One pain in the thumb later

I have a dirty little secret. As much as I knock art (despite the fact that I am, in fact, an artist) I am actually enjoying drawing again. Shhh. Don't tell anyone. I was hoping that dusting off my art skills and putting myself to the test would rest my mind on the ever growing concern that my artistic abilities were swirling madly down the drain of life. Ever since having kids, art has been the last thing on my constantly growing 'To Do' list. Oh, occasionally I'll whip out my art pad to help the family or friend in need of something artsy. But that's about it. I thought that forced art would be a drain on my brain and a thorn in my side. My brain in coping just fine. I do, however, seem to be experiencing some fairly annoying pain in my thumb due to the small canyon sized crack that has developed from holding my pencils. Anyhow, you can imagine the surprise I felt the past two weeks when I looked at the clock to see 2:00 a.m. on it because I have been so involved in my drawing. Are they masterpieces? No, no, no. Of course not. How naive do you think I am? But I am enjoying it. Not to mention I'm enjoying the countless episodes of Smallville that I drool over while I'm sketching away. It's not that I think Tom Welling is the hottest Superman to date, I just really appreciate his well sculpted body. You know...purely from an artistic point of view. *wink* I added a close up this week of a part of the drawing just to throw in a little difference. May I introduce my Weekly Creature Feature week #2:

Welcome to Weekly Creature Features!

I officially declare this blog to be OPEN for business. Not that I am selling any of this art. Well, I would sell it but I'm fairly certain no one's in the market for what I draw. Once upon a time I aspired to follow in the footsteps of my favorite artist, Ralph McQuarrie, and go on to work for the movie world. In case you're not savvy, he's is the artist for Star Wars (the original trilogy). I had the dream of working in Jim Henson's Creature Shop or working for 'the man' himself - George Lucas. Or at the very least, someone in that line of work. Believe it or not, I actually spoke to Ralph McQuarrie on the phone. I sent him a fan letter and he wrote back with his phone number and said to call him. I was as giddy as a teenager on a first date. I picked up the phone and stared at it for about half an hour. Dialed the number up to the last digit and hung up. Then dialed again....hung up. After repeating said pattern more times than I could count, I finally let the phone ring through. When the woman who answered hollered (literally) for Mr. McQuarrie, I swear I actually squealed a little. I know. Who gets that excited to talk to an artist? Well...a huge Star Wars fan who just happens to also be an artist. That's who. He looked through some art samples that I sent him and we talked for awhile. The conversation was most enlightening. He told me the reality of getting into the movie business if you're an artist and how he lived a very full life before he was finally 'discovered' by George Lucas. He told me I had talent and needed to hone my skills. So twelve or so years later, here I sit. One art degree, a husband, two kids, and a mortgage for a matchbox house. I'm not sure where my future lies in the art world but as I've yet to make any forward progress, I hope that perhaps just that one person who happens to stumble upon my blog might find my art of moderate interest. Who knows if anything will come of it, but my goal now, is to follow the advice of a seasoned pro. I'm going to continue to hone my skills until either my hand falls off or someone finally appreciates my 'skills'. (Besides my every faithful family. Bless them for their undying support, but they are a bit biased.) So here's to Mr. Ralph McQuarrie and all his wonderful advice and taking the time to talk to a fan. I'd like to introduce to you the first week of my Weekly Creature Feature. May it bring more than one hit to my hit counter.

Stay tuned...

Judging from the massive leap from the number 1 to the number 4 on my hit counter (two of those hits being me), I'm betting there are mass amounts of people out there sitting on their hands just bouncing up and down waiting for the big moment when I post my first art on the world wide web. As you can see, the title-bar is done and the blog is up and running. Stay tuned...the first creature is coming...