Ah Yes, New England

I am still tooling around in old New England. Be back in gear working like the seam of my pants soon.

Gav Green

Another...almost final...worked on it at a Starbucks in Newport.

Gav Red

Tweaked and complete. Another of many self portraits that will rotate in on the Bio page.

Experience is a dirty word

It is the only thing that you can have too little of or too much of and therefore be practically unemployable. Experience is that great "Catch 22". When you are young it is the greatest barrier to getting a job and when you are my age it is like a brand that marks you as "difficult". It is a slight advantage to the younger artist with no experience because like all artists you can beg and not look bad doing it. "Give me a chance, I will do it for nothing". The magic words to many employers. But when you are very experienced, begging is no longer an option for obvious reasons. One , it looks really bad, is surely more pathetic, and always marks you as untrustworthy. I mean, why is this experienced guy begging, what felony record could he be trying to hide? Is he going to stab me in the back once I hire him and take my job? What kind of "ploy" is this guy trying to pull?

I am now at the latter end of the experience chain, where too much of it is either looked at as a threat to others or that you are out of touch with the "new". That can be true with a lot of artists my age, set in their ways and unwilling to grow. You have to stay up on what is happening and use your "expertise" to make it work better. I have actually begun to use the word, "expertise" or "expert" when describing myself, it is a better word. For one it seems to describe yourself in the present tense, something that the word "experience" cannot do. The word "expert" brings with it confidence and problem solving (all important to experience as well) without any negative baggage or predisposed disagreement. Isn't always the case that when you hear that someone is "experienced", you immediately feel that there might be a problem, that they may use their experience as a weapon. Many "experienced" people are pains in the ass, look at your parents, they always want to trump you with their experience (like yours doesn't count). The word "experience" itself, especially in my shoes, has a tendency to give the audience an idea that there is a long list of old ideas, old stories, and emotional baggage that trails behind me like an anchor. So I am now an "expert" at what I do. Wow, that sounds better all ready. Screw the word "experience".

Shadows

A memory from Bajus Jones and the great Al Chiarito

Bio Page part 3!

Even more about me! All those years of rotoscoping crap has finally paid off.

Bio Page

The "bio" page of my website is taking shape. A variety of self portraits in different styles and media will wipe on and to the right will include a filmography, biography, resume, etc. Again, it's all about me.

Rough BIO

Here is a rough of the "BIO" page of Horrendous Fiasco's website. It will include lots of info and several portraits of yours truly. It is all about me.

It's about making decisions!

Technology has given us one thing in spades, choices. You can take a slider in Photoshop and scroll through a million colors, you can tweak a line in Illustrator until your Wacom tablet is obsolete. If you want to be efficient, make decisions. Believe it or not it will make you a better artist. Before computers, back in the Ice Age, it was imperative to be decisive. When designing a character in animation, you inked a cell, flipped it over and began the process of coloring the damn thing. You made choices immediately, otherwise you were forever mixing paint. You didn't have the option of doing much else, you decided on a general look and palette and you carefully mixed the paint. You were using your head and your eye, not relying on a machine to influence the decision for you. I remember the first character I designed and colored in the computer, I ended up spending the entire day, shifting colors and by the end of the day had at least six versions that were acceptable. It took me another whole day to decide which one I was going to use. I never wasted so much time in my life. The funny thing is that the one I ended up with was the first color version I had done. Technological dumbass am I!

Spy Illustrations

Here are some illustrations I did for the Spy Museum in Washington DC and a book they were publishing. I did many illustrations for this client from 2000-2005. The initial design style was created by L. Todd Myers and the rest is history.

What is "vision" anyway?

We hear it all the time. "He was a man with vision". There are people with "vision", there are people who say they have a "vision". Is it a "have" or "have not" situation? Are the people with "vision" the ones who have realized their "vision" or are they just the "lucky ones" who have had their "visions" accepted and applauded by the powers that be. Is it this acceptance that makes them the "people with vision"? What happens if a "vision" is unaccepted, or misunderstood. Are you then just "ahead of your time". What the hell is a "vision" anyway? Isn't it just an accepted idea? So if it just an accepted idea than who really has "vision"? Isn't it just luck, "being at the right place at the right time"? I think I have a headache.

What would I be without Cavemen?

I don't know.

More Recent Sketches

I am making a real habit out of this. When you have been an artist as long as I have, it is easy to get complacent. I am trying my damnedest to rediscover new techniques and styles. It is not easy to redefine or refocus your art. I have been a chameleon most of my artistic life, able to copy many different styles. Some of that was out of necessity. Now I am trying to find one that I can call my own. HA!

Brush Pen

Here are some posts from a recent sketchbook. Just playing around with a new brush pen from Prismacolor. They have a nice solid tip, smooth action, and feel. Faber Castell also makes a decent brush pen and offers several sets in color.

Jimmy

Working on a design for a little short called, "Jimmy's World of Hurt". Here is a rough and preliminary color sketch (in Illustrator) of the main dude, "Jimmy".

Initial Design

Starting to design the Horrendous Fiasco Home page. Here is a preliminary design.

Trailer Park Jesus

Yeah, I know I am going to Hell. I am working on several canvases and this one came into mind today. I have nothing against "the Jesus" but I do have a problem with how people view Him. Jesus will have the American flag wrapped around his shoulders and hold a "fish" symbol mug. I am sure I will work in a "Honk if you love Jesus" sign somewhere. The background will depict a trailer and a car on blocks, if you would like to make suggestions for other objects in the foreground or background, please leave a comment.