Art Exclusive
 It is Mermay! I have been too busy with work to jump into a full month drawing challenge, but here is one for fun that I did in ballpoint pen. I wanted to play around with hatching and building up my values. Merfolk are described as half-human half-fish… pretty sure I nailed it. |
Completed Projects
| Ultra Mega Fan-Art I did some fan art for UltraMega, a comic by James Harren. He is one of my all-time favorite creators.  Animation I have finally finished the animation project for the Word in Motion Curriculum being published by Apologia Educational Ministries. I am very excited to have this project complete. I am already prepping for my next project with Apologia. More to come. |
Current Projects
| TOT I am inking Issue 3. The team and I are working really hard to finish up this book fast so that it can be published this fall. I have made a creative decision that I am really stoked about. The characters enter a cave for most of this chapter. Originally I was going to blackout a lot of the background, but I decided instead to splatter the pages to build a rocky texture. Here is an example page.  I had a fun little whoopsy on one of the pages I was inking, I was filling in a big black area and spilled ink over my pretty work. Thankfully white ink is a thing and I was able to fix it.   |
Upcoming Projects
| Carman Art Camp! I am hosting a week-long art camp at my home studio during two weeks in July. The camp is open to campers 10-18 years old. We will be creating all sorts of fun projects, from watercolor to printmaking to sculpture. You can find all the details HERE. |
Art Lesson
| Art History Summary I have noticed that art history can be summed up with a sort of pyramid. Artists since the cave painters have been searching for realism as the ultimate goal. Various landmark discoveries like Contrapposto, Perspective, Foreshortening, Light and Anatomical studies, and technical improvements such as a wider palette range, the camera obscura, better paints, and ultimately the Camera itself gave us photorealism in the Photograph. Since then art has fallen away from photorealism into expressionism, abstraction, and mere concept. I believe this is a very desperate sad attempt to find meaning. Personally, I feel the height of art is the impressionists. They had liberty from photorealism because the photo existed and they could truly revel in their mediums by expressing their impression of reality.  |
Philosophical Rant
| Self Taught I do not like the phrase, “I am a self-taught artist.” I believe it is a complete misnomer and cliche that people say without thinking about what it really means. The statement lacks humility and is simply false. It lacks Humility. Really? Did you teach yourself how to draw? Looking up a video on youtube or reading a book is not teaching yourself. It is the sign of a good student, you are hungry for knowledge. Good! But do not be so prideful to forget that someone wiser than you was kind enough to pass on their knowledge to you. I am not self-taught, I am a student of Ed Emberley, Dr. Suess, Jake Parker, James Harren, Tradd Moore, Doug Dabbs, and countless others.  It is False. Did you pick up a pen by yourself? Or did someone show you how to hold it and how to use it? I have a baby right now and let me tell you, he is a dumb-dumb. He doesn’t even know how to sit up! I have to help him burp! The only “Self Taught” artists were the first cave painters. They picked up bits of charcoal and mud, formed pigments without instruction, and depicted something from their feeble existences. All while trying not to be eaten, killed, or starved. Frankly, the fact that art does exist is a miracle! After them, all art was an “evolution” of what came before. See the art history lesson above for more. Stay safe out there, love each other, and create beautiful things. Cheers, A |
