My ticket stubs for Phish’s 2 night run in Burgettstown, just outside Pittsburgh, Pa. The original art was watercolor on paper. Inspired by PTBM (Phish tickets by mail) ticket stubs. The barcode actually scans and links to each night’s setlist on Phish.net. Each stub measures 2.75×6.5 inches (The same size as PTBM tickets) and is printed on 14 Pt paper (slightly thicker than actual stubs)
For this run I continued my shift towards working more with watercolor paint without adding linework. Although Burgettsdown is miles away from the city, I choose to capture the bridges that many driving to the shows may encounter if they pass through Pittsburgh. With over 450 bridges, Pittsburgh is an easy city to get lost in, as I have learned many times in my college days going to concerts in the city. I also included the floating pickle balloon that greets you at the Picklesburgh festival, which took place the same weekend at the shows. I spoke to many people at the show that had just come from there, or were planning to go the next day! I also learned how seriously Pittsburgh folk take the festival!
You better believe I gave her a discount!
I was excited for these show since my first show was Star Lake 2003. I was also able to vend at these shows, which is nice since most of my sales are conducted online. Its always great getting to interact with people who enjoy my work, and to be able to put faces to names I’ve seen order from my shop.
My ticket stubs for Phish’s 2 night run in Wilmington, NC. For this run I created a watercolor painting of the iconic Cape Fear Memorial Bridge, with a nod to the Phish song “Cars, Trucks, Buses”.
The artwork was created as many individual drawings creating with ink, micron, watercolor, and alcohol markers. Each image was scanned and then digitally arranged. I included many references to Georgia, as well as a few Phishy references.
Apologies for the lack of updates on this site! Its been a busy and hectic summer and fall with shows, creating tickets stubs, vending, and now teaching. With a little free time before I start working on NYE ticket stub art, I’m trying to update with my summer and fall tour artwork (available here!) along with a little insight about my inspirations and progress pics.
First up is Phish’s summer tour opener at Orion Amphitheater in Huntsville, AL. For these tickets, a constellation theme seemed obvious. I used real constellations which I altered to reference several songs, with the Orion constellation altered to resemble America’s favorite drummer.
The original painting was watercolor and gouache paint. Tickets are based on PTBMs and the barcode links to the setlist on Phish.net! Prints are 11×14, signed and numbered, and limited to an edition of 50. A portion of sales will be donated to Mockingbird Foundation.
Creating the art required a lot of research into constellations, and figuring out how to alter them to work for my intended purpose. I started out with turning Orion into Fishman, switching his club into drumsticks, and his shield into a vacuum cleaner. Monoceros (unicorn) changed into an antelope (played N2!), and the Erianidus (river) constellation features a tiny Rutherford the Brave trying to cross it. The focus of the second night art turned Canis Major into Harpua, Lepus (hare) into Poster Nutbag, and Columba (dove) into a goldfish. Lastly I turned the lesser known Caelum (chisel) constellation into a megaphone. Each image was drawn with micron and then scanned and arranged digitally. The night sky was a watercolor painting.
My final set of tickets for Spring Tour is for the 3-night run at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles, CA. The art for each night was inspired by 70s-80s skateboarding culture and magazines, as well as the songs Wolfman’s Brother and Dog Faced Boy.
The original painting was watercolor and gouache paint. Tickets are based on PTBMs and the barcode links to the setlist on Phish.net! Prints are 11×14, signed and numbered, and limited to an edition of 50. A portion of sales will be donated to Mockingbird Foundation.
My next set of tickets is for the 3-night run at the Greek Theatre at UC Berkeley in Berkeley, CA. The art for each night was inspired by art from ancient Greek pottery, and combined elements of Greek mythology and Phish song references.
The original painting was watercolor and gouache paint. Tickets are based on PTBMs and the barcode links to the setlist on Phish.net! Prints are 11×14, signed and numbered, and limited to an edition of 50.
Ticket stubs are back for 2023! With the return of physical stubs nowhere in sight, I’ve decided to continue creating ticket stubs, starting with Phish’s 2023 Spring Tour.
First up are tickets and prints for the Spring Tour opener at Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle, WA. The art for these tickets was inspired by the song “Timber (Jerry The Mule)” which is actually a cover written by Josh White, as well as imagery from old logging photos from the Seattle area, with Mt. Rainier in the background.
The original painting was watercolor and gouache paint. Tickets are based on PTBMs, and the barcode links to the setlist on Phish.net! Prints are 11×14, signed and numbered, and limited to an edition of 50.
This past year has been a busy one, full of new approaches to creating art inspired by Phish. As I shifted towards designing and creating ticket stubs, I eased up on creating setlist art for every show, and I began accepting more commissions to create setlist art for older shows. This was actually my busiest year, having created over 10 older setlists! I really enjoy doing these, since it gives me an opportunity to discover older shows that I may not have heard before. And of course, there’s the satisfaction of creating something to commemorate a special show to someone, be it their first, hundredth, or the show where they met that special someone!
Old habits die hard! Creating ticket stubs has taken up most of my time this year, forcing me to set aside the setlist art this year. While I still create them via commissions, I couldn’t help but create the MSG NYE Run setlists! These will be a smaller edition (only 25!) but are also available as digital downloads.
Fluffhead was unfinished. Trey teased Dave’s Energy Guide in Bathtub Gin. This show featured the Phish debut of hey stranger. Trey teased Heartbreaker in Ruby Waves.
Trey teased Super Bad in Weekapaug. The second setbreak music was comprised of songs referencing past Phish New Year’s Eve gags. Before the third set began, a barbershop quartet appeared with a singing telegram for Phish. The telegram said that at the stroke of midnight, it would be 40 years for Phish and to make a wish. Trey wished he had a time machine so they could do it all again. A cube descended from overhead and a time machine was revealed near Mike. The quartet activated the time machine and the cube played audio and video from past years of Phish. Dancers from various past new year’s gags appeared on stage as well as a wombat (from October 31, 2013). The wombat broke the time machine and Ghost began with dancers and characters (like Father Time from December 31, 1999, and the Famous Mockingbird from December 31, 1992) continuing to appear from the band’s past performances. Ghost featured Meatstick lyrics sung by the band as well as by dancers in different languages in a nod to December 31, 2010. The first Bohemian Rhapsody since December 31, 1996 (850 shows) featured the Late Show Gospel Choir singing on risers behind the band and Ghost quotes from Page and the choir with subsequent lyrics changed to reference Ghost. The first Jungle Boogie since December 31, 2003 (544 shows) featured the BD Entertainment Marching Band along with the choir. The marching band and choir were also featured in Wilson where a platform above Trey that had appeared for the entire New Year’s run descended and the clone that had been lying on the platform rose and was revealed to be a Tom Hanks actor from Castaway. Inflated Wilson volleyballs were then tossed into the crowd. During Auld Lang Syne, Phish briefly stopped playing and ate cake in front of the stage while the marching band and choir continued to perform. Carini featured several dancers in “naked dude” costumes emerging from a birthday cake in front of the stage and dancing and running around with security trying to catch them. The Theme from New York, New York was performed for the first time since December 31, 1997 (772 shows) and featured the naked dude dancers performing a kickline in front of the stage while adding vocals and Trey changing the lyrics to “if I could be naked there.” Piper contained Crosseyed quotes. During Tweezer Reprise, the wombat ran and danced across the stage. The post-show music was Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, which was a nod to Phish playing their 72nd show at Madison Square Garden, tying Elton John.
I’m excited to present my ticket stubs for the Phish New Year’s Run at MSG in New York City. This concludes my yearlong project of creating stubs for every Phish show in 2022! I was inspired by the food and fauna one may encounter late at night in NYC. The original illustrations were ink, watercolor, and gouache. They are available in my shop: www.joseeen.etsy.com. I will also be selling them at the PhanArt Show at Hill Country Barbeque on 12/30 from 1pm-6pm (click here for more info).
As with my previous stubs, they are inspired by PTBMs (Phish tickets by mail) down to the weight and feel of real ticket stubs. At this point, I have created over 40 unique ticket stubs for 2022! Tickets going digital has made many people realize how important ticket stubs can be, even if they end up in a shoebox under the bed. I’m here to fill that void in the meantime.
I’ve also created some 8.5×11 mini prints using the artwork I created for the stubs! The unusual size of the tickets means that 1-2/3s of the illustration gets cut off, which bummed me out. And due to each ticket being a standalone image (summer tour stubs created 1 full image when placed together), I opted to create a set of prints rather than 1 large poster.
Prints are signed and numbered, limited to an edition of 50 each. A limited amount is available in my shop, as well as at PhanArt. Purchase Prints Here
Not just reading the book, 