Blood on the Walls WIP part 2

Hello friends. This is an update on "Blood on the Walls" This is the 3rd element of the painting. When It is done, It will appear as a ghost image over the hospital. Again the model is the one and only movie star and model, Suzi Lorraine. Time and time again she has just been an awesome friend to me. Cheryl and I are hoping to make her wedding to Mark next summer.

This drawing is not done yet, but I am very happy with the way it is coming out. Let me once again also say how awesome Imac is. If your an artist and you enjoy doing digital art, save your nickel and dimes and buy one. I swear, you will love it.

I want to give a HUGE heads up to my friend George. He landed a job with a new book company, and I am SO Damn Proud of him. To see him come this far and to start getting gigs like this, is just one of those things in life that you just cherish. George, you deserve the Biggest "OH HELL YEAH" ever. You are tha man!

I'll have more art to show you in a day or two. Until then, peace and blessings and may your dreams come true.

Where Monsters come from....

        Hello friends.  I am slowly getting the new illustration done.  It is for a story called "Blood on the Wall's" by Dave Rex for Darc Karnivale.  The story takes place at the Waverly Tuberculosis hospital in Kentucky.   For those of you that watch shows like "Ghost Hunters" and "Ghost Adventures" you will recognize it.  Once the hospital is painted, I will show it to you again.  There will be a 3rd element, a ghost and the model will be my friend Suzi Lorraine. I will show you some more Tuesday night.

       This last week has been pretty rough on me. I've really been pushing myself, and I paid for it Friday. I fell out.   Between exhaustion and a flair up of Ulcertive Colitis, my body just couldn't take it anymore.  It's gonna take a few days of rest before I can get back to laying carpet, and even then I am going to have to take it easier or find a new job.  

       Cheryl, Me and the kids (Andrea and Luke) had a great weekend.  We went to see that movie "A night at the museum 2"  It was actually pretty good. I liked it better than the first one. I know all my horror friends out there would have pins stuck in their eyes than sit through a movie like this, but the kids wanted to see it. Sooooo.  Next week, Cheryl and me are going to see Star Trek.

       I get asked a lot about where I come up with idea's for monsters and such, and the answer is simple.  The world around me.  Whenever I watch the news I see monsters and demons, and on occasion, an angel.  But the monsters seem to rule these days. 

      I was raised by a monster.  A man that always put my mother and me down. Told us how stupid we where, and off course the occasional beatings.  He never could handle that I was born with an IQ of 164, and his had to be around 90 or so. At 10 years old, I was beating him at chess.  So I paid for being a genius by being constantly abused by him.  No one back then could understand why I had constant nightmares.

      As I got older and went out into the world, I saw horrible things or heard about them. Like children being abused or murdered so they couldn't tell anyone about the sexual abuse that adults would put them through.  I saw terrorist kill for no reason (watching those people jump from the World Trade Centers changed me forever), I saw wars over the stupidest things like who's religion is right.  It seems that man still wants to show that his balls are bigger than someone  Else's, and they will kill each other to prove the point.

     I have seen people tortured because of the color of their skin, their beliefs, or sexuality. I have seen people who call themselves your friend, and stab you in the back the first time they think they can take what you have. So yes, everyday, I see monsters and demons.  It's not that hard to draw them. I just look at their souls and the images come to me.

     But ever so often, I meet an Angel, and they give me hope.  Ever so little, but hope just the same.  But the truth is, the world has become a very dark place.  The very people who tell us that they are trying to help us are usually the cause.  If only the world could be the way John Lennon sang about it in his song "Imagine"  He was a brilliant artist and saw things for what they truly where and still are., only to be shot down by a jealous madman in front of his home.

      So as long as the world is the way it is, I will still see monsters and demons.  If there is a God, then this is the gift he gave to me.  If there is no God, then life turned me into what I am.  "When fighting Monsters, be careful not to become one"  This is something Daniel said to me a couple of years ago and I know there was a reason for it.  After all, he is one of the Angels of the world.

      I'm not saying that my views are the right ones, not by a long shot.  We are where born with a different point of view, and each of us are entitled to our opinion.  So, these are my thoughts and I just wanted to share them, right or wrong.  I would love to hear yours.

     On another note, my friend Mark Helwig's mother passed this weekend. Please keep him and his family in your thoughts and prayers.  Thank you all for stopping by, and please stop by anytime. May you find peace and love.

      

Working hard, Exhausted, but never quitting.

 Hello friends.

           I am working on a new illustration for "Darc Karnivale" and its gonna be a good one. George, you'll love it.  I'll tell you more about it when I post the roughs in a few days, but once again I am using my friend, model and movie star Suzi Lorraine as the model.  Well, it started as her. lmao.

           I have been working my bu@@ off laying carpet so I can get a house for me and Cheryl.  We're staying in an apartment for now, but we don't have the room for me to set up a studio that I can paint with oils in.  But soon, very very soon. Plus, I am going to buy a new car. Probably a SUV for traveling to art shows and cons in.  But all of this is to set me up as a full time artist.  More on that later as well.

          Today is my dear friend Daniel Horne's birthday.  For those of you that are on facebook, please wish this man a happy birthday.  He is one of the best people I've ever known, and because of him, I am here now.  Check out his photobucket account, the link is to the right.  The man is so wonderful and talented, it will just blow your mind.  Him and his family took me in when I started training me.  I think of them all as  family.

          I am thrilled that so many of you are reading my blog and I would love to hear from all of you.  If there is something you want me to talk about, just let me know.  One of the things I plan on talking about very soon is how new artist can break into the field.  I spent 2  years being an Art Director for 3 small press magazines and a book company, and the advice I am going to put out there will start your career if your new to this, and if you have been around for a while, it will help you move up the ladder.

         I am going to be building a website soon as well.  Give me a month, and it will be up.  It will feature art for sale, merchandise for sale, and a huge collection of art that most of you have never seen, plus a few surprises.  

         But for now, time is short, and I have to get to painting. Bless you all and may your dreams come true!

        

         

  

"Chains" and other things

        Hello everyone.  Well, I'm back into my art again. This is the first painting I have done on my new Imac, using Corel Painter 11.   At first I was having trouble getting the effect I wanted, but I went back to basics, and it all came together.  This one really has the dark feel I felt the story deserved.  The story is called "Chains" written by Jade Eckert, and it is for the Darc Karnivale book. I hope you like and please share your thoughts with me and the other readers.

        I have some thoughts I would like to share with you young artist, and it may be good advice for young writers as well.  I spend several hours a day networking. During this time I check out other artist blogs to see what is going on with them.  I ran across one that I really thought was a negative, bad advice one.  I will not mention the artist, but will talk about a few things he said.  He was trying to give advice to other artist on being a professional.  In his advice he said things like "Art Directors are idiots", "that you could never make a living being an artist",and so on.  My first thoughts where that this guy didn't have a clue.  So I checked out his work. It was obvious he was self taught with no formal training.  His work overall really was bad.  About 1 out of 10 pieces was descent, but the rest he should never show in his portfolio, and none of his work had ever been published mainstream. 

      So what I want to say is this, unless your getting advice from the likes of Todd Lockwood (who has a section on his website about how to conduct yourself and building a portfolio, and excellent advice to all artist)  Don't listen to some want to be whose ego far outweighs his talent. 

      The only advice I will offer is a couple of things that have been told to me by Lockwood,  Daniel Horne, Don Maitz, Ken Kelly and most all the major names in the illustration business, is this,  work hard, very hard. Learn all you can, read books, go to school, go to artist retreats.  And no matter how good you think you are, go to a con, take your portfolio, show it to a pro and tell them to be brutal.  That is the only way you will really know where you stand.

      Not all of us can afford to go to the big name art schools.  I couldn't and for a lot of years I was self taught, then I got lucky.  Daniel and Todd took an interest in me, and taught me the things I needed to know.  I am still working on the things they taught me, and slowly I get better and better.  I have been lucky enough to have had a few pieces printed in Mainstream, mainly in Dragon Magazine and Hero's games,  but the assignments keep getting better and better and I know it's just a matter of a couple of years before I can get work from Tor and Baen, plus a lot of gaming companies.

     You can make a living doing what you love, but it takes a lot of work, and no short cuts. Well,  Cheryl said we needed to run to the store.  So, I'll check in soon. Peace and Blessings all.

Getting back to it.

        Its always been hard for me to learn to work in a new environment, and  I am doing it again. lol  I love the new environment and I am set up really cool, its just taking me a bit to adjust.  Its like moving into a new house, it takes a while to make it home.  I do love Living with Cheryl and I love her with all of my heart, and we are making a life together.  But it never fails, whenever your happy, some idiot comes along and tries to cause you problems.  Man, will people never change?

       I'm coming alone with the new illustration really good, but it took me a while to get a feel for it.  I think I got burned out from doing so many illo's in such a short time. I think the last one is a good example of burnout, because in my mind it sucks the big one. Luckily the story got cancelled from the book, so the illo will not be used.  I always want to do my very best, but there are times that I try to hard and the piece will come out flat and boring.  

        You know I really stick my neck out on this blog, and I do it because I want readers to feel like they are my friends instead of someone curious about what I do.  That is the main reason I will talk about some of my personal life. But I do leave things out to protect mine and Cheryl's privacy.   Lately things have just been chaos for us. Between work, art, networking, household things and the time we get to spend with each other, I am doing good to get 6 hours sleep at night.  Many nights it is much less.

       It has gotten to the point I have very little time for phone calls and personal letters, and it seems that a few friends are not happy with me about that.  I'm really sorry, but I don't know what else to do.  Maybe once I don't have to lay carpet anymore I will have more time for those things. I love my friends, all of them, and this has been something that has really been bothering me, but it is what it is. I hope they will understand.

      I will post a new blog Sunday, and it will have the finished new piece  to show you. So it's already an hour past bedtime, and I haven't even ate yet.  Peace and Blessings all.