First Glimpse: Pearl Jam Goalie Mask
WARNING: This is an unfinished mask which contains certain colours and textures which cannot be seen until completed. These photos do not do it justice.
Like a band who does not like people listening in during their soundcheck, I am reluctant to release photos of my unfinished helmets as they just don’t look right to me.
My brother (who I am creating this helmet for) convinced me otherwise on this occasion.
He is a lifelong Pearl Jam fan and informed me of the timeliness of this mask as we are heading into the PJ20 Destination weekend. A full weekend festival devoted to celebrating the band’s twenty years together.
Next week the band is in town (Toronto) for the premiere of their film Pearl Jam Twenty at TIFF. They will also be playing two shows in Toronto to begin this leg of their tour.
The mask should be completed within in the next couple days so stay tuned to the Blog for the completed work.
Happy Anniversary PJ!
Mike Smith ~ Phoenix Coyotes
During this summer’s Free Agent frenzy, the Phoenix Coyotes signed my good
friend Mike Smith (Smitty) to a multi-year contract.
A new beginning for Mike, and a new beginning for his goalie mask designs. Gone are the days of pirates, X-Men, lightning bolts, and swordfish…
Cometh the day of desert dogs!
Mike Smith’s 2011-2012 mask features Looney Tunes star Wile E. Coyote, also known
as “The Coyote”.
Smitty has always been open to experimenting with new designs. This time
around I wanted to try a perspective that I hadn’t seen before.
I wanted The Coyote character to be the centre point, however I wanted to continue
the graphic along the sides of the mask (rather than having multipleimages overlapping).
From one Coyote to another, coming soon: Jason LaBarbera’s mask
Private Commission ~ Mario Lemieux
This Pittsburgh Pens – Mario Lemieux themed helmet was commissioned by the Mario Lemieux Foundation. It will be auctioned off at a charity golf tournament being held by the Pittsburgh Penguins to celebrate the 20th Anniversary of their Stanley Cup victory.
I actually just arrived in Pittsburgh to take part in the festivities as I will be painting one of my Live Mural eXperiences throughout the duration of the event. Stay tuned to my Facebook page for updates and photos of the event.
Dustin Tokarski ~ Tampa Bay Lightning
Up and coming Tampa Bay Lightning goaltender Dustin Tokarski goes by the the nickname “Tic”. His helmet for the 2011-12 season references this nickname with the prominent display of The Tick character from the hilarious animated series.
The back plate on the helmet is tribute to his Grandpa who supported him throughout his hockey career.
Yahoo Sports covers Angry Birds Helmet
The Angry Birds goalie mask received enormous attention over the past week.
Highlights:
- Featured on Yahoo! Sports – Greg Wyshynski’s article about the Angry Birds mask and other video game tributes on goalie helmets
- Houses of the Hockey – it was the post by theScore which originally covered the story
- Both @NHL and @AngryBirds picked up on the coverage and tweeted them to their massive followings
Angry Birds Theme ~ Toronto Junior Canadiens
When it comes to Angry Birds there are very few remaining corners of the world that remain untouched by this phenomenon. I think its safe to say this is the first Angry Birds themed goalie mask, and from the responses I am receiving, clearly it won’t be the last.
Thanks to the Houses of the Hockey post yesterday all of my modes of communication were overwhelmed with people asking about this Angry Birds themed goalie mask that I created.
The concept was brought to me by a goaltender who plays for the Toronto Junior Canadiens and who now owns what might be arguably the most talked about goalie mask so far this summer.
It was said several thousand times on Twitter already and definitely worth repeating, this goalie takes his @AngryBirds seriously!
Malcolm Subban ~ Belleville Bulls
When the name Subban is mentioned with hockey, most fans immediately think of Montreal Canadiens young superstar P.K. Subban.
You may not be aware that there are more Subbans working their way up the hockey ranks who are getting considerable attention from the scouting world.
P.K. has two brothers, Malcolm who plays goal for Belleville Bulls in the OHL and 16-year old Jordan who is set to join the Bulls this upcoming season.
During the MasterCard Memorial Cup I met up with P.K. who introduced me to his brother. We hit it off right away and the end result is this goalie mask that Malcolm Subban will be wearing in 2011 season.
Sounds like we have a new hockey family in the making…
Adriano Belli ~ Toronto Argonauts
Just completed this piece which was commissioned by the Toronto Argos to commemorate the retirement of “The Kissing Bandit” Adriano Belli.
You haven’t lived until you have been kissed by Adriano…
Brent Johnson ~ Pittsburgh Penguins
I am happy to share Brent Johnson of the Pittsburgh Penguins new Led Zeppelin theme goalie mask.
This mask which he will wear in the 2011-12 season continues his trademark references to Led Zeppelin. This time around Johnny and I decided to create our own Led Zep album cover.
I’ve been tweeting updates throughout the progression of the mask and have received excellent feedback. I would love to hear what you think of the final product.
