Student Leadership Award Speech

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During my graduating term at Art Center College of Design, I was awarded the Student Leadership Award. Thank you, students, faculty, and staff! Which... also means I had to give a speech at my graduation. OY! This was one of my proudest moments, but also sooo nerve-racking.

I evidently made a mistake and said I was 25 when I started Art Center. I was 28. -_-. Thank you, Ray Quirolgico, for the lovely intro. Miss you lots. :)

Re-emerging from a four year hermit hole

Hello, World! My, oh, my. Attending Art Center was no easy feat. Since I found out I got admitted to the college in early 2012, I made a conscious decision to cut out a lot of things in order to fully commit and focus on my intense new program.

A lot happened, and I ended up cutting out a lot of things I never anticipated to. I guess that's what happens when you go into a rigorous grad-esque program. But I'm grateful to say that I came out with a better idea of who I am, my intentions in life, and how I want to continue on with the rest of my life.

I know. Total esoteric shit.

I matured a lot in a short amount of time. And I became very familiar with my creative self and her process. You learn a lot about your raw self when you can only get four hours of sleep every night. ;)

As I was left the web design/development world in late 2011, a lot of things have naturally progressed in the web world. Not to mention all the new technologies that have emerged since then, too. I find myself behind in learning things like git, javascript, SVG, and oh wut ppl don't use Wordpress as much anymore? I am an absolute dinosaur now.

But!! I've picked up some amazing new skills along the way, I swear!

• I'm frickin bomb at drawing and painting by hand now!
• I frequently create sketchbooks and prints!
• One of my pieces was published in Comic-con International's publication!
• I've learned how to sell my artwork at conventions and shows!
• I've been trained by top Disney art directors and artists, and I can whip out concept art pieces for entertainment!
• My school awarded me the Student Leadership Award (they just wanted me to stop asking questions, get outta their hair, or something). More about this soon. :)
• I managed to setup and showcase one of my pieces in virtual reality (VR) at my graduating show. (Second person from my school to ever do so, following the exceptional Ashley Pinnick; First person to do so with an HTC Vive!)

There's a lot to catch up on. And part of my un-hermit-ing will include documenting and sharing more about my process again.

Monkey Derek Zoolander Paper Toy — Free PDF Download!

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In the spirit of Zoolander 2's release week, I'm sharing a project I did a few years ago: a paper toy of monkey Derek! Please play responsibly; don't bring to freak gasoline fights.

Click here to download the Monkey Derek PDF (252 KB). Happy Zoolander week! <3

How I Study as an Artist

It's funny the comments you get when people catch you drawing in public. Almost always, someone will say something along the lines of, "Wow! So much talent. I wish I could do that." It reminds me of a conversation I had with my pre-med college roommate that has stuck with me. She said, "People say I'm smart. Like it's natural, like I was born with it. But they don't realize how hard I work, how much time I spend studying. I just work _really_ hard." I think this gets lost often when people see artists doing their thang. There's a lot of work that goes on behind the scenes in order to cultivate and nurture our technical skills and creativity, a lot of observation, and discipline.

Here are some of the ways I've been studying:

• Mastercopies. Copying the sketches and drawings of artists I like and admire. This is an incredibly effective way to learn how the artist approached their piece, their technique, and how they problem-solved within their piece. I've been trying to do mastercopies everyday.

• Film studies. Freeze-framing animated and live action movies to break down the compositions, lighting, how the focal point is emphasized. Working with a black marker to break the frame down into simply blocked out shapes is a good way to learn about layout designs and compositions, too.

• Learning about LIFE things. I listen to Radiolab episodes while working, I've been reading about neuropsychology, learning about social-psychology theories, branching out into other worlds of interests lately. I've been reading a LOT, more than I ever have. Also, I've been trying to watch one classic film a week so I just have that cultural knowledge. I'm making more of an effort to go out and experience new places and things when possible. Creativity does not exist in a vacuum.

Mucha sketch studies. Super soft lines! Ahh!

Norm Schureman, former Dynamic Sketching instructor at Art Center. Copying this book has been golden.

Chris Sanders for anatomically correct stylized female figures. Very fun to draw.

50's type and design element studies. Copying out of some books to get the feel for the 50's designs for an assignment I'm working on.

Sleeping Beauty value breakdowns

Some books I've been reading at the moment.

My growing bookshelf! Doesn't include all my undergrad soc books that are all up North. This is just my more recent collection, which mostly developed in the last 6 months. Trying my best to get thru them!

Crazy Good Resource for Storytelling

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The Periodic Table of Storytelling

This site provides links to the breakdowns of various storytelling tropes: story structures, plot devices, character types, etc. On each of the character trope wiki articles, there's very descriptive breakdowns of the rules/expectations of those characters. It also comes complete with examples in film, literature, manga, animation, etc. It's a very comprehensive wiki.

I'll definitely be using this moving forward for characterizations! Looking forward to this!