0:00

Be tenacious, but

0:00

be patient. Because as you can

0:05

overwork yourself and you have

0:05

to, you have to make sense of

0:09

it. What is your what is your

0:09

goal? Have a plan, I would say I

0:14

had my short term goals and my

0:14

long term goals at some that

0:17

were very unrealistic. So, just

0:17

be mindful of that, that there's

0:23

certain things you may not get

0:23

to as soon as you can. And if

0:28

you don't get it done, it's not

0:28

the end of the world. You know,

0:30

just know that there are certain

0:30

things you're gonna get done a

0:33

lot sooner than you think. And

0:33

some things are not so, but

0:36

always with the goal in mind

0:36

that you want to become a better

0:38

artist.

0:39

Welcome to

0:39

the BoldBrush show, where we

0:41

believe that fortune favors the

0:41

bold brush. My name is Laura

0:45

Arango Baier, and I'm your host.

0:45

For those of you who are new to

0:49

the podcast. We're a podcast

0:49

that covers art marketing

0:52

techniques, and all sorts of

0:52

business tips specifically to

0:55

help artists learn to better

0:55

sell their work. We interview

0:57

artists at all stages of their

0:57

careers, as well as others who

1:00

are in careers type the art

1:00

world in order to hear their

1:02

advice and insights. Our guest

1:02

today is Otto sterk an artist

1:07

based in Southern California

1:07

whose work focuses on creating

1:11

allegorical narratives

1:11

reminiscent of the Dutch

1:13

masters, albeit with a

1:13

discerning not his own culture

1:17

and lived experiences during his

1:17

life. We discuss his time in the

1:21

military and how it influenced

1:21

both his work and his daily

1:24

routine. I'll keep tenaciously

1:24

took any job and did everything

1:29

he could to turn his dream of

1:29

becoming a full time artist into

1:32

a reality. Why human connection

1:32

can take your work and marketing

1:36

skills to a whole new level. And

1:36

he reminds us of the importance

1:40

of writing down your goals and

1:40

making a plan so you can stay on

1:44

track and become a better

1:44

artist. Finally, he tells us

1:48

about his awesome board game

1:48

called Mad Monster Bash, and his

1:52

upcoming pesto workshop. Welcome

1:52

Otto to the BoldBrush show. How

1:56

are you today?

1:58

Good. Thank you.

1:58

Yeah, everything's pretty good.

2:01

At least it's not raining as bad

2:01

as it was a few days ago. So

2:04

you know,

2:04

that's good. Yeah, sunlight, you

2:09

know, spring is coming. As best

2:09

as the best when you start

2:13

feeling spring coming, you know?

2:16

Absolutely. And I

2:16

wonder if we're gonna get

2:19

another super bloom with all

2:19

this with all this rain? I don't

2:22

feel we get? Yeah, the hills

2:22

here. Yeah. Especially like in

2:27

Lancaster are just phenomenal.

2:27

So yeah. Like, it's a good

2:31

reference reference shots to get

2:31

my easel up and do a little

2:34

painting. So

2:35

that's

2:35

great. Yeah. Um, but yeah, so

2:39

talking about you, though, and

2:39

reference images, so you can get

2:44

Do you mind telling us a bit

2:44

about you who you are what you

2:47

do?

2:49

Sure. You know, I,

2:49

I, I've mostly been? Well, you

2:55

know, let me go back just. So I

2:55

knew that I want to art work

3:02

since I was a kid. And

3:02

eventually, there was a lot of

3:05

detours. But I had been an

3:05

artist now for about 25 years.

3:10

And I've worked in a lot of

3:10

different genres. So I've been a

3:15

field Assistant art director for

3:15

Disney Imagineering, helping

3:18

them on projects, such as

3:18

galaxies edge at Disneyland and

3:22

got into the galaxy. I've done

3:22

set design. I've done scenic

3:28

art. I've taught different

3:28

mediums. As you know what, with

3:36

illustration, and speaking

3:36

demonstration, I've done work

3:40

for film and television. So, you

3:40

know, I've done a little bit of

3:44

this and that. But now I'm

3:44

really working on on the fine

3:49

art. And I've got few little

3:49

side projects that I'm working

3:53

on that I can tell you about

3:53

later. So hopefully that answers

3:57

your question.

3:58

Yeah, yeah.

3:58

And the other part that, that I

4:00

find awesome is that you're

4:00

primarily self taught, right?

4:04

Correct.

4:04

I never had any

4:04

formal schooling. And I'm

4:08

jealous because you know, after

4:08

you telling me that you've been

4:11

able to take some of these been

4:11

at these affiliates. So no, I

4:16

I've been primarily self taught.

4:16

I was in the military. And as

4:18

soon as I got out of the

4:18

military, I was able to attend a

4:22

school which was not accredited.

4:22

It was just phenomenal group of

4:26

artists who were teaching there,

4:26

many of them were working in the

4:29

business, in here in LA and in

4:29

the Hollywood scene, whatever it

4:33

might be. And so I saved up

4:33

desperately, whatever money I

4:39

had to attend some of these

4:39

classes and workshops, and they

4:42

were typically about your eight

4:42

week long classes or your or

4:45

your several day workshops, and

4:45

I learned a lot from it. So I've

4:51

always been very appreciative of

4:51

all the artists who have given

4:56

given of their time or given

4:56

their insight freely

5:00

unconditionally. And so I tried

5:00

to do the same. Now whoever

5:03

comes in asked me about several

5:03

mediums, or how can they do this

5:07

or that, not that I'm an expert,

5:07

but you know, I can I can tell

5:11

them about my experiences and

5:11

try to guide them that way.

5:14

Yeah,

5:15

that's awesome, though. And, um, you know, with your detours, I

5:17

think, maybe also, it benefited

5:22

you in the sense of, I guess,

5:22

widening your experience,

5:25

because you, you traveled a lot

5:25

when you were in the military,

5:27

right? So you, you know, you,

5:27

you decided, okay, I want to be

5:31

a painter, but then why did you

5:31

end up in the military?

5:37

All right, well,

5:37

there was, there was, I wasn't

5:41

the best student, let's just say

5:41

that, and my grades weren't

5:45

entirely up to par. And so I

5:45

knew they didn't want to go to

5:49

an art school, our school is so

5:49

expensive. And, you know, I come

5:53

from a big family I come from,

5:53

there's, there's eight of us,

5:56

you know, there's, there's a kid

5:56

that was number seven. And, you

6:00

know, it was my dad was a

6:00

traditional construction, even

6:04

though he did, you know, make a

6:04

decent amount of money for at

6:09

that time, that 1970s 80s You

6:09

know, to feed a kid and try to

6:15

get them into college was a bit

6:15

difficult. So, you know, and,

6:19

and also didn't speak English,

6:19

entirely, well enough to, let's

6:23

say, maybe, kind of guide me

6:23

through seeking grants, or

6:28

whatever it might be to be able

6:28

to, for me to attend a certain

6:31

art school. So anyhow, I went to

6:31

the counselor that we had, I

6:35

went to a private Catholic

6:35

school, and, and I went to the

6:39

counselor and looks at my

6:39

grades, and this is you ever

6:45

think about going into the

6:45

military? And, and so, you know,

6:50

I was I was gonna resolve you

6:50

know, there was just how I

6:59

didn't know, it, just, it was a

6:59

dream to be able to think that I

7:03

was going to be able to get into

7:03

an art school as much as I

7:05

wanted to go into one. So I

7:05

thought, you know, the, she

7:08

mentioned that. It was actually

7:08

she, she mentioned that, that,

7:13

you know, they have the GI Bill

7:13

and they can help you, you know,

7:17

put some money together to

7:17

attend college later on. Okay,

7:20

so like, took that advice. And I

7:20

did, I went in and joined the

7:23

military, I was very young, I

7:23

was 17, I had my parents sign

7:27

the forms for me, because, you

7:27

know, I was under 18, I turned

7:30

18, a boot camp. And I followed

7:30

that path. So it was it was a

7:35

bit of a detour. Oddly enough.

7:35

I, when I was in boot camp, they

7:42

were all lined up. And, you

7:42

know, we have to speak in in, in

7:46

third person. And it was it was

7:46

it was very odd, but either way

7:50

that drill instructor says any

7:50

of the new recruits know how to

7:53

draw. And so, you know, this

7:53

private does, sir. And so

8:00

anyhow, there was like three of

8:00

us. And he made us all draw a

8:05

bulldog, which is the Marine

8:05

Corps mascot. And so eventually,

8:09

I won the contest, and I was

8:09

known as the artist private. But

8:17

so I was the artist private, so

8:17

I got to sign or flag it what

8:23

else? It was, it was a few

8:23

things. And you know, there was

8:25

times when I didn't have to go

8:25

to go and do some PT because I

8:29

was, you know, doing the artwork

8:29

for our battery. But a funny

8:35

story was a bootcamp. I remember

8:35

it was a it was about three in

8:38

the morning. And I'm shaken

8:38

awake and drill instructors

8:43

about this far away from my

8:43

face. And like, oh, no, what did

8:47

I do? You know, and we're all in

8:47

our bodies. So this is such

8:52

recruit says, says, I need you

8:52

in my office. And I'm like, Oh

8:56

man, I'm so blessed. No idea

8:56

what I did. So So I went to the

9:02

office there in the barracks,

9:02

and he says it's my anniversary

9:07

and I need a card

9:15

Can you can you draw me

9:15

something? Sure. So so and so

9:27

the ever mercerie card for his

9:27

wife and the perk of the burqa

9:37

that was the pick it out was it

9:37

I remember everybody's getting

9:40

that but they're gonna go

9:40

through picky about for the

9:43

morning and they're all looking

9:43

at me in the office and I'm

9:46

there on his desk and they're

9:46

just looking at the odds like

9:48

what is going on with this guy?

9:48

And so yeah, I split the like

9:52

the next four hours because I

9:52

want to do it nice slow do a

9:55

real nice job was just with the

9:55

you know, just cancel. It was

9:58

when I get to that They also

9:58

they had the art but that are in

10:02

the daisies. And so it was very

10:02

odd but but yeah, and I got to

10:07

go eat at officers chow hall.

10:07

Now the officers chow hall is

10:11

very different from the recruit

10:11

bootcamp chow hall. And it was,

10:17

it was something else it was

10:17

like living in the lap of luxury

10:21

when you go into the chow hall,

10:21

because you they have, you know,

10:24

the jello spreads, and they have

10:24

all the bait all the good food

10:28

right, where you didn't, you

10:28

didn't get, you didn't get the

10:31

slop and you will get the

10:31

regular chow hall. So that was a

10:37

nice little break. But anyhow,

10:37

that turned into me illustrating

10:43

and doing some work for just

10:43

some of the, for the Marine

10:47

Leatherneck for the letter that

10:47

the other night magazine, I had

10:50

started doing some pen and ink

10:50

drawings. And eventually I

10:54

served in Desert Storm where I

10:54

was doing some sketches for

10:57

historical reference, so and so

10:57

I did get to do some art in the

11:01

military, after all. And as soon

11:01

as I got some of that I got out,

11:05

I did six years, both active and

11:05

reserve, I found the school

11:11

associate service was which was

11:11

in Sherman Oaks. And that's

11:14

where I started really digging

11:14

into my, like talent that I

11:22

didn't have. I, I learned a lot

11:22

I did, I learned a lot, but I

11:28

spent a good majority of the day

11:28

there. And when I wasn't taking

11:32

classes, I was, you know, trying

11:32

to help out in the school,

11:35

whatever it might be. So that,

11:35

you know, I was I was able to be

11:38

surrounded by such amazing talent.

11:41

That's

11:41

amazing. It was a bit of an odd

11:46

story. But a true? Yeah, no,

11:46

it's a great story. Because, you

11:52

know, it goes to show that, you

11:52

know, despite you taking this

11:56

detour, you still stayed very

11:56

much true to your identity, you

11:59

know, as an artist, like no,

11:59

this is what I want. I'm just

12:02

doing this as a means to an end,

12:02

you know, and it reminds me of

12:06

how you know, you you were

12:06

interviewed, I can't remember

12:09

what article it was. And you

12:09

mentioned how it also impacted

12:12

you when you were stationed in

12:12

Norway. And you saw the Northern

12:16

Lights and how that really, you

12:16

know, impacted you.

12:21

It absolutely did.

12:21

So during my time in the

12:25

military. And it was this is

12:25

during actually during the time

12:30

DeStorm which you would think

12:30

okay, they'd send mostly

12:33

everybody to Iraq. We were sent

12:33

to do operation battle Griffin.

12:38

And so it was a a training with

12:38

French forces Norwegian forces.

12:44

And we were above the Arctic

12:44

Circle. And, you know, it was

12:48

I'd never felt cold like I did

12:48

in Norway. But I did get this

12:55

Yeah, but my highlight was the

12:55

fact that I think it was my

12:59

first time seeing snowflakes,

12:59

right? And just gigantic

13:02

snowflakes. And I was just like,

13:02

wow, this is a snowflake. But

13:07

the seat the scenery, and I

13:07

haven't experienced silence,

13:12

like I did in Norway. You know,

13:12

I grew up in, in the Northeast

13:17

San Fernando Valley, right next

13:17

for fruit freeway in the train

13:19

tracks. And in a noisy house,

13:19

that small house with, you know,

13:23

10 people in it, oftentimes,

13:23

much more than that, because we

13:26

had relatives coming over from

13:26

Mexico. So I don't know that I

13:30

ever really experienced silence.

13:30

And so I remember being

13:34

patrolling up on one of the

13:34

ridges, and I stop and I look up

13:39

and it's the beauty of the

13:39

aurora borealis spine that was

13:43

but for a moment there. There

13:43

was no trees rustling, no

13:50

breeze, it was just absolute

13:50

silence and how bizarre that

13:54

was, but how inspiring and

13:54

enlightening it was at the same

13:59

time. You know, and so I just,

13:59

that was something to remember.

14:05

And the people, the religions

14:05

were so it just amazed because

14:09

you know, we are driving with

14:09

tanks and these artillery

14:12

cannons through the backyard,

14:12

you know. And so I remember,

14:15

they were really welcoming. And

14:15

I remember there was this one

14:21

lad who came up and, you know,

14:21

he was maybe like seven, eight

14:25

years old. And, you know, we're,

14:25

you know, he's coming from the

14:28

farmhouse wherever he's coming

14:28

from. And he's trying to you

14:32

know, he's trying to tell us

14:32

that his sister can bake really

14:35

good pies. He wants, he wants my

14:35

cover for a pie. I said okay,

14:46

okay. I think was lingonberry is

14:46

that the is that is that.

14:49

That's something they have here a lot. Yeah.

14:51

Is it the link? So

14:51

anyhow, he brought me a

14:55

lingonberry pie and a few

14:55

turnovers or whatever. And so

15:01

sure enough, so I give my cover

15:01

but not before he gave me his

15:06

cover as well you know with the

15:06

well I don't know what you call

15:10

it no I overslept results game.

15:10

Yeah. I brought that home with

15:15

me. I brought that home was my

15:15

gift to my, my nephew. But But I

15:19

thought that was a it was the

15:19

most super adorable thing that

15:21

you know, and he's, you know,

15:21

he's coming over to hang out

15:24

with the military guys say hey,

15:24

because what, what's ties is

15:28

trying to he's trying to sell

15:28

pies and stuff. But I said,

15:31

Look, I don't have any cash on me. But I'm willing to trade this on. Okay, I'll take the hat

15:33

for. So, yeah.

15:39

But I

15:39

absolutely love are very kind.

15:41

Yeah, people, you're very kind.

15:41

And definitely like the the

15:45

culture here is very welcoming.

15:45

In a lot of ways, you know, to

15:50

foreigners. Like everyone just

15:50

kind of sees the foreigners

15:54

like, Oh, something new, you

15:54

know, although the island that

15:58

I'm on does get a lot of

15:58

tourism. So it's a little bit

16:00

different. But still, yeah,

16:00

people are very, very kind here.

16:06

Which is really nice. But yeah,

16:06

so your you know, your

16:10

experiences, you know, how do

16:10

you find that they affected? You

16:14

know, the messages that you'd

16:14

like to explore in your work? Do

16:17

you find that? It kind of opened

16:17

your world up a little bit?

16:22

Absolutely, you

16:22

know, much of my work. At least

16:27

the themes that I I strive for a

16:27

personal and if you look at much

16:35

of my work, it does have a

16:35

narrative to it. I think I owe a

16:39

lot of that to several, well,

16:39

mostly a couple things. One is

16:44

Sister Wendy Beckett, are you

16:44

familiar with Sister Wendy

16:46

Beckett? She Okay, no, you have

16:46

to know Sister, Wendy Beckett,

16:52

she, she was for that she was a

16:52

phenomenal art historian, a nun.

16:58

And she had a show on the BBC.

16:58

Back in the day, it was either

17:03

maybe was the early 90s. And I

17:03

remember being, you know, for

17:06

the young woman, and, and seeing

17:06

her videos. And she would go to

17:12

the north assignment here in

17:12

Pasadena close to me, and she

17:16

would visit many phenomenal

17:16

works around the world, Italy

17:21

and France. And so she she would

17:21

talk about the artists but also

17:29

the works themselves. And it was

17:29

such an amazing insight. And at

17:35

a time where I was wondering how

17:35

an artist paints and how does

17:39

how did he? How did that artists

17:39

paint that? How did he How did

17:42

she create this phenomenal piece

17:42

of work? Well, for her it was,

17:47

why did they paint that. And so

17:47

she gave me that insight as to

17:51

what was going on in their

17:51

personal lives. You know,

17:56

whether whether they were losing

17:56

children to some kind of fever,

18:01

epidemic, whatever it might be

18:01

here. And there was a, you know,

18:06

you we were looking at steel

18:06

life, which I love to paint.

18:09

And, and there was such, there

18:09

was such a deep personal

18:15

narrative. And some of these

18:15

words, because it was a locket

18:19

that belonged to so and so. And,

18:19

you know, it just, it was just

18:22

phenomenal. And the way she

18:22

describes everything. So if you

18:25

get a chance, you have to see a

18:25

Sister Wendy, you got to see

18:29

your videos, she's no holds

18:29

barred? Not kind of none. And

18:33

she's just, she was just a

18:33

treasure. And so yeah, if you

18:38

haven't seen sister with the

18:38

absolutely so. So I after seeing

18:43

her videos, I remember, whoa,

18:43

what is the one that I want to

18:47

paint? What is it? What stories

18:47

do I have to tell? And you know,

18:52

being a kid that grew up, you

18:52

know, in some Valley? And so,

18:57

you know, I started thinking

18:57

about, you know, all my detours

19:01

and all this, you know, things

19:01

that may have happened in my

19:04

life. So how can I interpret

19:04

that in my paintings, and so I

19:08

found a Zen in that I found that

19:08

because my work can be very time

19:13

consuming. I, I felt that I

19:13

needed to have something that I

19:19

really was attached to,

19:19

especially when we're spending

19:22

you know, 100 hours easy on a

19:22

painting. And, you know, I went

19:28

through My trials and

19:28

tribulations with mediums and,

19:31

and thinking that oh, maybe this

19:31

is just too hokey or whatever it

19:35

is, but when I when I you know,

19:35

accepted, you know who I was and

19:41

and what I want to say then then

19:41

it all kind of balances itself

19:45

out. So yeah, I just I just I

19:45

just felt that maybe my stories

19:52

weren't as mundane as I thought

19:52

maybe they were and and maybe I

19:57

can I can tell a story that

19:57

connects to one person, and even

20:02

if it doesn't connect anybody,

20:02

it was very personal to me. And

20:05

so it was, it was almost

20:05

meditative. And so for me was

20:10

painting is healing and, and it

20:10

made me feel really good as I

20:13

think that's what I feel best is

20:13

what am I actually producing?

20:17

So? Yeah, hopefully that

20:17

answered that question. Yeah,

20:21

no, I did. You know, I really love that painting is healing. And I've

20:23

experienced painting in that in

20:26

that way. Also, you know, I feel

20:26

like, probably majority of

20:29

painters probably have

20:29

experienced that, or people who

20:32

create, you know, because you're

20:32

not just a painter, I use

20:34

pastel. So it's like, you know,

20:34

even through any medium, when we

20:38

create something, it is, it is a

20:38

very healing thing to, you know,

20:43

put down a feeling that we've

20:43

been carrying inside of

20:47

ourselves that has been, you

20:47

know, maybe even burdening us.

20:52

Because oftentimes, I find that,

20:52

you know, with creative people,

20:54

we tend to be so full of

20:54

feeling. We're so sensitive, and

20:58

the best way possible, of

20:58

course, but sometimes even our

21:02

own feelings can become our

21:02

tormentors. And I feel like

21:04

yeah, painting and drawing and

21:04

just letting it out, can be very

21:08

healing, for sure.

21:11

And I think one of

21:11

the things that stumped me the

21:14

most was the fact that I was

21:14

primarily self taught, you know,

21:17

always doubting what I could

21:17

create. And so, you know, if you

21:21

put the time intuitively, I

21:21

said, you know, I just got to

21:24

put the time into it and, and

21:24

just allow myself to make

21:27

mistakes, allow myself to grow.

21:27

I am the artist I am today. And,

21:31

you know, if I keep working on

21:31

my craft, honing in, I'll get

21:34

better. And then I'll be able to

21:34

tell my story a little bit

21:37

better. So it's, you know, it's

21:37

a draft, overdraft overdraft

21:41

overdraft, until finally, you

21:41

become quite good at the

21:46

vernacular of art.

21:50

And your

21:50

work is gorgeous. So that speaks

21:52

for itself.

21:54

I appreciate it. I

21:54

think if you if you look at my

21:59

piece, which I did several

21:59

years, quite a few years ago,

22:02

maybe years ago, nine years ago,

22:02

there was a piece called Sweet

22:06

serenade. And so I invoke a lot

22:06

of my culture into my paintings

22:13

as well. And even though I have

22:13

a German name, I am you know,

22:17

what they say must make? Okay,

22:17

last violas, which is they say,

22:21

you know, in them beings. And

22:21

so, I do have a German name, and

22:27

I'll leave it oh, just to let

22:27

you know, and that when I was in

22:31

the military, and of course, you

22:31

know, the military men aren't

22:36

exactly kosher, but I did. Just

22:36

give them the name beaner

22:42

schnitzel. When I was in the

22:52

I know. They go, Sergeant,

22:52

Sergeant Beaners. Nigel. But so

23:01

yeah, and so I work a lot of my

23:01

book a lot of my my coach

23:06

mentor. So if you if you see,

23:06

sweet certain, you see this

23:14

little paper mache a piece that

23:14

represents death and what it is,

23:21

it's a collaborator, playing a

23:21

guitar. And so, and looking up

23:28

at this candle, which has been I

23:28

grew up Catholic. So you see,

23:32

the weekend the weather loop,

23:32

which, you know, Mary, and so,

23:38

so, my son was actually born on

23:38

the other one, Luca, which is

23:43

the date of the Virgin of

23:43

Guadalupe, which is December 12.

23:47

But he was my firstborn. And it

23:47

was, it was supposed to be a

23:52

time of joy, here comes the baby

23:52

and so forth. But it turned out

23:57

to be very hectic. You know,

23:57

giving birth was very traumatic

24:03

for both my wife and my son. And

24:03

so I was very fortunate that

24:09

both of us survived that, that

24:09

day. And so, it was my homage to

24:14

life and death is, you know, you

24:14

know, that, you know, culture.

24:19

They're very intertwined, you

24:19

know, so you can't, you know,

24:24

they're your, it's not that, you

24:24

know, death, death is not

24:29

necessarily a foe. And so, in

24:29

this painting, you have death,

24:35

paying homage to us. And so, the

24:35

fact that he didn't have to do

24:40

his job that day, and so he's

24:40

serenading love he has so and of

24:45

course, the candles were

24:45

presence of a friend, you know,

24:48

which Latinos it's like, you

24:48

know, please, please help me out

24:52

here. You know, it's a it's,

24:52

it's a pleading for something

24:58

and so, but Always with that

24:58

intent of mine that I will, I

25:02

will, I will pay it back. So, so

25:02

that that piece was very, very

25:07

personal. And so at the, at the

25:07

very center of the piece, you'll

25:12

see a sweeping loosen, which,

25:12

you know, of course, you know,

25:17

are you familiar with me? Yeah.

25:17

But anyhow, so so, you know, and

25:27

of course, I won't give the

25:27

whole narrative away, but if you

25:30

if you, if you see it, because I

25:30

do tend to speak about my

25:34

opinions a little bit, but I

25:34

want the person who use your

25:37

work to, to take in this room

25:37

for themselves and without me

25:41

having to, excuse me to write it

25:41

all down for them. And, and just

25:46

state it, because I think,

25:46

again, billing and painting is

25:50

can be very, very personal. And

25:50

we all have different senses.

25:54

And we're sensitive to different

25:54

things. And so I would like for

25:59

each viewer who just does take

25:59

note of what I paint to, to take

26:04

it in their own way. So

26:07

wonderful.

26:07

Oh, my gosh, I got goosebumps

26:10

when you're talking about your

26:10

painting, you know, wow. That's

26:15

it's it, you know, it is

26:15

fascinating how, especially in

26:19

Mexican culture, I mean, in

26:19

Colombia, we also have a very

26:21

similar view on on death where,

26:21

you know, it's not necessarily

26:25

the end. Right, but I feel like

26:25

in Mexico, you guys celebrate

26:28

death a lot more like celebrated

26:28

in the sense of a natural part

26:32

of life. And also as a way of

26:32

connecting with your ancestors,

26:37

as well as the you know, that

26:37

you maintain death as a

26:41

celebration of the past and the

26:41

present and the future. You

26:45

know, it's it's a very beautiful

26:45

thing. I appreciate that.

26:47

Absolutely.

26:48

Yeah. And, and I'm

26:48

glad I was, I was taught that

26:51

because it's not something that

26:51

is completely fruitful, it is a

26:55

doorway, it is a pathway to

26:55

something else. And so, you

26:58

know, I, I, I, I think it helped

26:58

me appreciate life a lot more

27:04

for certain. And so, so it's,

27:04

uh, you know, again, you know,

27:10

when you when you're, when

27:10

you're, when you're young, I was

27:13

19 years old, when you're called

27:13

to, to serve, you're called to

27:17

war. And, you know, it's just,

27:17

it's, it's a, it's an experience

27:21

that, you know, you don't know,

27:21

if you're saying goodbye to your

27:25

family, for the last time. And

27:25

so, you know, it's, it's a, like

27:30

I said, it's one of those

27:30

things, where, if, if you can

27:35

take those experiences and

27:35

somehow guide them into these

27:41

paintings, you know, can you

27:41

tell a better story, and so I

27:46

think, sister, Wendy Beckett,

27:46

helped me kind of really focus

27:51

in on on what it is, I want to

27:51

say, with my paintings. So I

27:55

definitely appreciate him for

27:55

that. And, you know, like I

27:59

said, being self taught, is has

27:59

its own, you know, has its own

28:04

obstacles, of course. So, you

28:04

know, and I, and I still, I

28:09

mean, to this day, I'm a sponge,

28:09

and I just can't get enough now,

28:14

now. But that being said, of

28:14

course, with social media, you

28:20

can't get sucked into seeing

28:20

what everybody else is doing.

28:24

And then you find yourself

28:24

losing your voice. So, you know,

28:30

it's, it's, it's one of those

28:30

things where I have to remind

28:33

myself you do you do, you know,

28:33

and, and, because it's very

28:40

tempting to get caught up in

28:40

what everybody else is doing.

28:43

Yeah,

28:44

I completely

28:44

agree. I also stay off social

28:47

media for that reason, like,

28:47

I'll pop in, I'll support my

28:49

friends, you know, like, their

28:49

posts comment. You know, because

28:53

I love seeing how well my

28:53

friends are doing. And then I am

28:57

out, I'm out. Because, oh, I

28:57

don't want it to taint my, my

29:02

desires and my own work, you

29:02

know, it's so easy to get, you

29:06

know, pulled off course. When

29:06

you know, you're especially when

29:12

you're in like a vulnerable

29:12

state because I feel like most

29:14

most artists when we're in like

29:14

that state of like, thinking and

29:17

ideation and maybe we have an

29:17

idea for new, you know, new

29:20

painting, it's easy to get

29:20

pulled off course, if you see

29:23

something impactful, right? But

29:23

that's, that's the other funny

29:25

thing. You know, you look at

29:25

someone else's painting, and

29:28

maybe it's complete and it's

29:28

like, breathtaking. You're like,

29:30

oh, god dammit. Yeah, the point

29:30

right. Like, why am I why do I

29:37

even bother, right? But at the

29:37

same time, you know, it's, it's

29:40

still good to remind yourself like, yeah, it's still you should bother because that

29:42

person's doing their thing. You

29:45

do your own thing, and it'll be

29:45

fine. You know, your work is

29:48

still gonna be beautiful and so

29:48

much of it is don't get pulled

29:53

away. Don't like just stay stay

29:53

centered, like yeah, get

29:58

inspired, inspired. Not like,

29:58

destroyed. Exactly,

30:03

exactly. And, you

30:03

know, and it gets to a point

30:07

where, you know, you feel like,

30:07

okay, you know, I'm doing this

30:10

way too much, you know, I'm

30:10

beating myself up, because of

30:14

what somebody else is doing, you

30:14

know, and so, you know, again,

30:17

stay focused, you know, stay at,

30:17

stay mindful, stay present and

30:22

what you were doing, and, you

30:22

know, you'll have a better day

30:25

if you do that. So, I tend to

30:25

have a pretty good regimen, when

30:29

it comes to my, my daily

30:29

routine. So, you know, I like to

30:36

take my boys to school, and, you

30:36

know, usually the morning, I'll,

30:40

I'll check some emails and and

30:40

then, you know, gotta get

30:42

breakfast and get them ready to

30:42

go to school. And that's why I

30:45

have so good amount of time to,

30:45

to get a lot of my work done. So

30:49

I know that that time is

30:49

absolutely dedicated for me to

30:53

get, you know, get on easily,

30:53

because, you know, six hours for

30:58

me is, you know, six, seven

30:58

hours for me, it's not a long

31:00

time to put out the easel if I

31:00

feel like like painting

31:04

somebody, I'm totally blue.

31:04

Especially if I'm working with

31:07

pastel. Because even though it's

31:07

not like oil, medium work, you

31:11

know, you have to wait certain

31:11

things dry. Well, the thing with

31:14

pastels is that you have to

31:14

think a little bit like a chess

31:17

player in the sense that, you

31:17

know, you know that whatever you

31:20

want to put on top of the

31:20

previous layer is going to

31:22

somehow affect it, right. And

31:22

that, and that it's going to

31:25

move around or bland or, you

31:25

know, depending on how much

31:28

pressure you're putting on

31:28

there. So, so it I mean, but the

31:35

use of pastel is that, you know,

31:35

once it's done, it's, you know,

31:38

there's really not gonna be any,

31:38

you know, changes to it. I mean,

31:42

you could have a painting that

31:42

is 500 years old and looks

31:44

exactly like the day was

31:44

painted. Granted that it wasn't

31:47

in sunlight, or it wasn't

31:47

humidity, but in any SSB glass,

31:51

but it just feels very tactile

31:51

to be able to work with pastel

31:57

and, and so again, it's just

31:57

having a good routine is helpful

32:05

in that. Okay, I'm not gonna get

32:05

on social media during this

32:08

time, because this is time

32:08

dedicated for my craft.

32:16

Do you find that you got that discipline from the military?

32:20

Probably yeah. You

32:20

know, I still eat like a Marine.

32:23

Right? Here's the thing, Renae,

32:23

we way too fast.

32:28

I have five minutes.

32:32

Oh, go back to

32:32

Norway go back to it. Great. So

32:35

So you know, they would come

32:35

with the trucks and they would

32:40

bring these big thermoses

32:40

whatever you want to call them.

32:44

And, and they will, I'm not

32:44

kidding you. We were time how

32:49

fast it would take for food to

32:49

get solid, solid cold. And it

32:54

was about a minute, it would

32:54

serve it on your plate and you

32:58

took my scrub the stew. And but

32:58

within a minute, it was just

33:02

like frozen. It was just

33:02

unbelievable how fast this thing

33:07

got called because of the of the

33:07

below zero temperatures. There,

33:11

especially the windchill factor,

33:11

whatever it might be, it was

33:14

just incredible. But yeah, we

33:14

wait. And so. But the discipline

33:19

does help. It didn't, it didn't

33:19

help. But also, I knew that from

33:25

experience, if you don't set

33:25

yourself up with a plan that

33:30

you're going to get sidetracked

33:30

way too easily. And so it's been

33:35

good for me to be able to be

33:35

able to have this time dedicated

33:40

for my craft. Now. Speaking of

33:40

detours, there was there were

33:47

times when I was working for as

33:47

a field Assistant art director

33:51

to Imagineers. And, you know,

33:51

those were some long, long days,

33:55

you'd have to get up at 330 in

33:55

the morning, I drive to the park

34:00

and then I have to put the

34:00

security check. And it takes a

34:04

while to get into the park where

34:04

you need to go to and then you

34:06

would spend a good, you know,

34:06

eight to 16 hours a day working

34:11

on the project depending on how

34:11

many hours they needed to do.

34:15

And so, you know, I, you know,

34:15

come from back in traffic would

34:19

take, you know, I think driving

34:19

daily was like three hours

34:23

easily in traffic. And so it

34:23

would just wear away at you. And

34:28

as far as it was working on, you

34:28

know, guardians of galaxy or

34:34

galaxies edge it was it was just

34:34

after, you know, a year or two

34:38

of that it was just oh my gosh,

34:38

and you know, it was it was nice

34:41

to get back to the easel. And it

34:41

couldn't be more you know, I

34:46

mean, yes, I got to work on you

34:46

know, props and certain things

34:49

like for the spider man right,

34:49

which is where you get to work

34:52

on some props, but like for

34:52

Galaxy's edge, we're working

34:55

we're painting with I'm not

34:55

kidding you. We're painting like

34:57

with hoses and so we've you know

34:57

Working on scaffold and you

35:01

know, we're good 100 feet or

35:01

more up in the air, depending on

35:04

what we're doing. We're working

35:04

on boom lifts. And we have it

35:07

feels more like a construction

35:07

job because you're in full gear.

35:10

And so you're you're pouring,

35:10

you're pouring paint and you're

35:14

creating these rusting that, you

35:14

know, it's just very, very

35:17

aerobic no tasking you might be

35:17

working on these things. It was

35:25

it was it was an experience. And

35:25

so it yet and so when you get

35:29

into the studio, and you're

35:29

you're working these little

35:33

sections at a time, so but it's

35:33

but I get that it's nice to

35:37

experience all of that to be

35:37

able to go from eight inch

35:41

brushes to you know, going to

35:41

little pastel pencils or, you

35:46

know, paint brushes, doing tiny

35:46

little little hairs or textures.

35:51

Yeah. All right. Know what I

35:51

went on a rant? I didn't I

35:54

forgot what your question was.

35:57

So you were

35:57

just responding to a comment I

36:00

made. So you're good. I think

36:00

it's fascinating to hear that

36:03

because I absolutely love going

36:03

to Disney World. Well, I mean, I

36:07

haven't been to Disneyland, but

36:07

I've been to Disney World and

36:09

the galaxy's edge there. And I

36:09

think it's so so cool. It's I

36:12

love how immersive it is,

36:12

especially with the Star Wars

36:14

fan. Um, so i Wow, imagining

36:14

like, you know, like meeting

36:19

you. It's like, Wow, imagine the

36:19

group of people who had to put

36:22

all this together, right?

36:22

Because it takes a whole team.

36:26

And it takes forever. I remember

36:26

they, when they started and they

36:29

blocked off, you know, section

36:29

of the park and no one could go

36:31

through there. They had to like

36:31

reroute everyone. And then when

36:34

they opened, it's like, wow,

36:34

this is amazing. Like it and you

36:38

know, I commend you, I commend

36:38

you. Because, again, it's

36:42

working for the mouse is not

36:42

easy. As you mentioned, it is a

36:46

lot of hours. I've met a lot of

36:46

people who haven't had the best

36:49

experiences working for the

36:49

mouse, as they say, Oh, yeah.

36:54

It can be it can

36:54

be tight. It could be tight in

36:56

the sense where there's a lot of

36:56

people working all the same

37:00

time. Yeah, to meet the

37:00

deadlines. And and, and it can

37:05

be crazy. I mean, you you're

37:05

painting and maybe you've got

37:08

some guy, you know, up on the

37:08

scaffolding above you welding

37:12

and so you've got all these

37:12

sparks flying down. And you

37:14

know, but I guess it's a it's

37:14

definitely got its ups and downs

37:20

with these projects, but to see

37:20

it all come together is really

37:24

need to be able to go back to

37:24

the park and I did actually get

37:29

to work at disney world a little

37:29

bit. I got to do work on at the

37:33

Epcot Center where I was able to

37:33

work on the big did you get to

37:36

see the big, big statue of the

37:36

feet? The at the Numana right

37:41

next to it, and I haven't gotten

37:41

Yeah, I guess I got to work on

37:45

that. I got to work on that last

37:45

summer the summer before that.

37:49

And so it was it was pretty

37:49

pretty. It was really the

37:54

experience. So I was able to

37:54

work on a lot of a lot of the

37:58

foliage that went to Tokyo as

37:58

well. So it was Yeah, so I that

38:06

was my first time working in in

38:06

Florida for on a Disney project,

38:11

but most of my projects were

38:11

done. We're done here. But But

38:15

and each park again differs

38:15

right from you know, like the

38:20

guardians of galaxy. If you ever

38:20

get to ride the guardians of

38:22

Galaxy here in LA, you're gonna

38:22

see a difference can be quite a

38:28

bit different. So it's,

38:30

I mean,

38:30

yeah, I personally am a fan of

38:34

the Tower of Terror, and I would

38:34

not want them to change the one

38:38

in Disney World because it is.

38:38

I'm a huge fan of The Twilight

38:42

Zone. So I would be very sad.

38:42

I'd be very sad. Have you

38:45

changed it? Fingers crossed the

38:45

day? Don't you guys gonna have

38:50

it at Disneyland and we'll keep

38:50

Oh, gee.

38:55

I know, it was so

38:55

sad to see when that when you

38:58

had some just phenomenal Art

38:58

Deco style stuff that came out

39:02

of that. But it was just

39:02

gorgeous. And so you know, I

39:08

don't I don't know what, I don't

39:08

know what they do. Amazing. Do

39:10

they end up? I guess maybe they end up selling some of that stuff? Or do they archive

39:12

archives and repurpose it?

39:15

I don't

39:15

know. Yeah, the sort of museum

39:20

thing. You know, they like they

39:20

usually put all that stuff in

39:23

storage. But yeah, I hope they

39:23

don't, don't change the world

39:27

because it's my favorite ride. I

39:27

was a kid it was like when it

39:31

was like a five minute way I would go up and down, up and down, up and out. Like I would

39:33

just write it over and over.

39:37

Because I just love that feeling

39:37

of falling. But that's the side.

39:42

That's like, wow, we're off track. But

39:44

I know I know what

39:44

we're doing right.

39:46

It's great.

39:46

It's great. I'm back to you

39:49

know, your career, right? You

39:49

You started out as an

39:53

illustrator, right as a career,

39:53

you know, working as an

39:57

illustrator. And now you're a

39:57

full time Artists, right? And

40:01

also a contractor. Um, what was

40:01

that shift? Like for you? Was it

40:05

like really easy for you to, you

40:05

know, jump out of that career

40:08

and into like, you're okay, I'm

40:08

just going to be full time

40:10

artist or how do you manage? You

40:13

know, the it was

40:13

it was actually pretty neat to

40:18

jump from, let's say, doing

40:18

illustration. And, you know, I

40:23

got well let me let me backtrack

40:23

just a little because in all

40:26

sincerity, maybe it wasn't that

40:26

difficult because when I was in

40:32

doing some nighttime as reserved

40:32

the military, I remember I

40:36

teamed up with a group called

40:36

Esau streetscapes and he saw

40:40

screen scrapers were actually

40:40

had this building, like in Skid

40:43

Row. And so it was it was, you

40:43

know, kind of risky driving

40:51

through this area where there's

40:51

bonfires in the street. And, you

40:54

know, it was my first time

40:54

experiencing that. And, you

40:59

know, we would go into the

40:59

warehouse and I at the time and

41:04

you know, what would you have,

41:04

we had the, you know, the old

41:06

I'm getting a thumbs up. I had a

41:06

but, but I had you know, you had

41:14

the white pages and so I'm looking through the white pages, I'm looking for any art crew or

41:16

anything that that might I might

41:20

be able to apprentice with

41:20

because again, I you know, I

41:22

didn't have the means for art

41:22

school. So when Healy was one of

41:28

the heads of easel streetscapes

41:28

and they were doing phenomenal

41:30

murals for East LA, they were

41:30

currently working on a project

41:35

for the World Cup back in 1994.

41:35

And so I was able to apprentice

41:41

with them. And so I was able to

41:41

work on these big, you know,

41:47

murals, these large scale

41:47

murals. So that kind of segwayed

41:50

into when I started working for

41:50

Disney as scenic art, which was,

41:54

I believe, like 2010 When I

41:54

started doing that, so again,

41:56

that was a span of, you know,

41:56

good 15 years from painting

42:00

murals with the illustrious caters to the time I was trying to do mural work and scenic art

42:02

for for Disney, but jumping

42:08

around from one to one didn't

42:08

feel as unnatural. And I say

42:11

only the NSA that because I just

42:11

was fortunate to have people who

42:17

got me really well to be able

42:17

to, to switch over, you know,

42:22

some things lended you know,

42:22

into other parts, like for

42:25

instance, you know, the mural

42:25

making into the scenic guard,

42:29

you know, some of the, the

42:29

illustrations or the sketches

42:33

that I was doing for maybe the

42:33

character design or for from

42:36

ontology, we're transcending

42:36

over into different parts of my

42:40

artwork as well. And so being

42:40

able to jump around you were

42:46

able to learn a lot of new

42:46

techniques, new mediums, which I

42:52

was incorporating into other

42:52

parts. For instance, you know,

42:55

my, my artwork I'm a fine you

42:55

know, as I'm kind of a bit of a

42:59

mad scientist when it comes to

42:59

my methods and so you know, hear

43:03

behind me see an airbrush and

43:03

sometimes you know, I'm

43:06

airbrushing, watercolor, or I'm

43:06

just throwing alcohol up, I like

43:13

painting whatever it might be.

43:13

And so I'm I'm just just just

43:20

working with these different

43:20

mediums and, and experimenting

43:23

all the time to see what how far

43:23

I can push some of these things.

43:27

And so in that aspect is fun.

43:27

But yeah, you know, I don't

43:31

think I don't think I was ever

43:31

really kind of strange going

43:35

from one to the other really,

43:35

because I just had really good

43:37

guidance, I had people who

43:37

really were willing to help me

43:41

become better and then become

43:41

proficient at that certain

43:45

genre.

43:46

Yeah, that's

43:46

great. I mean, I'm sure you

43:48

know, there's a lot of crossover

43:48

as you say, BoldBrush, we

43:52

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45:31

you know, like, I actually find

45:31

that people who have studied

45:35

illustration before painting,

45:35

they tend to have a bit of an

45:38

advantage. In my opinion, I know

45:38

it's like a little bit funny to

45:42

say that, but there's an

45:42

advantage in the sense that with

45:45

illustration, there's more of an

45:45

emphasis on the symbolic, like

45:50

sort of nature of representing

45:50

something instead of the literal

45:55

copying of something, which

45:55

tends to happen today with a lot

45:58

of painting, especially, you

45:58

know, in this photographic

46:01

world. So there's a bit of a

46:01

sense of like, you guys, like an

46:06

illustration, there's an

46:06

understanding of, you know, the

46:09

essence of something, versus Oh,

46:09

yeah, we're just gonna, like

46:14

paint this person, exactly a

46:14

car. So there's like, a nice

46:17

crossover there. With the two,

46:17

it's actually I feel like people

46:21

who have studied painting after

46:21

like, not after, but people who

46:23

have studied painting, and then

46:23

afterward have taken

46:26

illustration, I feel like that

46:26

also helps, I feel like they

46:29

feed each other beautifully.

46:29

Well,

46:31

I got regarding

46:31

illustration, I gotta say this,

46:35

you know, you are a taxi driver,

46:35

you know, you gotta you gotta

46:39

take, you gotta take them where

46:39

they want to go, you gotta take

46:41

the client, wherever it might

46:41

be. So, so you've got to do that

46:44

efficiently. And so that is a

46:44

good, that's, that's, uh, you

46:50

know, training in that manner is

46:50

excellent, I think for an

46:53

artist, because you're under a

46:53

certain Dylan pressure, right?

46:56

So you've got to get the composition, right, you gotta get the design, right, you got

46:57

to get the likeness, right, you got to get, you know, so many

46:59

things done fairly quickly,

47:02

which is almost kind of opposite

47:02

of the way I'd normally work.

47:05

But that was a good training

47:05

round, because it helps you get

47:10

the narrative across fairly

47:10

quickly. You've got to make it

47:14

read, you got to be able to, to,

47:14

you know, speak the language of

47:22

a narrative. And so when you

47:22

look at, you know, people like

47:26

Norman Rockwell or Dean

47:26

Cornwell, and you look at some

47:28

of these phenomenal

47:28

illustrators, who then had

47:32

flourishing careers as, as

47:32

artists, look at the training

47:36

ground, I mean, they were

47:36

proficient in mediums and

47:39

working fairly quickly. And, you

47:39

know, so they, they were great

47:43

designers, and you can learn a

47:43

lot from those artists who,

47:48

again, you know, started their

47:48

careers as illustrators, some of

47:52

them did remain as illustrated

47:52

to me. I mean, you know, when

47:55

you look at an I hope, I'm not

47:55

saying incorrectly, but

47:59

Landecker lantic. You know, he

47:59

was just one of the, what, I

48:05

think maybe at the time, he was

48:05

the best paid artists out there,

48:09

when it came to illustration.

48:09

So, you know, I kind of got out

48:15

of illustration, because it was

48:15

becoming a bit of a thankless

48:18

job. It was the, the deadlines

48:18

were becoming way too hectic, I

48:24

was losing all my weekends, I

48:24

like to young boys, that I felt

48:28

I needed to devote more time to

48:28

especially like, when I was

48:30

working these long hours, these

48:30

long days at Disney, or these

48:36

scenic art jobs. So I find that

48:36

this is much more appealing to

48:44

me at this point in my life, to

48:44

be able to be there for them and

48:48

to having this regimen to be

48:48

able to say, Okay, this time is

48:53

for me to paint. And the rest

48:53

is, you know, I've got a I've

48:56

got to work with, you know, with

48:56

you know, I've got, I've got to

49:01

be able to do, you know, work

49:01

around the house and boys out

49:04

with their homework, whatever

49:04

else. And that it's, it's just

49:06

so much more appealing, because

49:06

I remember, you know, working so

49:09

many years on these projects,

49:09

and, you know, I just I come

49:13

home and they're already asleep,

49:13

you know, and so I leave before

49:16

they wake up and so, you know,

49:16

maybe you got to see them on the

49:19

weekend. It's like, oh my god,

49:19

he grew like three inches. So

49:22

you know. So this is nice. This

49:22

is really nice that I can I can

49:28

spend a lot more time with my

49:28

boys and, and, you know, I'm

49:31

giving them our classes because

49:31

something that I never had, you

49:33

know, so I Oh, they they they're

49:33

one fun music. I mean, they love

49:37

me. They're great at you know,

49:37

playing piano and, and cello and

49:42

stuff. But the art they've

49:42

always do when they just kind of

49:47

see me do it and then they

49:47

really dig into it. And they

49:49

just draw all the time. And I

49:49

just wish I had somebody to

49:53

teach me when I was eight years

49:53

old or 10 years old. I think

49:56

there was no there was no art in

49:56

my house. I think the only

49:59

artwork that I and maybe

49:59

something you're familiar with

50:01

is that we had a calendar from

50:01

the barber shop or maybe it was

50:05

a meat market. And it had a

50:05

painting of again, right? So if

50:10

you're familiar with them get as

50:10

work. It was these mighty ASIC

50:12

workers with these ASIC, quilty,

50:12

or maybe they're, you know,

50:16

these ASIC prints this is maybe

50:16

or, you know, I don't know, but

50:20

it was just, I mean, his work

50:20

was just gorgeous, you know. And

50:24

so we would have, you know, a

50:24

calendar hung up, and I would

50:28

just remember seeing his his

50:28

work. And so that's about the

50:32

only artwork we had in the

50:32

house, you know, it just because

50:36

my, my folks didn't know, the

50:36

art world, they didn't know,

50:39

they weren't very familiar, we

50:39

never went to art museum. And

50:43

so, you know, again, it was it

50:43

was about my time in high

50:47

school, when I finally had an

50:47

art class with, you know, Mrs.

50:52

Mrs. Main, and she was just, it

50:52

was a one class, I was like,

50:55

good at, okay, you know, I just

50:55

really love going to that class.

51:01

And so she was just really,

51:01

really supportive. And so I

51:07

still talked to her to this day,

51:07

and just that for thank her for,

51:11

because I was horrible

51:11

everything else. And I just

51:14

think, to this day for helping

51:14

me out and keeping me motivated.

51:18

And she, she gives us pretty

51:18

decent challenging, you know,

51:21

exercises, you know, to, you

51:21

know, I remember, you know, we'd

51:26

have to, you know, she'd give us

51:26

a picture of a magazine that in

51:28

this case, maybe it was a BMW

51:28

and I had to draw the other half

51:32

right on the gear. Did you ever

51:32

do that? Where you feel like,

51:35

you slice that object in half,

51:35

and then you have to replicate

51:39

the other side, you know, and so

51:39

yeah, and it was pretty good

51:42

exercise. So I, you know, I

51:42

enjoyed it. I enjoyed the class

51:46

so much. And so I think that's

51:46

what really, really kept me

51:50

going and saying, okay, yeah,

51:50

what I'm, I definitely want to

51:54

be an artist doesn't want to be

51:54

an artist. And so, you know, so

51:58

yeah, so if you're right now,

51:58

you know, 50s, and stuff still

52:03

going on,

52:04

it's awesome. Because you're enriching your kids lives as

52:05

well. And I love that, you know,

52:10

I'm also what I love about this

52:10

career as well is, like, be the

52:14

part where you actually have

52:14

time to be with the people you

52:18

love. Right? Like, you can make

52:18

time for that. As long as

52:22

obviously, you know, you're

52:22

working on your stuff, and

52:25

you're getting the money coming

52:25

in from that. It gives you a lot

52:29

of freedom in terms of, you

52:29

know, spending spending that

52:31

time and I think that's off.

52:31

That's really awesome. So that's

52:36

really great, man, you know, oh,

52:36

when I was looking at, I wish

52:40

I'd also had someone you know,

52:40

to, to hold my hand and show me

52:43

exactly how things are. But

52:43

yeah, I love that. Oh, um, but

52:49

also, you know, I wanted to

52:49

know, right? Because when you

52:51

were studying at the school,

52:51

right? You were probably I'm

52:56

guessing, maybe having you maybe

52:56

you had a day job or something.

52:59

Right? While you're going to the

52:59

schools.

53:03

Every job, I can

53:05

match, you gotta do what you got to do. Are you good? I just want to,

53:13

you know, finish the question.

53:15

What was it like for you to

53:15

like, once you finish school,

53:18

right? Were you able to jump

53:18

right into a career in

53:21

illustration? Or did it take

53:21

like some time?

53:24

You know, it

53:24

wasn't, I never finished school.

53:27

To be honest. It was just one of

53:27

those, you know, things where

53:29

you, you paid for class. And,

53:29

you know, hopefully you had

53:33

enough money to take the next

53:33

one. Yeah. So it was I, during

53:38

that time, when I was there, I

53:38

was very fortunate to meet Mike

53:43

buckets, who was the one who

53:43

took me under his wing at that

53:46

time. It was like 1996, maybe,

53:46

like, military 1995. And so Ron

53:53

86 Nine. So you know, I remember

53:53

mica studio, upstairs in this

54:00

building. And he was just

54:00

phenomenal. I mean, he was, he

54:04

has worked on 1000s of projects.

54:04

And so he and I hit it off. And

54:10

he mentioned that I had a pretty

54:10

good sense of for composition.

54:15

And so he says, Do you want to

54:15

help me out on this one gig? And

54:19

I think it was for Superman. At

54:19

that time, there was Superman

54:21

Returns. And so I said, you

54:21

know, sure. And so I started

54:26

helping him out. I was taking

54:26

actually he was teaching there

54:29

and I was taking his classes I

54:29

love taking his classes on

54:32

illustration and, and just he

54:32

has so many techniques, you

54:36

know, using acrylics, oils and,

54:36

you know, using different tools

54:40

like, you know, the airbrush

54:40

whatever might be so you had

54:43

some phenomenal artists and

54:43

illustrators. Well, I don't

54:47

think it was until about 2003

54:47

where he he threw me to the deep

54:53

end and he says here, you're

54:53

gonna go to this one company,

54:58

and you're going to just Jake,

54:58

take on what you got. I don't

55:01

have much money. I haven't

55:01

really done any jobs, you know,

55:03

other than whatever you want.

55:03

Just go try to get the work. So

55:07

I went, and it was a pretty big

55:07

company. I think I don't know if

55:13

they still exist, but they were

55:13

working at that time on Polar

55:16

Express. And so we're with Tom

55:16

Hanks. It was Robert Robert

55:22

Zemeckis film, right. And so

55:22

they gave me the job. They said,

55:27

We need you to do some work for

55:27

standees that we do do just

55:30

concept work, we need to do this

55:30

stuff. Oh, my God, I was not

55:35

ready for it. Now. Here's the

55:35

funny thing. Mike and I were

55:37

actually he was doing it for

55:37

another company. So we're kind

55:39

of competing against each other

55:39

and stuff. But but, you know, of

55:43

course, you know, Mike was

55:43

always a great sport. And, you

55:46

know, he, he helped me immensely

55:46

with with with this work. And

55:49

so, it was actually my first

55:49

real venture into film,

55:55

conceptual work for film. And,

55:55

and I, and it worked out, it

56:00

worked out and I just, you know,

56:00

it worked out for me, and then I

56:03

started getting more and more

56:03

work done. And so, you know,

56:07

there was doing illustrations,

56:07

and so, and we were working

56:11

directly with Robert Zemeckis,

56:11

so that was a real joy. I do

56:16

recall, I think maybe my first

56:16

illustration job was maybe when

56:18

I was 17. But that came because

56:18

my sister was working for Dino

56:22

DiLaurentis. And, and they were

56:22

doing a movie with Edward James

56:26

Olmos and Willem Defoe, which

56:26

was called triumph of the

56:30

Spirit. And it was, I think it

56:30

was about the life of the boxer

56:35

during World War Two. And I

56:35

guess we're having issues with

56:39

the title. And she says, Hey,

56:39

are you wanting to try to come

56:42

up with a title for illustration

56:42

for this movie, and worked on it

56:49

for a few days, and they

56:49

accepted it? So yeah, it was my

56:53

first paid gig as an

56:53

illustrator, they actually ran

56:57

with it. So it was it was just a

56:57

title. And it had the barbed

57:00

wire going through the font. And

57:00

it had the boxing gloves on the

57:04

side. And they actually used it

57:04

for the title. So they refined

57:07

it did their thing. And so they

57:07

used it, so not pretty, like at

57:14

that time, I think the I got

57:14

like, two or $300 You know, for

57:19

the for the sketch, right? Well,

57:19

70 Yeah, that's pretty it was

57:23

pretty good for me, right. So so

57:23

but you know, I did everything I

57:31

could to try to come up with

57:31

money so that I can learn that

57:37

included selling oranges at the

57:37

park when I was a kid I was a

57:44

little kid. And I remember my

57:44

dad would take me this party

57:47

because his buddy was selling

57:47

oranges and stuff in the bank

57:49

and they were $1 bag at the

57:49

time. And so he said hey, we'll

57:53

give you a quarter for each you

57:53

know for each bag that you sell

57:57

you know so I sell a bag and

57:57

then I think that coordinate go

58:01

get a sidewalk Sunday which I've

58:01

run up to the edge of command

58:04

and when I was finally sick of

58:04

sidewalk Sundays, I started

58:07

saving it up and then I would I

58:07

was struggling art supplies or

58:11

you know, crayons, markers,

58:11

whatever might be you know

58:13

started really early early on

58:13

but I became clever and that I

58:18

would always go to the kissing

58:18

couples and and I'd stand there

58:22

you know, even after they bought

58:22

a bag so you can take the other

58:24

one and see all the couples with

58:24

two bags of oranges. But then

58:34

and then you know I would take

58:34

whatever side jobs you know it's

58:38

collecting aluminum cans I was I

58:38

even became

58:45

became a psychic brand it sounds

58:45

so weird say that. I was just

58:53

like you know and so that was an odd

58:54

job. And so it was it was just I

59:01

was just taking the audits jobs

59:01

just trying to make money for my

59:06

craft and so you know when I

59:06

think about it, you know, I was

59:11

I started airbrushing shirts I

59:11

was working at at art fairs and

59:14

it's all I was just doing going

59:14

mad painting, you know, easily

59:18

50 shirts a day and till your

59:18

head and your wrist was just

59:21

raw, you know. And I start

59:21

painting billboards for Tower

59:25

Records to remember Tower

59:25

Records. But it was on Sunset

59:30

Strip and you know, you paint

59:30

these album covers on these on

59:35

these billboards and you will

59:35

you know, then there was another

59:38

company I worked for art attack,

59:38

and I was your

59:44

favorite kid

59:44

art. Alright, I loved it.

59:53

I was just

59:53

painting a bunch of stuff and

59:56

you know, just all these odd

59:56

jobs and so you want yeah, Have

1:00:00

I learned if I learned anything?

1:00:00

It was tenacity to? Because if

1:00:07

it wasn't, if nobody was gonna

1:00:07

hand it to me, I mean, I do. I

1:00:11

was very fortunate to have

1:00:11

people like Mike bekas and, and

1:00:14

Steve Bray who actually put me

1:00:14

to work doing painting jackets

1:00:17

on, on Sunset, I was, there was

1:00:17

a store called brace rock and

1:00:20

art, it was right between the

1:00:20

whiskey and the Roxy. And I

1:00:24

remember painting jackets there,

1:00:24

and Guns and Roses, shot a

1:00:30

video. And, you know, they would

1:00:30

walk in and, and they'd say, Oh,

1:00:36

who painted these and so all of

1:00:36

us, you know, we're like, we're

1:00:38

proud of our work, like, Oh, we

1:00:38

got to meet quite a few

1:00:41

celebrities. I actually was able

1:00:41

to paint a jacket for counter

1:00:44

Reeves he we had breakfast

1:00:44

together, you know, and I

1:00:47

painted a dragon for galleries a

1:00:47

jacket. So Louie Anderson would

1:00:52

come by to and, and so it was it

1:00:52

was, it was a neat experience.

1:00:57

Like I said, you know, if

1:00:57

anything, I knew, in my gut,

1:01:01

that I want to paint and that's

1:01:01

what that's, that's what I want

1:01:04

to do. And so many detours, as I

1:01:04

had, I was glad that I was

1:01:09

stubborn enough to stick to, to

1:01:09

wanting to learn and and

1:01:15

getting, you know, I need Yeah,

1:01:15

I mean, you you had I had to pay

1:01:20

my bills, I did try to come up

1:01:20

with money for those classes. So

1:01:23

you know, it's it was a small

1:01:23

fortune learning, right? You

1:01:26

know, so,

1:01:28

yes. But

1:01:28

it's, it ends up being worth it.

1:01:33

And also all the experiences,

1:01:33

you know, of, you know, working

1:01:37

in all these places, and you try

1:01:37

your hardest Yeah, I feel like

1:01:41

that really enriches your work

1:01:41

as well. Because you know,

1:01:44

you're putting, you know, your

1:01:44

work is like the culmination of

1:01:47

all of your life. Right? So it's

1:01:47

even more interesting that you

1:01:51

have all of these crazy

1:01:51

anecdotes, and like all of these

1:01:54

crazy experiences, and it's all

1:01:54

you know, in the work, which is,

1:01:59

Wow, that's fascinating. You

1:01:59

could totally write like a

1:02:02

biography, like an

1:02:02

autobiography. It would be so

1:02:05

fascinating to read it. Because

1:02:05

it's cool. Yeah, it's

1:02:11

more comedic than anything else. It's pretty funny.

1:02:13

I would, I

1:02:13

would read it, I'd be laughing

1:02:16

the whole time, but I'd read it.

1:02:16

Because you have a way of

1:02:19

explaining things is very, it's

1:02:19

very captivating. So I

1:02:22

appreciate you, you're welcome.

1:02:22

But, um, speaking of also, you

1:02:29

know, online, right? What are

1:02:29

some of the ways that you

1:02:34

personally like to put your work

1:02:34

out there to be seen, like, what

1:02:38

online or offline channels do

1:02:38

you use? Okay,

1:02:41

well, I gotta be

1:02:41

honest, I mean, I don't use

1:02:46

Facebook as late as much as some

1:02:46

artists do. And I've been mostly

1:02:51

if I use social media, you know,

1:02:51

Instagram and, and that's,

1:02:55

that's pretty much about it. So

1:02:55

I love people. Oh, you're going

1:02:58

about it. Oh, Ron, I get it, I

1:02:58

get it. But I'm not the real big

1:03:03

social media kind of guy. And I

1:03:03

like to devote much of my time

1:03:09

creating personal relationships,

1:03:09

face to face relationships, I

1:03:12

have found that by being able to

1:03:12

do be in front of people doing

1:03:19

art shows, or even like, when I

1:03:19

was telling you doing, like, you

1:03:23

know, the whole t shirt thing

1:03:23

with a jacket, just being able

1:03:27

to have those conversations face

1:03:27

to face. I think those have been

1:03:31

my, my, I've been my my moments

1:03:31

where I realized that this is

1:03:42

really how you make a living for

1:03:42

me anyway, right? Where you go

1:03:46

out, you meet people, you let

1:03:46

them see or you get them, you

1:03:49

know, have them talk to you and

1:03:49

and tell them about your

1:03:54

experiences. Tell him about your

1:03:54

narration, tell him about your

1:03:59

paintings. Right. And, and you

1:03:59

get to to create a really great

1:04:03

relationship with these

1:04:03

potential collectors, which many

1:04:06

of them have become collectors.

1:04:06

And so in that sense, yes, I'm,

1:04:12

I'm very grateful that I like to

1:04:12

get out there and be seen. And

1:04:17

so I understand there are people

1:04:17

who make a great living at just

1:04:24

doing social media. And that

1:04:24

isn't me just yet. So I feel

1:04:30

like at this point in time, I

1:04:30

enjoy still just the old

1:04:35

fashioned one on one. I

1:04:38

love that.

1:04:38

You know, I think it's very

1:04:41

undervalued. You know, I know

1:04:41

that. I think, you know,

1:04:44

personally, a lot of artists, we

1:04:44

struggle I would I in my

1:04:48

opinion, some of us might

1:04:48

struggle a bit with talking to

1:04:51

people, especially about our own

1:04:51

work. But I think it is, you

1:04:56

know, in the end, when you gain

1:04:56

that ability to Do that and you

1:05:00

go out and maybe you're part of

1:05:00

like some sort of, you know,

1:05:03

like you said, like an art show,

1:05:03

or you're part of a group of

1:05:05

people like, like a painting

1:05:05

Society of some sort. And you do

1:05:09

like a group show, it is such a

1:05:09

great opportunity to, you know,

1:05:14

talk to people and connect with

1:05:14

people, I understand that social

1:05:17

media is, you know, it's, it's

1:05:17

useful for connecting with

1:05:20

people, but I feel like, it's

1:05:20

still a very shallow way of

1:05:23

connecting with people. Because

1:05:23

it's very surface level, it's

1:05:26

almost like a fantasy. But when

1:05:26

you meet someone, you know, face

1:05:30

to face, or even just a resume,

1:05:30

like we're doing now you get a

1:05:34

different feel of a person,

1:05:34

because they're, you know,

1:05:38

expressing themselves instead of

1:05:38

just like little little writing

1:05:42

on a phone screen. So I'm with

1:05:42

you, I think there's value to

1:05:47

face to face human. Yeah. You

1:05:47

know, there's, there's something

1:05:52

there. Yeah,

1:05:53

I just, I prefer

1:05:53

those types of conversations,

1:05:57

you know, we're, you know, because you're right, you know, you when you're just typing, you

1:05:58

don't get the full, but the full

1:06:04

gist of, of who this person

1:06:04

might be, and I just, I just

1:06:10

really enjoy being able to

1:06:10

connect with people that way,

1:06:15

especially because I spent so

1:06:15

many hours in my studio, that

1:06:18

when I get that opportunity to

1:06:18

finally go out, you know, and,

1:06:22

you know, so I don't know, like,

1:06:22

I always see, you know, I always

1:06:26

tease my wife, you wondering a

1:06:26

slide another way to get slide

1:06:32

another stick under the door,

1:06:32

you know, but because I mean,

1:06:38

my, I mean, my dungeon, I mean

1:06:38

myself, it's and so, so I think

1:06:45

I have to I have to put that

1:06:45

time in. But for the same

1:06:50

reason, the same time I spent in

1:06:50

my studio, I need to be out

1:06:54

there as well and making those

1:06:54

connections. And in maybe, I'm

1:06:59

not on social media, because I

1:06:59

don't know how to use it as

1:07:02

effectively just yet, but, but I

1:07:02

would say I do know, some

1:07:07

artists to succeed that, but

1:07:07

they also mentioned that it does

1:07:11

eat up a lot of time. It does

1:07:11

eat up a lot of time to be able

1:07:14

to, you know, put the videos

1:07:14

together or whatever it might

1:07:20

be, but I I'm not, I'm not

1:07:20

creating paintings every few

1:07:26

hours. That's not me. And so,

1:07:26

you know, I just feel like I got

1:07:29

to put the time on the on the

1:07:29

easel.

1:07:32

Yeah, yeah.

1:07:32

And that's another great point,

1:07:34

you know, there is a lot more to

1:07:34

just posting on social media.

1:07:40

And personally, I, you know, the

1:07:40

algorithm is pretty messed up

1:07:44

right now. So you're good,

1:07:44

you're not missing. There's so

1:07:47

many artists are now we're

1:07:47

complaining about not getting it

1:07:50

anymore. I post something. But

1:07:50

the algorithms been like, pretty

1:08:01

bad to the point where like,

1:08:01

people who are getting maybe

1:08:03

like 1000 views or something are

1:08:03

getting maybe 200. So there's

1:08:07

like a, there's some crazy stuff

1:08:07

happening there. And they change

1:08:10

it every month. And it drives

1:08:10

everyone bananas, so you're not

1:08:13

necessarily missing out much. So

1:08:13

you're good. You're good. I

1:08:18

mean, it's still worth it

1:08:18

because more eyes on your work

1:08:21

is great. Yeah. But I you know,

1:08:21

it's a balance. You can't feel

1:08:27

like it's a mistake to overly

1:08:27

rely on only one social media to

1:08:31

you know, it's, it's good to

1:08:31

spread out. But again, that

1:08:34

takes work. It takes time.

1:08:37

That's thankful for newsletters, you know what I'm able to get a newsletter and

1:08:39

let them know, hey, you know, so

1:08:44

that's been very helpful.

1:08:47

For sure,

1:08:47

for sure the newsletter is like,

1:08:49

number one. Like, I feel like,

1:08:49

it's so great when I when an

1:08:53

artist brings it up, because

1:08:53

it's so true. Like, if someone

1:08:57

has taken the time to sign up

1:08:57

for a newsletter that's worth,

1:09:00

ah, that's worth a million times

1:09:00

more than like, a follower on

1:09:03

social media. Because, you know,

1:09:03

it's so easy to just follow

1:09:06

someone but it takes effort to

1:09:06

go to someone's website and

1:09:08

like, type in your email and

1:09:08

then put the, you know, except,

1:09:12

like, Yes, I do want to get like

1:09:12

I'm a real person. I want to get

1:09:15

the newsletter from this person.

1:09:15

Like it takes a little more

1:09:18

effort. And it goes to show that

1:09:18

those people really do want to

1:09:20

hear from you. So yes,

1:09:23

it's one of the

1:09:23

things choose, I think, I think

1:09:26

what you people maybe have lost

1:09:26

the value of sending a postcard

1:09:31

sending a letter to people and

1:09:31

that helps out immensely. You

1:09:37

know, years ago, I taught I give

1:09:37

classes to Tom Kenny, Tom Kenny

1:09:46

is the voice of Spongebob and I

1:09:46

gave our classes to his son and

1:09:52

his daughter and to this day he

1:09:52

still makes a donation in my

1:09:56

name to I think it helps If I

1:09:56

remember quite well, I think

1:10:02

it's for cancer research. I'm

1:10:02

trying remember what it is, but

1:10:06

either way, I just think it's so

1:10:06

nice to be able to get every

1:10:09

year get get a postcode, you

1:10:09

know, Christmas card for that.

1:10:12

And, you know, it's like, wow,

1:10:12

okay, you know, I touched

1:10:17

somebody in that sounds, you

1:10:17

know, where I was able to make a

1:10:19

little bit of a difference. And

1:10:19

so and so I think postcards and

1:10:26

sending a message in the mail,

1:10:26

old school is still very

1:10:30

valuable. It's, it's, it's

1:10:30

helped me anyway. And aye, aye.

1:10:37

Aye. I, I've been, again, I keep

1:10:37

using that word fortunate.

1:10:42

Because yeah, I've been very

1:10:42

fortunate to have those

1:10:44

connections. So and, but you

1:10:44

gotta work from you gotta work

1:10:47

from and, and I think if, if

1:10:47

you're genuine in, in what? In

1:10:55

your craft, if you're, you're

1:10:55

trying to be very genuine, the

1:10:58

communication that you're trying

1:10:58

to? Well, with the message

1:11:02

you're trying to convey is that

1:11:02

yes, I am. This is my artwork,

1:11:05

and this is what I'm trying to

1:11:05

say in this lifetime. Do you

1:11:09

strike a strike of a controversy

1:11:09

conversation? And that's

1:11:12

something that sometimes it

1:11:12

turns into, you know, what, I

1:11:17

really love that piece, I want

1:11:17

to take it away. So, you know,

1:11:21

it's, it's, again, it's, it

1:11:21

takes some time takes some

1:11:24

doing. And I feel like again, if

1:11:24

we're just going back to this

1:11:27

whole social media, what it is,

1:11:27

that seems to be working for me

1:11:33

is again, the, the, the the

1:11:33

connections that I make through

1:11:37

newsletters and and postcards

1:11:37

and, and driving somewhere to

1:11:41

see somebody in just having

1:11:41

lunch or whatever it might be

1:11:45

just, you know, just talk about

1:11:45

something other than just art.

1:11:50

Yeah, yes.

1:11:51

Oh, human

1:11:51

connection and the human you

1:11:55

know, that's a tactile part. I

1:11:55

feel. You know, it's social

1:11:57

media. It's like you've just

1:11:57

like this on a phone screen.

1:11:59

Right? You don't Yeah, you'll

1:11:59

get to hold something. You don't

1:12:02

get to raise the same error.

1:12:02

Someone else. So it's like,

1:12:06

yeah, dude. Oh, my God, I

1:12:06

actually speaking of postcards,

1:12:09

I just got a postcard from from

1:12:09

one of my best friends that she

1:12:12

sent it was expecting it. Yeah,

1:12:12

it was like, so cool.

1:12:16

You know it was that kind of weird for you them? Is that like to get something

1:12:18

like that mail? Or is it is it?

1:12:21

I was so

1:12:21

excited. Yeah. Cuz she sent it

1:12:24

from from the Canaries, because

1:12:24

that's where she's from? Oh,

1:12:27

yeah. It was like, it's really

1:12:27

nice, you know, unexpected. And

1:12:32

I feel like, I'm hoping today,

1:12:32

you know, the, I feel like a lot

1:12:37

of people are rebelling a bit

1:12:37

against the always online

1:12:42

culture that we're in now always

1:12:42

available culture that we're in

1:12:45

now that, you know, I feel like

1:12:45

so many people, especially, you

1:12:47

know, people from my generation

1:12:47

are definitely also turning back

1:12:51

to the old, old way of living,

1:12:51

you know, the playing outside

1:12:55

all day riding your bikes all

1:12:55

day and the sending a postcard

1:12:59

or sending a letter. Because

1:12:59

there's something in it. There's

1:13:03

something about the slow life.

1:13:06

Yeah, yeah. And

1:13:06

after living years and years of

1:13:10

crazy deadlines, working long,

1:13:10

long days, it is nice, just to

1:13:16

slow down a bit. And, you know,

1:13:16

and get to have these

1:13:20

conversations. So, thanks. Yeah.

1:13:24

Oh, man, I

1:13:24

love that. Yes. Um, by the way,

1:13:28

do you have any final advice?

1:13:28

For maybe someone who's looking

1:13:32

to become an artist? And maybe

1:13:32

they want to do it as their

1:13:35

career? Do you have any advice?

1:13:37

I will say, I

1:13:37

mean, from my experience, Be

1:13:40

tenacious, just but be patient.

1:13:40

Because as that you can overwork

1:13:49

yourself and you have to, you

1:13:49

have to make sense of it. What

1:13:53

is your what is your goal? Have

1:13:53

a plan, I would say I have my

1:13:58

short term goals and my long

1:13:58

term goals at some that are very

1:14:01

realistic. So just be mindful of

1:14:01

that, that there's certain

1:14:06

things you may not get to as

1:14:06

soon as you think. And so the

1:14:14

thing is just to just to be

1:14:14

mindful of that, that as long as

1:14:17

you're, you're working, you're

1:14:17

working for a goal, have those

1:14:21

those goals in mind. Don't stop

1:14:21

learning, always, you know, but

1:14:28

I think more than anything,

1:14:28

allow yourself to make mistakes,

1:14:31

you're gonna make mistakes. And

1:14:31

so, you know, not everything has

1:14:35

to be a piece that has to go out

1:14:35

to the world as some pieces can

1:14:40

remain unseen. And regarding

1:14:40

becoming a working artist. Well,

1:14:48

like my friend Mike says, You

1:14:48

got to put the mileage and

1:14:50

you've got to put the hours into

1:14:50

it. You've got to really address

1:14:57

your weaknesses and strengthen

1:14:57

what it is you truly love to do,

1:15:01

and you have to paint what you

1:15:01

love, you have to do what you

1:15:04

love, if you don't, it's not

1:15:04

gonna matter to you as much and

1:15:08

move, you're trying to do what

1:15:08

everybody else is doing. And

1:15:10

that's, and then you know, you

1:15:10

get fed up, you get frustrated,

1:15:14

and it makes you less motivated

1:15:14

to keep painting, if you can

1:15:18

create some kind of regimen,

1:15:18

some kind of routine that helps

1:15:24

you get to those goals, this,

1:15:24

then do that, because that's

1:15:28

what helped me out, I know that,

1:15:28

that is definitely what helped

1:15:31

me out is dedicating your time

1:15:31

your day to certain things, and

1:15:35

you have to be adamant about you

1:15:35

have to, don't get sidetracked

1:15:39

by the phone, don't get

1:15:39

sidetracked by the TV, really

1:15:43

stick to it. And you're gonna

1:15:43

see yourself in a matter of a

1:15:45

few weeks, how much you have

1:15:45

progressed, and how much you've

1:15:48

gotten accomplished. Write it

1:15:48

down, if you have to old school,

1:15:52

just write it down, put the

1:15:52

reminder on your phone, that

1:15:55

you've got to do this, you know,

1:15:55

and if you don't get it done,

1:15:59

it's not the end of the world,

1:15:59

you know, just know that there

1:16:01

are certain things you're gonna get done a lot sooner than you think. And some things you're

1:16:03

not. And so, but always with the

1:16:06

goal in mind that you want to

1:16:06

become a better artist, and

1:16:10

hopefully a better person

1:16:10

because, you know, there's

1:16:13

there's, we can we could

1:16:13

definitely use better people

1:16:16

that are already gives us good

1:16:16

nature artists in the world. So

1:16:20

absolutely.

1:16:22

Beautiful.

1:16:22

Very well said. I love that.

1:16:25

Thank you. You're welcome. Do

1:16:25

you have any upcoming shows

1:16:30

exhibitions or anything you'd like to promote?

1:16:32

Well, I've got let

1:16:32

me say I do have a workshop

1:16:35

coming up at this stage star

1:16:35

that's in Torrance, California.

1:16:38

It's on April 5, and sixth is a

1:16:38

two day workshop. We're gonna be

1:16:41

working with pesto, different

1:16:41

textures, creating different

1:16:43

textures. So we're going to hone

1:16:43

in on textures. And so you can

1:16:48

go to destination art.com or.org

1:16:48

I believe. Either way, I'm going

1:16:52

to be posting it on my website

1:16:52

soon. If you want to go to my

1:16:54

website, it's strict studio.com.

1:16:54

So that's s t u r c, k, e

1:16:59

studio.com. You can also go to

1:16:59

my Instagram and that's what it

1:17:04

was Instagram. Fourth life,

1:17:04

whatever, strict studio, same

1:17:09

thing, strict studio as T or C

1:17:09

as T or C Ke. And here's my

1:17:13

model name, string studio. And

1:17:13

so and so you'll get to see some

1:17:19

of the stuff I'm doing. It's not always fine art, you know, you'll see some my illustration.

1:17:20

And you'll get to see the board

1:17:25

game that I'm working on right

1:17:25

now because Mike and I have

1:17:28

illustrated plenty of board

1:17:28

games for monopoly for you for

1:17:32

clue. And we even did a Sunday

1:17:32

fifth anniversary. Wizard of Oz

1:17:38

pop up Monopoly game. So we're

1:17:38

working on our own it's called

1:17:40

Mad Monster Bash. It's family

1:17:40

games, you can play from ages

1:17:43

eight to immortal. And so it's

1:17:43

it's this zany, zany game, and

1:17:50

we hope to have it out this

1:17:50

year. But if you if you want to

1:17:54

see you know, more that kind of

1:17:54

artwork, and how we're created

1:17:57

that you can we also have our

1:17:57

Instagram, which is mad monster.

1:18:00

bash.com. No. Yeah, I don't

1:18:00

know. For Instagram. It's just

1:18:05

mad Monster Bash. So anyhow.

1:18:05

Yeah. So that's, that's pretty

1:18:09

much about it. So I've read the

1:18:09

worship of no shows. I know

1:18:12

other than the pesto Society of

1:18:12

Southern California, which is a

1:18:15

group society show. I was the

1:18:15

president for a couple of years

1:18:19

with the the pesticides in

1:18:19

California. And then I'll post

1:18:23

it on my website as well,

1:18:23

because the exact dates I come

1:18:27

back to me right now, so apologize, but

1:18:30

yeah,

1:18:30

awesome. Wow. So much going on.

1:18:35

Thank you.

1:18:37

Welcome. And

1:18:37

thank you so much for being a

1:18:40

guest on the show. This has been

1:18:40

no thank you for writing awesome

1:18:43

chat. Of course. Yeah. It was a

1:18:43

happy laugh.

1:18:50

I get to see you

1:18:50

in Norway, because I told my

1:18:52

boys I really want to pick them

1:18:52

up to to Norway to see what I

1:18:56

saw. You know, and of course,

1:18:56

you can go to Alaska and stuff.

1:18:59

But, ya know, it was just

1:18:59

absolutely amazing. So I hope I

1:19:02

hope they get to see that. So

1:19:04

yeah. If you

1:19:04

let me know. Yeah. Oh, yeah.

1:19:10

And we were

1:19:10

mentioned that you are too far

1:19:13

away from where I was stationed.

1:19:14

Yeah. Yeah.

1:19:14

Awesome. Just we'll stay in

1:19:18

touch. Okay, thank you.