Welcome!
I meant to send this out on May the Fourth be with you… uh, missed that by a mile! Anyway, here is the Star Wars drawing I did all the same. Ahsoka Tano from the Clone Wars is one of my favorite characters. The first few seasons of Clone Wars are really tough to watch, but I enjoyed watching her mature over the course of the show as the stakes were heightened and she decided to make some tough decisions. |
Completed Projects
I added the Fantastic 4 to my collection of Watercolor figures. I have also branded this series Anderson’s Figs. Because they are figs, short for figures… get it? I am cutting a video on my process together at this very moment.      PREVIOUS POSTS If you missed the previous newsletters you can find the entire back catalog here on my website. DRAWING CONCLUSION ARCHIVE |
Current Projects
Where is all this extra time that people are talking about? I am totally strapped for time. But I am really loving everything I am working on so cheers to that. -Mermay! I am loving drawing some fun mermaid designs. My designs are not your typical “pretty” mermaids, I tend to make them more creature in design. Each one is based on a specific Fish or Sea Creature. Here are some of my favorites from this year so far.     -I have received All the physical rewards for my Kickstarter. I am waiting on a few backers to answer the follow-up survey and I am working on getting all the packing materials to ship everything out by early June. I sat up late on Friday signing books and sipping a drink.  -I’m still drawing the 100-page Graphic Novel for ————— Publishing House code name “TOT” I have finished Inking the first 28 pages. I might be coloring it, we will see… Here is a sneak peek of a ghosty sneaking up on our protagonist.  -I’m still working on the animations, I now have the audio track to sync everything to, still plugging away! -I finished teaching my Character Design and Photoshop classes, here are some of my student’s final projects. (Shared with Permission.)    -I just started a new DnD campaign in which I am a pirate. I am drawing my party’s character designs. I am so busy I only have time to work on these during the actual campaign so these will take some time. -Some random Freelance work has flowed in as well. Some of them might turn into larger projects. |
Upcoming Projects
Cons Cons are continuing to shut down. Understandably. I do hope that there are some in the fall that will be able to take place. Children’s Book With Fear Hunters almost completed in terms of publication, I am looking for my next project and I have had this Children’s picture book in my head for a long time Code name “Stan“. So here is a toast to the start of the creative journey of the next Caldecott medal winner. (fingers crossed) JUNICORN! #Junicorn is next month! For the entire month of June, I will be drawing a new Unicorn every day based on a prompt. I have never done this month-long drawing challenge. Probably because I am usually coming down off the busy schedule and intensity of MerMay. But with Cons not happening I really want to tackle this one. I also plan to add all the designs to my TeePublic store for purchase on a shirt or even mask.  |
Philosophical Rant
| Not sure what to put here so I’ll just start rambling till I get somewhere… I am terrified of not drawing. I look at several of the projects that I spend a significant part of my workday on such as Mermay, Anderson’s Figs, and even this Newsletter that do not generate any immediate revenue. And I wonder, “What am I doing with my life?” I am doing what I love. I am still making a living, I am still working an “actual” job as an illustrator, teacher, animator. But I still wonder if I am not making the most of every second. I am not drawing in my sketchbook as much as I used to. I think some of that is because I’m not going out as much as I used to. Drawing from a photograph is fine, but drawing from real life is superior. I am always making a finished, polished, piece. I have lost experimentation. I am scared to “waste” time on a drawing that I won’t post to Instagram or sell at a con or turn into a story. This is not good. I don’t want to schedule a time to be spontaneous because of the obvious irony, but I am going to start there. I am going to set aside 1 hour a day to go and Draw something that I will not share, not work on a project, just exploration and study. I will check-in in my next newsletter. But I will not be sharing my drawings because otherwise, I’ll be breaking the whole point. So what is the point of art that no one sees?  Well, there is no such thing as art that no one sees. The artist has seen it. (now we are cooking! this is the philosophical rant you were looking for!) Okay, so what if an artist blindfold’s himself and paints something and then seals it in a box that no one has looked into? Nope. Now the box is the art and people can see it. Bahaha, wow. Okay, how about this. An artist paints something blindfolded. then he burns it while still blindfolded. (It is not relevant how the artist achieves this while blindfolded.) I would argue that this has turned into performance art. But what if no one saw it? If the artist wrote about the experience then now the art is the written form of the account and if shared verbal then it becomes a sort of auditory art performance. But what if the artist never told a soul? What if I made a piece of art, blindfolded, and then destroyed it, still blindfolded, and never shared this experience, in verbal, written, or any other account? It’s still performance, even if just performing for oneself. Part of the definition of Art must then be sharing it with an audience, even an audience of one. I would personally state that this fictional act would be pointless as I believe I making art for others, not ONLY for myself.  So why then will I NOT share my sketchbook with you all in the next newsletter? This art isn’t finished. As an artist, I love looking at Rembrandts studies but he would probably be embarrassed to see them in a museum. It is not ready for critique, it would be like recording the warm-up scales that Yo Yo Ma uses to practice and selling them as a concert. Yes, I would listen to that. But It’s NOT Bach’s Cello Suite No. 1 in G Major. Why would I settle for scales when I can have that?  I am not going to blindfold myself and make art into the void. But I need to make some space for myself to make mistakes, to draw anatomy wrong before making it right. for testing techniques. Well, that was a long rant… I look forward to telling you how it goes in the next newsletter. In the meantime, stay safe, create beauty, and live the dream! |
