Back at the beginning of October, I posted an article called Art: Not Just a Hobby, that spring-boarded me into a fact-finding mission. I wasn’t given all of the tools necessary to make my passion into a career—so I need to find them for myself. I thought perhaps other young, emerging artists such as myself may benefit from this journey, and so I wanted to share it.

My very first question was, “What are other artists and freelancers doing?” I needed to find some successful artists, see how they are doing business, and what they did to get there. I asked around, hit the library, and did some heavy web surfing to come up with some answers. I’ll share what I have thus far. (continue reading…)

This evening I had a fun adventure in the world of live broadcast entertainment. I joined up with UStream.tv, and created my very own show named Joie in the Studio. I ran a test show to figure out how things worked, and it seemed to be a small hit!

Please see more information about the show here: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/joie-in-the-studio

Here is a clip from the first episode of Joie in the Studio:

I would like to do more live broadcasts on a regular basis. What are the best times and days to do this? I don’t want to compete with major TV programming. What about an early Wednesday evening time? Tell me your thoughts.

In closing, I also have a new YouTube Account where the clips of my show will be posted. Please visit me!

I’m excited to announce that I’ll be in an art show and expo next month right here in Atlanta! I will have prints of my art available for purchase, as well as some originals for sale and viewing. There’s a good chance I’ll have my worktable set up as well, so if you come you can see me painting and drawing in action!

Each artist will have their own small storage unit that can be set up like a gallery and store. There will be jewelry, glass art, paintings, quilts, sculptures, pottery, photography, and much more! I’d love it if I saw some new faces out there! Also: I will bribe you. I will have FREE CANDY at my booth. So come get some!

Today we’ve got a fantastic article written by a guest poster, Kelly McKernan. She was originally featured on this site as an Artist Spotlight, and I’m glad to bring her back again, this time as the author of a great article geared to those artists still in school. It is a great follow up to the post I wrote last week. The original is reposted with permission:

“If you’re in art school, and you feel like you’re wasting your time, then leave. You don’t need it, but if you can benefit from it in some way, make it happen. Just don’t let those years feel like a waste…”

(continue reading…)

For those of you who have been eagerly awaiting news on Vinny #1, here is the official word, finally. Of course, about a month ago I posted about the Proof Copy of Vinny that we had received. One of the writers/editors, Josh, had a chance to test it out amongst some professionals in the comic book world. They had lots of helpful feedback of course, which we’re really thankful for.

We’ve got some changes to make to the issues before it can be printed. They’re all changes that are worth it, especially in the art department. Josh had originally wanted a more cartoony look for the book, but we decided to add some depth to the art by adding greyscale “color” to it. And what easier and more fun way for me than to use watercolors?

Thus far it has improved the quality of the art nearly threefold. It doesn’t take long to do, but definitely adds a level of life and depth to it that it lacked so sorely before. I’m very excited to see what it looks like when it’s finished. Of course there are writing and editing changes that Josh and Matt are implementing as well, but as a whole the final quality of the book will be much higher because of it. This does mean that the official release date will be pushed back some, but I feel it’s worth it to wait and release a better product than to rush.

As of right now I am still in the process of painting the pages, and they are being relettered. Josh and Matt are brainstoming about the writing, and there is a possibility of an Issue #0 being released in the near future as well, to really introduce readers to the characters and story before the main series begins.

I thank everyone supporting the project for their patience– it will be well worth the wait, I promise! Please stay tuned for more updates in the near future.