn't sure how many I should make. I know some people might ask why not just make 1 master and then get prints made in bulk. That is something I would think about doing if there were a high demand for it, but as of now I take a lot of pride in making each one with a personal and individual touch.

Also, if you are a friend of mine and/or are local to the San Diego area I will give you discounted price.

http://www.etsy.com/listing/62710143/big-el

You Art Here.

I am currently in a contest through H&M on the yourarthere.com website. I found out about it through Facebook and had an unfinished painting that I felt met the theme of the contest. First on my list was to finally finish the painting, one that I had started a few months ago.

http://www.yourarthere.com/entry/bright-lights-big-dreams/

The theme of the contest is New York City. My painting, titled “Bright Lights. Big Dreams.” is a young woman in the bottom right hand corner of the canvas looking out toward city lights that are out of focus. Each city light that is out of focus stands for every idea, chance, experience, connection, dream, and even failure that she is yet to experience on her way to finally realizing her dreams. It’s about dreaming it and then setting out to do it. The painting came mostly from a photograph I had taken at night of lights out of focus and a scene in a movie I had watched fairly recently which was set on the east coast. I feel like it fits with the theme because New York is a city where people head to make their dreams come true.

Not to mention, “New York, New York, big city of dreams.” – Tha Dogg Pound

I myself am a big daydreamer and don’t mind dreaming up the ways of finally becoming a good/well known artist. I feel like it gives me motivation and gives me something to strive for. I like setting goals, especially smaller ones that will eventually lead to bigger ones because it produces more results. I have a goal and I believe that those dreams with hard work will help me to eventually get there. I’ve had some good luck so far in the contests I have entered. The GrnAppleTree clothing contest and the Levi’s contest (3,000+ entries) last year really gave me the confidence that I can hold my own with many other artists out there.

This H&M contest has brought out a lot of great artists and their submissions. All I hope right now is to get into the top 10 artworks because those 10 will then go to a jury who will choose the winner. So if you get a chance, make your way to the site and vote by clicking on the number of stars you would like to give my painting.

Here’s to more votes and some luck.

http://www.yourarthere.com/entry/bright-lights-big-dreams/

The Emerald City.

I had the opportunity to visit Seattle, Washington a couple of weeks ago. The primary reason for the trip was to watch the San Diego Chargers play the Seattle Seahawks, but Seattle has always been a place I have wanted to visit. The trip was a lot of fun, especially since it was a big group of us that went up together for the game. Unfortunately, we lost to the Seahawks so I will not be talking about that because it is still too soon and the wound is still fresh.

couple.


ready for kickoff.



Rivers.

The city of Seattle is beautiful. I believe that is the best way to sum it up. A friend of mine put it well by saying, “It’s like San Francisco, but cleaner.” S.F. is also a very nice city, but it had it’s share of griminess that I did not see while I was in Seattle.

The first day I was there was Saturday the 25^th. Arrived there around noon and the weather was perfect. Sunny with no clouds really. As soon as I dropped everything off at the hotel we headed down to Pike’s Place. Downtown Seattle itself is a cool place to walk around. On the way to Pike’s I recognized the members of the band ‘The xx’ just kickin’ it on a street corner. I stopped and spoke to Oliver (vocals & bass), who was a super chill dude. He told me they were playing a show that night at the Paramount and I was also able to get a picture with him. That alone was enough to give high praise to the trip itself.

It was a neat experience to walk through Pike’s after seeing it many times on television or in print. The market is set up with plenty of walking space for everyone and the street itself was shut down to accommodate the crowd. Got the chance to see the 1^st Starbucks, which didn’t do much for me due to the fact that I don’t drink coffee. After Pike’s we hit up The Brooklyn seafood restaurant and then headed back to the hotel to relax for a few.

Sunday ended up being all about football. Started off with a morning meet up with a large contingent of Charger fans at a Gordon Biersch before the game. The day started off full of excitement, but unfortunately it ended with a near fight, disappointment, anger, frustration, and exhaustion. I got the chance to take some decent shots of Seattle as we made our way to the stadium and of the stadium itself, which was cool, but a win would have made everything better.

O Canada.

fish eye.

Monday morning I woke up and headed out by myself to snap as many shots of whatever caught my eye. I wasn’t able to take any shots of Pike’s or anything else for that matter on Saturday because I had a massive brain fart and left my camera in the hotel room. So Monday was all about the city, my camera, and I. As soon as I was out the door I turned on the iPod, walked, and snapped whenever I got the brain impulse to do so.

The weather, in my opinion, was great. Sunny on Saturday, drizzling on Sunday, drizzling and then mostly sunny on Monday. My flight left @ 4 on Monday and I was not looking forward to returning to 108 degree weather in San Diego. Seattle (except for the fans, who were major douches) left a great impression on me. It is a city that I will surely return to, hopefully sooner than later.

San Diego Super Chargers.

It's that time of year again. Football practices are starting nation wide; from high school to college and to the National Football League. If you now me personally, you know that I LOVE sports. From baseball to soccer to basketball and of course football. All my life I have loved the San Diego Chargers. They are my team and will always be my team. Practices open to the general public started last Sunday and of course I had to be there. To start getting ready for what of course will be our year.

Here are some photos I snapped as I watched the team practice.


Q.



Sprolsey.



the future.



FLOYD.



defense.



LEGADU.

Zombieland.

A couple of weeks ago I had the chance to once again attend Comic Con (thanks to tickets from the homie Zacarias). It was a lot of fun, as it always is. I was able to check out some cool stuff and of course received many of the freebies being given away. What really got my attention was that I had heard about a "Zombie Walk". I'm a fan of zombie things, whether it be movies or video games. It's entertaining.

When I heard about this walk I really wanted to make it out and snap some photographs. I have had some ideas behind a "end of days"/"zombie"/"apocalypse" type photo shoot. I'm more of a "shoot what is happening around me" type of guy, so this would be a lot different. It would be something totally planned/scripted/"movie lot" type feel to it. I am not sure when this might happen, but hopefully sooner than later.

Anyway, without further ado, here are the photographs I liked from the "Zombie Walk".



Zombie Drive.



1 zombie, 1 cup.



don't look back.



bolthead.



no shirt. no service.



hijo de zombie.



smoking zombie kills.



zombie daughter.



kill bill?



zombie stare.



the zombie killer.


There were some very good zombie make-up jobs, but I was actually hoping there would have been a lot of more zombies participating in the walk. Maybe next year.