Three months into 2017

I've been filming more and more videos in recent weeks.

It really doesn't seem  like only sixty or so days have passed since the beginning of the year. I've been still keeping myself busy with some part time handyman work to keep bills at bay, and preparing for this weekend's upcoming show, NakaKon. I've been taking inventory, reworking some table layouts in my head, and making sure I have the time to streamline all I can. I'm still trying to decide if I am going to do any commissions during the show. The main reason is in slimming down what I take, I don't want to lug my giant art bin with all my art supplies in it, but, I do pretty good every year and overall at most shows with the additional income from custom artwork at shows...

Speaking of shows, I had been accumulating a slew of convention lanyards and badges, and I didn't have a real good way of displaying them. I had gotten some comic book themed tin art (the exclamation point with words on it), and a Marvel comics drawer knob, and thought that with a little customization, I could make a cool badge holder for display usage.

I sprayed some PMY2 protectant onto the tin art, DO NOT use standard alcohol based clear coats!!!! They will eat the printing right off.

I lucked out a bit in that since the backside of some of the walls in the studio are not yet covered, I was able to drill a hole in the center of the tin art, and pass the drawer knob screw  through the drywall from behind to get a really stable install.

Here's the finished look.

It really didn't take too long to put together, but I will say that if you don't have access to the back part of the drywall, you could mount the tin art onto 1/4" wood and then mount the drawer knob on that, and that could be moved and hung wherever you'd like. This particular way I did it, does not allow me to relocate it very easily at all.

I keep looking for sales and deals on frames and the like to fit within my budget that is left for my studio, and at Micheal's they had 40% off displays and frames, so I picked up the magazine floating frame they had for $10.

I had a polybagged and boarded copy of a Darth Maul comic that I had gotten the incredibly skilled Dave Dorman (cover artist on that issue), and the extremely bad ass actor Ray Park (who portrayed Darth Maul on screen) to sign the issue. I'm hoping to get Ian McCaig (the character designer of Maul) and if pigs do eventually ever fly,... George Lucas to sign it.

The embroidered badge was a cool exclusive to that year's Planet Comicon event when I met Ray Park (that entry will be added to the convention show archive soon).

So taking some foamcore, I just measured the interior wood element that fit in the frame and cut the dimensions of the boarded comic and freehand cut the badge profile in part, so they could overlap and display well together.

I also sprayed some PMY2 on the cover to provide UV and moisture protection for it.

Here it is mounted into the frame, and finally up on the wall.

Some of the past nights, I've been trying to get out late at night, and just appreciate the down time. It's not easy when one is job searching, and yet still trying to keep your own fledgling company afloat until show season starts up.

My dog Kubo has the right idea.

As I had mentioned earlier, I started taking some of the down time to reinvest in creating video content. I feel that I am improving the more I do, and am learning a hell of a lot as I figure out audio and visual elements left and right.

I started another separate playlist for a pretty not safe for work/kids vlog, covering some pretty blunt presentation of things I deal with and think about, called the Looking Glass series...

Aside from that, it's been resume city sending out inquiries, and either hearing nothing, or finding out I am over qualified or unable to do it because of scheduling issues.

But honestly, it's allowed me to challenge myself, stumble a lot, and decide how badly I want to keep on striving to make it as a creative. It's a weird market out there now, and as always, there's a lot of competition. But that makes for a competitive edge to become better honed.


Until next time, support your local artists, be kind to your fellow beings, and always take the path less traveled!

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

www.theartisanrogue.com