June.

Sometime in June marks the first day of summer, but when you're out of school it really doesn't mean too much. Unless you've got kids, then your free time evaporates for favor of catering to their summer vacation.

I don't have kids, but being the guardian big brother of 2 siblings is kinda the same thing.

Now I've long been out of school, but what's made this summer kick off differently is I've just joined the team at Super Color Digital as Production Manager. The place is incredible! Dealing with the production of print campaigns on a grand format scale is really interesting and it is awesome to see the creative of some huge marketing clients. I've always had interest in branding and development, so being surrounded by all this work is pretty inspiring.

Let me know when you've got the need to cover an entire building with a print of your face.

May.

I was thinking recently, and you know what happened for me in May? I turned 28 and tried to play it down. And that's kinda dumb. There's still a couple good years of drunken nights left in me( Note: I do not condone excessive drinking. 'Cept on birthdays).

So May was mainly design work, and looking for work, trying to make life work. I played some D3 in safe doses, and enjoyed the heck out of Mad Men season 5. 

"Why do we do this?"
"For the sex, but it's always disappointing."

April.

The fourth month of the year is a little early to fall behind on 'at least one update a month' so hopefully that leaves enough guilt for me to keep up on doing interesting things and recording them.

I took two long drives for a short stay trips this month, which is not a common thing for me. I'm always figuring the enjoyment time's gotta out shadow the travel time, but I've come around to the perspective that it's all in the worth of the experience. There's that saying, "Time is money!" but I don't think there's an expression which gives that a correlation to experience.

My mom lives about 6 hours away so its rare I ever make that trip unless it's with my whole family. But I took that trip and made a weekend of it, just time for me and her. And it was an insightful, fulfilling quiet time. There's a lot that can't be conveyed in a phone call or in writing and it's an important thing to remember in this time of convenient communication.

The trip on following week was quite the opposite. Namco Bandai was hosting the Soul Calibur V World Finals in Las Vegas, having several international players across the globe competing for a slick $10K and plenty of prizes. Only thing they needed was The Hype. Now, 'The Hype' isn't something I can clearly define, but it's something the Fighting Game Community is very skilled at bringing. They extended an invitation out to some fine folks here in socal, to bus out the the event for a one day trip and be returned in the evening. So it was a lot of road time for a day, but I had an awesome time with friends in the community and even just representing the community, cheering on for players I previously did not know too much about. Didn't know Soul Calibur got crazy international competitors? Well, you can check out grand finals here, and see me and folks bringing The Hype.

Filthie Rich, Markman, and France's Omega DR

By the way, Namco Bandai? Thank you for the incredibly awesome Hori Soul Calibur V Stick! My stick collection's kind of reaching some serious levels now. Ahem, total of 10.

Long drives, short stays? Not too bad.

March.

Might I submit for your suggested reading:

http://artofmanliness.com/

The Art of Manliness is a site devoted to "Reviving the lost art of manliness." And that is does. More time on this site probably makes me a better person.

February.

I've been keeping at least monthly updates for awhile, so here's February. And it was full of plenty of great things.

Describing New Zealand, the words "paradise on earth" are how people commonly describe it and... well, the country is quite incredible. Being in summer weather didn't hurt, either. Beautiful, calming, and far from rat race, there is possibility for work that may move me there. George Nelson: life with the kiwis.

Shortly after returning back to California, I packed back up and head to Philly and New York. And suddenly it's winter. I took the opportunity to make this trip for my friends. Amy is Philly has been doing great things in the art world, including The Artist Rubuttal. Justin drove all the way up from NC, his first trip back up to New York since battling lymthoma. Brennan, also from NC lent us his presence; Charla seems so established living in NY and housing me for a few nights. We spent an awesome evening in Brooklyn with Kymia, checking out her winning exhibit from Work of Art. Checking out the beautiful work, and seeing her after almost 10 years since art school made me really happy!

Now back in socal, I've left FedEx Office and am working on my own on design work. It's nice. Maybe a little stressful. But definitely days deconstructed from routine, and I suppose that suits me. That's been my February. March, I've got no idea what's in store.

Beginning of 2012

My 2011 wrapped up with an excellent holidays. Christmas was full of family, and I enjoyed all the gifts I recieved, with perhaps a sleeping mask being my favorite. New Year's was a quiet one spent with mom, and a busy, loud 2012 is on the horizon for me.

Straight from winter to summer, I write this update from Auckland, New Zealand. This is my first overseas visit! The country has been incredible so far, and work may be here. Definitely a new chapter in my life, and study abroad could be a part of it.

Setting up a visit to University of Auckland next week. Bring a little American art to the kiwis!

View from the farm at Pakari Beach, NZ

Socal Regionals Bound!

Tournament season is always an invigorating time for folks in the Fighting Game Community. Folks are polishing their skills, there's a collective hype for new technology and high level play that'll be unleashed, and rivalry along with camaraderie is at it highest.

Competitive fighting games may have a fairly niche interest, but it's hard to deny the energy and intensity that builds over the course of a major tournament, that then explodes at the peak of grand finals.

Socal Regionals is one of the majors that take place here in California and is set to take place this month. With many of my peers completing and the venue being UCI, I'm wondering if I'm more excited about this than Christmas. I won't be completing this year, but will be assisting with J&J Mods table, where there'll be custom art and commissions available! Drop by and give me your favorite character that you want to see rendered by me!

Preview detail: Juri, SSFIV

November thoughts. In freestyle.

Keep makin' that money. Live the American Dream
I make steady flow and get overdrafts every week
It's like playing hide and seek
Was just bout to leave then I got the raise
Now I'm gotta stay through the holidays

Glory

I had the incredible experience of seeing Adam Pascal and Anthony Rapp live at the Cerritos Preforming Arts Center. These two original cast members from one of my favorite shows, Rent
were one of the primary things that pulled me into the musical theatre world, so it was definitely an awesome opportunity to see them. It was years ago that I used to listen to Adam's music; raw, distinctive and versatile, so witnessing his performance and meeting him was more of a 'proud moment for an old friend' than a star-struck experience. A humble guy.
Check out some of current work at www.meandlarry.com.

A Return to Restlessness?

I've been quite lazy.
Now, that 'lazy' can be relative...I've definitely been working on some interesting projects and collaborating with some great people to get things off the ground, but I've been getting my full 7 + hours of sleep nightly and that's too comfortable. Average amount of sleep I should be getting to stay healthy you say? ...feh.
So here's working towards restlessness. To my own projects that keep me up far too late, but let me rest knowing I've accomplish things I set out to do. Which may include not letting months go by without blog updates.

For now, a trailer for Spectrum, an iOS game that did keep me restless over the summer. I had the privilege of working with students at USC as the game's visual director and artist. One of the most interesting projects I've been apart of, and I hope to be apart of it till the day it hits the market!



You can also check out an article featured on latimes.com site.

Anatomy of Art

To start, a Happy New Year to those who celebrate the Lunar calendar(aka 'Chinese New Year') I spent most of the day in bed sick, and because of that I felt the need to start today productive. So my first update to this blog for 2011 was a fine place to start.

I was recently fortunate to be selected in PrintZero Studio's first publishing of their annual Print Exchange, 2010 edition.

My print, 'We Lost Ourselves' was one of 35 of nearly 300 submissions to be included in their catalog. I thank all those who sent me congratulations, which made the work even more worth it. Though also, I thank a few who honestly replied with, "Why?" Why did you draw this? Why would they chose it?

Well. Perhaps inspired by my great, wise friend Amy Scheidegger and her Artistic Rebuttal, I'm going to break down my thought process behind this art. Will those be reasons to why it was selected? maybe not. But maybe you'll find it enlightening.

The Concept: My personal work often falls in this category: figurative, theatrical, with narrative elements. In what I do, I'm interested in conveying some story relating to the Human Condition. My starting point for this was saying farewell. To bring a close to a chapter, cutting it from your life, the end. The visual is a woman, perhaps in her home, cutting up the photo of a man. We don't know their relation, but it is unimportant. She looks to be asleep, maybe because it's something she can't bring herself to do coherently.

This piece alludes to a print I did in the past, 'I Take A Little Off the Top' where cutting signifies bringing an end to something for relief.

The Elements: Every visual we see contains some combination of the elements and principles of art, but here, I'll highlight a few of the major details I included.

We're naturally drawn to the human face, so it's important to include details to pull the viewer throughout the picture plane. Here, though it is subtle, the space created by the foreground hand is in close vicinity and mimics the shape and details of the head.

In this same area, though we know the hand created depth of space, the visual repetion pulls and relates pieces together. The woman's arm completes a pattern of fingers.

Among my favorite artists, the late Paul Hartley taught me the appreciation for repeated lines. This repetition is subconscious, but visually holds the picture together.

Again, repleted lines to create repetition in the image. The blue angles serve as arrows which are an advertent choice to keep you within the image though there is a figure who is outwards and cut off. I commonly decide on cropping figures because it's visually interesting to me, so it's important to pull the viewer back into the picture with such elements.

While on the subject of the cut figure, it's safe to assume that the man's face is his, as it visually 'completes' his body. And hey, weren't we pointed directly to it?










The Execution: This is a plate etching done by carbine-tip needle, printed in Daniel Smith Standard Black ink on Rives BFK paper.

So there you have it. The thought process behind one of my pieces of art. Tune in next time!

Thanksgiving update

This month has been busy and it's always around this time folks final come to be thankful for things. Not I.

Oh, not that I'm an ungrateful person. It's the opposite. I'm seriously one of those sappy, 'I'm so thankful everyday' people. Yeah. It might make some sick if they could hear me. I guess Thanksgiving does give folks that chance to, even if they are thankful people, to just vocalize it. The big glorious dinner is just extra. Ok, I'd be dumb and a liar to not acknowledge it's ALL 'bout that Thanksgiving feast!

I spent mine in shifts waiting in line at Fry's Electronics. It'd been awhile since I'd camped outside in a tent. On concrete. Pretending like you're a hobo can be quite fun.

Earlier this month was the incredibly hype premiere of Socal Regionals held in Los Angeles, CA which had one of the most amazing grand finals I've witnessed in any gaming event. With Norcal Dhalsim player Fillipinochamp convincingly defeating Daigo to claim the champion title in SSFIV, why, I felt proud to be an American!

Comfortable Company

There's an etching I created a short time back titled 'Comfortable Company'. In it is a portrait of a girl slouching in her couch with a crimping tool to her left. The crimping tool itself serves as a symbol of finishing an end, but also a personal reminder of how I met this person, through Fedex where this tool is used.

Anyway, I though back to that title after a recent afternoon with good folks. Because sometimes, all you need in the hectic world is that comfortable company of a good friend. It's something I never take for granted. One of my good friends who I don't often get to spend the company with these days is Amy, who resides in Philly.. She's started a new blog: http://illustrativehistorians.wordpress.com/ worth checking out for a great read in things of art advocacy.

Now go spend the afternoon with some good folks.

Hmm.

Definitely past due for a new post.
Sorry about that.

It's summer, and in that season one tends to go into serious chill/kick-back mode, or hop onto things they can't get to the rest of the year. But that could just be me. I'm least art-active in the summer(a by-product of school I assume)and more excited to travel or just get out there with friends who now have more time(a by-product of school). So among the travels I made was the Las Vegas trip for Evo2010. This was fully the most enjoyable one I've attended...you can read a quick write-up on my take of it here.

This summer I managed to feverishly work on and crank out a print for PrintZero Studios. This year it's huge and marks its first juried catalog. I had to participate! I'll keep you updated with a shot my entry soon.

With summer coming to a close I've gotta start getting back into swing of things...with whatever swing that was there to begin with...

The Last Stand.....The New Evo?!

Though the Farewell Fedex Fight Nights Party concluded a few weeks ago, it's still left me with a high. Organizing an event like that and giving folks in the community a great outlet was something very rewarding. Six months of weekly FFN can take up more time than it seems. And it becomes more of a need than it seems as well. We got opportunity to level up and formed a pretty tight crew. Maybe that's why even with a farewell I pushed for one more 'Last Stand' this coming Thursday... ;)

Evo 2010 is rapidly approaching. I can't believe it. I could go back to last year's post and anticipate the fun, and then see all the things I've done since then. Any annual event such as this can really drive excitement and notalgia. And through it I've come to know incredible people!

It's summer and I'm bound to stay busy but it's off to a good start! I oughta practice up some card counting for Vegas though...

Photos courtesty of JDM714

Prone to do things

It's 2 in the morning. I could write that anytime I'm in an inspired mode of working. I've wished I could be more productive and engaged to do things at a timely, normal hour, but hey. Best to embace it and so what I do.
I've had the opportunity to get involved with the Fighting Game Community and contributed FNN to the socal area, and it's been growing since late December '09. Next month will mark its final sessions(whether temporarily or indenfinite) and we're wrapping up with a big event! This has been an experience and labor of love. More info and if you'd like to attend, here.

This summer I'm putting my foot down and stepping forward from Goldenwest College, in hopes to begin studies at Cal State Long Beach. GWC has been incredibly rewarding and convenient for about 3 years, and I'm set forth for further artistic challenges. I'm thankful for the art I've been able to work on here as well as a recent Ken Kirslake Student Award from APA by nomination from Professor Conley.

Finally, my company/project thefedups.com has been under dormant stages for a long time but will be official soon, and I'll be pouring myself into that. Five gallon buckets. 2 AM. I'm prone to do things.

Photo from my 27th bday by Jeannie. Like a shot outta film noir ;)

You grew up, roll again!

I think it's set in that I'm 27 now. Twenty-seven. Mind-blowing to me. People can't even ask the question, "What do you want to do when you grow up?" anymore cause I passed that space on the gameboard awhile back.

So then that means the I-want-to-do should be happening now. And it kinda is...or in the process of being just about to. I'm still pouring some time into art, if an eye-dropper squeeze counts as pouring.

May showers

What's happened in the past month? I gotta get my head on straight...The NC trip? Incredibly fulfilling. Family issues? On an upswing. Fedex Fight Nights? Exploding out the building. Release of SSFIV? Awesome. That's a lot of good stuff in short month. It's throwing the cosmos out of whack. I gotta clean this up.

Back in Touch

I've been blessed with meeting some of the best people in the world and being able to click with them even if years of time have passed between. It's a great, great thing to have.

The end of this month I'm traveling back to ol' NC to get out of the OC and spend some time with my college crew. And maybe even catch up with one of my favorite professors, Michael Ehlbeck, the printmaker and man of knowledge extrodinaire. Where I picked up most of what I know in Printmaking? Talk to this man.

I'll be able to rumage through a few friends' houses for art they've stored for me for years. I'd better come bearing gifts, eh?

Fight Nights, and Art Shows, and Shirts... oh my!

The recap of things happening from the 1st of 2010 till now:
One can't deny the commonplace videogaming has in present culture. Where fighting games once appealed to a niche followers, its interest recieved an adrenaline shot with Street Fighter IV. In '09 I dove deeper into the FGC(Fighting Game Community) culture through meeting and learning from such significant figures as Alex Valle. Inspired by the gaming sessions here in socal, I created Fedex Fight Nights. FFN is a contribution back to the community where a few casual and top players could enjoy in the common interest of fighting games, and its location-a Fedex Office conference room- lends to the broader sense that this culture isn't simply for a few fellas playing within their homes, but assembled and accepted in recognized public place. It's thus far been a rewarding weekly endeavor to hold.

Paul Hartley, an incredible influence and one of my painting mentors passed in November '09. As one who has left a impact on my art and so many others', he is honored by a tribute show that's been in Raleigh, NC and has traveled to Greenville, NC. I've been every thankful to be a part of this show, and hope to keep my art growing, if not solely inspired by Paul's prolific career.

There are always plenty of projects I juggle, but at the moment one that has garnered some excitement is that I am currently working on a few Street Fighter themed shirts to go into production next month, celebrating the release of SSFIV.

To be continued!