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.