Personal Message

My personal message right now to 1 Million people would be: STOP TREATING OTHER PEOPLE LIKE SHIT.  


Seriously, people are so unwilling to be decent human beings to each other, it makes me insane.  Whether it's people passing by an old lady that's fallen and busted her face open, or it's people being rude to retail clerks just because they work retail, or people not cleaning up after themselves because "oh, it's the janitor's job," it's really quite sickening that things like income level and social status and shit like that make a difference.  We're all human beings and let's start treating each other like that.  


I think a lot of problems would be solved if people just cared about each other more.  If people who made fortunes off of exploited labor gave a fuck about human rights, they'd give up a billion or two (of their multiple billions) and pay these people who are making them rich a livable wage. Basically, global warming, global poverty and hunger, war, and lots of other bullshit stupid crap would all be solved if we all decided to treat each other like we'd like to be treated.

What is burning deep inside of you? If you could spread your personal message RIGHT NOW to 1 million people, what would you say?

(Author: Eric Handler)

New painting: Spirit of the Lawn

Inspired a bit by the Totoro Forest Project book (although not referenced at all), I recently did this little piece as part of the Spirits Within series.

The spirit of the lawn loves barefoot children, sunshine, and fertilizer (a big distinction, however, is to be made between fertilizer and a dog pooping on it).  Oftentimes, the spirt of the lawn gets lonely and if it is not cared for, will depart from your grass and your lawn will soon wither and become infested with bleak weeds.

The Secret of Deadbrook

New piece I painted for the prize for my The Undiscovered: The Secret of Deadbrook show.   It's titled "Dweller of the Deep."  Feel bad for the giant squid and the whale.  Congrats to Molly for solving the secret and winning this piece to take home!!


 If you missed the show, here's a quick shot of the persons involved in the case.

And of course I'm going to have monsters in my show.  Here are the Five Destroyers. 

 

Anyways, a long-over-due "Thank You" to everyone who made it out to the show and even those who didn't who wished us well!  You all rock!!

The Secret of Deadbrook will be up at Oz Gallery, 3224 1/2 24th Street, San Francisco, CA 94110 until June 25.  Please call them to make sure they're open, cuz they keep different hours, and are closed on Mondays.  (415) 970-9747 

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?]

Where do I want to go?

I think for me, Japan is the single country I need to visit before I die.  I'm fifth generation American of Japanese ancestry, so it has always been weird living such an American life, but being boxed in to my ancestral homeland.

For the longest time I denied my ethnic heritage, mainly because as a kid, who wants to be different?  It sucks when people mispronounce the food you eat or your name (it's phonetic!), but I took me a long time to embrace the generations-removed ethnic mark left upon me.

Part of what has shaped my identity was the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II.  Really studying the history and the socio-political roots of the tragedy (and finding out that my grandparents and family were all interned) has definitely shaped my identity as distinctly American of Japanese Ancestry - I'm not Japanese at all, I'm very American, yet my ancestors all came from Japan at one point.

For a long time I also tried to distance myself from Japanese culture, just because I always viewed myself as more American than Japanese.  I basically tried to avoid anime and manga, and would only pull out my knowledge of Japanese culture or history or mythology if it was convenient.

But after a long while, I realized that most people are going to see me as Japanese before American, and until we become a more globalized culture, nothing is going to change that.  So, I've decided not to reject things that I might like just because they're Japanese, and have found an incredible love of anime and manga and J-dramas and also super cute stickers.  Damn those stickers.

Anyway, thus, I want to go to Japan to finally come to terms with this ancestral homeland of mine and I think it'll help me continue on my path to fully understanding myself and the way people perceive me.

In terms of getting there, to make sure that I make it I've got to start to travel fund.  Maybe a dollar a month or so (while I'm broke) and then I'll scale it up as the bare necessities (food, shelter, art supplies) gets taken care of more and more.  Not the most revolutionary plan, but one I can tackle.

Not everyone wants to travel the world, but most people can identify at least one place in the world they’d like to visit before they die. Where is that place for you, and what will you do to make sure you get there?

(Author: Chris Guillebeau)