Lots going on

Too much to say. Personally, artistically, and everywhere in between. Hope you're still listening. I have a new project cooking for a challenge, I have progress on my mentorship painting, (poor thing has been so neglected) and I have some portraits that I might let you see. Until then, here's a sketch of that challenge.

Foot prints

Just recently, I was interviewed for a custom framing position. It was a frame shop like frame shops should be, jazzy, artsy, and very nice. To be considered for the interview, I gave them my resume, which had my website and my blog. My website, sadly, is down right now. But imagine my surprise when I was greeted with print-offs of my blog during the interview. That was not the only surprise.

This employer had done his research, and during my interview it came out that he and the other framers got a good laugh out of my Myspace photo. "Myspace?" said I. My "space" had not been touched for the larger part of three years, if not more. "Yeah, the picture of you by the fountain."

It took me about thirty seconds. Fountain. Standing. Photo. An image of me leaning back, face relaxed, crotch lined up directly with the water... Oh. That photo. 19 year old David acting like the water was really a giant piss stream. Ha. Ha.

At that point in Washington D.C. more than four years ago I would have never guessed that this moment of silliness would go beyond my close friends. But here I was, in a cozy little office, star struck by the work opportunity I was trying for, being visited by David of Pissmas past.

Many of the stories I write have to do with the intangibility of technology, and the effects it has on our social habits. In reality, the internet is much more tangible than one might think.

A footprint I left years ago is still there, still viewable, and still being viewed. It could have been worse.

This incident was a great reminder to me. On the internet, even more than in reality, what you do is who you are. You are only as good as your worst post. I'm just glad mine was fairly innocent and forgivable.

In a digital age where memory is endless and knowledge is power, every footprint is embedded in stone. Watch your step.

The Dark Pearl

The Dark Pearl. That is what I have come to name my first entry into Spectrum. I spent long nights painting, sent e-mails asking for critiques, and even barely finished at the last minute, printing and sending my submission at 4:45 from the Post Office. Whew.

Unless specifically for a gallery, I will not do another piece this large for a long time methinks. It is an insane challenge to photograph and put together digitally, and even now I am unhappy with certain inconsistencies compared to the actual image.

Tell me what you think, good and bad. On to the next thing!

Octo-lady

Okay so I have had this lady sitting around my apartment for about a week or two now, and I've looked at her enough times to accept that she is close enough to finish. I might put some more octopus skin texture on her lower half/tentacles, but outside of that I am calling it finished. And I am generally very happy with her. Oils, 36x48" I also wrote up a short poem inspired by (and honestly aped from) Edgar Allen Poe's "The Raven." I may redo the poem however, as it sounds perhaps a little too Poe-y.

I will not stir sweet creature, although I tremble at your leisure
Until you wake and find your place beside me I’ll not roam.
I’ll be waiting, whispering, wanting, for every purpose haunting
Though the task is daunting, I am yours, and we are home.
So slumber, tired traveler, you have found at last a home.
Together, we forever, underneath the ocean foam.

Aye, in the distance creeping, can you see the steel whale reaping?
He is seeking you, a fugitive from his dimly glowing dome
But I will keep your secret from his pawing prying regret
He who sent you hell bent from your former warmer home
Denied you were but now, my love, you’ve found another home
Together, we forever, underneath the ocean foam.

The darkness was much darker, despair my constant marker,
And in all the massive ocean my world was smaller when alone.
Here you’ve come at last, like a specter from my past
My heart is beating fast as I dream the future of our home
We’ll forge our lives anew among the currents were we’ll roam
Together, we forever, underneath the ocean foam.

Long month

Mayhaps you noticed my absence. Mayhaps you didn't. There are a lot of blogs to follow, and so little time...

Regardless, I return. Tired, but determined. I have accompanied my girlfriend on an extended hospital stay, participated in the student art sale, and survived the holidays (so far).

I blew two of my self-appointed deadlines (artorder and the frazetta tribute) and still haven't gotten much of anything off the ground. But I painted tonight. And it was most satisfying. My little squid girl has been lonely as of late, what with my distractions and side projects. Here she be, closer yet to being haply finished. Sorry for the poor picture quality.

New style

So I'm about to try a series of work in a new-ish style so that I could be more approachable from an editorial standpoint. So I am incorporating much more of my drawing and trying my hand digitally for a cleaner, less painterly feel. This is one of my pieces in progress, a cropped image from the original named, "Internet Explorer." As soon as I can, I'll have the helmet looking more like a space helmet and less like a weird halo. Any critiques? Suggestions? Do you like the new direction?

Awesome sauce.

This weekend I went to the first art convention I've ever been to. It. Was. Awesome.

Being able to see the originals of paintings that I've looked at on the internet for ages was a real treat. Seeing the strokes, the little colors, and then turning to the side and being able to talk to the artist him or herself was truly inspiring. Not every day do you get to show Dan Dos Santos your portfolio or ask Donato Giancola about his skin tone colors.

I shook every hand I could, I asked every question I could, even the stupid ones, and even though I was star-struck and awkward, it was great learning to push past that. I got a lot and a lot of great insight and input, and a surprisingly positive response to my portfolio. I even got to sit in the hot tub with Lars Grant West and drink alongside Dos Santos and Patrick Jones, to name a few. Yeah, I sound like a fan-boy. I am. So be it.

One of the scariest encounters was with Jon Schindehette, who in real life is super, super nice, and also very muscled. Of course it was all my nervousness, and it was awesome to talk to him, but man-o, I'm glad I brought my antiperspirant.

Other standouts were Scott Altman, who is ridiculously nice, Ryan Pancoast, someone who I think is well on his way to pure awesome, and again, Lars, who was really nice and informative to talk to. Eric Fortune really gave me some detailed insight into my work, and Dan Dos Santos had some great tips on surface texture with my work. I could keep listing names and blubbering happily, but rest assured, I am happy to be broke, after all I gained from this trip.