The 12 year journey of my art thus far.

I am so lucky to be able to do what I love for a living. Ten years ago, I somehow changed first the job and then the way of life. While I don't claim esoteric wisdom or claim my method is the best, I think it will encourage some artists to see the journey through others.

The Hobbyist

2003–2006

I don't want to be an artist.

I want to play video games. i'm a geek i learned programming at my public university when i was 14. I make art (and I always have), but only as a hobby.
Most of my art interests at the time were making pixel art - mostly because I could use it in the games I made.

I also found the ConceptArt.org forums (actually because they took the nose - but that's a story in internet art history). This is their heyday with so many beautiful ideas and artworks working out there. I am constantly renting and advertising. This is a goldmine of knowledge and sharing.
I found someone there who can draw beautiful, beautiful things and make a living doing it.

I also learned about bullying in the school community. The map will launch soon.

Some of the homework assignments for my first drawing class in college.

Some pages from my sketchbook at the time.

Around this time I was given a Wacom Graphire4 tablet and thus began my entry into making digital art. These were some of those first attempts.

The Student

2006–2011

In 2o06, shortly before my 18th birthday, I had a landmark week. With the usual youthful audacity, I decided what I was going to do for the rest of my life.

per week.

I spent a week signing up. Good bad.
Write the life I want. Sit and think. Walk.

Finally comes down to a few different options.

• programmers.
  I can play for a living. I'm not a child prodigy, but an expert programmer for my age.
• Graphic Designers. I also studied design at a community college and learned very quickly. I even do some freelancing.
• carpenter. My father built a house to live in, and work was an option for me (and I think it still is).
• Artists.

Frankly, we all know what I chose.

My decision to become an artist had nothing to do with what would make me the most money, or what I was "good" at, or even whether I should love the most.
I knew in my heart that this was the right thing to do. Nothing better to go on and that's what I'm hoping for.

After that, the fear begins. Since then, I fear failure every day, even in different ways. not good enough.
There is not enough money to support myself. As great as it is, it's a shame to fail.

This fear keeps me moving forward.

My first decision was where to study art. By the way, at that time no one told me not to study art, so I started researching schools.
I guess if I'm going to do it, I want to do it right. So I checked the rankings and after much research I decided that RISD was where I wanted to go.

Which brings us to now.

I get to travel the world with a beautiful woman, create art for a world of my own design, and help aspiring artists make better work. I can barely begin to express just how lucky I feel to have the life I do. I may have worked at it, but it’s hard to feel deserving of so much.

I hope that, in some small way, this post serves to encourage fellow artists on their journey. It can take a long time and seem hopeless. It can be exhausting, discouraging, even depressing. But if you stay at it, someday you will make it past those obstacles.

If I can leave you with one piece of advice that I have acquired over all of these years, it’s to always find some degree of pride in what you have accomplished so far. Be thankful for every accomplishment, no matter how small. Be proud of yourselves. Not to the point of pride, but rather to encourage and motivate.

Because if you just keep going, eventually you’ll find yourself somewhere.