progress

hard at it...

snake vs bird

this is a piece i started for a band that a friend of mine is in. they are called pennyroyal from MPLS and i hear they like crows. posters and fliers for bands is something im interested in doing so i guess this is sort of the my first and i think my best attempt at that in a while. so here is what i did with my evening...

on second thought...

well as it turns out i was pretty productive today after all. i busted out this outline in just a matter of a few hours. pretty straight forward traditional skull and snake dealy. i got the idea when i was at uptown tattoo today visiting matt and jon. i saw a sketch of a skull with a snake all in it and thought maybe i would try something like that. i think it looks pretty good so far.


on a side note, i have been feeling some major cabin fever lately. im trying to get a lot of art work done pretty much all the time and that combined with a cold and dark minnesota winter have left me pretty drained. winters past i would have probably drank a lot more beer to sooth the pain but im just sort of broke. plus beer doesn't exactly make me energetic and inspired so i think i should just stick to my new routine for now.



also i recently acquired this picture of my great great grandparents. i just wanted to share it because i find it incredibly fascinating. plus it looks cold in the photo which is something i can totally relate to... so, yeah, i guess we have a ton in common.

good night for real this time.

well these are a few older pieces i did maybe 6 months ago or maybe a little more recent than that. anyway, i've nothing new to add really so i just thought i would post these just in case anyone actually read this thing and was wondering where i have been.

the oldest would be the owl. it's done in chalk pastel, sharpie and colored pencil. that one is actually like a year old by now. the crows are just black ink on watercolor paper. the polo zombie was done for a friend who lives in AZ and plays bike polo. its supposed to be like a logo or t shirt design or something but i haven't gotten it to him yet.

anyway, this is a totally lame post but i have nothing less lame to say for now. so keep up the hard work.

good night.

very quiet sunday

well this is the piece i have been working on for the last few days now. i actually did the line work a while back and then it kind of sat around till i decided to revisit it. now i need to take a step back from it for a bit. if i work on one piece for a long time in one session sometimes i lose the sense for the whole piece.

im still on a deer kick a little bit but i think this will be the last one for a while. im planning to do some art for a couple bands pretty soon. so look for that soon.

until then, thank you for reading.

...

well, i had a little time off from art for the holidays and it really is hard to get back in the groove. i spent a couple of hours today working on a new piece and just lost control of it. i ended up tossing it. i learned that i really can't take for the granted the skills of patients and concentration. if i let the outside world seep in to my brain while i work i sometimes lose my perspective. before my break this was not a problem but because i lost that momentum i forgot how to control myself. it's too bad but i try to learn from my mistakes. oh well. just try again...

2011

well its a new year. though it was a productive year, 2010 flew by for me. these days i feel like i spend almost all of my time preparing for the future. i spent the last year building my art portfolio in an attempt to earn myself a tattoo apprenticeship, bought a car, learned to make a risotto and i have payed off my last credit card debt (only a student loan and car to pay off now!). but for all the things i have been doing to prepare for my future the most rewarding thing i have achieved in 2010 has been to reconnect and build upon my relationship with my family up in northern minnesota and with my mother and brother who live in wisconsin. having a car has allowed me to travel and visit my family more often and in doing so i have learned a lot about my family history and therefor myself. it makes me want to start my own family and build my own history... something i never thought i would say.

one thing i regret that i have done for the last few years is really isolate myself from my past. i barely keep in touch with my old friends back home and hardly see the ones that live in minneapolis. i have a brother that i have only seen maybe 6 times in the last 7 years. i have old friends that have moved on and begun to build their own lives. there is no reason why i cant persue my interests and stay close to them at the same time.

so, i dont know, i guess we all get a little thoughtful and introspective as time passes. im very young but i wont be forever and i dont want to realize im too old to do all the things i always thought i was too young to do.

now watch this crazy music video