JEG Creations - The Art of Jim G.

Happy Alien T-Shirt

2011-06-10T09:02:00.001-04:00

I have at-shirt design up for voting on Threadless.com! I'd appreciate a vote if you can spare a few mins! :)

Check it out!

The Doctor Is In!

2011-05-22T16:24:00.000-04:00

I'm working on a cartoon/caricature of the 11th Doctor, Matt Smith, and I thought I'd share my progress so far!

Sketch Up!

2011-05-14T11:10:00.000-04:00

I've been teaching myself to use Google Sketch Up this week, and below is one of my first models, which I plan to build up into a UFO for another project I have going. The program isn't all that hard to use, but there are some differences. Even so, I'm having fun; even my daughter wants to download a copy to play with!

Part of what inspired me to check this our was the DC Guide to Digitally Drawing Comics, where it is mentioned, as well as Chris Oatley's Artcast, a podcast by a Disney employee about all things illustration. Chris didn't mention Sketch Up specificially, but in his most recent podcast, he talked at length about understanding the form of what you are drawing, from all angles. Being that I don't have access to real UFO (does anyone?), I thought creating one in Sketch Up was the next best thing!

So, here is the result, so far! I'll be working some more on this as I go through, but I really love the idea of having 3D models available for spacecraft as well as other things; something I feel of great use to all artists!

Relay T-shirt

2011-05-08T10:15:00.000-04:00

Front

Back

Here's the design I did for this year's Relay for Life benefit, an event sponsored by the American Cancer Society to encourage assistance in the cure for cancer. This is the entry for my company; in case you hadn't guessed, this year's theme is Hollywood!

Shock the Monkey!

2011-04-16T15:49:00.000-04:00

I'm working on some digital sketches for a new project; here's a monkey character I've just started!

Colbert Complete

2011-04-09T15:52:00.000-04:00

I've finished the digital version of the Colbert sketch I posted the other week. I'd love to hear your comments on it!

2011 Relay for Life T-Shirt

2011-04-09T14:42:00.000-04:00

My work sponsors the annual "Relay for Life", an event dedicated to finding a cure for cancer, among other things. Each year there is a theme, and this year it's "Hollywood" or "Hollyrelay" if you prefer! Here's some of my initial sketches for our logo:

Work in Progress: He Is America!

2011-04-02T17:48:00.000-04:00

I've been inspired by the work of cartoon/caricature artist Tom Richmond lately. Those of us who are a little bit older recognize his style from Mad Magazine. He's written a excellent series of blog posts/tutorials on drawing caricatures, with a book soon to follow. If you are interested in this style of work, I highly recommend checking out his blog and getting his book when it's published!

This inspired me to do the drawing up above, who I hope you recognize as Stephen Colbert from The Colbert Report on Comedy Central. It's the first caricature I've done in a long, long time, and, after around 5 or more sketches, this is where I arrived. My next steps will be to re-create it digitally in Illustrator, my software of choice. I'm also thinking I may do that one as a tutorial, but I'm not sure if I want to go the screenshot or video routes with that...if you have any thoughts, I'd love to hear them!

2011 Portfolio Design Launched!

2011-02-08T08:57:00.000-05:00

This weekend, while I wasn't crying about the Steelers loss, I finally finished my portfolio update for 2011! Well, ok, not totally finished, as I've yet to complete my contact form, but for the most part, the design is done, so now it's all just filling in content!

I have to be honest, I've agonized over this for quite some time. I've done a lot of reading on portfolio design from many, many sources, and here is where I landed:

JEG Creations Portfolio Site

It looks a bit funky on IE7, mainly the navigation buttons, but otherwise, it appears to be cross-browser functional. If you see otherwise, please let me know, and I'll work on fixing it!

I'm also interested in hearing from other artists out there; any comments or suggestions? I'm constantly in self-improvement mode, so I welcome any constructive criticism.

A Fresh Start

2011-02-01T13:54:00.000-05:00

I've been away from blogging for quite some time now. I've decided to spend my time doing paying work and re-vamping my portfolio website, the latter of which I'm just about ready to launch! From here forward, I'm going to post at least once a week to give updated on what sort of work I'm doing or whatever else I feel will be helpful at a given time. For now, I still have some work to do, so I'm going to get back to it!

Another Person's Journey

2010-05-03T09:44:00.000-04:00

I was looking for something to pick me up this morning after my dissapointment this weekend, and I came across this blog:

One Girl's Journey to Doing What She Loves

I've found it very inspiring thus far! I will be picking myself up today and moving on, as how we react to failure is equally, if not more important, than how we react to success!

See, this is what I mean...

2010-05-02T19:58:00.001-04:00

Remember my post the other day about doing work that may end up being for free? Well, it just happened to me again. I spent a good chunk of Thursday, Friday, and Saturday working on a web site design that I didn't even get to post before a winner was chosen! Granted, perhaps I should have posted something as a work in progress, but I didn't feel I had it quite ready for prime-time yet. Anyway, that's 3 days of my life I'll never get back. Or get paid for.

On the bright side, I was contacted by a former teacher who has some sort of project for me; I'm curious as to what it is.

To Free or Not to Free?

2010-04-30T10:25:00.000-04:00

Like many people, I'm in a financial bind right now; I need more money to meet my obligations. I've cut just about everything I can reasonably cut, and I'm still coming up short! Yes, it sucks.

So, in an effort to try to earn some more money, I've been participating in "contests" on 99 Designs. They are a site that lets businesses post a graphics project, for which designers compete to win. Sounds good, right? Well, as with everything, it has it's ups and downs.

On the upside, you have a chance to show your work to get paid. Many sites, such as Guru, make you bid to get the job. If you have a strong enough portfolio, you may land a job, but it's difficult. I've only succeeded at getting 2 jobs through Guru in over 3 years. Yep, whatever I'm doing there, it's not working! With 99 Designs, it's not about your portfolio, it's about your interpretation of the clients requested design. Your work does the talking.

Now for the bad news. I've yet to win anything on 99 Designs. Not that it's a scam or anything, just that it's a very competitive marketplace. I've spent many, many hours working on a variety of projects, only to come up with nothing. At least in the financial sense. Arguably, you can say that I gained experience and possibly portfolio items, which is true, but the bill collectors don't accept that as payment!

So, here I am, in the financial bind, hoping to make more money, and taking the risk of doing a lot of work for free. It's pretty scary. So much so, that I wonder if I should be putting my time into something less risky, but what? I can work more hours at my "regular" job, but that won't get me to my goal of being a freelancer. I should be putting in more time in the digital design world. So, the question is, to work for (possibly) free, or to leave my path for something more sure? Is there a best of both worlds solution?

Back in Business!

2010-04-30T10:15:00.003-04:00

My new computer has finally arrived, and I'm back in business! It's wonderful to have a computer that can render my work in less than 20 minutes!

Realistic Time Management

2010-03-25T09:26:00.000-04:00

One obstacle on the path I've chosen to take is Time Management. As I've already mentioned, I have a "regular" full-time job, and a daughter, as well as some other commitments. It's enough to keep one quite busy!

So the question is, with all this going on, when and how do I find time to work towards my goal?

The answer is small steps.

In this endeavor, it is of utmost importance to move forward. It can be a huge leap, or a small step, the key here is the forward momentum. Not taking that first step is the path to failure.

You may be saying, "Great words, Jim...but talk is cheap!", and you would be right. Knowing and doing are, and always will be, two separate things. With that in mind, I'm going to share with you an example of how I handled this task last night.

There is an indoor swimming pool in the development I live. My daughter loves going to this pool; she's like a fish in the water! Last weekend was "my" weekend, and I promised her I would take her to the pool. Other things had come up, and we never made it until yesterday. I was determined to keep this promise to my daughter; I feel keeping promises to your children is one of the most important things in life, and I didn't want to let her down. So, as I mentioned, last night, I finally took her to the pool. She had a friend join her so she wouldn't be bored, since Dad here can't seem to find his swim trunks! To pass the time, I brought the previously mentioned Scott McCloud book and my sketch pad. I read and did some sketching, getting in some of that forward momentum I mentioned. There was a swimming instructor in the pool, plus I was never more than a few feet away from my daughter, giving me some peace of mind in that respect.

I also spent my lunch yesterday working on the script/story for a personal project I've had going on for a few years now. It forces me to eat slower, which is supposed to make you feel more full and eventually eat less, another benefit of this option.

The point here is that there are opportunities throughout the day; you just have to notice them. Even if you only do something for 10 minutes, it's a step forward towards your goal. Feel proud of that, not discouraged, because you are MOVING! That, my friends, is the key.

On a final note, there will be times when you can't fit anything in; that is the reality of life. I was sick for a few days last week and did little else but sleep. As creators, we tend to get depressed during this time, as we aren't working. I've found that this type of depression can quickly lead to giving up if you let it, so I want to add that you MUST learn to FORGIVE yourself for those types of days. Life will throw things at you that knock you off the path from time to time; falling off isn't important, getting back on is.

Try to think of at least one thing you can do today at any given time that moves you towards your goal, and feel proud of it. If you are having one of those days, promise yourself you'll get back on track. Don't quit, don't get angry at yourself - find solutions, not problems. This, I feel, leads to more realistic time management, which in turn brings you closer to your goal.

Some Tools for Success

2010-03-23T09:19:00.000-04:00

I wanted to do a post listing some "tools for success", or things that I've been using to help me along my chosen path. One tool is right here - Blogger. I have this blog, but I also have another, where I took Smashing Magazine's Daily Design Challenge. You can view my progress against that goal HERE, but I have to warn you, some recent situations have stalled me in that challenge!

Another huge piece of this is Motivation. You have to keep up your motivation in order to move forward, so I spend a good bit of time reading and researching motivation. Here are some resources I suggest:

Motivation 123 - Jason Gracia's Site & Blog, which offers a lot of free information, even though he is selling stuff!
Steve Pavlina - Similar to Motivation 123, but a bit more "racy".
Seth Godin - A genius in the business world! His advice and attitudes can work in a lot of different environments; he's fast become my new favorite!
CartoonSmart - Flash Animator/Artist Justin Dyke's training site, forum, and blog, always inspirations and down-to-earth!

In the end, I've found that inspirational writing, quotes, and other artwork really help me to keep moving. I hope they help you as well!

The journey thus far...

2010-03-22T12:04:00.000-04:00

I've decided to start writing a blog to talk about my path to freelancing/self-employment in the Digital Design world. I have a regular job now that isn't too bad, but it's not my dream job either. Self-employment as a digital designer is my goal, and this blog is going to be my medium for discussing my journey there.

For starters, I'll give you a little bit of background on me. I've always been interested in both art and computers, with the two topics constantly struggling for dominance in my brain. The natural solution would have been to get into computer arts long ago, but I hesitated. I think part of it is that 20 years ago, computer art looked...well, computer generated! We've come a long way since then...but I'm getting ahead of myself!

In High School, I studied both computer and art. I'm a graduate of the class of 1990, so computer-wise, I was trained on larger systems with now antiquated languages. The PC was just coming of it's own when I graduated and left for the Air Force.

You would think I'd gain computer knowledge there, but lets just say my job didn't involve computers at all! I'm not sure how much more I should/could say, but it's not like I was a spy or anything cool like that. Anyway, I spent a good 4 years of my life in the military trying to figure out what to do with the rest of my life. The answer came to me while on temporary duty in Germany back in 1994.

I was at someones housewarming party (or something like that) where some of the kids were showing off some trading cards. They happened to be Marvel Comics cards, showing the various characters and such. It reminded me of my own youthful love of comics and one-time dream of becoming a comic book artist. Then it all hit me. I had this skill set that I wasn't even using! What the heck was wrong with me? The start of my path became clear.

I left the military later that year (with an Honorable Discharge, I didn't get thrown out!) and moved back home to Northeastern Pennsylvania. I took a horrible factory job. I had to finish paying for my car! It didn't take me long to realize that I hated the factory job, and regardless of where I worked, I'd be miserable. I needed something more. So, once the car was paid off, I enrolled in the art program at a local community college. It turns out this was one of the best decisions of my life!

I thought I was a pretty decent artist before I went to school, which I was, but there were many that were better. It was sometimes discouraging, but many more time, inspiring. I met a lot of great people there, learned the difference between a great art teacher and an artist who teaches, and drastically improved my skills. I didn't really want to leave, but it was only a 2-year school, so I couldn't drag it out forever. Fate stepped in and pretty much forced me out anyway...

I graduated in 1998. My graduation present (ok, not really, it's a joke!) from my girlfriend at the time was the news that she was pregnant. Starving Artist is not a good profession for a prospective father, so I had to put my hopes and dreams on the back-burner for a while to do what was best for my family to be. Later that year, on Christmas Day to be exact, our daughter was born, and she was and still is beautiful in every sense of the word!

I moved through a few jobs, eventually finding one that paid pretty decent and satisfied at least part of my interests, that being computers. Still, it lacked creativity, and that side of me was crying for attention. To satisfy it, I again returned to school, this time, and online college. Further, I finally merged my two interests and enrolled as a digital multimedia design major. It had it's ups and downs, but I learned a lot about the software tools and how I can use them to bring my ideas to life. Like many of us, I'm still learning! I graduated from the school late last year, so here I am, armed with a Bachelor's degree, but still at the same job.

Long post, eh? Sorry...I had some things to get out! Anyway, this is my starting point. I've done some little things here and there which I'll cover in future posts, but overall, from this day forth, I'll be blogging about my journey. Here you'll share in my successes and failures, and I hope you'll comment along the way!