Switching Gears

Hello my friends. I am sorry, but this is another short blog. The reason is, I am in the middle of switching gears as the saying goes. Let me explain.

While I was in the hospital, at one point, I quit breathing because of being over medicated. But I pulled through to tell the tell. But this really got me to thinking about what is really important to me in this life. One of those things turns out to be that I really want to take this passing on of knowledge very seriously. A few years ago I had made up my mind that I want to write a book about all that I have learned and am still learning. So, instead of putting this off, I have started the book. The chapter I am working on now is the one about building a portfolio, which I promised to share with you. I will have to post it and all lessons in several parts from here on out, just simply because of the length. This also means, it might be longer between the installments because I will be doing sample Illustrations to accompany it.

Now, 80% of the book will be available right here and for free. But I will also hold some back too so people will buy the book. I hope that this book will be something I can leave behind to help people for years to come. I will share secrets with you that some artist will never have a chance to know. I will teach you the color method that is only known and passed down from Masters to their students, and so on. I know at this point, I am no Master, but I do have the training and if I live long enough, I will reach that level.

Basically my goal with this is to give you an education that would cost you and your family 6 digits for under 100 bucks. It will also include an instructional video. My goal is to have this done and out by this time next year. I am not a greedy man, and this isn't about the money. This is about keeping a promise to someone I love and appreciate dearly. So I guessing that I will have to self-publish, which is fine. Cheryl and I have plans to do that anyways. (and that is another thing we will talk about in a couple of months.)

I know I said this in the last blog but next time around, I'll have some more sketches from the Klowny painting. (This one is going to have tons of details) and post the first part of the Portfolio chapter. I am getting ready to bring everything I do up a level or 2. Thank you all for sharing this ride with me. Much Love. Peace and Blessings.

Kitty-Boo!

Hello my friends. I just realised I need to up-date the website. Yikes. Above is Kitty-Boo, a sketch for a new painting I started today called "The Ten Klown Mandments " written by Michael McCarty & Mark McLaughlin This sketch is just a part of the whole thing. One the next blog I should have the rest of the sketches, and show you how they all come together for the final painting.

This one is going to be a blast. For one, its a break from the "Mental Scars" project and gives me something that I really like to draw, which is anything strange or scary. As we have talked about in the last several blogs. I am going to share a lot of info with you all, but I just am not going to do it every blog. Sometimes, I just like to check in, and show you what I am up to, like today. Nothing heavy, just catching up.

I am feeling much better, but I have been having problems. My moods have been awful, they've been up and down because of problems with blood sugar. I'm amazed that Cheryl hasn't beat me to a bloody pulp yet. The doc told me today, NO MORE CANDY OR SUGAR! He was kind of firm about it too. I think I need to listen this time. Ho Hum. Cheryl went and got me some sugarless candy that is actually pretty good, so maybe this want be as bad as all that. But because I am back on prednisone, my sugar levels are sky high but there not great when I'm off of prednisone either. So, in my attempt to live a long life and be healthier, I have given up smoking, booze, candy, most pain medicines, and most all foods that are fried.

I know one thing, I sure couldn't get through this without Cheryl. She's been my rock through some hard times here. But anyways, time to go. Ghosthunters night! Peace and Blessings!

Getting My head back into it.

Hello my friends! What a busy week it has been. The most challenging part is trying to make up for lost time on my art without compromising the quality level I want to produce. Above is the cover for the "Mental Scars" graphic novel I have been promising to show you for a while now., and I am finishing another page up for the Novel this morning as well.

Then I am going to take a couple of days to do a new clown painting for the Darc Karnivale book. This one is going to be a blast and I can hardly wait to tear into it! I'll be showing you sketches in the next blog.

Well, since the last blog, I sure have gotten a lot more healthier, thank goodness! I am going to the Doc Wednesday for a check up and I get the feeling everything will come out fine. I've really been on a health kick of late. I quit smoking almost 4 months ago. I quit drinking a couple of weeks ago. I'm eating salads and drinking more juices, as well as nice tea's. I'm even getting Cheryl to do some of it. I've even got her thinking more like an "artist" when it comes to money and I can see her being more happy and less stressful. It is a different way of life, but if you embrace it, you will diffidently be more happy. We also have some things in the works that will make a big difference in our lives as well very soon.

I had to read back through a couple of blogs to figure out where we left off in our talking about being an Illustrator before I got sick. Now, so far, none of you have asked me any questions so I am guessing you understand everything I have been talking about so far, which is what to put up on a site you want your client to see, writing a letter to potential clients, and how to start looking for work. I also gave you the link to the Andrew Loomis book considered the Illustrators Bible. I trust that you are reading and practicing the things you are learning from the book. If not, your just wasting your time. Anything in this life worth having takes a lot of work to get. If you think not, then your in for a very rude awakening. Work at what you love hard, and everyday.

Although there are plenty of more things to talk about in the things we've already discussed, and we will come back to these things as we go, lets start talking about promoting yourself. Promoting yourself can be either one of the best things you ever do, or one of the worse. Depending on your grasp of things. Personally I spend 2 hours a day on Promoting. Now when I say Promoting, this covers everything from working on the website, sending out letters, branding the name Wicked Kitty Studio, networking with people on Face Book, writing a blog, doing interviews, radio and film. An I do this 7 days a week. To me, it is not a job anymore, it is my way of life. An Cheryl does her part as well. She spends a lot of time branding and spreading my name around.

The key here is not wasting your time on things that will do you know good. For Instance, My Space is a waste of time. Your not going to "Network" with anyone that will really help your career or visa versa. It is a place that everyone goes to tell each other how wonderful they are, or talk about other people. Politics and personal agendas. With Face book, you are friending and targeting the exact people you want and need to. For instance, I friend some artist that I have known through the years. Maybe 5%. But artist are not going to give me work or spend money on my art. They're worried about feeding their own bellies. lol So, 35% of the people I target are publishers, movie people and people that work in the media business. People that can help my career along, and the saying is true, "It is who you know" never doubt that.

The great thing here is that I don't have time to "go out" with friends, and it's very rare that I meet anyone that is "into" the same things as I am that is local to me. When I do go out, it's with Cheryl and sometimes the kids. So one Face Book, the very people I am networking with, also turn out to be good friends, simply because of the we do the same things. So It turns into business an pleasure. So, that is one of the big reasons I love Face Book so much.

The other 60% of my friends on Face Book are friend/fans. This gives me a chance to talk and deal directly with the people that like my art, want to buy my art, ect. It's almost like being at a convention and meeting people face to face, except much cheaper on the artist. But the one on one feedback is priceless.

The downside of Face Book is the people that want to IM you and you don't know them. You never know if there wanting to talk business or junk. 95% of the time, it's junk, and I just don't have time for that. I keep the IM just for my family, close personal friends, and business. If you want to talk to me, please just send me an e-mail and I promise, I will write you back within 24 hours.

If any one out there has figured out how to hide that your online when your on Face Book, I would really appreciate you telling me how to do it.

Moving on. It is important to keep your Blog and website up to date, and find ways to make your blog interesting. I mean, when I go read someones blog, and yes I do read several, the last thing I want to read is how great the person is. I do want to hear the good news and the good things, as well as the bad. I want to read what it is like realistically to be in that persons shoes, and Its great to pick up tips and tricks, or funny experiences. As well as with your website. I make it a point to update it at least 3 times a month. I still have features that I haven't put on there yet, such as podcast. I can also film myself talking and show you examples of what I am doing while I am doing it. So over the next several months I am really going to be changing the way I do things to make the blog and website more interesting.

Another biggy is if your shy, take some drama classes and get past that. You have to learn to put yourself out there, get up in front of people, talk and be relaxed the whole time your doing it. I remember when I was growing up, I was taught, "You never know unless you ask" and that is very true. I can't even begin to tell you the times that I got something just simply because I had the courage to ask. Don't be afraid to contact blog radio stations, or your local ones, tell them who you are and what you do. You might be surprised at the positive response you will get.

Next time around, we'll cover what to put into your portfolio that will get you work. Time for work my friends. Tell your friends about what where doing here. I would love for you all to share your experiences as well. Much love all.... Peace and Blessings.

Finally getting healthy again.

Hello my friends. As most of you know, I have been in the hospital, and that has been coming for some time now. I've just been so busy, I kept putting off doing what I needed to do to get healthy.

Before I go any future I want to thank each and everyone of you for all the e-mails, and the letters and comments that you sent me on face book. I had no idea that so many people really cared about my well being. It touched me and Cheryl deeply. Thank you all so very much. Now, as I promised, what happened to me put me in the hospital.

I got Ulcertive Colitis when I was in the Army, 33 years ago, and it is something that I have had to learn to live with. Most of the time I can keep in under control, but when I moved up to Michigan, I was put in a very bad situation and put under a great deal of stress, which is not how it was supposed to be. My nerves got bad, and the colitis flared up. I started going to the VA here, and of course they gave me the medicines I needed. (If you don't know what colitis is, It is basically bleeding open wounds in your colon) One of the main treatments for it is predizone, which is basically a steroid and can be bad for you if taken over a long period of time. Because of having to take it on and off through the years, it has given me diabetes, high blood pleasure and a few other surprises.

After I moved in with Cheryl, my nerves finally started calming down, and it started to clear up. But, the doc pulled me off the predizone to early and the flair up came back. So this went on for a few months back and forth. I even got a bad flu because my body had gotten so weak.

So as a result of all of this, my body dehydrated really bad, my kidneys where shutting down, my colon swole to about twice its size or at least it felt like it, but the icing on the cake was to find out that my blood pressure had dropped very low. Like 80 over 50, and I couldn't keep my balance or anything.

Off to the hospital I go. And one of the first things I find out when I get there is that I also now have a Hernia. Another souvenir of laying carpet for so many years. I was in intense pain to say the least. Once my body started hydrating again, I started passing stones, and the pain in my colon was unbearable. So, they where shooting me up with some pretty serious drugs. I was taking trips and never left the hospital. lol But after 4 days I started showing signs of life, and feel better now than I have in a very long time.

Now I have a ton to catch up on. I hope to be back on track by the next blog and get back down to sharing things with you all. But here is something you may enjoy. It's my 7 minute part in the documentary "The Kings of Scream"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JcrsD7cr9A0

Goodnight Moon.

Hello my friends. If you noticed lately I have been titling my blogs after songs. Sorry. I'm on a big music kick right now. Above you see the finishing touches to the end of "Target Earth" A book my very dear friend, Gary Babb wrote. Like George, he is one of my few friends that never stabbed me in the back. Below that is a new video from my young friend from Africa, Jad also known as Utiqano Bloods. With ever new one this young man does for me, they just keep getting better. He also runs my international fan club, which is up to 3500 fans. This kid came out of nowhere to help me, and man, what a blessing he is.

My birthday is coming up in couple of weeks, and my sweetie got me an early birthday present that I really needed. When I moved to Michigan, I had no idea how cold it got here, and the people I came with didn't think it would matter, and didn't warn me. But yes it did. I put my car in storage, and in it was my computer and all the electronics I owned. Needless to say, I lost all of it. MY computer, my scanner, my printer an on and on.

Since Cheryl and I have got together, my angel has been doing her best to bring me back with each idem I need to do my work. For my birthday, she got me the top of the line printer and scanner. It's 3 times better than what I had before. She can't understand why I praise her so highly. I know you all know. My art career was almost on the back burner again for a few more years until I could re-build my life and replace all the things that Evil stole from me. He even tried to steal my soul and heart. But when I was sinking into the mucky black tar which is hell, she grabbed me by the arm and pulled me out and look at me now. She gave me another chance, and I swore I would kick arshe and not look book, and I am.

I can show the cover to the Mental Scars cover in the next blog. I've already showed it on facebook, and people are really into it. OH Yeah!!! An I have much more art to show you. This week i am working on a couple more pages for the Mental Scars graphic Novel. So I will be showing you a couple of panels from that.

Ok, down to business. I am going to give you a few links that I have used to get work over the years. Now these are intended for writers, but they work the same for artist. Just look for the artist submission info. In some cases, you want find it, so just submit the same way a writer does, except in the subject line put Artist Submission. Save these links, because they are valuable.

http://www.ralan.com/

http://www.internet-resources.com/writers/markets/online-guidelinesAB.htm

http://www.marketlist.com/smallpress.asp

I will give you more later, but these 3 will keep you very busy for a long time. Now be realistic, if your just starting out, you will be lucky to get any money. You will be looking for work period just to get your name out there and whatever promotion you can get. If your a pro, you can also find plenty of paying work here as well.

Remember the last blog and how I told you to write a letter. If you send out 10 letters a week, chances are you will hear back from at least 3 of them, and 1 of them will offer you work. When I first started this business that was the results I got 6 years ago.

Okay my friends, it's time to blast. Cheryl want's to watch a horror movie and I am soooooooo ready to chill. Peace and Blessings.

"Only God knows why"

Hello my friends. Above are the next steps in the painting i am re-doing for reissue. It is for a book called "Target Earth" written by one of my very best friends in the world, ever, Gary Babb. His website is here. I believe he has started a blog too, and I will have the link to that in the next blog. In this edition, you can see we are getting close to being done with the painting. Just a few finishing touches left to go. Those are done, and I will show you the final piece in the next blog.

Now to continue my part to help my fellow artist. There is so much to cover, and I am trying to do it in a system so to speak. This time lets cover a letter that you send out to a publisher, film maker or whoever it is your trying to get work from. Next time we'll cover how to find people to work for.

What I am sharing with you now basically was taught to me by Mr. Todd Lockwood, so pay attention. I am going to do this in the blog just the way you should send out a letter to a Art Director or Buyer. Now, the info is made up mostly. Sorry, but I do not want to make my personal info available to the world.

Nick Rose

Your mailing address

Your phone number

Your E-mail address

Your website info

Date

Dear Art Director, (actually insert name if you know it, and remember, MANNERS go a long way. Things like sir, ma'am. Thank You, ect)

My Name is Nick Rose and I am a professionally Illustrator. I specialize in doing Illustrations for Books, Magazines, CD's, and working with Movie companies. For movie companies I do everything from Movie posters to Graphic Novels based on their Movies.

I am a freelancer and saw your company (Insert company name) and felt that I could be an asset to you. Some of the more notable companies I have worked for are

*Insert here

*(now if you have not worked for any notable companies at this point, just leave this part out and go to the next step.)

*

*

*

You can go here (now this is where you give a link to just art, nothing else liked we talked about in the last blog) and see samples of my work. (only show work you have done this last 2 year, nothing else. A Art Director only wants to see what you are doing now, and you are judged by your worst piece. So make darn sure that your worst piece rocks if you want to eat.)

I do hope to hear back from you and sincerely hope that we can work together.

Best Regards,

Nick Rose

Your website addy again.

Your blog addy if you have one. Just in case they want to know more about you.

E-mail addy

Phone number.

Now under different circumstances you will need to adjust to who you are writing too. BUT REMEMBER these simple rules....*

*Never send this letter out to more than one person at a time. If you do, I promise whoever receives the letter will be considered an insult, your letter deleted, and if they have a good memory will remember you name for the wrong reasons.

*Make sure you know as much as you can find out about the person you are dealing with, and personalize it to them. Your not dealing with a computer, you are dealing with a person. This letter is just a template. Make it personal. Be friendly, courteous and well mannered. That goes a long way with someone who is considering you for a job.

*Point out your strong points and be CONFIDENT!

*An the biggest point is that there are 100's of artist out there looking for the same job, so get rid of any ego you may have. It will destroy you. You are applying for work just like anyone else, and just because in your mind you just did a masterpiece and the world should bow down and worship you, you best get past that and save that for your fantasies. The reality is there is always tons of other artist out there better than you, and you will serve yourself well by being humble and very thankful for any work that comes to you. An when that works come, you work you arse off and show them that they did good by putting faith in you, and that working with you was a nice and happy thing for them. As an Illustrator you have to build a list of clients, and clients only come from doing work that make you customers happy. Without happy clients, you will work in a Wal-mart to make end meets.

I think one of the things I read and hear from so called professional artist is that how what an idiot a certain Art Director is. Okay, lets get real here. This AD gave you a job because they liked your style or your manners, or whatever. But they gave YOU the job, and then when you don't do the job they expect, so you start saying their idiots? The point is, their job is to get you to create a piece of art that fits into the style of their publication is printing. If you don't, they have to tell you about it, and try to guide you to what you they felt you could do when they hired you. That's their job, just as it is yours to create a piece that fits the vision of the assignment they gave you.

I have been there before. By no means am I close to being perfect. I had a shot at doing a cover for a very notable pulp style magazine a couple of years ago. The story I was doing was awesome, and the Art Director was awesome as well. A wonderful lady by the name of Deb Taber, and to be honest, i was out of my league at the time. It was a sci-fi story and I had just started learning to do digital art. The woman worked with me as hard as she could, but in the end, the publisher and good friend, pulled the art. It was nobody's fault but my own. Ms. Taber worked as hard as anyone has ever to try to help me produce a good piece. But, I was to nervous. Just learning to paint digitally, and to get a dream assignment like this one, was just to much at the time. I tried way to hard and the art just sucked in a big way.

It seems these days that everyone loves me and I couldn't do a bad piece in people's minds if I tried. But trust me I do, and I sure as heck don't blame it on the people who gave me the job. They try to help me and make majik between us. If I fail, it's my fault and no one's else, and these are these the lessons that we learn on our road to be the things of dreams. So I say to ANY Illustrator that puts down Art Directors, your just a Damn fool, and you should be thankful that you even got the chance to work with such talented people. Do you think honestly think they got the job as a Art Director because their Idiots? I think you should look in the mirror personally.

Deep breath,, breaths out slowly. Okay my friends, that is one of those personal issues with me, but on to other things. Cheryl and I decided where gonna attend our first convention together, and my first in 2 years? It will be in November and I will give more details soon my friend. It is in Indy, home of Gen-con, and it is a horror convention. So for the season of 09 we will be at one convention only and this will be your chance to hang out with us, and just have a good time. I really am hoping to see a lot of our face book friends there.

On a personal level... I'm a happy little camper, I finally got my wholeeeeeeeeee music collection downloaded to my comp. Thats over 4000 songs, 1500 of them being sci-fi/horror movie themes and soundtracks, including Godzilla!!!!!! I am such a happy fellow. It is so cool to hear all the music I love so much, (That most people look at me funny for listening too) while I work with these awesome headphones my baby got me. Oh yeah, listening to southern metal now, Primus!!!!!!

Tomorrow it's back to working on the graphic novel again. So my friends, I'm gonna watch a Gamera movie and head to bed with my sweetheart. Thank you all for stopping by. Peace and Blessings!!!!

Painting in Progress and Illustrator tips

Hello my friends. Above you can see the painting is moving along. In the next blog, it will be finished. I've got to admit that I have been having fun with this one, but its time to get busy and move on to other projects. For one, I need to get the logo and type put on the cover of the Mental Scars cover so we can show that off.

I'm excited because my baby starts her vacation after work today. She'll have a whole week just to relax, write and have fun. I do work better when she is here to. For some reason she makes me feel more comfortable and I am able to focus more. Yesterday I got to talk to some old friends that I haven't been able to talk to in a while, mostly because of our schedule conflicts. Mark, George and Daniel. Daniel is really moving ahead with his mask making business. He just got the rights to do all the Lon Chaney masks, Sr. and Jr. I mean how cool is that. You can go here and see tons of his work, finished and in progress. A true Eye feast! And you should be able to go here and order one. If not, just drop me a line and I'll put you in touch with him.

Both Mark and George are doing great. Both have been turning out some awesome art of their own. George just did a movie poster that really rocks. Probably his best piece to date. Mark is working on a couple of new pieces for Dragon-con that look like they will rock. One of them is a Lovecraft piece that really is just frigging awesome.

I got to talk with Suzi last Sunday, and she is doing great these days. She has turned into a movie producer as well as actress/model. We also talked about our plans to work on some projects together which I think I've mentioned before. But in the fall of 2010 you will see Suzi and me doing Horror conventions and shows together promoting a line of Suzi/Nick stuff. Should be a blast and probably you will see Daniel at some of the shows as well.

You know, and I know you all are tired of hearing this, but I just can't tell you all how happy I am these days. One of the biggest and main reasons is Cheryl. I've never had anyone in my life treat me as good as she does. She really loves me, and i can see it in her eyes whenever I look into them. She got me a new pair of headphones for me the other day. My old ones got ate in the printer, or the plug in part did, and I just can't focus without my tunes. What I am saying is that I don't have to ask her to do things for me, she knows me well enough to know what I need, and always does special things for me. I've never had anyone in my life that cared about what i needed or wanted, it's always been about them. I feel like the luckiest man on the planet to have her and believe me, I walk the line, because i know I got a great thing and I would never do anything to loose her. I will be at her side until the day I die, and after that if I can figure out how to do the ghost thing! lol

Ok, lets get down to business here. This will probably take several blogs to do, well actually, it could take a whole lot more than that to share with you the things that may or may not help you on your road. So, lets get to it.

First off lets assume that you are in the same boat as me, and can not or could not afford to go to a well known art school. To be an professional Illustrator, there are things you need to know, and I am going to do my best to help you. If I don't explain something good enough, or you still don't understand, just leave me a comment and I will do my best to get to it. After we finish all the things it takes to be a pro, then I am going to start sharing things I have learned training under Todd Lockwood, and Master Daniel Horne. I am going to do my very best to give you all that you need to make your dream comes true. But remember, a lot of it is up to you. You have to study and practice, practice and practice.

Go here and study this book. It is by the Master of Illustration, Andrew Loomis. This book, Creative Illustration is considered the "Bible" of Illustration by every major player in the field and is considered the standard. I have read it twice so far, and plan on reading and studying it again very shortly now. Each time you read it, you will learn something new. Even though the book was written about 50 years ago, every part of it except the last few chapters, which are about advertising are still the standard. I can not express this enough. A lot of what you learn in a art college is free to you in this book. As a matter of fact, most of the things they teach you in art school, come from this book.

The next thing you need to consider is your portfolio. You need a hard copy one and an Online one as well. Now remember, the things I am going to tell you come from my 3 years as a Art Director, things that have been shared with me by other art directors, such as Irene Gallo of TOR books. Artist like Daniel, Todd, and so many others. I am in no way trying to tell you that I know all there is to know about this, but what I am telling you, I am sharing all the information that I have learned from working in the field and the knowledge I have gain by the friends I have that work in the field.

Art Directors are very busy people. If you are lucky enough to have one take the time to go to your online website, then you need to make it very easy for them to see the art. You want it to load quickly on the page, and make it easy for the AD to move through the images. So, with this in mind, lets change the way you think. If you have a website, then make it for the fans only. The fans want to know about you, your bio, pictures of you, buy your stuff, ect. Art Directors just want to see art, quickly.

This works well. Start an account like Photobucket, where you can put your art, and just your art. If you can afford the premium account with no advertisements, then that would be to your advantage, but even with the adds, it does serve the purpose. An with the economy being what it is, free is good.

When I start the next blog, I will explain how to get them to see your work in the first place. Well, I have to get back to work. Look for the next Blog Sunday morning. Peace and Blessings everyone.

Among the living again.

Hello my friends. My apologizes for not posting sooner, but I have been down and out with the Flu. But I am back now, feeling good and stronger than ever. Now, I just have to get caught up on all the work I've fallen behind on, which includes the blog I promised on what it takes these days to be a professional illustrator. There was a time when just your drawing and painting skills could get you through, but not anymore. So, in the next blog, we will get started on that.

Above is an old painting that I am re-vamping for its re-issue. It is for a book called "Target Earth" Written by Gary Babb. This is the second book in a series of 3 books called "Earth is Ours" I did the original painting 4 years ago while I was training under Daniel. It was the last painting I did in Acrylic Paint, ( I moved to oils after this one.) and was painted on a canvas board.

Now, 4 years later, I am re-doing it in Corel Painter. So now comes the test to see what I truly have learned in those 4 years. It should be fun, and I will show it to you step by step. In the pictures above, I saved it about every 20 minutes to show you. One of the things I wanted to do was to make the "Simian" creature more ape-like in the leg area. So you can see as it goes, I keep trying different things to get what I am after. It is getting closer, but still not there just yet. The bad thing is that I know longer have the original reference pictures I used for the paintings, so I am winging it. But there are going to be more changes. Each time I post this, i will start with the original, so you can easily see the changes as we go.

I pulled out of the "Comic" cover I was telling you about. I really don't want to get into the reasons on here, but lets say I had questions about using copyrighted characters that I was being told was owned by this gentleman. He couldn't produce any proof that he owned them, and I don't want to get sued or ruin my name or reputation to make a few bucks, or for any reason for that matter. So, I bowed out. I do wish the gentleman the best of luck though.

I should be able to show you the cover to Mental Scars pretty soon. I just need to set the type and logo for it, and make sure Richard and Mischa release it on the Mental Scars site first.

Since we are going to be working on Gary Babb's book for a few blogs or so, check my old friend out at www.garywbabb.com I hear he's a good writer. His first book, "Earth is Ours" won best Sci-fi book of the year at a San Diego convention. That's pretty impressive if you ask me. Maybe one day I will read one of his books. lmao!!! (In his 4th book, he made me one of the main characters, just so I would read the book! Of course I am just a brain floating around in a jar of liquid. But somehow, I am the hero. I think I might have to read this one.)

So now my friends I have to get down to it and work some serious days to catch up. Thank you all for stopping by! Peace and Blessings!

Something serious.

Hello my friends and thank you for stopping by. Some great news is that in under 10 days, we have over 3000 fans on face book. This is a new face book record and Cheryl and I are just thrilled. A lot of this is due to the hard work of our PR man, Utiqano Bloods. Utiqano, we thank you so very much. Still to think that so many people would take my art in like this just bring tears to our eyes and a joy to our heart.

But there is a downside. I have always said that I never wanted to get to a point that I couldn't take the time to say thank you for being a fan or just saying hi. But, it has gotten to the point that when I pop up on Face book to see how my friends and family are doing, that I am bombarded with IM's from people I do not know, In languages I don't understand, and a lot of times cussing me because I didn't respond to them quick enough or understand what they are trying to say to me.

I use to wonder why a lot of the big time guys never responded to fans outside of conventions, but I am getting a first hand look at the reasons for this, and I am starting to feel like for my safety and the safety of the people I love I am going to have to be the same way. If you think it's an over reacting, ask John Lennon how he feels about it.

So, if you want to talk to me, send me an e-mail. My e-mail addy is posted everywhere, but I will no longer respond to any IM's unless it is from a close personal friend or business partner. I spent several hours trying to find out how to appear invisible on Face book and hopefully my settings will appear like that to fans now.

It really hurts to be like this, but I am a very busy man, and I do not just have time to respond to jerks who have nothing better to do than harass a hard working person who is just trying to make a living. An when some people cross the line and threaten the people I love and call them names, it makes me want to just get my hands on them and show them that I was a carpet layer for 40 years of my life and I could break their sorry butts in half if I wanted to. But as we have been talking about in the last blogs, I am trying to be less angry and be at peace with myself. But when people go after the people I love, the kid gloves come off.

On normal news, I am almost done with the Mental Scars cover and should finish it very easy in the morning, and then I am doing the cover for Jonathan's comic I have been talking about. I'm really gonna help him get this out there because this man is starting something big with a lot going on. An for some reason, here lately, I have been lucky enough to meet up with the right people at the right time and all of it has turned into big business for Wicked Kitty Studio. We are very blessed right now and we feel so lucky to have the accounts we do, and all the work on the horizon is just awesome as well. Cheryl and I are both very thankful for this.

So, thank you all so much for everything you have done to help support us, and I hope to see you around for many years to come. If you want to ask me something, please do, but as a comment or e-mail. I will do my best to get back to you as soon as I can. Peace and Blessings everyone.