Salutations From The Trenches

I got some really good advice from a fellow Illustrator, Brent Watkins, a long time ago. He said, and I quote, "Make sure you draw what you like because you're going to be doing it a lot". Well, OK, that might not have been the exact quote, but it was close. Essentially the message was clear...figure out what you like to draw and make sure that's what you focus on. I couldn't agree more. In this odyssey called my art career, I sometimes feel like I have artistic ADD. I tend to do certain things in a style for awhile and then find myself looking to tweak it, or change it altogether. Perhaps that is my style...ever changing.

I know the personal growth is a good thing, but I guess I never have yet taken to the wisdom above. Generally, when I illustrate something, I tend to figure out what it's about just before (or more likely) in the midst of doing it. This is very difficult to produce something because their needs to be that advance research on the topic. But it is the topic itself that I struggle with I guess. I haven't quite figured out what it is I want to constantly illustrate...and furthermore, what to do with it. :) Some of my big influences growing up were artists like Drew Struzan, Hajime Sorayama...people who's main focus was the human body and in Sorayama's case, the female form. I do know that is of great interest to me...always has been...so perhaps that is where my content should lie.

I truly enjoy illustrating in the style I perform now, however I do feel it has further to be pushed...perhaps even into a 3D manifestation. I would like to incorporate my 2D work into 3D sculpture. That seems to be the biggest missing factor to my work now...that hands on feeling of actually doing some by hand. The computer is a wonderful tool and allows me to do many things, but I still crave the hand made aspects of it all.