Hoemaster 5000

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Whew! I've had a very busy week so far. My musician friend Mikus moved away a few months ago and his mother, Laura Dicus, was in need of an intern. Laura is an emerging watercolor artist that is very kind to interns such as myself. I've been learning a great deal about the actual business behind art, and I've discovered that I have a knack for it.

One of her flowerbeds was damaged recently. As a result, she contracted a friend of mine as well as myself to do some landscaping for her. It's incredibly hard work and I've been exhausted at the end of each day, but learning how to organic garden is priceless. Already I know how to build a retaining wall, the basics behind composting, and how to not care when there's two millimeters of dirt wedged underneath my fingernails.
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Zimmer and the CLAW

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There's been a lot of birthdays this week. It was Briana Kinash's birthday last Thursday, and today happens to be the birthday of Anique Zimmer. I've known Anique since college and I've always appreciated her kind and pragmatic nature, her ability to give and receive a good critique, and the beautiful illustrations she renders.

Anique has been gaining some street cred out in the Tacoma art community. She is a member of the CLAW, the Cartoonist's League of Absurd Washingtonians, which has secret meetings twice a month.

Her artwork has been/is being exhibited at the Amocat Cafe in Tacoma all throughout July, which is a success for everyone!
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"But that's your DRAWING hand!"

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Yikes! I haven't updated this in ages and it makes me feel like some sort of blog-flake. I had been doing a lot of web design back then and I got burned out. I spent the summer doing a lot of outside activities, like hiking and swimming, and I ended up falling out of a tree and breaking my right wrist.

It was a tree I hadn't climbed before, a branch curved out of the side of it and looked to be the perfect spot. When I was sitting in it, I remember the exact moment I felt myself starting to slip forward. The drop wasn't that far, but I ended up acting reflexively and trying to catch myself when I landed. I recall hearing a snapping sound, but I thought it was a branch I had landed on.

Oops.

Either way, it wasn't so bad. I didn't feel a thing except for a few aches as it was healing, and after a few weeks my wrist healed up perfectly. I've been drawing and writing again, I have an internship, I'm selling my designs, and I've been stumbling on a lot of other artsy opportunities that I'll be talking about as I update.

Until then, enjoi!
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Secret Agent Man!

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I really need to get back in the swing of things. I don't know why, I hit a slump for a while there and only recently "rediscovered my balls" so to speak. It took a while to tease the creativity out again, it started with helping other people with character development. Then I started taking a new look at my own characters, and next thing I know I'm writing short stories and participating in online groups. Go figure.

To the right we see Mr. Maness, the man of many talents, as one of his characters. The original image is from the pilot episode album for "Keeping the Faith." He's been in productions such as "The Reindeer Monologues," "The Cleveland Cemetery Tour," and "You Can't Take It With You." He has a habit of using fancy descriptors for otherwise boring colours, but I don't hold it against him. I also like to tease him.
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Frontpage Action!

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Following my last post where I unexpectedly won entry into the October Design Gallery on ArtBistro, I received an email today where I was informed that I am currently being displayed on the front page with the other winners. I took a screen capture so I could treasure the moment forever. It has my name up there and everything, just like a real artist. Vincent is glowering at the links on the left, greeting people on the main page.

Above we see the magical rainbow unicorn, a revamp of an older t-shirt design from college, back when rainbow farting unicorns were both witty and rare.
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ArtBistro October Winner!

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I've been on hiatus for the past week so I could get my creative juices flowing again. It came as a big surprise to me when I checked my inbox and discovered that I was chosen as a winner for the October Design Gallery on ArtBistro.

"This album represents excellent level of professionalism that ArtBistro members exhibit in their art work. Congratulations to all the winners!"

I didn't know that anyone actually looked at my work on that website, but I'm pleased nonetheless. Interestingly enough, it was the illustration of Miss Kinash's character, Vincent. His dashing good looks and upbeat attitude save the day again.

The picture to the right is completely unrelated, an art trade with Mr. Kyle Bishop. He requested that I do a portrait of him, and he would do one of me. Still waiting on that, but I had been planning on doing a portrait of him anyway.
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Art Show

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Tonight I am going with friends to Andrew Noel's art show at a winery on Bainbridge Island. Last time I saw his work, it was impressionistic and full of colour. We still talk about the "fourth dimensional bubble" incident. I can only wonder what he has been doing for the past year, and how much he has improved on his style.

Lately I have been swamped with the amount of work I have to do, but I'm not complaining! I have almost finished up adding the text and information to the album cover for Grape Juice. I knocked out most of the hard work on a private illustration for another friend, and after that I'll begin work on the single-strand text for Ben Masters' business card. I think I hear my ride, so I'm cutting this short.
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