Thursday July 9, 2009

Geez. Come tomorrow, I'll have been on here six years. Crazy.

So recently, I've decided that like millions (possibly billions, who knows) of people, out there. I want to succeed in life. Not just have a nice house, nice car, picket fence, all that jazz. I want to do something. Something with my own abilities that will get me recognition, forged from my own two hands and fueled by my passion and imagination! But I realize that the call for people like that may be broad, but the people clawing for those coveted spots in the warm, loving glow of the adoring public, a light so warm, that is comparable to standing ten feet from our very own Sun, is even MORE broad than that! I've come to realize just in these few minutes of sitting here in front of my journal, staring at these words that all these years, I've been surviving. Meandering through the everyday. Some days, I drag through the sludge, others I skip lightly through fields of poppy and dew. And I believe that I've come to realize that that simply isn't good enough anymore. I want to THRIVE. It isn't enough anymore to simply enjoy the little things. There's a whole world out there that begs to be explored and enjoyed. Finer things, less fine things. But if I want to see those things, and take those opportunities, I have to MAKE IT HAPPEN.

So what brought this feeling on? Well, really, it started yesterday when I followed a convenient link posted on Three Panel Soul's Website leading me eventually to nockFORCE's website. Haven't seen nockFORCE yet? Do it. It's pretty awesome. But what does this have to do with anything? Well, It has to do with the animator, and the voice of effnocka, Ian Jones-Quartey. About ten years ago, Ian Jones-Quartey was drawing a hilarious comic that I was absolutely enamored with called RPG World. I loved RPG World so much, and his subsequent comic, whose name escapes me at the moment. In any case, I ended up following him for many years until he was forced to quit because of immense college work at the School of Visual Arts in New York. I was sad about the end of one of my favorite comics, and the fact that he seemingly fell off the face of the earth for a time. That was, until I discovered nockFORCE. When I went to read more about them, I learned that this same guy who I'd been following since he was in HIGHSCHOOL is now the animation director for seasons 3 and 4 of one of my favorite shows, THE VENTURE BROS.

I. Was. Floored. And then I realized that it was because he didn't stop doing what he loved. He didn't stop his passions. And that he wasn't born into privilege like Glen Keane, but that he was at one point, an average schmoe like me, doodling and doing what he loved. And now, he's living my dream. Some would say, "God damn you! You asshole! I'm so jealous! GRRR!", and on some level, I may be. But more than anything, I feel... inspired. Though he likely has no idea who I am (all I did for him was send him some piddly fanart when I was in middle school), I feel like I know him, and therefore, have maybe some kind of connection. Not through him, of course. I couldn't dream of clawing to his tailcoat like some kind of diseased, drowning rat. But the fact that we have something in common gives me hope that someday, I can live my dream like he is.

Sure, there's a lot of schmoes out there who are rather successful at doing what they love who I've been following for years. Fred Gallagher, Ian McConville and Matthew Boyd, Mike Krahulik and Jerry Holkins, and the guys at Rooster Teeth, but for some reason, Ian Jones-Quartey seems to strike a chord with me. Maybe because he's doing something that maybe I would like to do, and hope to someday do.

So what does this mean? Nose to the grindstone, I guess. Recently, my teacher has been toting around a lot of stuff about the Society of Illustrators, and with this illustration I've been working on recently, I really have been wondering if I have the stuff. I'll level with you, what I've got so far? Pretty damn awesome. It's in colored pencil, though, so I have to worry about how it'll transfer. But I like colored pencil. It's a great medium. Sadly, doesn't enlarge very well. So grainy.

What does this mean for you, the three people who read my blog? You get to see lots of experimentation in the (hopefully) near future as I try to carve out pieces for a portfolio. Yep. Enjoy that. Or don't. Whatev. I don' even cayah. _{God I'm so white}. I've been trying to do more work, painting in photoshop, as you can see by my fail femscout, but as I said before, have also been trying to get a more professional-looking work going. My summer swimming hole thumbnails and final, are just the beginning. Just wait til you see what I've got next. Granted, I'm pretty well aware that I won't be getting any daily deviations anytime soon, but if someone has the power to grant me that, let's just say I would pee myself a little.

So I guess that wraps up this blog. I'm sorry for the length, but I couldn't stop myself. Maybe I'll post some of the chapters to my as of yet unfinished novel. Even if you don't have a subscription, CRITIQUE IS WANTED. Got something you like about my art/writing? Say so. Got something you hate and want removed or changed? Say so. Isn't that what the comments section is for anyway? I don't think you need to have a subscription to critique something. Sounds useless. I'll try to blog more as well. Enjoy my rather extensive link dump. I think you'll enjoy it.

Ta-ta for now!

~analoren

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