Back to blogging...hopefully

Wow, i know i haven't blogged in awhile and I'm sure I only have a few people who actually read this anyways, but I'm going to get back into the swing of things and blog at least every other day...hopefully.

anyways, since my last blog, not a whole lot has happened. My art show went great! I sold so many paintings..it was shweet! I've been painting, drawing, and writing around the clock. Been drawing comics, working on Nutty Ned issue 2 and working on setting up another show with another talented artist.

Working on a new novel and writing short stories here and there. I'm getting ready to send out a ton of portfolios to galleries and publishers with the hopes that they might take a chance on this weird guy from Wyoming.

But I have some plans in the early stages of self publishing my Nutty Ned comic and possibly a collection of poetry and drawings...but of course stuff like that takes money and this kid is broke :) Maybe once a week I'll post a page of Nutty Ned from issue one. If anyone thinks that would be a good idea or would want to see that, leave me a comment and I'll be sure to post a page from my comic once a week.

I promise to blog more often and to my couple of readers out there, sorry for the slacking. Well, back to work...

Just a reminder

Just a reminder to everybody, my art show is this Saturday from noon to 4 p.m. It will be held in Worland, WY at the Washakie County Fairgrounds in the conference room. I've been hard at work preparing for this show. So far I have 60 paintings that I will be showing.
I love holding shows, but damn there is so much work that goes into putting on a tiny show. There's advertising, pricing out work, framing, getting the room and all the other crap that goes with it. Yet, it will be worth it. I know I complain know, but in a week after it's all done, I will be wanting to do another one. Anyways, if you're in the area on Saturday and have nothing better to do, stop by and check out some of the work. It's free admission and all work will be for sale.

Working Hard

I'm currently working hard in the studio, finishing up paintings and drawings for the upcoming show. The image above is me working on a guitar. Of course, adding my own touch to it. This show is going to be way different from the first one I held back in Sept. I'll be showing a lot of weird crap, which is the only way I know how to describe it. I'm trying out some new methods in painting and trying to make my art more unique than anything I have ever done before. I've been applying the paint thick on some work and others I'm being really tight and strict, trying to put on the canvas what I really want people to see.

The days are counting down, and I know I'll wake up one day and it will be show time and that's when all my hard work and effort finally gets put to the test and is ready for viewing.

Time to hit the studio again.

Art Show Set

The above image is the finished poster hanging in the bowling alley. It turned out pretty good, but the people running the whole bowling event placed garbage cans, beer cases, and other junk in front of it. You could still see most of it, but some parts were covered up. Oh, well I suppose. I got paid..lol

Anyways, after much putting off, I have finally set up my second art show in a year. It's set for May 17, and I'm hoping to be showing 50 to 75 works. The show is set up at the fairgrounds here in Worland and is hopefully going to run from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.

I just hope this one turns out better than my first show. The first show was good and I sold 9 pieces of work, but of course I want to out-do my last show. I guess I can only wait and see. It's just difficult to make a living as an artist in Wyoming when my style is so different from the common "western art", horses and indian pictures that seem to flood the galleries and homes of collectors. I suppose I am just a little fish in a big pond.

work..work..work

The above image is the poster that i'm doing for the bowling alley and is nearly completed. It's a redneck, tailgating theme and I'll be adding a barbeque grill and some beer cans to finish it. The picture only shows about six feet of it, which is all the wall I have to spare. My studio is so small I can't even work on my projects. The poster is 3 X 10 foot, which it was originally going to be 4 X10 feet.
I have to have the poster done by Saturday, which shouldn't be a problem. I've found that when money is on the line and when there are bills that are going to be paid with that money, I have to get that project done on time, no matter what. That's just the way it goes for a starving artist I guess.

I also have a meeting set up this Friday for a possible illustration job for a children's book. So my personal projects will be put on hold even longer so I can build up a good portfolio to show. The book is a children's book about a horse, and I'm not sure how many illustrations are needed, but I guess I'll find out the rest of the details when the meeting happens. I'm just trying to get more jobs and to get my name out there more. So wish me luck!

Getting paid...maybe

The above image was a cartoon I did for the paper this Saturday, which of course, is a political one. With Obama and Clinton in Wyoming this past week it seemed necessary. It's funny, but a little cliche I suppose. What cartoonist out there isn't drawing a Obama and Hilary fighting cartoon?
By the way, you might have noticed the "Vines" name along with my last name. That's my editor, and he basically comes up with the ideas for the cartoons and I draw them. He jokes and says 'I'm the talent.'

Anyways, hopefully getting paid for some commissioned work soon. Designing and painting a 4 X 10 foot poster for a bowling tournament that they will hang on the wall. It's basically going to be a redneck tailgating party, so it should be fun and pretty simple. Nothing fancy about it, but I have only 2 weeks to complete it. So, I guess that means I'll have to put my numerous other projects on the back burner until this is completed. That's okay though. I'm trying to make a living as an artist and writer and this is how you do it I guess. You have to sell your work to put a roof over your head and put food on the table. I'll post some pics of the process and the final piece.

I've never been a big fan of doing commissioned work. I always like to think that I can sell my own creations, and by that I mean creating what I want to. Sometimes it can be a pain in the ass when people come up to me and say, "Oh, can you draw or paint me a pretty picture of a fairy."
It can be kind of a pain just because I want to get paid for my work, but at the same time, I want to create the things I want to create.

Oh, well. I guess it's just the 'don't sell out' artist in me. Yet, I don't think it's selling out when you are just trying to pay your bills. I stay true to my work and create ideas that are original and unique, or at least I like to think so. Doing this sort of work can only broaden my mind and make me a better artist. I hope...:)

The studio

For some odd reason, and maybe I'm not alone in this, but I love to look at other artists' studios.
I love to see the area in which a creator works and the creative mess they leave while shelling out work.

My studio is a mess. I try to clean it out at least once a month, but with all of the projects I have going it seems futile. I always add to the pile no matter how much I clean. There's paintings and drawings everywhere; some finished and some still in the process. I have easels set up all over the place, but I still work on the floor.

Even when I got my first studio, it was small. It was a spare bedroom in my parent's house. In fact all of my studios and the one today, is a spare bedroom. I've only had one large studio before and that was in the very first house I lived in outside of my parent's house. This studio was huge! I had room to work and room for storage. But my new house that I bought is a small two bedroom and both bedrooms are about the size of my first studio, which is probably around a ten by ten room.

But I'm not complaining. I have a place to work, and in a smaller space I feel closer to my work. With my work all around me, sometimes even literally falling on top of me, it somehow inspires me to keep creating. I love to see the fruits of my labor shining before me while I work and have them around while I create more pieces to add to the collection that is building in my house.

I think as a creator, my wide and sometimes busy imagination tends to leak out into reality, which of course can be the cause of my crowded studio and house. Not only is the studio full of work, but it has leaked out into the hallway, into the living room and all the way into the kitchen. Before long, I can see myself painting, drawing or writing in the bathroom.

But whatever it takes to get my work done and to relieve the pressure that builds in my brain from all of these ideas I have, then I guess it's worth the sacrifice.

Moving slowly

Well, things are moving slowly with all of my projects. Comic work is moving along slowly, as well as work on Junkyard Whores.

Junkyard Whores is getting really interesting, but I've hit a wall. I'm at a point in the story where a father is burning the corpse of a young man who had the hots for his daughters. It's a good part in the story, (and kind of gory) but now I'm not sure where in the hell to go.

In other news, in my previous post I mentioned the article that I wrote about the small boy who saved his mom's life by dialing 911 while she was choking on a chip. Well, they were flown to Chicago for free and appeared on the Steve Wilkos show. For those of you who don't know, Steve Wilkos was the bald security guard on the Jerry Springer show. I'm really glad I could give that little boy his 15 minutes of fame, even if he won't remember it.

Time to go sleepy and get up in the morning and continue to paint, write, draw, and work on the other 200 projects I've got going.

No Credit?

Recently I wrote an article at work about a 5 year old boy who dialed 911 when his mother was choking on a chip. The police showed up and gave the mother the heimlich. The boy is credited with saving his mom's life.

I work for a small newspaper. It's not like the big boys at the New York Times. The Associated Press (AP) picked up my story and cut it in half, and now the story about a five year old boy is everywhere. It's on ABC and CBS news, the Miami Herald, the New York Times. And just to name a few other papers and websites that have picked it up include, Boston, Kentucky, Philadephia, Chicago, Rapid City, and the list goes on. All you have to do is google the five year olds name which is Mathew Rissler.

I'm only putting his name on here so you can actually read the story, because it's actually pretty interesting and heart-warming. When you read the story on the net you will see the story is really short. My original story was longer.

I guess at first I was upset that my story was picked up by the AP and of course my name wasn't on it. But that's the AP and they can do that. But now I'm realizing that my story is getting read by millions and I can take some comfort in knowing that those millions of people wouldn't even know the story of a five year old boy saving his mother's life by dialing 911 if it wasn't for me; even if I don't get credit.

Maybe with journalism it's better to sit back in the shadows and let the actual hero, which is the five year old boy, to have the center stage. I just have to realize that with being a journalist I won't always get credit and not everyone will like what I write.

I just have to remember what my editor said to me, or at least what I think he said, "Don't let it get in the way of your creative juices."

Maybe he's right. I should keep on writing and doing my job the best I can.

Checking in

Well, thankfully it's the weekend. Finally get to spend some time on some much neglected work. I have a few paintings that are nearing completion.

I'm also going to work on my novel, Junkyard Whores. I haven't even touched it for four days. I'm guessing I should have it done by the end of Feb. I'm liking it so far, but I know I'm going to have a hell of a time editing it. But, honestly, doesn't the title just sound awesome?

Okay, maybe not awesome, but it does catch your attention. If you want to know what it's about, just ask me...or maybe I'll describe in a later blog...

Other than that, I'm still searching for a place to host an art show. I was wanting to hold it in the middle of March, but with the way things are going it looks more like sometime in April..GRRR...

Anyways the painting above and below were a couple of images I was going to show. Comment me and let me know what you think.

Time to go and pencil a few comic pages and then it's off to bed!

Nutty Ned

Well, as promised yesterday, here are some pics from my first completed comic, Nutty Ned Adventures.

The comic is about a simple guy named Ned Green, who loves hamburgers and works at a car parts store. The odd thing about this first issue is that their really isn't a story. It's more or less just each page being a random situation, (each page being an adventure I guess), much like the archie double digests back in the day.

In issue two I've already come up with some new characters and there will be more of a story line. I'm also currently coloring another comic. Dang, I really need to stop starting so many projects. I must really love writing, painting and comics.

THE COVER TO NUTTY NED # 1

JUST ONE OF THE 15 Pages......This is Ned admiring the flowers...

E- mail me with any questions or thoughts

Nutty Ned Adventures issue one

Well, my comic Nutty Ned Adventures issue one is complete. I might go back in and clean up a few things, but I have to admit it looks pretty awesome colored. I think the next blog I will post a pic or two. It's a great feeling to finally have a comic done, instead of having a stack of inks and thumbnails staring at me. Already started the thumbnails and some story ideas for issue two. I'm planning on self-publishing the first issue, so I'll let you know how that goes.

In other news, I'm trying to find a spot to hold an art show. I held one six months ago at a community center and it went well. But for this next one I want to do some things different and sell some more work.