Convention Status
MAGFEST: 23-26 January, National Harbor, MD
Table stuff fell through, so I'm just going for the video games and music
Katsucon: 13-15 February, National Harbor, MD
May go, may not. If I do, it will likely only be for a day.
BronyCon: 7-9 August, Baltimore, Maryland
Submitted a request for a table. Won't know whether or not I got it until mid-March.
Any other conventions are pending time, money and interest.
I
DO take requests in that I will entertain any request. Whether or not I will actually work on the request is another matter entirely. The fact of the matter is that a request is just that: a request; something that you would
like to see me do. This said, I am under
NO obligation to do it at all.
If you're still here and want to request something from me send me a note or email and then wait. I will either do it or I won't. If you ask me whether or not I got your message about the request, rest assured that I have and that I have at least skimmed it over and am considering it. Good ways to ensure that I will
NOT do your request include, but are not limited to:
- Requests that are outside of my interests (take a look at my gallery and faves to get an idea of what those are).
- Requests that put
my characters outside of what they normally do or suggest that they behave differently than how they normally would.
- Badgering, pestering or otherwise being a nuisance is a quick way to see your request sent to a quantum singularity never to be heard from again...you are on
my time and I've got stuff to do.
- Should a request actually get completed, you accept it as-is. Period.
- Friends, family and business partners get special dispensation and are far more likely to be considered. Those people know who they are...and no, just because you are on my 'Friends' list here or are watching me does not make you my friend by default.
If you find that these terms are unreasonable, then put some money on the table and commission me. You will find that I am
MUCH more reasonable and
FAR more inclined to bend over backwards for you.
2013 had a fair number of ups and downs. Some were more up than down…though to be quite honest there were plenty of moments where it felt the exact opposite. Hell, there are quite a number of folks who had a terrible year and are genuinely glad to see 2013 out the door and would only really be happy if it were to also have died in a car fire.
…and I can’t really fault them. Hell, to a degree I even agree with them…
I mean, just for myself, I spent more time unemployed than employed, looking for work and, generally struggling to make ends meet. I have lost family and I lost a very good friend. Things were difficult, there were times where I asked myself “why do I bother?”. There were plenty of moments where I thought about just giving up...on, well… everything. I mean, who would really care right? I’m nobody that matters and I’m just one fat geek amongst a worldwide population of over seven billion. The world wouldn’t even bat an eyelash much less actually
care.
The fact that the world also has seen fit to make sure that the vast majority of the terrible things that happen in my life take place sometime between Thanksgiving and New Year’s hasn’t done much to really give me a positive view on the season…and in a lot of ways this year is no different. I mean, I had just gotten over a pretty good Thanksgiving and I’m just getting stoked about starting my new job the next week (4 December). This all went to hell when I get a call that on Sunday (1 December), my grandmother passes away. I mean, really? FUCKING
REALLY?!?…so yeah, there has been lots of stuff that has happened to me and to others this year that make it really, REALLY easy to just think about how terrible 2013 really was.
...
however!
…that is also looking at the year in its entirety in a strictly negative light without also taking the good and positive things that happened into account.
For example, in the beginning of this year, I lost my job. This, to me, was my dream job. I’m working as a graphic designer and illustrator for a small company. I’m making decent money and gaining experience in the field. The fact that I was laid off due to a change in contract was really crappy. The fact that I was no longer in school (and thus had nothing to fall back on financially) made things worse. But the fact of the matter is that I am eternally grateful for the folks at that company who took a chance with me and were very pleased with the results of my work. I learned quite a bit and I also got an upgrade to my clearance…which is something that is rather difficult to do when just to start paperwork (nevermind the investigations and such) costs north of $10,000. Most companies aren’t willing to foot the bill for that, and given the financial state of the country, nor is the government.
So yeah, I lost that job, but I did so knowing that it was not my fault, that the people there genuinely liked me and my work and really did not want to see me go, and I got an upgrade to my clearance that only serves to make me that much more marketable. In addition, I also received my degree in Graphic Communications. Sure, it’s one thing to sit there and say you’ve completed the education and such…but it’s something different entirely when you have that piece of paper in hand. That tangible something that tells you that you’ve accomplished something big that nobody can take from you.
That’s HUGE!
Other great things that happened to me is BronyCon. While BronyCon wasn’t my first convention by any means, it was my first convention where I was actually selling prints. It was my first convention where I actually made a significant amount of money. It has been quite some time since I was that inspired for anything.
…and segwaying into BronyCon is also Starlight Studios. They saw my work and loved the fact that I could reasonably emulate the art style of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, but could mesh it well with the art styles and character designs of Mega Man and make it work. I am now working with them as an enemy/character designer, doing some of their promotion art as well as functioning as an assistant art director. No, I am not getting paid for this work, but it’s been a HUGE boost to my self-esteem, has given me a taste for some of the work that I’ve also really wanted to do (but never thought I was or could be good enough for it) as well as given me something to work towards. I mean, a number of my friends have pointed out that I may have just stumbled across my niche and audience in regards to some of the stuff I’ve been doing with MLP-related artwork.
Other great things that have happened is that that thanks to my aforementioned clearance, I now have a new job working with a similar unit as before, in the same location…that has ties with the place I was working at before. I mean, I’ve run into several folks already who know and remember me, and this made me smile. It will be nice getting in touch with some of those folks again. It’s also great that because of some of the logistical issues and needs of the job, that I can also work remotely. This made dealing with both the passing of my grandmother and the traveling nightmare of visiting family that much easier on me. I mean, they did not have to let me work for most of the month of December from my laptop in Ohio… but they did and it’s been marvelous.
Also, while the passing of my grandmother was a downside to the visit, an upside was that my uncle, who is into a number of different things, gave/sold me a high-end production printer. This means that once I get it put together, set up, configured and running, I will be able to make my own prints (as opposed to working with a print-shop like Kinko’s or something) as well as seriously expand what I can offer and begin offering printing services to others as well!
It may seem that most of this great stuff started coming about in the latter half of the year, and that is a true statement, but I really think that this is mostly due to the fact that I had been given some guidance from some friends of mine and a book and audio tracks that my mom gave me, I started really shifting my mindset and perspective. I started applying some of the concepts and really thinking on a number of things and about the time I started to put these things into practice was about the time things really started turning around for me...which started about mid-September.
So what does all of this mean?
Well, it means that yes, 2013 was pretty hard… not as hard as some years, but it was a bear. 2013 was also pretty cool too, not as cool as some years…but there was a LOT of positive stuff going on as well and, well, the fact of the matter is that I am actively choosing to think upon and reflect on the great things that happened to me. It is very easy to fall into the rut of thinking about the bad things and forget the good. It is difficult to see and find that silver lining when everything seems to be doom and gloom…but it can be done and I am actively choosing to do this. I am actively choosing to spend more of my time thinking about the good things that happen and have happened and savor those instances.
…no, this does not mean that I am going to ignore the bad things and pretend they don’t exist…that’s just silly.
What I am going to do is not let the bad things that happen dictate my life. Instead, I am going to take the bad things and use them as learning experiences and the good things as moments to enjoy the fruits of my labor and a point of focus to remember that life, is in fact, good.
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