CURRENT - 2007 - 2006 - 2005 - 2004 - 2003 - 2002

12.23.2004

Just finished a pencil illustration that a friend is going to ink. It's holiday themed, but a little late, seeing as how it's 2 days 'til Xmas. Working on it really reenforced something that's been on my mind lately. Over the past year, I've made an effort to do more completed art, whether it's a painting, ink drawing, digital paint, whatever. I never did nail down the art of the finished drawing. I have done some in the past, but it was always hit and miss. Drawing became a tool to work out composition and anatomy for paintings or more complex art projects.

The life drawing class I recently completed, combined w/ looking at more artwork that's graphite based, and doing this recent illustration have brought this problem clearly to my attention. I tend to do finished work (of any medium) that's loose and sketchy because that's the way I draw. I've been trying to exert more control over my art, but it hit me like a ton of bricks this week. If I can make a drawing... just graphite and paper look like a complete and finished piece of artwork, then I can do it w/ anything.

The drawing is the backbone from which almost all visual arts spring from. It takes decades to become a master drawer, but once you have full control of drawing, everything else becomes simpler. At least, that's how I envision it. That doesn't mean I'm going to take a break from painting. I'm just going to make more frequent attempts to use pencil drawing as a vehicle for finished art concepts.

Happy Holidays.

11.18.2004

Regular John... That's what I'm listening to, off the self titled QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE CD. I'm torn between the call of the nightlife and the call of the artwork. I've been involved in so many things over the past month and a half, that it feels like my personal work is yet again being neglected.

I turned in a script for an animated series that's going to be on air next fall. I was scared as all hell that it would suck, but everyone involved seems satisfied, if not pleased. The real question is whether I can do it again. The challenge of a true artist is not creating something brilliant in a flash of inspiration, but to continually produce a stream of interesting, entertaining, or in some way GOOD work, on demand. I've got a shitload of sketches I've been meaning to add to the site, but just haven't found the time yet. I've taking a life drawing class and trying to bet back to work on my artistic fundamentals.

I've been working on the writing end of EOG, trying to tighten things up, which I will try to finish over the course of December, so I can start the year off in a drawing kick. My goal is to finish one painting a month (regardless of size) and spend the rest of my free time working on the comic. I'm also gonna re-draw the first chapter. I know it seems silly, but I want everything to feel a little more cohesive, story-wise, as well as visually. I've been fortunate enough to be involved 2 artshows over the past couple of months, but now I feel like I really need to produce some new work. Most of the people I know that have turned out for my art shows have seen most of my stuff now, and I need to make it worth their while to show up and support me... as well as start cultivating a list of buyers. The business end sucks, but it's gotta be done.

9.21.2004

I'm behind on the updates, but I have a good reason. Had a art show in Encino on sept 18th. I should have posted it on the site, so people could come if they wanted, but the preparations had me so wrapped up that I didn't have time. I even had a painting I wanted to include, but couldn't because I wasn't able to finish it in time. Hopefully I'll finish it next week. I'll also post some pics, once I had time.

The show was hella fun. Thanks to everyone who showed up. The show featured myself, Ronan Spelman, Christopher Rinier, and music by our host, Olin. The new painting I'm working on is a symbol of my gravitation toward the inevitable art whoredom. Embrace your inner whore I say. I'm here to pimp myself to any art takers. Look out.

8.06.2004

I've been spending a lot of time working on this one painting. It's larger than most of my other ones (24"x36"), and I'm trying to push myself a little, in terms of detail & anatomy. There's already things about it that are imperfect to me, but I feel like it's at least a step in the right direction. I should be done in a few days.

I may be participating in an art show in Sherman Oaks in a couple of weeks. Something else to look forward to. I do wish I had more new work, though. About half of the stuff I'm going to show, a lot of my friends have seen before. All the more reason to get cranking.

I've been getting a lot of ideas for new paintings, and I think I wand to produce some more stand alone images before I get back to EOG. I want to strengthen my drawing more, as well. I'm starting a life drawing class next month, and it's been way too long since I've taken one. I'm really looking forward to it. It sees like I don't do enough consistant drawing (a couple of hours every day). It's more like every couple of days I'll work on a painting or draw for just an hour). I need to get into a stronger regiment. The day job seems to keep me way from the drawing board, though. Even when I'm not working overtime. And for some strange reason, I feel like I'm tired constantly.

G

7.03.2004

I'm slowing my pace somewhat. I decided that, instead of writing EOG and drawing it chapter by chapter, I'm going to write out the entire thing at one time. I'll do a little re-writing and editing, then I'll layout the whole book, then I'll draw it (including re-doing chapter one). Why? Because I'm very seriously considering doing it as a print comic or graphic novel.

In order to decide the proper format, I need an accurate page count. A secondary reason is that I tend to work in spurts. A little writing, a little drawing, a little painting, some R&R, then repeat. I think my drawing skills will benefit greatly from finishing everything up front so I can focus on drawing/inking. I need to immerse myself fully in each discipline for months at a time, especially the artwork. Hopefully, my work will be noticeably better by the time I'm done.

In the meantime, I'm going to keep working on stand alone paintings and images, while I'm in the writing phase. I'm also going to start a stronger push toward selling original art and prints. I'm running out of wall space. Have a good 4th.

G

5.23.2004

Odd that I'd go over a month w/out updating, then do 2 days in a row. Now that I have time to start catching up on personal projects, I'm trying to finish all the half started things I've had laying around the past couple of months. One of those things is a scene from part 2 of ROSETHORNE that I never liked. I added it because a friend commented that something wasn't quite clear, in terms of what was happening. I inserted a scene that seemed to clear things up, but I never liked the way it looked.

A month ago, I was thinking about it, and a new shot came to me, which allowed me to eliminate 2 shots and tell the sequence better. It only took a day for me to knock it out. The toughest part was resisting the urge to redo several other shots that never came out quite like I saw them in my head. I forced myself to keep it only to the thing that was really bugging me, otherwise, I'd be going back and redoing everything I've ever drawn. At a certain point, you've got to let go... except for that one crappy shot.

5.22.04

One might think that after completing the the first chapter of my online graphic novel, I would either take a break, or dive right into the next chapter. I did neither. I did relax for about 3 days, and then I was planning to write the script for chapter 2.

I got sidetracked by work. I've got a hefty project that has required ample development time and a lot of writing. I think I've written more in the last month, than all of the papers I wrote in college, put together. It's coming along nicely, though. I'm quite proud of what I've written so far. Plot-wise, it's quite intricate in places. It's no Shakespeare, but I think it's solidly entertaining. Now, I can finally have my nights and weekends back, so I can get back to EOG.

I've been hanging around a buddy of mine, the Extremly Talented Karl Altstaetter http://hyperwerks.com , and discussing artistic development. I've been forced to reexamine the nature of how I draw. I've come to the conclusion, that I've never really properly learned how to draw. I never liked life drawing and trying to do portraits when I was younger, because I never fully developed my observational skills. I still work from models every once in a while, but not nearly as effectively as I should be able to at this late stage of the game. I try to use all kinds of art techniques to cover up crappy structure. I've decided that I desperately need to start taking life drawing classes again and do a lot of observational drawing (and not stop for the rest of my life). I'm also going to work in a simpler style on EOG in the future. I'm going to limit it just black and white linework, and some minimal toning. That way, I can concentrate on improving my drawing skills, which will improve my painting skills down the line. Once I get a few more chapters done (or maybe when the whole thing is complete, I'm going to go back and redraw the first chapter).

Since completing chapter one, I've got 2 paintings, a pin-up, a couple of tonal studies in various stages of completion. I've also completed a sculpture for someone, took a 4 day trip to San Francisco (that was my real time off - although I had to start some of the writing I've been working on), and went to the Cochella Music and Arts festival. All the bands I saw were great, and RADIOHEAD is the best live performance I've ever seen. But it was in the desert and it was 104 degrees. That was tough. I didn't stay for day 2, even though I was kinda looking forward to seeing THE CURE. I'm going to try to finish up all these half completed projects and maybe read a book over the next 2 weeks. After that, I'll dive into chapters 2 and 3 of EOG (work crisis not withstanding)

4.14.2004

I finshed chapter one of Eyes of God. Hopefully the next one will come quicker.

2.14.2004

I made sort of an anti-Valentine's day card for a friend of mine who's recently single and I figured I'd share w/ the rest of the world. I'm still plugging away at the webcomic. I really need to start working in a simpler style.

1.16.2004

I've been away for a while, and and I'll be away a while longer. I had promised myself I'd be done w/ the first chapter of Eyes of God (My online graphic novel) by the end of January. I do have 13 out of 17 pages drawn, and under normal circumstances I could hammer the rest out, but I have a massive project at work that will require my full attention until the end of the month. Nothing I can do about it, so the story will have to wait a little longer.

On another note, a few weeks ago, I woke up from a dream w/ some strange images in my head. They all involved some weird Siamese twins in fetish gear.

It's not that that's too weird for me to draw, but I just couldn't figure out where the imagery came from. Even when my art is dream inspired, I can usually trace it back to something in real life that triggered it. Then, a couple days ago, I happened to be flipping through the website of artist Trevor Brown, and I saw this:

It all makes sense now. I had stumbled upon Mr. Brown's site a couple weeks back. I had seen his work before, but only a tiny bit. I wasn't too familiar. I must have soaked up a lot of his stuff while I was looking around and my subconscious tried to claim it for it's own (Bad subconscious... shame on you).

But now I have 4 or 5 sketches based on variations of this theme. I've decided I'm not going to abandon the images I came up w/, even though someone more talented than me has already tread that ground. I must give props to where the actual idea came from. Maybe in the few months it will take for me to get around to painting them, I'll come up w/ a more unique twist to make the images more me. Regardless, visit Trevor Brown's website. www.Babyart.org You won't be disappointed.

CURRENT - 2007 - 2006 - 2005 - 2004 - 2003 - 2002