New big idea

As a creative, half my life has been pondering new ideas. Hardly any are brought to life, most are just projects gone undone. However, there are those few that are begging to be created. This idea is one of those special ones.

Over the years my family has hosted foreign exchange students. At latest count we have had 9 different students stay with our family from overnight to 9 months. We have hosted kids from 7 different countries. One of the icebreaker questions we often ask new students is if they have a tongue twister in their native language. We find it a great way to learn about the students culture and appreciate their home, plus it allows us to share ours with them. It also proves yet again, that no matter where you come from, we are all very similar. Since the students come here to learn English they often find the tongue twisters fun to practice. Long story short, this little game of ours inspired me, that if we enjoy hearing and trying to say them, others may as well. Thus the idea is born, and here I am illustrating an E-pub of foreign language tongue twisters.

I have 28 submissions so far, and I believe 17 languages represented. I am posting the first finished illustration for an English tongue twister. I will happily post the others as I finish them.

I hope you enjoy seeing the book grow.

variety is the spice of life

Or perhaps the spice of an interesting career.

I have had a very spicy year. In spicy I mean lot of different types of projects and in many styles. One of my favorites was creating giant Photoshop paintings for a stage set. The paintings were output onto canvas and stretched over panels that are going to be reused each year for a Holiday Pageant. I lost count on how many panels there were, but my guess would be 50 or so individual set panels. Most were landscapes but all were digitally painted in Photoshop. Which I LOVE doing but don't get nearly enough projects that require it. Darn... So hear this theater companies, I LOVE painting sets digitally, feel free to call anytime.

Another great gig was a Graphic Recording job for Exterro. I spent two days learning all about the challenges of being a corporate lawyer and dealing with pending lawsuits and collecting pertinent emails, and communications of employees. And I thought my job was challenging sometimes. Ha. I sat in on different break out sessions and drew imagery to help explain the legalize as well as to capture the overarching concepts. I learned a lot and the attendees seemed to really enjoy the finished products. Many people were taking pictures of the graphic recordings and using them for notes. Success.

And in between those projects were holiday cards, an instruction manual, signs for small towns and countless others. I really feel that one of the keys to survival as an illustrator today is versatility. And although that is counter to what I was taught in college it has served me well. So to you young illustrators, don't be afraid to say yes to a project that makes you stretch. There is far more growth in the edges of ones career, than in the middle.