Christmas in Arizona

First of all, it's cold. I know you wouldn't expect that in Arizona, but is in fact cold. It's not snowing or anything, but it's definitely winter out here. Our friends up in Washington and Portland are snowed in, which I kind of envy, actually. Cold without snow is like a giant tease.

So last night we all went over to Mike and Lesley's for Christmas Eve. He and Lesley threw together a pretty cool Christmas bash. Honestly, I don't remember the last time a group of people that big laughed so much. At one point, I thought the alcohol might be suspect. Is there laughing juice in here? Apparently not. I was told this is what fun is called. Who knew?

The party was fun. There was a present swap. I somehow got the bag with hemorrhoid cream. More laughter ensued. My face hurt after about 10 seconds.

Doc, Andy and Sam got blasted. Doc was hilarious. The most memorable drunk moment between them was white boy impov rap. That's right; rap. Andy gave a beat while Doc and Sam teed off. Oh.. the things that were said in that rap. No, Doc, I won't repeat them here, and no, I won't include the picture either. ;) That piece of evidence, I leave to you to do with what you will.

Under Mike and Lesley's Christmas tree was a box to "The Tom Billings Foundation", which is our new Non Profit Org. They gave it to us before we left. I'm still blown away with their present. A camera. They gave us a Nikon digital camera and it'll rock your socks off. I've been playing with it all day.

Christmas day, everyone was pretty beat, but it was a nice day; Turkey, Russian Holiday bread, a Christmas tree over a pile of presents. I got shoes! Really cool shoes that fit my big ass feet! The scarf I'm wearing with the puppy Marita made me.

And now, for your viewing pleasure; my day with the camera, and yes; it has time lapse on it, which is the coolest thing ever! I'm going to go play with my camera now. :)





Timelapse footage of the back alleyway and the awesome sunset. How cool is that?

Me and Marla, the crazy new puppy!

Christmas Aftermath.

Our Seat in Office

It's the only thing anyone is talking about right now, and though I've tried to focus on something else today, I just can't help it.
Barack Obama was elected the 44^th President of The United States of America.
I think we all knew he'd win, but I was also terrified he'd somehow loose. After all, Bush won in 2000, and no one saw that coming.

The truth is, for the past eight years, I've been ashamed of my country. I was an expat in China, and when meeting foreigners, I'd try to avoid the inevitable question: Where are you from? I think more often than not, I'd say "I'm American, but don't hold it against me.", that is, if I actually answered the question.

Americans tend to live in their own little bubble. Few Americans travel abroad these days and internationally, we're made fun of for being so self centered as to have a national predisposition against learning a second language. Americans tend to think we're the center of everything, somehow the most important country in the world.

We know where that comes from. All over the world, people have been coming here to try their hand at The Great American Dream, but for the past eight years, us expats were not the only ones disillusioned. Chinese friends of mine, people who grew up in a decidedly communist country where censorship is tailored ala 1984, where the general public is being lied to on a constant basis about anything from The Long March to meteorological statistics, couldn't believe what Americans were letting happen in The Land of the Free.

The the war. The economy. The abundant lies. My Chinese comrades couldn't believe the injustice. There was less and less favorable things said about us. Fewer wanted to come to America. Fewer foreigners saw America as a place that offered any dream at all anymore. No one I spoke to over there, Chinese, Australian, British, Irish or otherwise, trusted or believed George W. Bush. I didn't either, and I still don't.
My long drawn out point here is that we've been in trouble. Even if some of us can't see it, the rest of the world knows and we've all been seriously worried about just how far down America would sink. I think over the past year, the majority of Americans, even the stubborn ones, have let themselves see how far off the track we've gone.

But last night, Senator McCain made his concession speech, and a sincere and level headed intellectual, Barack Obama, made his acceptance speech to the packed crowds in Chicago.

Its monumental. We all know just how important it is that he won. Yes, it's an historical event to elect an African American as president of the United States, but the real victory here isn't about race, it's about saving our country.

In the 90s, during President Clinton's presidency, America was on a consistent upward slope, enjoying a surplus, thriving in a booming economy and enjoying all of our personal liberties. Since then, we've had our liberties and dignity stripped away as we watched our economy drain out through a wayward war.

We needed Barack to win.

They say that power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely, but distribute this power among the ranks of the masses, and you will see tides of progress and monumental change. Historically, when the people as a whole have been allowed to play an active part of governing, when they have been given the power and ability to participate, huge obstacles have crumbled in front of their united effort and we have made great strides. The power of America has always been in it's people and for too long we have been cut off from influence, and have been made to sit and watch our lives unfold in fear. With our liberties and freedoms handed back to us, we have the opportunity to gain ground again in the scientific and technological race, we have the ability to be a sound leading country again and show the world just how much we can accomplish when the power is in the right hands: ours.

Barack Obama is a great man, but we must remember that he is just that: a man. For America to rebound from the last eight years, we need two things: an intelligent competent leader and the collective effort of the American people. One without the other will never work. He needs us as much as we need him, and that's why this day is monumental, because with him in office, we have a good chance of regaining our seat in office. What America has been missing these past years is the power of the individual and the influence of the American people as a whole. Hopefully this is what will change all that.

Flying Seeds

Andy and I got married on October 29th, but we generally celebrate on Halloween. Either way, it was nice getting emails and calls on our official anniversary from friends and family. Thank you!
That night, my brother in law, Mike and his girlfriend, Leslie came over with some pumpkins and we carved all night. SomehoｗＩdon't have pictures of the food fight that ensued. It was everywhere, and I was still finding pumpkin seeds in my hair the next morning. Leslie started it and Kay was the first to throw any at me, which of course meant all out war. I probably escalated it a bit... :) I at least stopped myself from pooring the whole bowl on someone's head.

Anyway, here are our finished pumpkins. I'll put up photos from Halloween night later. You'll want to see it. There was a burlesque show....with fire! Yeah, it made Doc a very happy man.

Below:(In the back) Mike, Leslie
Up Front: Doc, Kay, Sienna, Andy

Below: Andy, Sienna, Doc, Mike, Kay, Leslie

Acts of Desperation

By now, we all know that John McCain has chosen Alaska governor, Sarah Palin as Vice Presidential running mate.

I simply can't wrap my head around it. It strikes me as a blatant act of desperation, and I'm finding it difficult to find any reason whatsoever for choosing her beyond her gender. She has no foreign relations experience, has only 20 months of experience running her very small state, and has already gathered a questionable track record. People are arguing over whether or not her infantile leadership experience is something to squawk over. There's a lot of defense, but what I'm not seeing is anyone bringing to the table why she would be a good candidate.

What bothers me is that by McCain choosing her as a possible vice president of the US, he's showing tremendous irresponsibility, telling the American people that he's okay with unqualified people running our local and foreign affairs. Whats worse, is that no one seems to be offended by this. It seems to me that by choosing Palin, he's proven that he's not concerning himself with the actual running of the country at all, but only with the race at hand. It shows a complete lack of foresight and in and of itself proves that he's unfit for presidency. Any candidate that would risk the security of the nation on a gimmick, on a political stunt, should never cast his shadow on the threshold of the White House. Yes, all politicians use stunts and glamor to win, but generally, they don't do it at the risk of our country.

If by some unlucky turn of fate, McCain does become president, the American people would be handcuffed to a shell shocked president who still isn't sure if he believes in Global Warming and a VP that as of a few weeks ago, was perplexed by what her potential job would even entail!

From everything I've seen, the only thing McCain and his people know about a campaign is developing controversy and hoopla, and generally to their own downfall. For instance, the "Obama Energy Plan" Tire Gage he passed out, that looked and acted like an add for Obama, rather than the mockery he intended.

They're nothing but a side show, and I find it hard to believe that anyone at all is listening anymore. They've discredited themselves and made a mockery of themselves and (to our benefit) of their party.

Just the other day, McCain had the stroke of genius to say that the GOP needed to "Take off their Republican hats and put on their American Hats" during the Hurricane in New Orleans. By his own words, he's told us that you cannot be both an American and a Republican at the same time, and that if America is in danger, the last thing we need is a Republican on deck. He warned us. A republican himself. The Republican candidate for presidency HIMSELF has told America that when we're up against a wall, you better clean all the Republican Hats out of the house.

I couldn't agree with you more.


As a final note, this was another stroke of genius.
On August 29th, McCain announced Palin as his running mate. Palin was introducing herself to the American people for the first time. This moment was pivotal for her. She had to show just the right amount of strength, youth, patriotism and female compassion to win over all these people who didn't know her from Eve. And what did she do? She lied. Right out from the gate, she lied about "The Bridge to Nowhere", claiming that she had opposed it being built, even when we have proof she had supported it, proof that was so recent, I wonder why she would even try to lie about it.

And so, I thank you Sarah Palin, for simplifying everything for us. So early in the game, you and McCain have done all the work a critic might want, you've even created the slogans for us.

I dedicate this image to Palin and McCain. You, and you alone made this image possible.

McCain / Palin
A Bridge to Nowhere

Art Blog

I am now blogging all art related news at my new blog, The Rogue Palette.
Visit it at RoguePalette.Blogspot.com

Vector Illustrations and Why Windows Sucks

I've always dug vector illustrations and design, and I noticed that when I'm designing, I'm often making pretend with vector design. So I decided to bridge the gap and just get a vector program. I'm using Inkscape. It's an open source, totally free alternative to Illustrator.
First of all: Linux is the shit! The more I use it, the more I like it and the less I like Windows. Just the usability is so much better. When you're in a linux program, you interface with the software. With nothing but my right hand on the mouse and my left hanging over ctrl and shft, I can work uninterrupted. It was unusual at first, but now it's second nature. I keep using Ubuntu hot keys and navigation when I'm in Windows programs and I keep getting frustrated that I have to stop what I'm doing to go grab the zoom or some other thing. Linux OS and software let you operate in them uninterupted. It's just little amounts of time that you take doing these little things in Windows programs, but these little hickups get in the way of your designing/work progress.
Maybe it's not for everyone, but if a die hard Windows fan actually tried it out, I think everyone would come to same conclussion: Linux software is more productive and easier for long time use. If you're not a serious designer or computer dude, then no, it'll suck for you. If you only ever use your computer to check email and write reports in Word, then Linux isn't much use to you and you'd probably give up long before you saw the benefit.
I was hesitant at first. I use Gutsy Ubuntu, and when I first got it, I was always worried I would fuck it up in some unrepairable way. I think it was because of the terminal and that you can change so much about the OS. Anyway, now it's just awesome. Everything is easy, and maintenance is a frelling dream. (yes I said frelling. It seemed fitting here. Okay, how about fracking? ;P / )

Okay, I'm done ranting now. I'm just stoked. I just wish I had known about all this before. The OS and all the software (pretty much all) are open source and totally free, and usually miles better than their pricey competitors. Why the hell woulnd't you make the switch?

Okay, done now.
Here, this is what I did with Inkscape so far. I just started, so I'm sure you can do much cooler things in it. I'll figure it out in time.


Yeah, I couldn't get enough out of that Raven. I made the Raven for Kay's website, Raven's Writing Desk.

The Real World?

American life is coming back to me. For the past two and a half years, we've lived on our own schedules, doing our own thing on our own time and not worrying about the usual things you worry about in a usual life. We've been back for seven months and yesterday I went to a job interview. That's the crux of the usual life, and the thing we are always wary of.

It's not the usual day job though. The place is called Phoenix Art Group and I'd be interviewing for a position as an artist. So this isn't the usual trip, but it's still working for someone else, and that's something I haven't done for a while. The interviewing process itself is a bit...weird. I'm not used to it. The thing I wasn't expecting was being nervous. I wasn't in the beginning, but then I realized I actually wanted the job. If it was a waitress interview, I couldn't care less.

My error was asking the receptionist to explain how it works there. As it turns out, there's a lot of learning in the job. If you know me at all, you know learning turns me on. That's right, I can't get enough of it, and I'm particularly hungry lately for learning things pertaining to art. I'm an alright artist, but I make it all up, and lately I'm looking for some technique. Well it just so happens that they teach exactly that in this job. So this is how it works:

A designer creates a piece: acrylic, oil or metal sculpture. Then they have a show. When a company or person diggs it, the designer comes back and gathers up all his little artists and then goes on to teach them how to recreate the piece. Yeah, it's mass production, and it's for companies. A lot of it is "contemporary", the kind of artwork I can't stand, but I can't help but think of correlations to the age old art apprentice. The head guy designed it and then taught his little artists how to paint it for him. Michelangelo was not the only artist who laid his brush on the Sisteenth Chappell, it was a big project and you can be damn sure that he had all his apprentices painting that ceiling too. For all I know, the Sisteenth Chappel is the exception, but that's how it went.
Okay, this ain't no Sisteenth Chappel. This is corporate art. I'm not looking at it as great artwork, but it's the teaching in there I'm looking at. They have TECHNIQUE. They teach you how to put the paint down, what to mix it with, how to order the layers, how to use materials that I DON'T USE, and if they let me, teaching me how to do metal sculpture. I could use all of that in my own art, and make it something really great.

See, now I want the job. And now I'm nervous.

I didn't have the actual interview yet. I just went in and talked to the receptionist and did the application bit. When I first came in, I just brought my portfolio. Rachel, the receptionist, tells me they only take CDs or slides and that they won't see anyone until after they have that with the application. So I take the application and ask her questions. Rachel tells me they're not looking for anyone right now, but would hire someone who really shines. She asks if she can look through my portfolio while I'm filling out the application and of course I let her. She "looks" through my portfolio, if you can call speed skimming "looking". Surprisingly, when she finishes, she jumps on the phone and calls up the person who will be reviewing my work and tries to get me an interview right there on the spot. Needless to say, this got my hopes up a bit. Unfortunately, the woman on the other end of the phone stuck to the rules and said she'd have to see the cd I put together first.
So I gather up my portfolio and go home to make the cd, put on my bio and 10 of my best pieces and hurry back.
So now, I'm waiting.... impatiently.

This is weird. I want them to be impressed by my work and give me a chance. This is a job, and I want it.

By the way, these are two new pieces of mine that I put on the CD. I think I'm getting better recently. I've been asking people to critique my work and I've been actually taking notes on what I need to improve. So these are the first two results of my note taking.

The Death of a Comic Book Hero

I hardly ever read the newspaper anymore. Sometimes I skim and every now and then I get the urge to delve in. Today, Kay (Andyś Mom) and I were reading the New York times and a local Phoenix newspaper. After talking about the local art shows and joking about tools with SUVs paying 100 bucks to fill their gas tank, I put down the paper and started making breakfast. Kay kept reading.
¨Whoś this, only 37 and he died?" She asks. I barely comment.
¨Some Michael Turner.¨She continues.
¨Michael Turner, Michael Turner; that sounds familiar, I think I-"And then it hits me. She´s talking about Michael Turner, the comic book artist for Fathom, Witchblade, dozens of covers for Superman and Batman, Justice Leagues, Super Girl and so many more.

She´s talking about my idol.

I tore the paper right out of her hand. It was true, it was him. Mike Turner had died.

When I was 13, I used to draw from his comic books. Very early in my artistic ¨carreer¨, I found Turner, and I wanted nothing more than to be able to draw like he did, to get those provocative angles and beautiful curves, and the style, oh the style! I wanted to know how he came to seeing the world that way.

I´ve had very few teachers and fewer still who cared enough to actually teach me, but though he had no idea (and now never will), he had a profound effect on me as one of my earliest and longest standing teachers to date.

I´ve heard my parents and people my parents age talk about the days their idols died, about how it affected them, about how they cried, or yelled or fasted or fucked their idolyic homage to them. I never quite got it. I respected these people they were talking about and knew them well, but I didn´t get. Mike Turner´s death hit me like a ton of bricks. He had bone cancer. He died of a complication during treatment on June 27th. He´d been battling the bone cancer for eight years, producing stunning work the whole time, all while being upbeat. Thirty seven fucking years old. How the fuck does the Universe account for that?

When I look through comic books, I immediatly look for the writer and artist, and his name is what I´m always hoping for. If it was drawn by Mike Turner, you knew it was worth it. Hell, you recognize his covers out of the corner of your eye. Thereś no mistaking Turner.
I never quickly read through a comic drawn by Mike Turner. I always linger on the pages, re read his frames and try to memorize the images as best I can, hoping I´ll take something from it.

I´m not an accomplished artist yet, not really. I´ve had my shows and my jobs and all that, but I´m not there yet and I have miles to go. So if you´re reading this, and aren´t familiar with Mike Turner(and if you are), don´t take my art as a reflection of his work. I´m nothing like him and I have none of the precisions that he´s mastered. I am however a loyal fan, someone whose anticipated his covers and kept his comics, one whose respected and envied his work. I´m someone who...well shit, I´m someone who´s mourning their idol today. I think this is the first.

Of Michael Turner, I can say he was one of the greats in the fields. His work in Identity Crisis was masterful, as were all of his pieces. His covers struck you and his frames kept you in the book´s own little world. I just can´t believe that there won´t be any new Turner comics in the future, no new editions, no new covers, no new frames. Granted, he´s done a lot of work, but I just can´t believe that the comic book world has lost Turner.

You truly will be missed.



Here are some links about his death that you might like to read:

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-turner4-2008jul04,0,449513.story

http://pwbeat.publishersweekly.com/blog/2008/06/28/rip-michael-turner/

http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=16993

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-turner4-2008jul04,0,449513.story?track=rss

More importantly, take a look at the website for his comic book company, Aspen Comics. You can see some of his work there and see what the hell it is I´m talking about.

http://www.aspencomics.com/