I haven’t written much in the past few years, and partially that is a result of having little time to do it. But the more honest reason is that I had little interest in making time to do it. Becoming a father, and one who stays home with his kids, wasn’t something I had ever seen modeled before, so there was a lot of learning I had to do. And as anyone who has kids knows, there is something to be learned every single day because these little people are full of surprises.

I’m not surprised that I’m coming back to writing because it’s been such a huge part of my life for so long; I suppose this happening now is the result of all the writing pressure that’s built over the past eight years, and I’m hopeful that the result is a much more positive exploration than what writing was for me in the past. My writing outside of this blog will likely be similar in theme to what I wrote in the past, but this is a space where I hope to write essays that I can one day share with my daughters, a apace where I can talk about what I am doing with my art, and a place where I can say what I want to say freely because it is my own place and no-one has to stick around to listen unless they choose to do so.

I am at a place in my life where I can get away with writing and making art for myself without needing an audience to sustain it, and I am going to take advantage of it for as long as I can. I plan to have a YouTube channel to accompany this blog that will show my works in progress and probably an animated short from time to time. My first priority will always be my family, but this work should be sustainable because I’ll work at my own pace and answer to no one but myself.

I’ve spent the majority of my working time for the past years painting, drawing, and animating. I think I would’ve pursued these interests earlier in my life if I’d had more access to information about visual art, but I got to it when I did, so I’m not complaining.

There are so many resources on the internet that have benefitted me over the years, many of them free and some of them I’ve paid for. Both have been valuable in my art education, and I will create a list of all the people and resources that I’ve found helpful. I didn’t go to art school, but I did get art lessons from artists who’ve shared knowledge in books and videos. I do not believe anyone ever masters art completely since each new project you do presents its own unique challenges. But you can be more prepared and solve those problems in ways that you are happier with than you might have been with fewer skills and less knowledge.

I hope this will be a place for me to generate ideas that help me pursue additional projects for myself and projects done in conjunction with friends (old and new), and also a place where I can direct people who are curious about what it is that I do and how I go about doing it.

Whether you’re here on accident or because you sought me out, I am glad you’re here. Here’s a short cartoon I made long, long ago.