New Directions

Last week I got my evaluation back about my website and illustrative style, as well as a few other areas, from Alex Mathers who runs the Red Lemon Club. It had very useful advice and made clear for me some issues that I have been unsure about in the past. It has set me on a new direction in which to pursue this coming year. I plan on incorporating many of his great ideas into my website and art. The biggest take away for me was the issue of my style, was it professional enough, was it marketable enough, if so what markets. I found out sadly to say that I’m not ready for primetime, which doesn’t mean I can’t get illustrative projects. It's just that those projects won’t be with top tier clients, yet.

My style, according to Alex, seems lost in a limbo world somewhere between abstract and realistic. He suggests that I push it one way or the other and I agree with him. People I’ve read say always play to your strengths, well realistic isn’t me, trust me I’ve been trying. Just to clarify, we are talking style here, not me personally. That leaves me with exploring a more abstract approach to my style this new year. Making my women more simplified in shape might just make their differences stand out even more, which will cause them to be more intriguing.

I haven’t done any new art with this thought in mind but as the year goes forth I’d be interested in hearing what you think of this new direction. Below is an unfinished piece I’ve been working on.

A Holiday Treat

Over the Holidays, on Christmas Eve morning, I had a few unexpected visitors show up at my house. Actually, they were hanging about in my back yard when I woke up and my wife told me they here there. At first, I thought they had a faulty GPS system due to the fact they were so far south. I couldn't imagine how they got so turned around in their directions especially at this time of year. I mean these guys had a serious gig to get to in less than 12 hours and if they were a no show, not only would their manager be very upset, but their millions and millions of fans all across the world would be devastated, to say the least. As my brain woke up more I realized that they weren’t actually Santa’s reindeer but just white tail deer that we have been seeing on and off running about our neighborhood. There they were five of them. Some grazing on our grass and other assorted goodies nature has put in our yard and others were reclining in it. The most we have seen to date, at any one time, is twelve that hightailed it across our street. I live in a city with of over 750,000 people so seeing 5 deer show up in my yard was a real holiday treat.

You may be thinking to yourselves well that’s really nice and all but what does it got to do with art. Well, it just goes to show you one never knows where one may find inspiration or build a little library of reference pictures that can be used in the future. Trust me I took lots of pics on my phone of these visitors so if I ever figure a way to incorporate them into a drawing or two I won't have to search too hard.

If you’re wondering what happened to my visitors that morning they fled for their lives when my neighbor let his dogs out into their yard. As of yet, they haven’t made a return visit.