RKTBlog

Here’s the beginnings of a piece that I’m working on called “11th”.  It’s named for 11th Avenue here in Portland, where these fantastic condos can be found.  (Click the thumbnail below to see a larger image.)

The final piece is going to be a digital painting, but I thought I’d share the original drawing.  Forgive the quality… I wasn’t planning on using it in the blog when I scanned it in, but I thought it might still be worth a post.

I’m trying to make a habit of drawing and painting on a more regular basis, so it was time that I brushed up on my figure drawing skills.  The last time I did a figure drawing was probably about seven years ago when I was still in college.  

Since arriving here almost two years ago, I’ve been meaning to sit in on a session at Hipbone Studio which holds open figure drawing three times a week. I finally got off my butt and did it.  I was a bit nervous; I didn’t know how my first drawings would come out, but I really enjoyed my time there.  The sessions are three hours long, but the time flew by, and I can’t wait to go back.  

Fortunately, my drawings didn’t come out to badly, although there’s definitely room for improvement.  I’m trying to learn to make more clean and decisive marks, and I want to begin pushing the pose and form, making my drawings more expressive with a better sense of volume.  The hardest part of starting up again was getting the timing down.  Oddly enough, I was having more problems building up the longer 30 minute poses than I was with the 5 minute drawings.  Anyway, it’s a start.  Hopefully I’ll improve.  

The drawing above is one of the better drawings that came out of the session.

I’m about to leave the house to work on the screenplay.  As I mentioned before, I have written over 120 pages so far, which is kind of amazing to me.  It’s satisfying to look at a binder filled with that much paper and think “I did that!”- not that I’d show a single one of those pages to anyone right now.  They’re in terrible shape, but that’s all part of the process.

When starting a huge project, I have to find ways to make the work less overwhelming.  In this case, that was setting a goal of writing 120 pages.  I didn’t care how good they were.  I didn’t care if they made any sense. All I knew is that I finally put something down on paper. Read more »

Last night, we had our elections here in Portland, and I’m super-proud to know that we chose Sam Adams as our next mayor.  In doing so, we’ll be the largest city in the U.S. to elect an openly gay man as mayor!

About three years ago, I started up a weekly webcomic called The Fantastic Mr. Grant about the adventures of an inventor and his eight-year-old niece.  A lot of love went into it, and I was very pleased with the pages that did come out.  Ironically, my last entry was the one that finally got noticed.  Just as my audience was beginning to find me, I found myself tapped out.

I found myself tapped out financially and emotionally, not creatively.  The story was just getting interesting, but my bank account was running dry. I just couldn’t draw a weekly webcomic under the stress of making ends meet.  I suck as a starving artist.

So Mr. Grant died before he was even born.

Well, at least the webcomic did.  You see, Mr. Grant was never intended to be a comic… or more accurately, it wasn’t intended to be just a webcomic.  The story was always something more to me, one which wasn’t confined to a particular media.  At the time, webcomics just seemed to be the most convenient way to tell the story, but ultimately, I couldn’t quite find the rhythm.  

Even as the webcomic was going strong, I was busy pitching the story to DNA Productions, the animation studio which my partner worked at.  It was a good pitch too!   There was a great energy in the room, and the studio owners responded with enthusiasm.  That day was one of the best of my life, even though it didn’t go any further than that.  

Only a few months later, the studio announced it was going under.  After a grueling, stressed-out summer, my partner found a new job, and we made our trek to Portland, OR.  It was difficult to be uprooted again, and it did nothing for the pocketbook.  I spent a year doing little else but searching for a job, until finally landing at a video game production company called Liquid Development.  I’m still not rich, and I still don’t have much time, but having the job buys at least a little time to begin working on my story again.

But this time, I’m writing a screenplay.

Lest you think the script will suffer the same fate as the comic, I’ll let you in on a little secret.  I’ve already written over 120 pages, and I’m almost done with a first pass.  Granted, it’s still got a long way to go.  Those 120 pages aren’t terribly good, but I’ve never written 120 pages of anything in my life!

I’ve never been terribly good at this blogging thing. I’ve given it a few shots before, and never with much success. English is kinda my second language, which is funny because I don’t speak anything else… …unless you count the language of visuals, which I do. Writing takes me a long of time, and speaking probably should, considering the jibberish that can come out of my mouth.

So why should I try blogging again?

For those who don’t know me, I am an illustrator and designer. Actually, that’s the short list; I’ve been known to dabble in a lot of things, including video, animation, fine arts, and now screenwriting. I’m interested in everything creative, although I can never find enough time to satisfy all those urges. It’s hard to sustain a creative life in a world constantly demands the next rent check and lately, I feel like I’ve lost focus.

So, I’m establishing this page as a sort of online sketchbook. I’ve often considered myself an “art exhibitionist”, and my best work is usually done in the open. I also love discussing the theories behind art and design. I’ve taught a number of college level classes, and in talking to my students and preparing for classes, I would often become inspired to push my own work farther.

At any rate, I plan to update this blog a couple of times a week. I’m setting a modest goal in the hopes that I can keep it up. I hope you enjoy my work and come back soon!