Pressure

"Hermits have no peer pressure."

~ Steven Wright

 So. I'm still pretty vague about this Blog "Thing". I think mostly I do it because Other People do so I should do too... Right? That is pretty much the reasoning as well that put me in the position of focusing on an art career later rather than earlier in life. For me, there was always this feeling of society pressuring me to have a "real" job to make enough money and live "decent". Even though it was entirely myself pressuring me with what I thought were other people's perceptions and expectations of me. I think a lot of it was thinking it was necessary for that whole Love and Relationships thing.

I finally decided (a couple months back) that perhaps jumping from one unhappy unfulfilling job to another and getting no where with either a real job or the art was probably not so conducive to being happy (and secondly, for success). So for now, I'll just be happily working a few days a week in a bookstore (Chapters) and focusing on art. Finally! Although, I still keep having this urge to go back to full-time just because of a potential love interest... But I've resisted my past stupidity so far... *cough*

And the art...!

The first one I did for a friend's birthday. I haven't actually titled it but it generally gets called "Tabi's Tiger" in all my filename organization [Oil, 11"x14"]

The second is "Diesel".  A portrait commission [Ink, 8"x10"]

"Tabi's Tiger"

"Diesel"

Stability...

"Sometimes you wake up.  Sometimes the fall kills you.  An sometimes, when you fall, you fly."

- Neil Gaiman -

Sadly, I seem to be eternally in a state of starting and stopping, succeeding and failing.  I have been doing better the last couple months.  I've only now started to update my blog again.  I gotta say.  I think one of the MOST important things for someone that wants to make art/illustration an actual future career and not a hobby... is stability.  A stable home, a stable life.  Maybe there's something to be said for "Painting in the moment" or being in some "art place/zone" in your head.  But, it's nothing compared to a steady stable flow of daily practice.

The first, titled "Wedgie" (after the Norwegian Forest Cat), is based loosely on a photo from DeviantArt stock image.

The second is a Mother's Day gift for a friend's mom.

I can't quite get over the fear of going dark on a drawing. One's an edit, the other is as close to original as my camera does.

Changing It Up.

So, I am thinking that I'll be changing this blog up especially considering I haven't used it so much lately. Debating deleting old entries and starting fresh. Possibly leaving them as a history thing too. Still thinking about how personal versus how business-like to be.

Now that I have a "regular" job in addition to the art I am planning to get back into more volunteer and community type work. It's typically free but I enjoy helping out and being an inspiration out there. Helping people stop and smell the roses and so on.

Mini-Update

Life came up again. Fell behind on posting. This is some old work I haven't had the time to post yet.

Hello

I am thinking I will start making my entries a little more interesting then just meaningless posts and images. I was thinking I'd start WAY back at the beginning. As a kid. How did I get to be how I am? To draw this way? What kind of life experiences shaped me into the cliche eccentric anti-social artist?

Illustration Style Portraits

"All life is an experiment. The more experiments you make the better."
~ Ralph Waldo Emerson ~

As much as I enjoy doing realistic portraits. I still always enjoy the strange creepy things most of all. These were done just for fun and to experiment with new techniques and ideas. The first is a friend, known for her tragic eyes. I was trying to do more of a Undine fairy but turned her more vampire. The second is my brother. I asked him for a photo and an idea. He said, "Gay Sexy Biker." It went from there. But it shouldn't have.

It really shouldn't have.