Where it all started.

A few years back, I was at the end of my rope.  I was trying my best to live a practical life in my pursuit of the American Dream, trying to make money, have nice things, and have security.  However, that life left me empty and alone.  I quickly found out that the world could be quite cruel, and would kick you to the curb, with out a second thought or regret.  After struggling with the corporate world, I decided I only had one life to live and I might as well live it.  I'm an artist, and as long as I've been able to hold a pencil I've been drawing, writing, and coming up with ideas for comics, movies, and video games.  I've always been told that this was a fools dream and I should get my head out of the clouds.  I grew up in Colorado, and well here there is almost no future an artist can aspire too.  I knew deep down inside I had potential, it's always been a passion of mine to have my name rolling down in the credits for some big project.  But, I had no idea how to get into the industry, or what it would take to make it.  I decided I should find for myself if I could make it or not, and with what money I had I got myself a weekend pass to the San Diego Comic Con, booked a flight, and managed to get a bunk bed in the cheapest hostile I could find.  I didn't know how I would ever make it into the industry but figured this was a good enough start.  I embarked on a new journey to become who I am, and be real with myself, and strive to reach my real potential in life.  If you've ever been to the San Diego Comic Con, you know it's a pretty overwhelming experience, especially for a first timer.  But, most definitely a memorable occasion.  I had prepared a portfolio of some character work, and some pencils for comic pages for a position at Top Cow.  I had some high ambitions, especially with no experience : )

The weekend was amazing.  I had several interviews with various companies: Top Cow, Del Rey, and many other big and small companies.  I also met and talked with many artists and learned so much from them.  One particular conversation was with one of the production managers of Squarenix, and learned how someone like a "gaijin" like me could ever work for Squarenix in Japan.  He was Canadian, and that left me with sparkles in my eyes! \*o*/  I was so encouraged by everything, to see so many artists living their dreams.  Whether they were in the comic industry, the game industry, or doing conceptual work for movies they were all making some sort of a living doing what they love.  I knew that this is what I want to do.  And, I knew that I could make it, however, I wasn't nearly good enough yet.  In the end I didn't end up getting hired, but I did manage to find some work illustrating a graphic novel for a small independent publisher.  It still hasn't been released yet, but it was my start at not just dreaming my life, but actually living it.  I learned also that in order to make it where I want to go I needed to improve my skills a lot.  I've always dreamed of making RPGs like the Tales series or Final Fantasy.  And, I found out that I could do it.  I needed to start learning Japanese, and most of all to become worthy of what I've been dreaming all along.

Here is a page from the graphic novel I did.  I found out that illustrating a graphic novel is a tremendous amount of work.  After I finished I felt like I never ever wanted to do that again. -__-  But, it was a great experience to learn how much work actually goes into making comics and graphic novels.  I'm excited to one day work on my own book.

  

This was one of my illustrations in my portfolio when I went to the SDCC.  Pretty basic, but compared to professional artists out there I had much to learn.