# 92. All that I Am

This is my own personal logo that I created. It was actually our first assignment in my art theory class but I thought it would go great with my challenge! To create my personal logo I began by thinking about aspects about myself that I like and that make me unique. The simplest way to explain my logo is to explain in pieces.

1.     The design and shading of my logo are aspects of my artistic nature. Art is a huge part of me, it was my first major in college and I even earned an associate degree in fine art from Oklahoma City Community College.

2.      I used gears, a pulley, and clamp ends (those are the four pieces coming out the sides with oval holes) because of my mechanical background. When I was in high school I co-enrolled at the local vocational school and earned a degree in automotive service. I also worked as a technician at a Nissan dealership for two years. Ever since I was a child I liked to take things apart and see how they work. Although I am no longer a technician nor do I ever plan on being one again it still holds a large place as a part of me.

3.     The most noticeable part of my logo is the shield and sash at the center. This represents my new focus on the study of business. After I decided I didn’t want to be a starving artist, I changed my major to business. I’m currently working on my senior year at the Price College of Business to earn my degree in supply chain management.

4.     The chains represent my degree in supply chain management.

5.     The musical notes in the upper right-hand corner symbolize my love for music. I am not a musician but listening to music is extremely important to me. My dad always woke us up on Sunday mornings by blasting classic rock tunes on the stereo.

6.     Time. If you didn’t notice there are clocks hands on the center shield. I had to include one of my favorite art themes.

7.     The key is more of my subjective outlook on life. There is a key to every problem you just have to find it.

# 35. Hold My Hand

Or hold my eye… it almost makes sense. I know it’s not exactly the first thing that comes to mind when you think of “hold my hand” but I wanted to do something different.  

I’m excited to get the semester going and it looks like one of my courses is going to help me with my challenge. This semester I’m taking an art therapy class as an elective and I think I’m really going to enjoy it. One of our assignments is to have a sketch book journal and make daily entries into it. However there is one requirement is to test out different media. = ) I know I’m going to have fun with this! Plus this will help me think of idea for my challenge. Who knows you might find pages from my sketch book on here.

# 71. Obsession

Meet Jeszie, my level 85 undead warlock from the game World of Warcraft.

This theme makes a lot more since if you happened to have known me back in 2006 and 2007. In the summer of 2006 I was in a motorcycle accident that left me unable to walk for a couple of months. So, I spent the majority of my time playing the online computer game called World of Warcraft, maybe you’ve heard of it. Anyway even after I healed I continued to play the game almost addictively.  For my birthday that next year my dad even wrote/sang a parody about my obsession with the game and gods only knows what would happen if my computer blew up.

It’s actually funny how many people have gotten themselves addicted to that game and ruined their lives. I know person I used to play with back in the day played so much he fluncked out of college and lost his scholarship which also led to his parents (who paid for all of his living expenses) to cut him off and he got kicked out of his apartment. Of course his girl friend also dumped him because he preferred to go to raids in the game on a Friday night instead of taking her out on a date…. And these things are actually common with this game.

Anyway, I got the idea from an artist on deviant art. She had several drawings of her different characters and I thought that was kind of cleaver. So I made a sketch of my own character and low and behold there’s a theme on my list that fits.   

# 95. Advertisement

This is the Spring 2011 recruitment flier for my professional business fraternity Delta Sigma Pi, created by yours truly. As much as I really dislike returning to school this week, I am excited to start a new semester with my fraternity brothers.

Additionally, stuff like this really makes me want to get into digital art. I’ve been thinking about purchasing the adobe photo shop lately. What took me hours on Microsoft power point would have only taken minutes if I had photo shop. I took a digital photography class my first year in college and it was a real bust. However, I found several photo shop tutorials on the internet, who needs a professor anyway?

# 24. No Time

I’m not sure why but I admit I have a fascination with clocks and here are a few reasons why:

1.       I think it might be because they are easy to manipulate artistically.

2.       They have mechanical innards that you can choose to expose or leave hidden within

3.       The numbers on the face of the clock present their use for uniqueness. (different fonts and styles of typography)

4.        Location or type of clock. Is it a grandfather clock at the top of a stairwell or a hand watch on a morning jogger.

5.       The face of a clock can always be a work of art on its own. I mean really any work of art can become a clock all you have to do is cut a hole in the middle and insert the battery operated clock arms.

And since I’m on the topic I thought I would include 2 older drawings that I did many years ago.  These were the first on my fascination with clocks. I use to go through magazines and cut out all the advertisements for watches along with everything else that showed mechanical parts. I used them to create both of these. The pencil drawing (the one on the right) is one of the pieces that I've sold.

# 52. Deep in Thought

Hmmmm, I wonder what she’s thinking about. Well, she’s probably thinking she’s pretty and that she’s making a lot of money because she’s a model in a magazine. The medium is oil pastels. But, I have to say she worked well for a model for my drawing. Haven’t you ever looked at someone staring off into space and wondered what they were thinking? 

My recent thoughts:

Mean people suck! Just because you are unhappy with your life it is not okay to take it out on other people. I’m actually not talking about a single person or a particular situation although I can think of many. But in general, there is nothing I hate more than someone I do not know expressing excessive rudeness towards me for no reason, especially when I have done nothing but be positive and greet them with a smile.  Furthermore, just because you are in a position of power doesn’t give you the right to push people around and act like you are entitled to the world. If I were in that position I would want to be admired not despised.  

The way I see it life is so much more pleasant if your attitude toward life is more pleasant. And, I strongly believe that good things happen to good people. I saw a commercial once I think it was a phone commercial or something but it played two scenarios side by side. In one scenario a girl drops her ballet shoes at the same time some famous ballet producer walks by and helps her pick them up, the other scenario she misses him. It then shows her having dinner with the guy vs. her being the waitress serving him wine and finally she’s on stage dancing vs. she’s in the stands watching. I would like to think this applies to the “good things happen to good people” rule. When you decide you want to be a positive person over time more random opportunities come your way. If you choose to be a grumpy mean person those doors of opportunity never open or you can just call it karma. Anyway, I just wish there were more nice people in the world and less mean people that suck.

# 9. Drive

I added an extra detail picture of the eye. The full scale picture of the drawing just doesn't seem to give it justice.

As I was drawing this I couldn’t help think of the theme and think of a couple of songs that really came to mind. Two in particular Drive by Incubus and Don’t Look Back by Boston

“Sometimes, I feel the fear of uncertainty stinging clear

And I can’t help ask myself how much I’ll let the fear

take the wheel and steer.” – Drive by Incubus

“Don't look back, a new day is breakin
It's been too long since I felt this way
I don't mind where I get taken
The road is callin, today is the day

I can see, it took so long just to realize
I'm much too strong not to compromise
Now I see what I am is holding me down
I'll turn it around

I finally see the dawn arrivin
I see beyond the road I'm drivin” - Don’t Look Back by Boston

It’s kinda interesting how drawings come out sometimes. This one seemed to finish with a bit dark and sad haze which wasn’t exactly what I was going for. But sometimes even a slip up in a line actually ends up really cool. Just for giggles here is the 2 minute sketch I did on my lunch hour. You can see where the idea came from and how it grew. Who knows maybe I’ll even turn it into a painting some day.

 

# 68. Hero

Every little kid needs a hero and someone to look up to. I decided to go with Buzz Lightyear. He’s not a run around save the world kind of character but a more silly, playful like hero.

# 5. Seeking Solace

For me, I think of solace as places that personally bring me physical and mental peace. A place to go and admire the beauty that is all around you, and the chance to gaze upon the godliness that is far away.

The flowers are hand drawn by yours truly; the background is a picture I found long time ago that has been the back ground on my computer for a long time. The observation was taken by the Hubble's Advanced Camera for Surveys in July 2004, (NASA). I also adore the picture because if you look closely you can almost see a face within the stars and you know I love illusions like that! I thought of drawing it but I decided I really like the way it looks as is. However it does leave me with ideas for another theme.   = )

# 85. Spiral

I do have to admit M. C. Escher was my inspiration for this drawing. I like the thought of stairways and doorways arranged in a way that the direction of gravity becomes confusing. It’s almost like you lose your own sense of gravity just trying to comprehend it. I took that concept and twisted it to my own style. However, I left the feel and points of gravity to the center and partly to the lower right corner.

My older brother married his gorgeous fiancé last night on New Year’s Eve. It was a truly beautiful wedding. As I was finishing this drawing, a thought came to mind,” life is like a twisting stairway you never know where it might lead or what surprises await. However, with marriage you know you will never have to climb those steps alone.” Congrats big bro!

P.S. Happy New Year!