Beer & Star Wars

What's the point of having a blog if I don't shamelessly promote myself on a regular basis??? Here's a quick painting I did for an art show in Sarasota, "Beer & Star Wars." The piece didn't sell, but that's okay, 'cause I wanted to keep it, anyways. :)

Why I Love Moneyball....and Cinema, In General

Baseball, in my opinion, is one of the most boring sports in the world. To still call it, "The Nation's Past Time" in the 21st-century realm is an antiquated, nostalgic phrase that hasn't been modernized to take into account thousands of cable channels, on-demand movies, high-def 3-D flat-screen televisions that play effects-laden films, and copious amounts of the freakiest free porn accessible on your home computer.
Add to that the exorbitant number of baseball films that have already been done, and done well, might I add, and you wonder why an executive would even RISK making something like Moneyball.
But then you watch it, and it reminds you that, with every theme out there, there's a million different stories that can be told about it. Not only that, but this one had a combination of talent that, in a way, was accumulated together probably in the same respect and approach that the General Manager (and main character of Moneyball), Billy Beane, put together his Oakland A's.
Adapted from a the real-life story of Billy's ordeal of building a winning team with a fraction of the budget that a big-time team like the New York Yankees had, screenwriters Steven Zaillian and Aaron Sorkin put together a story that both humanizes and intrigues the viewer about something that, from a very literal interpretation, was a very dry and statistical analysis of how players were recruited. But from a larger perspective, the story is about fighting and breaking the reins of convention; it's about taking bold risks; it's about how money overwhelmingly influences victory; but most importantly, it's about challenging the status quo, as well as people who call themselves "professionals", and asking the hard and honest questions of why do they do things the way they do. Zaillian and Sorkin are wonderful yins to each other's yangs. I ADORE Sorkin, and truly feel, pound-for-pound, he holds the Lifetime Achievement award for creating whip-fire dialogue, snappy dynamics, and clever banter with all his characters. That being said, you can also see his imprint on a script from a mile away. With Zaillian credited as the main screenwriter, you can see how there was added a more realistic and grounded foundation that added a more acceptable sense of tone, and added the intensity of the drama of watching a man make VERY risky and bold approaches to decision-making, and getting punched in the face mercilessly, both in the professional and social realm, when he did so.
From that same perspective of taking risks, using director Bennett Miller was a bold choice to combine with an A-Lister like Brad Pitt. They guy only has two other movies under his belt, one being Capote, which, although a critical success from a critic's point of view, financially didn't make huge waves (it did, however, make enough domestically by awards season to justify its small art-house budget, and eventually quadrupled the amount it cost to make it) Bennett Miller understands how to build drama, how to add a cinematic quality to the voyeurism of watching the industry from the inside, instead of from the bleachers.
He also recruited a spectacular sound editor that knew how to set mood just from the crisp crack of the ball on a bat, to even the complete absence of sound in scenarios that really would, at that time, probably be so epic, everything around you would seem to go silent.
This movie exhibits to me everything that I LOVE about cinema. It takes an overdone genre, and makes it fresh again. It challenges convention. It grabs your eyeballs, and won't let go until the credits. It folds you into the story, and takes you for the ride. It forces you to think of a bigger idea. Most cinema is just a fun ride, a temporary reprieve, and break from redundancy. Then you have movies like this, and it just reminds you of the power art really CAN have on a viewer. So please go see this and enjoy it as much as I did!

IT'S HERE! IT'S FINALLY HERE!

The Hobbit Trailer!! Man, those dwarves look amazing!!!

Fables: Character Sketches

I've decided to make an entire sketchbook of drawings, based off my favorite comic book, Fables. Here's two of my favorite, so far: Mr. North and FlyCatcher.





Both of these sketches are rough, at this point, and don't have any trademark hand-drawn lettering of their names, as well, but just wanted to put it out there, show people what I'm doing. I've drawn over a dozen characters, so far, and each character sheet has multiple angles, emotions, and compositions. I'm really excited with how this is going, so far, and each night it's a huge thrill just to pour through the books to find the proper piece of reference material, or just seeing other artists' takes on the characters!

A good associate of mine made a new fantasy pictorial book, and put a ton of MY art in it! Feel free to go to Amazon and buy it for yourself:

Machines & Magic

A General List of Advice for Aspiring Artists

I've shared this before, but never here. Once again, a lot of these are just general life lessons, as well, but it's good to keep them in mind, as an artist, too:

· 9-to-5 will get you by, but it won't get you ahead.
· Whatever opportunity is given to you, do not snub your nose at it just because, "it's not what you're about." At first, you have no choice. As you progress, and you get better at what you do, a positive reputation is being built. If you start making a consistent surplus of money, THEN you can be picky. But I haven't got to that point, yet, and I don't know many that have!
· Only be an artist if you love it with every fiber of your being. Otherwise find a career that will make you MONEY.
· Starting out will more than likely suck. But just remember one thing--your worst day as an artist will be 100 times better than your best day as a waiter!
· Do the artwork you love first, find a market for it second. Every piece of "guilty pleasure" artwork I've done for myself has found an applicable sector of the industry that finds interest in it.
· Don't go to college 'til you think you're ready. There's no shame in taking a few years off to get the immaturity out of your system. Nothing will motivate you better at getting an education than working as a waiter or starving for a bit!
· Know thyself: Be honest with your talent, know your limitations. There's no shame in having a certain style nor being capable of copying the style of your favorite artist. Have you honestly been trying as hard as you can? Start with what you know and are good at, but continue to drive yourself towards being not only a better artist, but a better person.
· Hustle, hustle, hustle! Always keep an eye out for opportunity! Seek out new avenues and clients that may need your services!
· DON'T BE AFRAID TO TALK TO PEOPLE! That's the biggest obstacle the majority of artists have. Remember—it's not necessarily your art the client's sold by, but the person. Plus it gets easier the more you do it.
· In relation to the top one, word of mouth has been my best marketing strategy out of everything I've done. If people like you, and you're easy to work with, your clients won't mind sharing you.
· If you have a better idea for a project than a client, don't hesitate to suggest it. The worst they can do is say no. But in my experience, people appreciate creative, passionate individuals. And clients are always looking for creative and original approaches to promoting their product.
· Choose your battles wisely. Is it worth bitching about every little difference you have with your client's vision on a project? Very rarely. Is it worth going to court over a lousy $200, or would it be better to let it go and continue on the path towards new, better clients?
· Don't work in a vacuum. If you're dubious about a piece of your art, show it to other people and get their feedback. I don't necessarily take the advice too literally, but if five or more people point out the same issue in an illustration, dear God, change it!
· Be inspired. Read magazines, talk to artists, go to shows, take classes, keep practicing, try different techniques or medium. Doing so has a two-fold effect: first off, it keeps your mind open to different approaches to art. I went into Computer Illustration kicking and screaming. Now I preach the gospel about it. Secondly, seeing other art styles keeps you on your toes by showing you who your competition is.
· NOBODY gets their dream job, coming out of the gate. Suck it up, make it work for you, learn as much as you can, and if you're still not happy, figure out a good Exit Strategy. Everyone starts on the ground floor, but it doesn't mean you need to stay there.
· IT'S A SMALL WORLD—Any good businessman/woman lives or dies by their reputation, and none more so than in the microcosm of the art world! We're all going to the same conventions, hanging with people in the same fields, going to the art colleges, entering the same competitions, and talking the entire time. I've seen people get such poor reputations that their businesses dissolve—don't let that be YOUR story!
· Remember that freelancing is a business, just like everything else. This means you have to keep track of everything, just like you would in any other business. Keep track of your mileage for tax deductions, keep spreadsheets of expenses, invoices, food expenses. Keep track of your website traffic. Did that last promotional mailer you send increase the traffic to your site? If it did, what kind of percentage increase did you receive, and better yet, what percentage gave you a job?
· The point of an education is to work smarter, not necessarily harder!
· It never pays to be a dick. Just reinforcing the last point.
· Work for a company in a specific industry before trying it on your own. Every successful company 99.99% of the time is started by someone that worked for a company in that industry before trying it themselves. There are so many factors involved in really big projects, that to just blindly try to do it from scratch--and expect to get it right--is almost guaranteed financial and professional suicide.
· Sometimes you're going to have clients that are hard to please. If you're starting to gain momentum with what you're doing, and don't need certain difficult clientele, one very polite way to try to get rid of a client is to significantly increase your pay scale. That way, it'll either scare them away or at least make it more worth your while to deal with them!
· At the same time, remember that a client is only a temporary boss. With a normal boss at a full-time gig, you have to put up with the person on a day-to-day basis. With a client that's a jerk, eventually the project will be over and they'll go away. So take it on the chin, if you can, just to make the process go as smoothly and as quickly as possible.
· Know basic contracting lingo. Understand what the term "work for hire" literally means, and remember that ANY contract can be revised or negotiated. Never hurts to try.
· Promote yourself. With postcards, tearsheets, websites, banners, skywriting, business cards, phone calls, whatever! Just do it. No one gets "discovered"—they are made aware of someone's presence by that person.
· I'd recommend starting self-promotion on a small scale, and going from there. An e-mail with a link to your site is as cheap as it gets. It's got a 99% chance of being deleted, but it costs nothing but time, and when you're starting out, you typically have more time than money.
· Step back, reevaluate. I'm not necessarily talking about in painting, either. Make a list of what you want to accomplish, figure out HOW and WHEN you want to accomplish it. Timelines are very important. Not making self-imposed deadlines is the slacker's road to complacency! Don't be afraid to revise that plan, as necessary, as time marches on. What you thought would work, and what actually does may be two different things.
· If something didn't work, really do some soul-searching as to what results you were anticipating, and what happened. It may just be bad circumstances or timing, but more than likely you were in error in your judgment, and the plan needs to be altered, or a different approach needs to be taken. Remember--the definition of insanity is doing the same destructive actions and expecting a different result!
· Understand starting out that you will make mistakes. How you handle those mistakes, or make them work for you is entirely what will make you sink or swim! This applies to life, as well as your career!
· Diplomacy is a very valuable skill in any business, not necessarily just art. If you can diffuse a tense situation, convince a stubborn client to your vision, maturely handle a hostile coworker, or put out any other personal fires that sometimes arise from all of us just plain being human, you'll have acquired one of the most valuable assets needed in being a professional, regardless what field you're in.
· Don't fight fate too much. Let life take you where it will. Sometimes sticking too closely to an initial dream might cause you to ignore a better opportunity up ahead.

Sometimes You Just Gotta Draw A Lizard!

Sometimes you just gotta draw a lizard!