So that was Christmas...

Working on a commission was a highlight for me in the weeks before Christmas.

The holidays are midway through, having just gotten through Christmas, no real worse for the wear, and thankfully not having to work on New Years at any bars once again. You all have no idea how truly happy that makes me to not have to baby sit drunks.

That said, never let it be said that being an artist does not come with it's dangers! While cutting a mat for my latest commission, I was using my favorite super sharp bad ass X-acto blade, and completely ignoring the fact that when one uses new blades, the chances of cutting oneself dramatically increases. Somewhere my old printmaking college instructor John Haydu, would surely having a fit if he'd seen how undisciplined I'd gotten. Nonetheless, after some cursing, and a LOT of blood, I managed to bandage it up, and continue on with the mat cutting.

Here's what happens when you have a super sweet mat cutting knife. An ouchie.

The artwork below was just around the 11"x17" inch range, and was done with inks, copic marker, and some colored pencils. I actually don't watch Dr. Who, nor Supernatural, but thanks to attending a lot of conventions, and the incredible fan based creations and stories I've seen of both of these intellectual properties, it wasn't too difficult to find some reference. I'd actually had some photos of both the Tardis and the Supernatural car that I had taken in person. Overall, I was happy with how this came out, and I got word that it went over really well for the recipient of the art.

The request was for a mashup of Dr. Who and Supernatural. I think it went over pretty well.

Just before the holidays started, I was able to go to the Book of Mormon, which for those of you that do not know, is an incredibly hilarious and off the deep end play written by the creators of SouthPark. There were so many moments that were just wrong and politically incorrect, and I loved every minute of it.

If you've not gotten a chance to see the Book of Mormon. Do it. Do it now. I have not laughed this hard in a while.

Now, if there is one thing that I have had occur to me almost every year, is that I will end up seeing some individual that right around christmas time, BEGS, practically begs to be photographed. I'm not usually down with taking photos without people's consent, and I might go back and blur the face on these, but let's get to the reason I photographed Jean Claude van Sham here...

HE IS CARRYING NUNCHUKS. At the post office. I can't go even remotely NEAR a post office without people thinking I might just be a lost member of ISIS, and this guy is standing in line to buy commemorative stamps with nunchuks.

But it was fine. That rubber band? The double wound one? That was keeping all the martial danger in check.

I think I found the guy that played the American Ninja...soundtrack. With the t-tops off in his Fiero.

Speaking of fantasy situations, I went to go see the latest installment of Star Wars, named Rogue One, which much to my dismay, did not in fact cover the founding of Rogue Squadron, but did, after two almost back to back viewings, pull me in.

I won't ruin it for those of you that have not seen it, but for the most part, the movie is pretty cool. I'm not sold on the two main characters really, as my two favorites were the droid K-2SO, and Chirrut the monk. The movie certainly FEELS like part of the Star Wars universe, and has the look, but there is a lot of the spirit missing from it. As much as many people will hate me for this, I am missing George Lucas helming these things. You can find tomatoes and baseball bats in aisle 3. Let the hate trolling begin.

If you're going to watch a movie, Screenland is pretty hard to beat.

I will say I was a bit disappointed that there was no unique poster for Rogue One available at the Screenland. I love my own local theater very much, but there is a cool ambiance and vibe present at this place, and frankly anywhere that has a decent arcade in the lobby and some kick ass food to eat during a movie, is quickly going to become a favorite for me.

I'd not seen an Episode 1 pinball machine in some years. It's like this theater WANTS me to move in.

My contract at Hallmark came to an end on the 23rd, and that's a weird time and place to be, not only because it was right before Christmas break (Hallmark shuts down from christmas eve till after the new year), so it was a bit of a ghost town, but also because I was heading into a dead zone for looking for new work to explore. But such is the life if one works freelance or contractual work.

This is my former workspace. I really wanted to add an area rug to it. You know, to spruce it up a bit.

My boss also placed a set of identifying cards above the entrance to this work area, in case anyone was looking for the Happy Pirate. A nice parting gesture of humor.

So after leaving Hallmark (again, for like the fourth time...), I found myself with a lot of spare time on my hands. So that led to things like updating my resume, working on stuff for the upcoming show season, sanding drywall in the studio, and taking brisk walks with the pooches in tow, usually around the local lake to watch people walk on ice.

WHY DO THIS?! Even the geese were looking at this guy like "WTF man?"!

This is probably how natural selection plays out. So I just watched from a distance and snapped a picture, secretly hoping that if he did indeed fall through the ice, I could be the bystander interviewed by the local news station, so I could give MY version of the events, complete with how I thought he wasn't out of his mind... it was the ALIENS that made him do it. The alien geese.

So after bearing way too much witness to the idiocy that lives out in society, I decided I should probably sketch it up a bit, and so that's what I did. Pulling ideas and inspiration out of my head to do a run of quick 10 to 15 minute renderings.

Random lady and mutant turtle.

I did working in layout pencils of red and blue. For some reason, I can pull a bit more..., I don't know if it's freedom of idea or what it is, but I feel less attached to the work, and more inclined to want to just experiment and mess with line and shading. When I use normal graphite, I suddenly start making the images too precious and overwork them.

Fantasy dwarf and Mandy, from my comic.

Christmas day was cool in that, it sort of felt low key. And I was really really okay with that. This year, I felt like a bit of an outsider to the festivities that are very prevalent all around KC, but it was nice to get out and see it all. There are times I want to do another man on the spot sort of project and ask people about their favorite holiday memories at random. I'm more and more interested in doing odd ball documentaries again, but even if it just became a second series of poems, I'd be happy with that.

Maybe it's because I felt this weird uncertainty about the future. An assemblage of events from the work contract end, to all the insanity of the recent election, to the dawning of the new year and preparations for all the shows, the randomness about it. Normally, I can't afford to be bothered by that sort of thing, because I will quickly fall victim to depression, so I try to look at the positive.

And then, a princess became one with the Force...

Rest in Peace, Carrie Fisher.

I was a bit beside myself when I read the news. I was working on a particularly annoying bit of drywall, when I checked my phone and saw the headline that she'd passed on. I quickly thought of her family and friends, and especially her little beloved dog. Then I thought about the first real movie I remembered as a kid, the Empire Strikes Back. I had managed to stay pretty upbeat for most of this year, but not to sound like every other person out there... 2016, you sucker punched me good with this one.

It's never good news when you hear about someone passing away, but I looked at what joy and energy that not only Carrie, but countless others from other famous people like Bowie and Prince, to even my own dearly departed friend Andrew, brought to people, and what sort of legacies they'd left behind. All four of whom were taken from us far too soon. I got to thinking about the immediacy of wanting to see my imagination come to life in my own creations and stories, but then I realized how I was beginning to make myself feel terrible, in the most selfish of ways. So...

"I stopped feeling bad about all the things this year that I didn't do, and started being proud of the things that I did."

I managed to record a hastily put together episode for Radio74, and put my thoughts to the microphone. I realized that for every powerful creative light in this world that goes out, we all have to glow just a bit brighter to lighten the darkness that can encroach. I don't just want to hope for a better year, I don't think any of you do either.

I believe we all WANT it to be a better year. And that maybe, we'll all stand up and fight for it to be. Not with just words, but with action. Not with fists, but with hands outstretched. And not without remembering all that we've lost, and what we could stand to lose.

Thanks for reading, I hope you all have a fantastic and wonderful New Years celebration, and that you all do all you can to make this next year better in every way possible.

And always, support your local artists, be kind to your fellow beings, and maybe take the path less traveled!

- Mario, the Artisan Rogue
Illustrator, Podcaster, Writer, Toy Collector, and Animal Rights Activist

www.theartisanrogue.com