016 pandemic

Decided to come out of the trenches to say hi. Its been a while, hasn't it? Surviving extreme hermitdom has mad many, many ups and downs. I never thought this would be something I would experience in my lifetime... but here we are. I strive to be less negative every day.
Los Angeles is slowly working into stage 2 of opening up. The streets are once more congested. There are masks everywhere, peppered with the daring naysayers that don't care enough about others to put a mask on. We don't really leave the house; all our groceries are delivered and due to lack of motivation to do anything other than work, play Animal Crossing: New Horizons, and draw. I am very excited about my illustration practices. Been looking at the work of those I consider to be the greats: Ashley Wood, Jon Foster, Phil Hale, Justin Bua, Studio MDHR, and Tim Burton especially.

I went from not having any to having three Spectrum books, the Cuphead art book, and the Tim Burton art book. Many thanks to Sergei and Chris for their wonderful gifts! Thanks to them I have worlds to escape to and textures to study. In this time I have found that I really love drawing characters. I definitely do not enjoy drawing buildings or flowers, but it is essential to study it all. And so I am.

Currently I am experimenting with pen and ink, charcoal pencil, Kuretake Zig brushes, and Pilot Color Eno pencil leads in pink and sky blue. I try not to use the regular drafting lead because I really love sketching in light color. If it wasn't for Color Eno, I'd probably be sketching with Prismacolor pencils or my long-slumbering Faber-Castell art grip aquarelle watercolor pencils. I still have my large tin of 60.






Everybody seems to be doing pretty well. I don't have friends that are complaining about the lock down circumstances or the social distancing. The cats are happy to have company all the time, and are on a new diet that makes them more lively. They're having fun, blissfully unaware of the craze that is happening in the outside world.

The other day Chris needed a pen so he tore the wrapper to my Zig brush. I had been safekeeping those for the right time, and had a sketchbook set aside for them. Well... It looks like I had to speed the process up. I can't bear them going to waste after the seal is broken. Quality should never dry up, so I took out the wrapped sketchbook they were meant to be used on. I am using it as a place to explore Tim Burton's art style. I am drawing a lot of illustrations straight out of his book, and the practice has been very fun so far.



I am about to buy a new iPad Pro in the coming weeks. This time I'm going all in and getting the 12.9 inch one with the new apple pencil. I am also purchasing the Kuretake Zig brush pen set of 48. The impostor syndrome is definitely setting in; I don't feel worthy of such expensive tools when I'm really going through and learning all I forgot I learned at Ringling College of Art + Design. The same impostor syndrome that held me back for a decade still echoes in the back of my mind. I feel I took an almost ten year sabbatical from my creative ventures, and while I did do freelance graphic design and illustration work, I wasn't really making work that I felt represented my voice as an artist. If you haven't made anything after five years, are you really still an artist? Well... I guess I am by title. But I've got nothing to show for myself publicly yet. My portfolio site is down with weird placeholders. I can't wait to make a comeback, to be able to carry the title with pride because I have work to show for it finally. It's going to be a big deal the day my website goes live.

I don't see myself working as a full-time psychic much longer. I'm gearing up to make a jump back into a creative field, one of innovation and attention to the small details. The way it should always be.

Others have had better fortune. Chris got his dream job. There are plans for a move later in the summer. I wish him the best of luck with his new career and life. He earned it, and he is very fortunate to have achieved his dreams. Watching it all unfold has been a privilege. I can't believe how wonderful it all is.

Recently started playing World of Warcraft. I am an Undead Warlock. For the Horde!

These illustrations were made on Picrew. I didn't draw them.... But I hope to share some of my explorations and artist studies with you very soon!