My first creative memories are of finger painting.  I grew up in a golden age of cartoons, the mid 80’s and into the 90’s.  I had aunts and uncles that encouraged my creative side.  But I only really seen them maybe once a year.  My first real art instruction came from Blockbuster Video.  On a Friday night the family and I did our weekly ritual of driving 30 miles and finding movies to rent.  In a family of 5 we each would usually get to pick one movie.  I remember going down an isle and a cover jumped out at me.  It was Spider-Man.  Being around 8 or 9 years old the recognizable character stood out from the other boxes.  But who was this old guy on the box? (Stan Lee)  I read the cover, “How to Draw Comics the Marvel Way“.  I rented the video multiple weeks and for the rest of grade school I was doodling characters, monsters and band logos.  I took a few art classes but was real passive about drawing.

Phase Two.

My attentions span was not suited for high school so I ended up becoming a “Good Enough Dude”.  Meaning I got my G.E.D..  I did this a year before I was supposed to graduated.  While my friends were still dealing with studies I was happy working at Toys R Us and Sam Goody (I know how to pick my ponies don’t I).  Jan, 2001 I felt compelled to pursue a life of adventure.  I joined the US Army as a forward observer (scout).  What I did not know about the military is there is a lot of doing nothing.  A lot of sitting around and waiting to train.  So I drew … A lot.

After a deployment to Iraq my enlistment ended and I pursued a career delivering pizza like my hero Fry from Futurama.  The year was 2006, I had a computer and got into video editing and animation as a hobby.  This thing called YouTube seemed like a great creative outlet.

Phase Three

Eventually I became compelled to do some more book learning.  Running pies was fun but not paying the bills kind of fun.  I went to community college where free spirits go to get their dreams crushed.  It is a good thing I am stubborn and to stupid to know better.  Thankfully, I had really great professors as I pursued graphic design.  I learned art history, the fundamentals and photography and an old passion fired up inside.  I also fell in love Photoshop but became obsessed with Adobe Flash (I like that pony).  After school the oppressive debt led me to take the things I had learned into Truck Driving …

Phase Four

What was I thinking Truck Driving is stupid (for me).  I left and declared myself an artist.  I have gone back and forth between retail jobs and call centers and at night created what today is known as BAMvfx.  I freelance Design, Visual Effects, and create art.  Sometimes I need a job and sometimes I do not.  One thing is for sure, I am happiest when I create and more and more I am seeing the days of retail falling below the horizon.

Thanks for reading and follow the socials and all that.