Condriano

"Condriano" Acrylic on wood

After a few weeks of being completely swamped with ye old retail job, silkscreen printing, and stuff for the gallery, I finally got a bit of a break to do some work for myself.

I did the initial design in my sketchbook, then used it as reference to bang out this painting in a night.

In other news, I think I'm going to be nutso busy until the end of the year.  I've got a small group show at a shop in the Haight next week or so, we've got the Alternative Press Expo on October 1+2 (stop by Monkey + Seal, booth #532), I'll be live painting on October 8th from 1-4 at Flax, I'm also doing Open Studios at Big Umbrella on Oct 8+9, I'll be live screenprinting at Urban Bazaar on October 16, and I'll be part of a show at Eth-No-Tec on October 29th.

Pretty crazy, but it's a good crazy, so I'm excited for October. Oh yeah, I also quit my job at the retail spot, and tomorrow is my last day!  Time to do the scary dance of doing art for a living 100%.  Nutso!

Personal Recipe

The type of person I'd never want to be 5 years from now is someone who is uncaring, unartistic, and a general grump.  He'd be demanding and would yell a lot and wouldn't be with Eve.  He would probably go out and party to excess all the time and never do anything creative.  He'd also be living in Stockton with his  parents and would be working a retail job in Stockton.

Oh god, the horror.  To prevent this, follow the recipe as below:
-make sure you draw or paint daily.  Even if it's a little doodle or something small or its just putting paint on the canvas, make sure you do something.  If you don't do either of these things, make sure you that write for a good hunk of time.
-take action.  do at least one thing that will further you along your way to accomplishing self-employment through the arts.  Eventually, if you keep doing one thing daily, you'll make it.
-Keep your eye on the prize.  Figure out what you want, so your goal is clear enough to shoot for.
-Make sure you cherish Eve.  She's the most important person in your life and don't you forget it!!
-Be thankful.  Right before you go off to bed (and/or when you get up), think of one thing you're thankful for.  It'll keep your heart in the right place.
-Limit your time on Facebook and with videogames.  Use a timer if you can't exercise self-control.
-Be happy about your work.  No one is the final arbiter of your work/your life's value besides YOU.


Think about the type of person you’d NEVER want to be 5 years from now. Write out your own personal recipe to prevent this from happening and commit to following it. “Thought is the seed of action.”
(Author: Harley Schreiber)

Wholly Strange and New

I think the only time I really felt like I was starting life over was from jr. high to high school.  All my best friends from the time were going to different high schools, and while I had classmates going to the same program as me, I wasn't really friends with them.

It was interesting, as I could practically reinvent myself, and there wasn't any legacy telling me who I should be or what to do.  While I've made some other big transitions in life, (ie high school to college, starting a corporate job, going back to art school), I've always had friends or partners there for me to keep me grounded in what had gone before.

In that transition, I guess I sort of broke out of my other, more popular friends' shadows and started coming into my own.  I ended up playing sports, dating people, running clubs, running for homecoming king - it wasn't the worst of times, and I think that experience of being able to really start being myself allowed me to create the foundation that lets me thrive today.

---

Can you remember a moment in your life when you had life in yourself and it was wholly strange and new? Can you remember the moment when you stopped walking a path of someone else, and started cutting your own?

Write about that moment. And if you haven’t experienced it yet, let the miracle play out in your mind’s eye and write about that moment in your future.

(Author: Bridget Pilloud)

Rick of 5 years past and future

Rick of 5 years ago was just graduating from UC Berkeley and was about to travel the world post-graduation.  He'll go to Europe and Australia, and will eventually get a job at a recruitment firm, then quit, then get a job at a paper retailer, then he'll go to art school.

The advice I would give him is: a) when you are taking photos across the world, take better ones.  Learn about composition.  Center things on thirds - don't take photos with stuff right in the center, unless it's straight on and usable for reference.

b) don't take sketching for communication.  You only need analysis of form, so take figure drawing instead.  That way, when you take perspective over the summer, you'll have more time and already know how to draw people better.

c) when you're working on your big portrait of eve - don't forget to put in core shadows, even if they are very very slight differences!

d) don't trip over Amy Broadbent's class.  Focus on analysis of form and color and design instead. Also, don't try and head emboss your take-out boxes.  It's not worth it.  Also, don't cut on the floor!

e) when you go to Revelations (don't worry what this is, just write this down), don't ask Jason Chan what teachers he took.  You're not going to remember, nor will you even follow the advice.

f) if you're going to quit Minted to go start up Little Yeti, launch on Etsy first, and do pre-designed invites.  Go with your zombie niche, don't try to be Allison or Kate, be your zombie-wedding loving self.

g) don't worry, you won't give up.  In five years you'll be owning a gallery and getting asked to do shows and you'll be busy as hell doing art, so chill out.  You'll make it.

h) after you take silkscreen at AAU, print on ties!  Also, buy the screens bulk - search online, you'll find cheaper than what your teachers tell you about.  PS - San Francisco designs and fish designs!

To the Rick of 5 years future:
Dude, do you remember back in 2011 when you were struggling to pay bills and constantly worried about giving up as an artist? It probably all seems pretty foolish now that you're sort of a big deal.  You just had to get over the whole "I'm only as valuable as people think I am" bullshit that you were dealing with back then.  Once you started really going hardcore and stop talking about things and just doing them, things got easier, right?

Yeah, I know you're still swamped doing the art hustle, but really, leaps and bounds, my friend.  Anyway, just remember that everything in life you learned from One Piece, and don't ever forget that your success is the result of many people's support.  Keep on doing what you're doing and just think where we'll be in another 5 years!  Huzzah!



What would you say to the person you were five years ago? What will you say to the person you’ll be in five years?
(Author: Corbett Barr)

A Blueprint for Quitting My Day Job

While I can say that I'm pretty lucky in terms of owning some businesses, getting to paint, etc. etc., the one thing I've always been afraid to pursue is doing art full time.  I've had numerous business ideas and different product lines and whatnot, but I've yet to really formulate a strong business plan and formulate a plan for a wholesale line or work.

Having a fall-back job that comes really, really easy (see last post), in a way has almost become a crutch.  It's not the worst job ever, and it doesn't really challenge me most of the time, and I get to talk about (not actually do, a lot of the time) art with people.  I do get to teach, which is cool, but basically, I'm pretty comfortable. 

So why don't I just quit?  Well, the surface reason is that I have huge student loan bills, rent, etc. to pay every month, and if I were to completely set out myself, I would not have any of that safety net to cover myself.  Additionally, I would need to get some capital for marketing, photography, raw materials, etc.  Since my monthly bills are so high, I can't afford to save.  Lame.

Additionally, part of it is basic fear.  Fear of failure.  While the idea of failing isn't such a huge deal, I think that a failed business venture early on when I quit my dayjobs marked with the high price of failure (not being able to pay rent, getting me and Eve evicted) is frightening. 

So how to go about defeating all these obstacles and doing it up right?  The plan is to a)reduce risk, b)create capital, and c)make it happen.

First, reducing risk.  First off, to defeat the fear of failure, I have to make it so that if I fail, nothing too bad will happen.  I won't have to live on the streets, etc. etc. 

In order to reduce risk, I need to basically do B, which is to create some capital.  I can do this by working to create multiple alternative streams of income.  This will be done via $20 illustrations, craft fairs, and getting a handcrafted license to sell on the streets of san francisco.  saving and eating out less will also help.  Additionally, making a kickstarter video can also be awesome. 

So I guess the last part is just doing it all.  While this is an overly simplified plan of action, I already have the entrepreneurial know-how to make most of these things happen, so why not start today on my day off?  Oh wait, I guess I will.


“Next to Resistance, rational thought is the artist or entrepreneurs worst enemy. Bad things happen when we employ rational thought, because rational thought comes from the ego. Instead, we want to work from the Self, that is, from instinct and intuition, from the unconscious.
A child has no trouble believing the unbelievable, nor does the genius or the madman. Its only you and I, with our big brains and our tiny hearts, who doubt and overthink and hesitate.” - Steven Pressfield, Do the Work

The idea of “being realistic” holds all of us back. From starting a business or quitting a job to dating someone who may not be our type or moving to a new place – getting “real” often means putting your dreams on hold.
Today, let’s take a step away from rational thought and dare to be bold. What’s one thing you’ve always wanted to accomplish but have been afraid to pursue? Write it down. Also write down the obstacles in your way of reaching your goal. Finally, write down a tangible plan to overcome each obstacle.
The only thing left is to, you know, actually go make it happen. What are you waiting for?
(Author: Matt Cheuvront)

One week to live

With one week left on the planet, the obvious first choice is the day job.  While not the worst job in the world, besides the cool people I work with, I've gotten about as much as I can from the job long ago. 

Really, while I wish I would say that I would spend the entire time painting, I probably would try to spend as much time with Eve as possible. 

One of my worst problems is figuring out what my priorities are, and given only a week it seems like that wouldn't change much.  I'd snuggle with Eve, paint, and eat the best food I could.  However, what would I stop doing?  Probably all the business stuff that I make my money off of.  What good is money when you're dead? 

I guess that stays pretty much  in line with what some key life advisers have been telling me recently - worry less about trying to make stuff that sells, etc., and do more of what you love.  While it's hard to believe that if you just do what you love, the money/success/etc. will come, it's something that I have to work on.

This also sorts of ties into the wrap-up for the post-it note post earlier.  One of the biggest things I'm working on right now is the notion that my work is only worth as much as people are willing to pay for it.  I've decided that what I have to do is to just keep making work that I love and am happy with, and who cares if it's "good" art - as long as I'm happy with it who cares. 

While I'm thankful and glad that I can talk about art in more objective terms like composition, saturation, balance, value, etc., I need to focus more on the very subjective quality of "badassness," which will help qualify my art more on how much I like it and less on how I think others will respond to it. 



If you had one week left to live, would you still be doing what you’re doing now? In what areas of your life are you preparing to live? Take them off your To Do list and add them to a To Stop list. Resolve to only do what makes you come alive.
Bonus: How can your goals improve the present and not keep you in a perpetual “always something better” spiral?
(Author: Jonathan Mead)

[these topics are all pretty fatalistic, aren't they?]

15 Minutes to Live

So I just signed up for the creative challenge of the Trust 30 project - basically you get a prompt every day for 30 days and the challenge is to blog, journal, or create something each of those 30 days.


Here's the first one (since it starts today!):


I guess I would typically write the story of my life, but that's not really the story worth telling.  Well, it is, since I think that everyone's life story is worth telling, but I'd rather take these last few minutes left in my life to try and distill my life down into the lessons that need to be told.  Whatever.  Anyway, here is a story of a little Monkey who deeply loved a Seal and made art together.

The Monkey always felt like he was destined for greatness, because he excelled at academics.  However, everything else he could do (and he could do practically anything) was good, but it was never great.  Jack of all trades, master of none, you know?  Over the years, with growing frustration and difficulty, he realized this and set out to be what he always wanted to be as a wee-little Monkey.  He wanted to be an artist.

Now, the biggest difficulty for this Monkey has been realizing that all the stuff that we see in music videos and TV are things that aren't really important.  Yes, going out and getting drunk and hooking up with random people can be fun, and the glamour of drugs and power, and wealth, and fame and all that are nice things to have.  But when it comes down to it, none of that guarantees happiness.

Monkey thinks that the purpose of life is to simply be happy.  Many people get misguided and have been so hurt that the only way they know of to make themselves happy is to hurt other people.  People like that tend to be abusive, and tyrants, etc. etc.  But really, to be really cheesy, all you need is love.  Happiness is the ability to accept that life isn't your ideal.  Everyone co-exists in this world, and if everyone's ideal (or at least what we think our ideals are) were met - well, it just wouldn't work, since how can one person's conflicting ideal both be in existence?

Anyway, so Monkey realized in a very Buddhist way, that we should all try to be happy and to love ourselves and each other.  Life is hard, but it doesn't have to be unpleasant.  Don't take out student loans out if you can.  Cherish your friends.  Yes, you can choose your family.  Eat less meat (or go vegan if you can).  People who are different are okay as long as they don't harm you.  Money is important only as much as we make it as a collective society.  If you have an excessive of power or money, share it with those in need.  Drive less.  Drink more water.  Remember that you are beautiful and awesome and that no one has any right to take that away.  Tell more people they are jerks and should be nicer.  They're usually jerks because no one lets them know that and they have their own inferiority complexes to deal with.  Be super nice to retail folk who are trying to help you - they are people too.  Don't be rude to customers unless they're rude first.  I really like food  - try new stuff all the time.  Sometimes you just have to take a chance.  Failure isn't the worst thing in the world - living without risk is.  Learn from your screw-ups  and remember that everyone makes mistakes - the greats just learn from them.  Don't look at the clock so much.

Failure is not the end of the world.  Love is pretty awesome, but if you fall out of love, don't force it.

So I guess that's it.  Seal, I love you a lot and thank you for always being there and never stop fighting for your dreams!  Everyone!  Don't stop fighting for your dream.  You're amazing people and if you could harness just a fraction of that magical wonderful goodness that is all inside of each and every one of you the world can be a better place.  Fight for your dreams like you would fight for your life because they are, in fact, the same thing.

Just remember -





Ahhh, what a cliff hanger.  Anyway, if you didn't get the fatalistic nature of this theme (or by the obvious nature of the title), here's the inspiration for the day (by Gwen Bell):


You just discovered you have fifteen minutes to live.
1. Set a timer for fifteen minutes.
2. Write the story that has to be written.

Art stuff, gallery ownership, monsters, etc.

 So here's the awning for the gallery space that I now co-own.  Yay!  You can find out more info at www.bigumbrellastudios.com.

Our last show "A House of Cards" had these four paintings of mine up, all monsters inspired by the four suits of a deck of cards.

 Clubs

 Hearts

 Diamonds

 Spades

Sorry for the crappy quality, took 'em with my phone right before the opening.

Many apologies for completely falling off the blogging bandwagon.  Between getting this gallery up and running, trying to get our workshop program off and running, work (at PS and printing shirts), and just trying to paint, I've been crazy swamped.  Also, my dad ended up getting some of his kidney removed due to kidney cancer, so I spent a few days visiting him in the hospital.  Fortunately, the hospital was 6 blocks away from our apt., so the walk there was quick and painless.

Now I'm taking City College classes to help defer my huge mountain of private loans.  The classes are way more chill than any I've ever taken at Academy.  Much less emphasis on classical realism, and so far no homework.  I ended up joining in during the third week of class and pretty much caught up completely in one day.  Nice.

It's really a cool environment for experimentation and just trying out new stuff.  I must admit, I'm already loving it (just not loving getting up early, but whatevs).

Anyway, happy 2011 and hopefully I'll be able to post here weekly or so.  As always, you can keep up more frequently MWF (or thereabouts) at the Monkey + Seal blog.   

11/13/10

So yes, I technically haven't been posting daily, but I have been making art daily.  When I do traditional work, I feel like there's this big internal block around actually photographing the art and posting it online.  Hopefully after doing some cleaning of the studio it'll be easier.

One of many pieces I'm working on..I think I finally found a style that really feels like me and that I'm happy with.  Acrylic on canvas, 9 x 12.

09/13/10

Cross-posted on the Monkey + Seal blog to accompany a post Eve wrote.

6/14/10

Oh the joys of retail work...

06/06/10

Done in Corel Painter, 30 minute speed paint.  As per Eve's suggestion, I think I'm going to try and work in Painter more. 

In other news, I saw How to Train Your Dragon (we took the trip to Berkeley today) and it was pretty awesome.  I'm bummed it's no longer playing in SF, but if you haven't seen it, and it's still playing where you are, I highly suggest it.  Especially pay attention to the creature design.  I must say, since dragons are so overdone, it's challenging to create a new look, but they did a pretty damn good job of it.

5/30/10

As the impending dread of another rent payment looms, here's something I did for Friday's Monkey + Seal post.  In similar news, I'm so goddamn sick of that damn keep calm and carry on crap that my work sells.  I am so sick of it in fact, that I will probably never look at this referenced poster again, just because it reminds me of those stupid coffee mugs we sell.

5/26/10

THERE IS TONS OF SHIZZ TO CELEBRATE!!!

For reals, though, between me launching three new tie designs, Eve + I graduating today, and the re-launch of my website (new format, new look, wooo!), I'm pretty stoked.  Thus, you should most definitely check out the new site at www.rickkitagawa.com and take advantage of the fact that I'm in a good mood and having a 30% sale on my ties.  Sweeeeeeet!!!

Congrats to everyone else who is graduating this season, and a special Thank You goes out to everyone who's supported us over the years.  We really could not have done this without your support, well wishes, financial support, and understanding.  Thanks everyone!

5/05/10

I did this quick little guy in conjunction for our post over at Monkey + Seal regarding fear and how you need to get over that shit ASAP. I'd go check it out if I were you, just cuz I'm too lazy to rewrite the whole thing here. Go go go!

Friday and Saturday

Up and down Friday/Saturday

+ Eve and I went to the Fillmore Art Walk yesterday (Friday) and got to paint collaboratively live! We also ran into tons of friends, and it was a good time hanging out, talking about art and business and generally having a great time. Thanks organizers!

- It was windy and we had to put away our table, as my ties were blowing away. It was also cold to the point that Eve suggested we pack up as she thought she was getting hypothermic. We then proceeded to walk our heavy table, painting supplies, and big suitcase full of merch back home. My arms hurt.

+ After warming up a bit at our apartment, we took a bus over to My Tofu House and had some awesome Korean tofu soup and vegetable pancake. Plus, I got to eat the hot tea/rice -caked-to -the-side-of-the-iron-rice-pot soup that I so love after eating Korean tofu soup.

-I had to wake up early for work (as for me, getting to work by 10am can be kinda hard sometimes).

+ At work, I spent 3 hours finalizing a wedding invite order for a super cool couple. It was also a big order, which made it even better.

- At work, some dickhead fuck-face comes in and threatens a co-worker with "I'm friends with the owner, if that's the way you want to play it" when requesting us wrap a gift he brought in from outside the store when a)we don't wrap gifts bought elsewhere, and b)we have the right to wrap at our discretion if the store is busy, which it was, and c)we were closing in 5 minutes. If I knew where he lived, I would shit on his pillow.

+/- On my way home from work, I stopped at Divis to wait for the light to cross, when some girl asks me if I have a lighter. I respond that I don't, and she says "Awww. You look like you'd have a light..." She then walks behind me to greet one of her friends and I hear her say in sort of a whisper "...because you're good looking." While flattering, it was creeped the hell out of me.

+ Eve and I went to TJ's and we just bought some root beer, vanilla ice cream, and some Grey Goose. Fuck. Yes.

+Will draw lots tonight, and I have a lot of projects in the works! For anyone still reading this, I'm working on a resource guide of sorts to help artists starting out in their career. Yay!

Getting through the crap

So it's been a bit of a rough couple of days, but I'm slogging through it, trying to stay positive, and figuring out how to learn from each craptastic event and figure out the next step.

When I lost my wallet on the bus on Tuesday, I foolishly though "Awww shit, bad things come in threes." And thus, it sort of came true. I later checked up and found out that Eve and I didn't make it into Spectrum, and then Friday I got the email saying we didn't get into Renegade SF.
Bummer.

But, someone did finally turn in my wallet, and I picked it up on Friday night, there's always next year for Spectrum, and in all honesty, we really aren't all that "craft" focused, as we are all about the art and stuff (although if I go to Renegade and there are some other poster artists and shit I'm going to be pissed off).

On the good side, I have a wedding to go to today, I'll be seeing some friends I haven't seen in a while, Paper Hat is working on another art show, and we'll be participating in the Fillmore Art Walk, so I guess there isn't a whole lot to complain about.

I've also had a few new business ideas in the past few days, so hopefully I'll get on those and make it happen. Ideally Monkey + Seal will have a bigger and more awesome 2010!

Guh..progress on my life and photos of new art

Tired, but good.

NaNoWriMo - Going poorly. I think to complete this I'm going to have to do about 40,000 words in a day or so. I don't think I can possibly type that fast even if I wanted to.

Handmade Ho Down - The specter that haunts my life. Going super cool, but shit, we need more volunteers and more publicity.

Personal website - I finally got some photos taken (but there still needs to be some photoshop action to color correct, etc.) of my art work, but I gotta crop, resize, and redesign the site. Ug.

Graduation - Gotta schedule a portfolio meeting with the director. Should probably get a portfolio ready to do so.

Silkscreen - Book project coming along swimmingly. Another maybe 30 or so hours and it'll be done-done. Still gotta design the poster, map, and box. Sigh.

Quick Studies - Still flushing out the direction I want to move stylistically. We'll see.

The rest of my life is Eve, work, eating, and sleeping. Egads.

Unedited photos of new(er) work below.

Lameness with lack of travel

It saddens me a bit to think that I'm practically the only one out of my group of friends from college that hasn't visited any of my other friends who have been sprinkled throughout (although a bit generously in New York) around the country.

I'm also one of the few friends (Eve being the other) that hasn't made it out to visit my old roommate who is now living in Shanghai.

Granted, we're probably the only ones in school who are still working retail to barely pay for rent, food, and art supplies, but it does raise the question of where my priorities in life are.

I have been incredibly lucky to have a group of friends who understand how hard it is for me to find time to get out and visit/hang out (especially when it involves a trip that lasts more than a few hours). Whether I was running a theater group or going to school/working 7 days a week, they've understood that I don't have the luxury of taking a few days off and flying out someplace.

I'm trying to start up a business (multiple businesses, actually) and it sucks, but it seems to take up all my time. So, basically, I just wanted to say thanks to everyone who is still my friend even after the years (holy crap!) of not seeing each other, or me not hanging out with people even in the Bay for months on end.

It does make me wonder if I'll ever really "have time" though. If it's not acting, then it's art, or writing, or organizing a craft fair, or working on a design project, or illustrating, or redesigning a website or (eventually) having book signings and gallery openings. I guess I just have to make time, then.


Anyway, on a bit more cheerful note, I finally picked up Issue 18 of Hyphen, where my illustration stands happily (if not totally proudly) on page 16. Woo!!!

100th post! Illustration Friday - Wrapped

It's a wrap for the wrapped rapper.

So this is about 5 days late, but with all the craziness last week getting ready for the SF Zine Fest, I think I have a valid excuse for waiting on this one.

Anyhoo, E and I have decided to really step up our game after all the great feedback we got from the Zine Fest. I think that if people had come to the zine fest really expecting to spend money (like people going to APE or Renegade do) we would have done even better.

Eve even sold one of her Illustration 1 paintings! Seriously, how many students sell the VERY FIRST assignment of Illustration 1 done in gouache? Not many, I'd expect. Anyway, I sold a painting, a few prints, and Eve made up some nice digital reproductions of her paintings. We ended up doing fairly well, and we're weighing our options about attending APE as an exhibitor this year. We shall see if the budget allows.

It was really great to see people that I haven't seen in a while, and it was awesome meeting tons of great new peeps! I managed some sweet trades (esp. Cough zine #6 and Sean Logic's Myspace Swindle zine - both highly recommended and done by cool-ass people) and our bookbinding workshop was an overwhelming success.

Anyway, we've been overhauling our Monkey + Seal site, so go check it out, as I'll probably be blogging over there much more than over here. Updates go up there MWF. Peace!