State of the Artist 8/27/2012

View halloo, all!

Early this morning saw the approach of Isaac, which ended up being much ado about nothing... lots of heavily gusting winds and a rather impressive deluge, but, overall no big deal. But, now it's back to the drudgery of cleaning up the minor tree damage and residential street flooding due to rainfall.


Weekly Words

That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.
-Neil Armstrong (1930-2012)

By making those small steps, we make those giant leaps reality every day.


Current Project

During the approach of Isaac's outflow rain bands last night, MCA Hogarth and I were texting back and forth that some hurricane-themed art might be a good project to tackle. Seeing as we both live in Florida, I agreed!

*clicking on the thumbnail opens the larger image*


The two square red flags with black center squares are the US Storm Signal flag arrangement that indicate a hurricane. Use of Storm Signal flags was discontinued by US Coast Guard back in 1989, after 100 years of use, due to the expanded reach of radio and television to warn and advise residents in threatened areas. In recent years, they've been making a comeback, particularly on coastal waterways and beaches for boaters and tourists.

(Living in Miami, home of the University of Miami Hurricanes, this flag arrangement never really went away here, just got co-opted to show support for the team sports.)


Near Future

Near future plans include completing my remaining open commissions, mostly, and hopefully squeaking some personal art in there, along with contemplating designs for this year's Holiday Card design.

There's Kickstarter planning in there, too... once I figure out what I'm doing and the best way to get what I want done done.

I am currently planning on attending Necronomicon in late October in Tampa, FL, just trying to figure out travel arrangements.

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State of the Artist 8/20/2012

View halloo, all!

I seem to be rounding the corner of this massive attack of Con Crud that has kept me drifting in and out of feeling human for the last two weeks. Thank you to everyone who has asked after me, sent emails and texts, sent me little care packages and entertainments so I didn't go mad staring at the ceiling while I was awake, they are all much appreciated.

On with the post!

Weekly Words

It has been said, 'time heals all wounds.' I do not agree. The wounds remain. In time, the mind, protecting its sanity, covers them with scar tissue and the pain lessens. But it is never gone.
- Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy, 1890 - 1995

We are all the Walking Wounded to one degree or another. Our scars shape us, give us the depth to understand an others' pain, give us the clarity to learn from an others' mistakes, give us the drive to to make things better, to shield our selves away from the hurt or to open our selves to another, to just keep living.


Current Project

As I said above, I'm still a bit under the weather from the bout of Con Crud I've been battling since the end of AFO, but I'm definitely better than I was last week. That said, I've been a commission completing machine (when I've been awake and hand-steady enough to sit and work.)

So, first up:

*clicking on the thumbnail opens the larger image*

A commission for a repeat customer who always comes to find me at AFO. :) She requested a red-headed man with purple eyes wearing a mix of traditional Japanese clothing and modern Western clothes, joined by a cat wearing a skeptical look. It was fun! I managed to get this out in the mail the other day, so here's hoping she likes the finished product!

Next up:

I've got line work for another b&w ink wash commission taped to my boards waiting for me to get started!


Near Future

More commissions await me, and as time waits for no artist, I need to get started, Con Crud or no Con Crud.

I know it sounds early, but I need to get to work on a Holiday card design so it will be ready to go to the printers no later than the Thanksgiving holiday. I'll have a card request post up later in the year, most likely sometime in late October/early November.

I'm hoping to attend Necronomicon in mid-October, but that depends mostly on the travel situation, which, without a car, is difficult to plan in advance.

I'm hoping to get that 2012 Sketchbook Kickstarter project going soon, but I have no idea what I'm doing, how I'm going to go about it, or how to even begin laying out this book... O.o

Somewhere in there, I'm also hoping to get some personal art squeaked in.... O.o!


Thank you for joining me for another State of the Artist update, I hope you are all well and that you join me again next week!

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Become a patron of the arts!

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State of the Artist 8/13/2012

View halloo, all!

I'm sorry for the absence lately, but with back-to-back conventions and the onset of lovely Con Crud, I've been rather keeping to myself lately.


Weekly Words

This man beside us also has a hard fight with an unfavouring world, with strong temptations, with doubts and fears, with wounds of the past which have skinned over, but which smart when they are touched.

- John Watson (1850-1907)

I had an entire exposition on this quote typed out and ready to post, mostly dealing with the crux of most people's personal issues: money; the lack thereof, the uncertainty of where it's coming from unless you have a reliable income stream available to you in one way or another (be it yours or a partner's,) etc, but it stressed me out too much to actually post.

At the end of the day, we are all walking hard roads and dealing with problems, be they money-related, health-related, family-related, or any combination thereof... and in many cases, we don't know the extent of others' problems.


Current Project

Coming home off back-to-back conventions has resulted in being walloped by Con Crud of the highest order, so unfortunately, I'm rather delayed in projects I've had on the table. I do have a handful of commissions from these recent conventions to complete, so, I'm hoping that marathoning tea, soup, and sleep will help me get back on track as soon as possible.

That said, my next personal project I hope to post is the progress post of The Eastern Star:




Please let me know if you'd like to see the progress post of the above piece as I work on it!


Near Future

The Near Future sees a break in to-attend conventions until mid-October (I think.)

I hope to have more art projects to post in the meantime, along with still working on logistics for the 2012 Sketch-A-Day Sketchbook Kickstarter project people seemed excited about a few months ago. I do hope the enthusiasm for this project can be maintained and spread to the point of funding the book, as I'd love to have a published book of my art/sketches.

Please let me know if you're still interested in seeing the Sketchbook project come to life!

If you enjoy seeing posts of new or in-progress artwork, please consider a donation.

Become a patron of the arts!

Feel free to post links to this journal/community if you feel there might be interest in my artwork!