Dear Readers,

I thought that this week, I’d take a break from the stories I’ve been writing and do this instead. A post that’s really just about me and how I ended up here.

A Little Introduction

My Real Life

Before I dive into how I became an artist, I should tell you something about my real life. I wanted to write this blog entry for that purpose, mostly. I needed any potential reader to know that my life is just fine.

I had a good mom. I had a decent childhood. I have a good adult life. Great wife and partner. Lovely kids. I have a decent day job and, on most days, I like that job well enough.

The way I see it, I had my share of issues and problems but all of those led to where I am today. None of them were that bad. Nothing compared to what some people suffer through. So, if you read the blogs leading up to this one or you come back in the future – just know that I generally live without regret. I’m not asking for those things to be changed nor am I wanting a do-over. I’m not suffering, I’m not tortured. I’m just me.

And whenever I run out of things to write about, well, maybe I’ll just make stuff up. Go the creative fiction route. Why not?

Anyway, back to the scheduled program.

My Art Life

I started my art later in life, about 15 years ago now when rounding up a bit. I hit a milestone in my life and it was the first time I thought, “Hey, I’m doing this life thing all wrong.”

I just wanted to leave something that would make them proud. Something that was fundamentally me and would, hopefully, remind them of all the great things in our life.

So I picked up a pencil…

…a gym membership, piano lessons, and some of those “how to draw” books. I changed my life. I changed my view on what was important to me.

I’ve also changed a lot over the years. Physically and mentally, there isn’t a lot left of that younger man who decided to pick up that pencil 15 years ago. I think it’s a pretty typical journey in some ways – people mature as they age. People gain wisdom as they experience life. Our views shift and our lives change, we grow.

My art processes have changed too.

When I started, I tried a lot of things. I got into Photoshop and photography – taking pictures of nature and using photoshop to warp them into something else. That was cool but it wasn’t physical, not particularly satisfying. And I really wanted to draw.

In drawing, I focused almost entirely on drawing anime style characters. For the record, they were terrible. I wasn’t particularly interested in realism or understanding proportions. I just wanted to know the bare minimum – draw a circle for an eye, add another circle for a pupil, and done. That kind of minimum.

Granted, I believe my skill has refined in this area and I’ve changed mediums along the way. These days my physical paintings are acrylic but I still focus a lot on colors, experimentation, textures, and just having fun. In my painting, I don’t create realism because you can see that by going outside.

I focus on colors and feeling. A painting is done when it feels done. Until then? It’s still just an experiment.

I’ve learned from a lot of places…

In the beginning, I targeted specific art books. You know those art books by Christopher Hart? I’ve owned a good number of them. I think they are good books, but they weren’t really for me. It just wasn’t what I needed.

Or, more specifically, I needed two things: I needed to want to learn and I needed something that was really technical. I’m technically-minded anyways, working in the computer field. I’m at home reading a manual filled with specific instructions and explanations. I do pretty well in taking those instructions in and learning from it.

I tend to struggle with those art instructions where you jump from two circles to final product. Or specifically, I struggle in applying those instructions when they don’t explain the underlying relationships.

What I really needed, and eventually found, was Proko. I probably stumbled on his work via advertising in ImagineFX but it’s been a few years and few revisions of the Proko website since… so I don’t really remember.

I can’t speak highly enough of the educational content here. I won’t bore you with it, but I’ve learned a lot from Proko and from Marco Bucci via courses on this site so if you’re starting out and stumbled on this – I highly recommend it.

Mostly, though, I’ve learned by just doing and experimenting. This is how I typically learn new things… I throw myself at the problem until I figure it out.

The Middle Ages

It’s another example of an external force kicking me into gear. I can’t recall if I’ve mentioned it here before, but at the end of 2022 I started a business with my wife and partner. We created the limited liability company Vulgar Scullery Maid Publishing.

Last year, my partner hit a similar feeling milestone: she wanted to get her books out into the world. It was a priority. It was a necessity.

But… it was also incredibly difficult.

I was learning new skills, trying to realize someone else’s vision in illustration, and really pushing my own boundaries. It’s a whole new industry, a whole new challenge. It was immensely frustrating and satisfying all at once.

Since then, I’ve created sticker and t-shirt designs. I’ve been working on another joint illustration project. I’ve had prints made of some of my work. But, above all else, I’ve been making an active effort in my own art.

I’ve been actively focusing on finishing what I start. I’m not saying I finish every sketch to a final drawing – most of those sketches aren’t good enough to finish – but when I have an idea that I like, I finish it. I upload it. Share it. Prepare it for print production.

What comes next?

You’ve been seeing it already. I’ve been focused on finishing my art and sharing it here, Instagram, DeviantArt, and Facebook.

I’ve been writing posts like this, to put stories to those pictures. I’ve found a provider to source high quality prints from so I can offer them to the world in my store.

I don’t think this is a ticket to replacing my day job, but that’s fine by me. One of the core principles I’m trying to keep is to make art affordable. I look at every piece, printed on paper, and I think – at this size, what would I pay for it? I ask my partner the same question.

I’ve seen a lot of great art in my life being sold by amazing artists but I don’t own any of it because I simply couldn’t afford it. Every time I go to a local restaurant and see a painting by a local artist that looks cool, I look at the price. I don’t own any of that.

This is not my way of saying that they shouldn’t charge those prices. It’s worth every penny and people need to pay their bills. I’ll have some of those expensive pieces available too. Mostly, I want to have affordable pieces. I want everyone to have my art hanging on their walls. Everyone gets to have little spots of color and weirdness.

And until everyone has my weirdness on their walls, I’ll keep creating. I’ll work commissions, create new designs for people, and just keep trying to post because the main thing I’ve learned since getting involved in this art business: this is where I want to be.

Thanks for reading and if you want to support my work, you can follow me on Instagram or buy anything from my shop.

Until next time,

JL

P.S. I read something a couple months back about the new social rules and one of them said that straight people shouldn’t use the term “partner” to describe their spouses. You should know that my wife is my partner. In real life, I would introduce her as my wife, my lover, my better half, etc. In writing, I lean towards “partner” because I think it sounds better. It sounds less like ownership and more like equality.