Call ended

Here is a sketch I did last night. Just playing around with the idea of phones being an extension of our self identity. It also touches on how wired our hearts and emotions are to the internet and the Information Age.

The rose and the bird

For the longest time I have wanted to get a tattoo of a yellow rose. Before I was born my mother gave birth to boy, his name was Aaron Bard Adlon. Sadly he did nothing live to be more than a day old. Every sense I can remember, my father would always come home on that date (February tenth, twelve days before my birthday and seventeen days before my mothers) with yellow roses for my mother. Years later I would join a fraternity who's flower was a white rose. This flower represents brotherhood, something god blessed me with, not through a blood brother, but through the brotherhood of men joined by love, truth, and honor. Then a few years ago, my greatgrandmother (my mothers grandmother) passed away. Everyone in the family knew that she loved bird watching in her later years and her favorite bird was a gold finch (I believe, I know it was a bright yellow bird). I always find a strange connection in that my father buys my mother yellow roses for my brother, my greatgrandmother's favorite bird was yellow and that yellow has always been my favorite color. It's odd how we can find connections between the little things in life.

What is your education worth?

This post has been long over due.

In high schools across the country, students are being fed the same line; go to college to make more money. But it's not that easy. I find myself swimming in debt. My decision to go to college was not fully thought through. Now granted I would not be the person I am today if I had not gone to Gettysburg College. But there are so many things I would change if I could. I've learned more about what it really takes to survive in the real world over the past year and half.

Just because you earn a degree does not mean you will get a good paying job. Now granted I went to school for Art, but I have class mates that seem to be doing alright with similar degrees. Here's where I messed up. I never took the time to look into internships, never took the time to gain real job experience before I left college. The second mistake I made was not double majoring. If I had double majored in Art and Sociology (rather than just a minor) maybe I'd have a viable job. Maybe I would not be drowning. But I didn't.

The biggest mistake I made was paying as much as I did for college. I graduated with a BFA and enough debt to pay a mortgage. Not the smartest thing to do.

So here's my advice to anyone looking to go to college for anything.

- Work before you go to school, figure out what it is that you really want todo
- Research schools, find the right program
- Understand how student loans work, just because a bank lends you 40k does not mean that you will be able to pay it back.
- Double major.
- Find an internship to give you experience
- Finally, college is not for everyone, some days it feels like it's just a medal of social status that weighs me down

Resurrect the Gods

So I've decided to revisit the "Gods of Modern Day Society". This was a concept developed and illustrated during my senior year of college. Here is the sketched out try pitch of the gods of Power, Capitalism, and Knowledge. The background of the image is filled with angels of Labor, Justice, and Obedience. I haven't decided yet how I'm going to color this image. This will be a challenge because I'm using comic board for the illustration (which does not handle wet paint very well, but might be able to hold up to ink tense pencils). I'll post more of the progress as I get around to it.

One of my favorites.

visual funk: jim mahfood from dope vinyl on Vimeo.

Jim Mahfood does some amazing work.

Thought's on 2013

It's that time of the year again. Another year just seems to have flown by, it seems like just yesterday that I was still living with my parent's, planning a wedding, and trying to figure out what I wanted to do with my life. This time of year always seems to bring me down, it feels like I didn't really accomplish anything. I'm still working the same deadend job, still trying to figure what I want to do with my life. But you know a lot of great things have happened this year. Even through all the anxiety and depression, I made a lot of good memories this year.

This year was probably the most important year of my life. Jackie and I finally got married. The six and a half years we've been together is nothing compared to the life time we will now have together. The wedding was beautiful, and I had a lot of fun seeing my friends and family. I can say it went by too fast, just a giant blur (and thats not because of the drinks). I know I was really stressed leading up to the day and even that morning, but it wasn't  because I was nervous, I had no doubts about what I was getting myself into. I knew I wanted to marry Jackie, I just wanted to make sure everythying was perfect for her.

As far as my art goes, I've been slowly working on that book for my grandmother, I've done some painting, and of course I'm always drawing something in my sketchbook. My goals for the upcoming year is to finish the book. Maybe I'll finish a few paintings, but I'm starting to get the feeling that I really want to start making more illustrations, do more drawings, that's what I really love anyways. In a week or so I start back to schoool, taking a class on computer graphics (photoshop, illustrator, etc.). It'll be exciting to learn how to do more with the programs I've had for years.

When it comes to work, I'm just working to keep my bills paid. Petsmart is moving their warehouse to PA and I don't plan on moving with them. In fact Jackie and I are looking at the option of moving to Texas. Ricky moved down there a while ago and everytihgn he's told me about Houston makes it seem like a great place for her and I to get a fresh start. There is an art scene down, so having access to galleries will be a big plus for me. I doubt I'll be looking into hanging up my work anytime soon, but just being around other artists and art work will keep me motivated. 

All in all it's been a busy year, I've learned a lot about myself. I may not see my parent's as much as I used to but I know they love me and they I know I love them. I've grown closer to Jackie's family. The lose of Gene, her grandfather, made me realize just how much the mean to me and how I mean to them. I'm not that cocky boyfriend form highschool anymore, I'm the son-in-law who is part of the family now.

As the new year approaches, remember who you were, who you're becoming, and all the people that have been there along the way. Always keep your head up and stay focused on the future, because event hough today may suck, tomorrow has the chance to be amazing.

Autodesk: sketch book x

So my wife surprised me for Christmas with an iPad, the first thing I did of course was download a sketching app. I went with autodesk's Sketchbook Express. So far its not bad, I wish the touch screen was a little more sensitive to the stylus, so that the lines would turn out smooth and naturaul. Here are two sketches I did yesterday. I like being able to just working on character poses and proportions, but I'm starting to like over laying actual pictures with line work and blocks of color.