Jetsah

Through personal warmth and approachable process, Bob Ross enraptured millions -- the only downside being, his paintings all belonged in the faux-southwest foyer of a La Quinta. Pulling you behind the veil of some legitimately badass work, Jetsah

Based in Chi and clearly named after a Bikram yoga instructor, Jetsah's stock and trade are affordable, Midwest-fantastical silkscreen posters, and through his blog gives you insight into their creation in a nontechnical manner that doesn't make him sound like a highfalutin art penis. Some of the more involved entries are for "Airlift", which lays out the initial sketch and five colored screen patterns of a stork carrying a farm on its back; the beat down seven-legged horse "Conquistador", for which he shows the actual printing process; and "Bloodsucker", chronicling the transformation of Richard Nixon into a vampire (He will bite you deep. In the throat.). Jetsah's offhand, self-effacing commentary ups the approachability: with the sword and birdcage toting Minotaur dubbed "Rebirth", he admits frailty ("Very happy with the results despite having headcold"); with the Black Keys-commissioned, eagle/farmland mashup, he owns up to fanboyness ("I was stoked to get to make a poster for this show"); and on the cougar headed "Prairie Ghost", he acknowledges art can be silly ("4-color print on French Tangy Orange paper. Yes, Tangy Orange")

Jetsah's also turned two prints into tees: the Cyclops bull "Chicago Ghost", and another for the Melvins depicting a towering sunflower with a slight smirk -- probably because it knows the Melvins are currently playing the La Quinta in exchange for tiny Raisin Brans from the Continental breakfast.