Welcome!
I have been working hard in my sketchbook to complete it. I did this study the other day and wanted to share it. It is in watercolor from photo reference. I’m honestly not happy with the likeness and accuracy to the original image, but I like the image as a stand-alone. |
Completed Projects
“STAN” Woot woot! I completed the entirety of project Stan, formally known as “THE GREEN FLAMINGO” This book is a Children’s Picture Book for early readers: 44 Pages, 496 Words, 36 Illustrations, and currently formatted to be 8”x10” I am currently shopping it out to several agents and editors to get a publisher. There might be some edits and changes as I go through the publishing process. If I cannot land a deal I am happy with I might do a Kickstarter, so stay tuned. Here is the cover and some of my favorite spreads.    You may notice on the Cover that I have a lot of negative space, that is two-fold. First I am working on my compositions and trying to become more comfortable with more negative space. (Negative space is anywhere in the composition that does not have the object that is being portrayed.) Secondly, I have big hopes for The Green Flamingo, one of which is for it to win the famed Caldecott award. This award is given to the Children’s Picture Book with the best Art of the year. Is this a reach? yes, but I was taught to make specific, challenging, and attainable goals. This goal is a specific way that I can measure my success on this specific project. Will I be disappointed if I do not win? Yes, but I would rather shoot for the moon and miss than just shoot up. If you don’t define the target you can’t know if you missed, and improve for next time. This goal is challenging. Thousands of books are entered every year from all the top publishers. The running is very competitive and I will be competing with experts in the field and seasoned artists. This goal is attainable. However challenging it may be, this is technically a goal that I am capable of reaching. Few debut artists win a Caldecott or even an honor book, but there is always a first. That said, here is the cover mockup with a little added visualization to help me imagine my dreams come true. (side note: The judges have literally decided on the winner based on IF there is space on the cover for the medal, I’m just trying to make their job easier.)  BEHOLD Cards Remember that Kickstarter I was a part of back in April? Well, it was fully funded and now complete! Here are my cards and a link to the store to buy the full collection of cards from a fantastic lineup of amazing artists.   BEHOLD Cards SHOP #Junicorn Junicorn 2020 was a fantastic success. You can see the rest of the collection from this year on my website or Instagram linked at the bottom of this email. This is my favorite, the dreaded Bicorniclops.  PREVIOUS POSTS If you missed the previous newsletters you can find the entire back catalog here on my website. DRAWING CONCLUSION ARCHIVE |
Current Projects
| I got back from vacation weekend and realized that I have a ton of work. I am NOT doing a month-long drawing challenge this week, but I am keeping up with my sketchbook as well as doing more Fig illustrations like this Hamilton.  No update on the 100-page Graphic Novel for ————— Publishing House code name “TOT” I am still waiting on the script for Issue 2 but here is some concept art for the next issue. I am now 99.9% done with the animation project. Oof, the final details are always a drag. But I am kinda putting that final bit off because I need to wrap up some illustrations that the same project requires first. These various illustrations are the bulk of my work right now. I am working on finding a publisher for The Green Flamingo. I have reached out to a couple of editors and agents to get it in front of the right people, but it is slow going.I started my current sketchbook 7/22/2019 I MUST complete it before 7/22/2020 It has never taken me this long to fill a sketchbook and it is killing me that I have relaxed in my studies so much! That said I cannot rush, I must take intentional time to study and draw correctly, not quickly. |
Upcoming Projects
| At the Beach I am working on a young reader’s Graphic Novel for an Editor who is interested in my work. Sadly she works in Comics not Children’s Books, else I would pitch her The Green Flamingo. ce la vei… anywho, I have no hope of running out of ideas and I have what I think is a really fun concept for a young reader’s comic about one of my favorite memories as a kid. Going to the Beach with my Paw. The book is loosely based on this book my brother made in middle school out of papercraft. (I made one about ladybugs, but I can’t find it…) More details to come on that soon.   #Smaugust I will NOT be doing a month drawing challenge next month. whew. I will be taking a break before the fun starts again with #Smaugust in, well, august. But I am going to take July and make sure that I get back into that sketchbook groove and really knock it out of the park. Here is my official #smaugust2020 prompt list if you want to join, share, or plan ahead.  I have heard of #Julycanthropy, for those not initiated, Lycanthropy is the transformation of a werewolf. I might try that next July. On that note, I was trying to think of fun July Puns that I could turn into a drawing challenge next year. My brother came up with #Julyith, its all about giants, like goliath… I thought of #BlackTieJuly where I just draw a bunch of fashion illustrations. Or even #BonsaiJuly in which I would draw bunches of cute little trees! Wow, I am really reaching now. Project “BC” Shhhhh! it’s a secret! but I’ll tell you all about it next time… |
Philosophical Rant
| Aight! Here we go. So I was talking to someone about Talent the other day. What is talent? I decided to look it up in Merriam-Webster Talent (noun) tal-ent | \’ta-lǝnt\ 1. a. A special often athletic, creative, or artistic aptitude. b. general intelligence or mental power.  Okay, so there is a basic starting point. people have told me that I am talented. So according to this definition, that means I have a special artistic aptitude and/or a general mental power inclined to art. Okay, so I have an artistic aptitude, let’s start there. Aptitude (noun) ap-ti-tude | \’ap-tǝ-tüd\ 1. a. Inclination, Tendency b. A natural ability, Talent  Great, so with definition number two we are already going in circles. But I will say, I like a. quite a lot. the Inclination piece. I believe this is at the core of what makes a successful creative person. I cannot speak directly to other disciplines such as office work, engineering, science, or other STEM fields but I assume it applies to them as well. I have always had an inclination to draw and create. I read Ed Emberley’s books on drawing and I created entire worlds, I made my own picture books as a kid (I’ll let you know if I ever find that Ladybug book…) I made papercraft models, origami, clay, whatever I could get my hands on. But isn’t that most kids? When did this change from childlike wonder to adult aptitude? Just because you are inclined to do something does not mean you are good at it or that it is a thing worth doing. Deeper than Aptitude or Inclination, I believe that the root of Talent is Passion. Passion (noun) pas-sion | \’pa-shǝn\ 4. b. Intense, driving, or overmastering feeling of conviction. 5. a. Ardent affection: LOVE  Wow, that is a powerful definition! intense, all-encompassing drive, omnipotent purpose! Do you abandon the things that you love? When your friend that you LOVE hurts you do you turn your back on them? Or do you work on the relationship? When you remember that one recipe that you LOVE do you just shrug it off? Or do you drive to the store to get all the ingredients to make it that night for dinner? When your spouse or child whom you LOVE is rude to you, do you walk out? Or do you expose your vulnerabilities to them and seek to be at peace in your house? Love means fighting for something even when it stinks. Loving something means to pursue it, and when you stumble you stand back up and keep running. That is the difference between an artist and someone who does art. If the person who does art makes something “mediocre” or can’t find time to make the art, that is okay. The artist is not satisfied with “Good Enough” he/she must improve. The artist must create constantly. Back to talent. I believe people are born with certain talents. Certain aptitudes that take them so far. But then that well runs dry. Then it is up to passion. I had many peers in College that I graduated alongside that have already given up on their artistic talent. (And I do not begrudge them all, for some they discovered a different talent that they had a higher aptitude for. Other’s never had the passion. I genuinely feel that I would die without art. I am starting to realize that this sounds like an addict’s behavior… But I believe art to be good. and that is the difference. An addiction is an obsessive desire for something bad. Passion is an obsessive desire for something good. You will notice that I used the 4th definition for Passion. When I looked it up I was actually surprised by the first definition, here it is. Passion (noun) pas-sion | \’pa-shǝn\ 1. a. The sufferings of Christ between the night of the Last Supper and his death.  Whether you are religious or not, believe this story to be a myth, the ravings of a madman, or the literal gospel truth, you should recognize love. And with love for something comes suffering. Being a “talented” artist is a bit of a curse. I foresee that I will always feel incompetent in my field, I will feel like I could do better because I have seen myself improve over the last 10 years. I know I will be better in the next 10. But that starts today, with me passionately pursuing my aptitude for artistic talent. People tell me that they wish they had my talent. Talent only gets you started. My wish is for you to desire Passion! A deep raging love for something, so much that it consumes you. Be careful though, this can lead to burnout (I’ll take about this in the future…) What is your talent? Do you love it? Stay safe out there, love each other, and create beautiful things. Cheers, A |
