A new direction?

Allowing the lines to do what they want. Not worrying about control. Rather worrying about flow, movement, and making sure I fill this page. Surprisingly happy with this.

Overlap

Some lines overlapping some other lines.

Feels so good

It’s been a little bit since I’ve drawn. Even just for myself as practice. It felt good to pick up my pen and this sketchbook I had been carrying for a while and draw in it.

Alphabet project

For years I've followed many hand lettering artists. Something has always drawn my attention to it but never fully dove in and explored. So at the beginning of 2018 I decided to give this a try. Between January and February of this year the project to illustrate each letter will be complete. I'm excited to see, at the end of the project, if I feel comfortable and if my interest grows.

more coming soon...

Pushed and Pulled

Wow! What a rough week this one has been. When I look back on the week and recognize how burnt out I feel, I recognize this feeling of being pulled here with one responsibility, Pushed that way by another. Pulled this way by passion projects. Pushed that way by the day job. If it wasn't one thing it was another. This sounds like I'm complaining. I'm not. What I also recognized is that this was all a result of choices I made. It is also my muscles growing. Stretching and growing my capacity. This, as much as it may suck, will also one day be the reason that I push through and keep my dreams of illustrating alive. It's what I love to do and the day job is how I'm going to make that happen. For now. 

Another Octopus

I have a hard time creating illustrations of animals, and I think it is mainly because there is a part of me that wants it to look realistic. But once I let myself go and allow myself to create a image the way my mind and soul wants to, this happens. MAGIC!

Intertwined

Recently at church I was talking about how community is such an important thing for all of us to have. Whether it is a creative community, faith community, school community or even work community. They are all important and inform who we are. A life full of relationships shapes everyone and can also help build bridges between all people. 

Great Coffee, Great People

Growing up and all through college I couldn't stand the way coffee tasted and if I drank any it was the overly sugared up frappes or the overly flavored lattes. But after working at Fireball Printing and being surrounded by so many coffee drinkers that understood coffee. I now have a better understanding and appreciation for it. 

That said, Riverwards Cafe is one of my top coffee shops to go to. Sometimes I find myself going out of my way just to get a cup of their coffee. I'd also be lying if I said I didn't get their Black and White milkshake with 2 shots in it. If you ever find yourself there, GET IT! 

If you guys over at Riverwards ever read this. Thank you for being awesome humans and making great coffee. 

Adam Gonzalez Make Moves

Make Moves is a phrase that hand lettering artist and designer, Adam Gonzalez, lives his life by. He recently created stickers from that design and I was able to get my hands on one, when I met him at Creative South.  So naturally the sticker made it into my sketchbook for the I See You, I Hear You project. 

I met Adam Gonzalez at Creative South too and he handed me his 'Make Moves sticker, but when I got home I realized that amongst the many conversations we had, I never asked him why he created a piece with that phrase. I remember really being interested in finding out what it meant to him.  Why were those words important? This was a conversation I wanted to have.  I texted him on Sunday and we set up a phone call date for last Monday and chatted for a little while. What a story! What a dude! What an inspiration!

I mean, he wanted to call me and tell me his story. How cool is that? That was so humbling and now I have so much respect for him.

Adam Gonzalez has been dabbling in design and lettering for the last three years. He mentioned that he was blessed with people who reached out to him and brought him under their wings to train and teach him.  But he struggled with a couple things such as a tendency to always look for shortcuts and hoping that someone else would just show him how different processes were done.  This caused his work to just fall short of where it could have been as it drove him to not spend as much time creating, iterating and practicing. 

Friends, here's where it gets interesting and amazing, In the last 7 to 8 months he's felt an unexplainable push from God to make things happen. To not put this gift he has to waste.  Make moves in the right direction, if you will. He started to feel like if design and lettering was something he wanted to do, he needed to show up daily and put in the work necessary to grow his creative muscle. 

Chatting with him on the phone, I was awe struck. I could feel the passion he has now. The urge to keep making, keep growing and the conviction to not waste this gift he's been given.

He in that one phone conversation has motivated me to continue this project past the people I met at Creative South and to keep looking for new connections. He's also taught me that this gift I have for illustrative papercutting is not permanent. So I need to MAKE MOVES while I can. 

Thanks for checking in friends! :)