.inspiration over-load.

I’ve always been horrible about keeping my website updated. I’ll try to work on that. Especially now since I’ve actually got things to talk about:

Went to GMX (Geek Media Expo) with my dear friend, Ed Cherniga. He was a featured artist, and he invited me to help him run his table. It was my first experience at a convention where I didn’t attend as a fan. I met a lot of extremely talented artists and was able to get a taste of what it’s like to do the art thing as a career. It was a lot of work, and by the 3rd day I was pretty dead from lack of sleep, but overall it was a great experience. Here’s a pic of Ed and I, and comedian Tim Long, who I met at the con. Tim is good stuff. A great new friend, and a huge inspiration behind the new webcomic I will be working on.

Since GMX, my gears have been turning, as lame as that sounds. I’ve got a lot of great ideas for a webcomic, with characters based on the likenesses of my friends  and things that actually go down in our day to day lives. I think it will be a good way for me to practice my story telling and brush up on my art skills, and also just to get my name out there as a comic artist. Aside from the webcomic that doesn’t actually have a solid plot for me to stick to, I’m reworking an old comic idea I came up with a few years ago. For now I’m going to stick to working out the storyline before I start drawing up the pannels. I’d like to establish myself with the funny-haha webcomic based on my clan of goofball friends before I attempt to throw my more serious comic thing out there.

Aside from comics, my dad came up with a really great idea that involves my love of guitars. In my last post, I talked about my experience with doing the whole custom guitar thing. I had a few people contact me who were really interested in having me customize thier gear, which was great, but the problem was not so much the cost of my labor as it was the cost of shipping. It’s pretty pricey to ship guitars, so my dad suggested that I custom paint pick guards instead. They’re lightweight for shipping, and are interchangeable, so it’s not something they buyer would be stuck with for life. It’s a great idea, and something that I will be working on here in the next few weeks.

If I wasn’t already busy enough with all these new artsy fartsy ideas, my younger cousin asked me to do a custom paintjob on his Honda Civic. At first I wasn’t all that pumped about it. I haven’t done graffiti in years, which was what he was wanting me to paint. I came up with some designs that I was actually pretty proud of, and let him check them out before getting started. He loved them all, and dropped off the trunk for me to get started on. It’s been raining here the past couple of days, and I can’t wait for it to clear up so I can get started. Once I finish the trunk, I’ll be doing a custom hood…and that’s what I’m really looking forward to. I can’t wait to get started so I can post some pictures.

So, that’s what’s been going on. I’ll be posting my webcomic sketches on here soon to get some feedback, as well as the pick guards and Honda stuff once I get all that done. So, keep checking back, and let me know what you think.

New pics coming soon.

.Custom Hand Painted Guitars.

So, about a year and a half ago or so I decided to sand down my Squier Strat and give it a new paint job. It was my first guitar; had it since I was 9 or so, so it was plastered with stickers, sharpie marks, and whatnot, along with lots of spots where the original cherry red paint had chipped off.  After I completely gutted it and sanded it down to bare wood it remained in my closet where I eventually forgot about it.

A few weeks ago, Kyle and I bought a Fernandez from Kevin of Seven Cycle Theory. Kyle had left it over at my house during one of our many jam sessions, and ended up asking me to do a custom paint job on it one night while he was at home  in Columbia. I buffed off the clearcoat of the front of the guitar with a low grade sand paper, and ended up doing some crazy psychedelic paisley print thing.

.before.

.after.

I had a blast painting it for him, which reminded me that I still had that Strat in the closet. While I was putting on the clearcoat on the Fernandez I busted the Strat out of the closet and gave it an off-white base coat, and repainted the white pick guard to black. I used automotive paint for the basecoat, because I thought it would hold out better than regular spray paint.

So, now the Fernandez is finished. The clearcoat really made the colors pop, it looks awesome.

And, as for the Strat, I began to do a traditional Japanese style Geisha girl on the base of the body. I think the picture itself is alright, but I’m not sure if it really fits the guitar. I don’t think the Geisha is really aggressive enough. I’m going to finish it completely and then make my final judgement. I may change it up; resand it down and do something with a bit more action to it. Let me know what you think.

While I was painting the Strat, I then remembered that I have a Series 10 just sitting in the closet, which will also be painted soon. I came across this guitar way back when I was visiting friends at highschool during their lunch hour. Some kid was chucking this guitar into the dumpster, and I asked if I could have it. There were a few problems with it, but nothing major that couldn’t be fixed. I had good intentions of fixing it up, but like my Strat, it sat in the closet for a good year or more. The Series 10 is now completely gutted, thanks to Kyle, and it’s next on the list for a custom paint job. I think I will do some wood burning on it for a change of pace. I’ll post pictures soon.

So, I think this could be my calling. As a musician, and an artist, what could be more awesome than doing custom paint jobs on guitars? I’ve got a friend from work whose husband is wanting me to do a custom Dale Earnhardt thing on an old Warlock he’s got sitting around. I think after I get in a little more practice I might start flipping these things. Buy beat up old guitars on Craigslist for cheap, then beef them up and sale ‘em back. I could even custom paint cases, amps, and more. This is a whole new world of potential, and needless to say, I’m super stoked.