Artist
Early Years
My mother has always told me that since I was 11 months old, still young enough to be in a high-chair, that I've held a crayon or some other writing instrument to paper. I guess you could say I was born to do this. I don't know where I get my creativity from, no one else in my family is an artist, save for my younger sister who is quickly gaining my attention as being quite good. She might even be better than I was at her age. Maybe my life's purpose involves art, I don't really see myself doing much else to be honest.
Growing Up
Being a kid in a military family wasn't that bad. I always enjoyed moving into and exploring new houses every 3 years or so. I grew up on both the west coast and the east coast, having lived in Huntington Beach, California, to Virginia Beach, Virginia. Once we arrived in northern Virginia, we finally settled down.
I was completely enthralled by comic books growing up. I started with Marvel and the X-Men and ultimately stopped collecting after switching over to Image and it's Youngbloods team. I would sneak books to school so I could attempt to recreate my favorite panels on a much larger piece of notebook paper. My grades of course suffered from this, and I struggled a lot in school. The typical subjects didn't interest me. Every grade seemed the same, the only things that changed were math and science, which I care little for on both accounts. I did however excel in creative classes such as art and technical education. It's my creative nature I suppose, but really they were the only things I found interesting for most of my childhood.
I discovered both of the naked human bodies at an early age, and started learning how to master it. I'd say if I had a favorite part of the human body, it's the hand. Powerful, precise and delicate, it would be a natural choice for an artist as I used them all the time.
I had gotten so wrapped up with learning how to draw realistic concepts that my comic book studies had fallen completely off the charts, but I felt like I was on to bigger, better things...
Early Adult
Growing up I was teased a lot about my weight, I've struggled with it my whole life. Art was my escape, it was my freedom from all the negativity that held me down. Drawing is all I would do, and my grades suffered the most they ever had. I ended up getting to be really good.
The other students around me had started taking notice of my skills in between making fun of my weight and my lack of attention when called upon in class. People started to respect my devotion to my craft and began admiring me for it. It's funny how life is because when that happened I drew less and less and started paying more attention in class. I guess responsibility had finally sunk in.
In high-school I discovered computers and the amazing things I could do with them. I was instantly hooked. I learned how to program games and websites so that I could make my art do more than just be a pretty thing on a piece of paper. It felt like the last boundary was broken, and I had complete creative freedom.
I'm often told that computers, specifically programming and art cannot coexist peaceably in one mind and that I'm an oddity because they do in mine, quite well I might add. My only obstacle since then has been my A.D.D. I get a new idea and I have to see it at least partially fleshed out. It's a curse really because it happens most of the time when I'm already in the middle of some other project.
Current Events
After graduating from the Art Institute of Washington, every job I've ever had has involved a high level of creativity. From doing courtroom interactive exhibits, to fully interactive, 3D flash driven websites, I've done all of it. The only problem was they were someone else's ideas, not mine. My gears began grinding on this to the point where I couldn't stand working for other people anymore and began freelancing on the side while I pursued my own creative endeavors.
Making websites is something I'm incredibly skilled at doing, it is however not what I want to do for a living. I want to be able to explore the depths of my creativity, hopefully along the way picking up some fans, but art is more a personal experience for me rather than audience driven. I wouldn't however, mind bringing other people's ideas to life if I can identify with them. I've always loved fantasy, so naturally fantasy art is where I find my peace.
I think out of all of this, the thing I enjoy most is the creative people I meet along the way which only encourage you to achieve your maximum potential. Recently I've been attending gaming conventions such as Origins and Con-On-The-Cob, and I've only got positive things to say. The people are great and the community of creativity is exactly what I look for in life. I truly am blessed to have such an opportunity.
