Finished SOMETHING.....

Wow, I'm always a little shellshocked when I've suddenly finished up several projects, and somehow between the made rushing through of projects, contacting clients, touching base with sub-contractors, keeping myself on schedule, then find myself panting, and looking around frantically for the next thing to do...only to realize that the main priorities are already DONE, and that's why the dust is finally settling. Website project's been greenlit and posted, and just finished up this final illustration for the potential comic book gig:

Hopefully I'll know sometime today if I got a commission off all this work. It's so strange to have several projects going, and the difference in your work ethic when it comes to something you love, versus something you're not so keen about. For instance, the website? Yeah, hate those kinds of gigs. Part of the reason why I charged a lot--if you want me to do art I hate, I won't say no, I'll just throw a number out there that might make YOU say no. If you don't, well, sure, I'll do the gig, and at least that way the money will motivate me to get off my ass.
The comic book I did the spec work for--Flash Gordon--has a species of natives from the planet that back in the day they just called Lion People. The original comics from decades ago never really made such an interesting name an equally-interesting illustration. They just basically made a human have tan fur, and a mop on their head that'd put Tina Turner's to shame. But the new editors now have done a KILLER job of making them look REALLY cool, and it's been an absolute BLAST playing around with the species, and really feeling out possible stories through their artifacts on them that'd add texture to their fictitious culture! Visual storytelling, that's what it's all about! Here's a head illustration I did of a Lion person General:

Now the amusing thing about this whole wacky career I have as an artist is this: my parents just plain don't "get it." They can't quite wrap their heads around the fact that I receive checks from people for doing silly cartoony or fantasy characters, or animating a cartoon for a commercial spot. Like most people, I think they just default to the assumption that these things just magically appear on the screens, and takes no "real" skill, whatsoever. When I was talking to them yesterday on the phone, I was telling them about this potential gig, and how it could be a game-changer for the types of gigs I get. My mom's response? "Yeah, well, don't hold your breath!" You'd have to know my mom to know that as she gets older, the filter between her thoughts and her mouth has pretty much been removed, and she really doesn't actually mean anything by that. In other words, she sometimes doesn't realize when she's being a bitch. :) I, unfortunately, sometimes suffer from the same epidemic, and so I worry how I'll be treating my daughter in the future, as well.
Either way, MAN, I love what I do! It's exhausting, but also insanely enjoyable! Who said, "If you love what you do you'll never work a day in your life?" Goddamn right. Seven years after college graduation, I'm feeling like I'm finally hitting my stride....