Hello everyone!

Indeed, I now have a shiny new computer, so I am slowly getting back into business here at the studio. I've been working on a a lot, despite the lack of posts at the gallery. Today I posted the first two shots over there, they are WIP shots of the painting I am doing for Jason Kupfer (filmmaker and musician). Go check them out and let me know what you think so far! More to come later.

I am updating the MySpace to have a WIP gallery of it's own, so you can check out sketches there, I am kind of pondering if I want to post here too, and give myself extra work.

Thanks for reading,
Dirk

Wow, that was incredibly fast.

Between the previous post I made here and this afternoon I got a brand new computer. It is pretty awesome in my opinion. I not only got a new PC, but a TB external hard drive. I am still setting everything up and modding the system, but it does mean there should be gallery updates much sooner than I was expecting! I did lose all the pre-existing work when the last computer crashed, and the back up was also lost, but I am not that upset since the new work is always so much better. Any old work can be re-done, and at a better quality. So, not missing out on much in my opinion.

Geewhiz knows I will need to get the gallery to be a success now for sure, since I now need to find a way to pay for all this new technology. Commissions are my friend. A long lost friend whom I hope to be reacquainted with very, very soon.

Thanks for reading!
DG

PS: The new computer system is (officially) named “The Baumer“, based on the Wes Anderson character I am most like…Richie Tenenbaum.

Hey there everyone! Just thought I'd update this blog with some information.

ART WISE:

I am currently in the middle of doing a series of portraits in mixed media, but mostly acryllic paints on canvas. The basic theme is "people I know as characters from Wes Anderson films". There are currently 3 paintings physically in-progress. One is a stand-alone, the other two are a set meant to be displayed next to each other. Don't ask me why I started doing this, because I don't really know. But it is fun so far. It is almost like a sick twist between fan-art and fake cosplaying (Costumed roleplaying).

I also just started working on painting a "decorative wooden oar" I picked up a while back at a craft store. I am planning so far to paint it ala "The Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack", which if you've never seen it is a brilliantly awkward cartoon played on Cartoon Network.

I'm taking pictures of all the works in progress, but I can't upload them just yet, which I will explain next.

Computer wise:

I have been without a computer for over a month, almost 2 months now or so. Hence why the new gallery is still empty, and I haven't uploaded any new work or photographs anywhere. I am hoping to get a new computer in the next week or so, and when I get everything set up, there will be work posted in the gallery, and links made where ever they are needed. I think I will try to keep this blog updated with the MySpace art blog, so you can choose to read one or the other, which ever you prefer. I still note that this is not related to my private, every-day blog, that is its own separate entity. All art updates will go here, on the MySpace, and of course to the gallery itself.

Any other news:

I think that is basically it for right now, and I hope to get everything up and going again very soon! Thanks for reading!

-DG

Something that seems to be fairly common, especially on art communities online, is that I frequently (every day or other day) see artists putting up polls or journals asking "What should I draw?", "What do you want to see me draw?", or something similar. Taking requests, and bending yourself to what everyone else wants to see, are two different things. Every now and then, I take requests, especially if its something that sounds amazing, or motivates me in some way. I don't generally ask what to draw though, even when I have an art block. I know part of being a professional artist is pleasing the customer. But people who happen to cross by your website or gallery, aren't necessarily paying you for any project, and most don't intend to. Why does it matter what the non-paying public wants to see? Most people would like to see you express yourself and your style, not make cliche fan art, or draw their characters. They can draw their own characters.

Maybe it's just me. Then again, every thing you draw doesn't have to go online for the public to see, either. So many people post MySpace-quality photographs in their art galleries online, and they wonder why they aren't taken seriously. I can understand if it is for your ID maybe, or even in your scraps, but don't expect it to get the same respect as a portrait shot in perhaps studio quality.

I find art to be a very personal enterprise. In the end, you choose how you want to express yourself. This includes freelancing. You choose whether to take the job or not. When it comes to working professionally, you only get a certain amount of freedoms on some jobs, and it seems most artists who are not doing it for a living take the freedom for granted. They don't have to please anyone, yet they try to anyways, instead of just expressing themselves.

As for my opinion on fan art, I have nothing against it. I think if you are a fan of something and you want to draw that subject matter, go ahead. I do wish some people would stop trying to emulate the style that subject is despicted in sometimes, but that is their choice. If you want to copy someone else's style, go ahead. I know some times that comes in handy, especially if you work on a collaborative project (like an animation or something).

-Dirk

Quick update on moving progress.

Ok, I ran into a few problems, but I'm still at work here! Obviously there are still no pieces up in the gallery, but I've been working on the behind the scenes stuff a bit. I got the business cards I ordered, and am almost done moving all my watches over to the new account. Part of the reason I haven't gotten anything put in the gallery yet is due to being in school (I am a college student who takes summer courses). My class ends next week, so that will open up a lot of time for me to work. Thanks for being patient!

Dirk

Another quick update on the move:

People I watch on the old list. 15 LETTERS CLEARED completely: A, B, C, D, E, H, N, O, Q, U, V, W, X, Y, Z, and symbols. This means you are no longer being watched by the ScorchedDesigns account if your screen name starts with any of those characters.

I still have 11 TO GO: F, G, I, J, K, L, M, P, R, S, and T. These letters have the most people on my list. So it will take a few more sittings. I may try and get 1-3 more letters cleared tonight, but I don't know how much patience I have. What I'm doing is going into each gallery, checking if it is still updated, and bookmarking the ones I will be watching on the new account. Then I clear them from the old watch list. Makes it easier to organize that way.

Journals. I cleared out my journals (deleting some, copying and pasting others for editing), so the few things I will still need will be moved over to the new account. The only journal still up at the old one is the "I'm moving" message on the front page. The stamps that once occupied my shoutboard or whatever its called, now also has an "I'm moving" message.

Pretty much this is going smoothly, slowly but surely. My weekend starts tomorrow, so hopefully I can get a lot done over the next few days. Who knows, if my time ends up allowing me to work a lot, I may have the new gallery up in the next week or so! I'm kind of excited to be moving accounts. Fresh start, new art, not old crap, new standards. Good stuff for an artist who needs money. I don't mean need it as in I'm greedy, I mean need as in I'm not making any. O_O (I wish it was a joke.)

Until next time!
Dirk

Update since yesterday's post:

I have sorted through and cleared my friends list on dA with names starting with symbols and the following letters: A, B, U, V, Q, W, X, Y, I, and Z.

Decent progress for one sitting, eh? And that isn't including whatever I get done tonight.

-Dirk

Hey kats and kittens!

I just thought I would post an update as to what is going on behind the scenes, so you guys know I'm actually doing...something.

I am trying to get everything ready BEFORE making the public switch to the new gallery. It is a lot of work to do it JUST right.

What I have done already:
-Made a new gallery account.
-Make a new blog account.
-posted the warning of the move on the old gallery.
-Deleted the old blog account.
-Designed and ordered business cards.

What I am currently working on:
-Going through those many, many watches and friends on the old gallery account, and making note of which ones to re-watch on the new account when I switch. This means I am clearing out all the friends and watches from my old account now as I go along. So, don't get offended, it is nothing personal, I'm getting the whole list deleted one bit at a time.
-Making new icon(s) for the gallery and for the blog.
-Making a new ID for the gallery.

What I still need to do:
-Post new journals at the gallery (references, commission info, etc)
-Shoot and upload the work, obviously.
-Once everything is up at the new gallery, I will post the final "heads up" at the old gallery, and then that will be it. The move.

Quite a bit of work, really. Especially since I'm still in school. I figure I can work on the technical stuff for right now, and in like....a week or so, I can start getting the visual stuff up. It also works out, because my subscription should run out in June anyways.

As for who I won't be re-watching, it is mostly people who haven't updated in years, or are now banned, or have moved galleries. I don't watch people just because, I honestly only watch if I really like your work, style, ideas, etc. So...yeah.

Anyways, I think that is it for right now, I hope to have most of the technical "behind the scenes" stuff done between this week and the weekend. In related news, my laptop has been severely broken for a year now, and it has completely crashed before, and it seems ready to do it again any day now, so no digital work really. Which is why I haven't updated my tegaki-e accounts either.

Bye for now,
Dirk