Hey June

Royals Stadium about 6:50 am on a Tuesday.

I do some part time work at Royals stadium these days as a manager for Aramark, which has begun to help level out the financial burden of slow art sales, and no current art shows to attend. The plus to this has been as it always has been with a myriad amount of side jobs I have done over the years, experience to add to the resume, new experiences, and new research of sorts for future comic book character livelihoods.

Being freelance has it's ups and downs, as along with it, I've been now working two part time jobs, while still writing, recording, creating content for youtube, the podcast, and now more than ever KKFI, since it seems that very possibly, the radio show will be coming to fruition sooner than I had anticipated.

Along the way as I travel, I also like to find places of hapstance, and I happened across a mini museum and garden upon the site of the old Gerald Ford home. The garden wasn't yet in bloom, but the area was quite nice, with an interactive display in the center. It had pre-recorded audio of President Ford, and an assortment of cool things on display from his time as president, as well as a bit about his being an Eagle Scout, which, being one myself, is always cool to see what accomplishments other Eagles have contributed to history.

(Left) Ford folding the flag with fellow boy scouts. (Upper Right) A model of his birth home, which no longer stands. (Bottom Right) The entrance sign to the rose garden.

Anyone that works with video knows that it's a majorly time consuming prospect, the most of which is letting your machine render out and create videos. I have been enjoying creating newer ones as of late, and the project below was from the video I posted from my last update for my poetry group at KKFI, "Unpacking Poetry".

It used to be that I just carried around a camera for getting photo references, or for images to sell through Dreamstime, now I find myself with a checklist of B-roll shots that I try and get in, or the occasional vlog post that I will work on when I get spare time.

A lot of people ask what I use to edit. I work on a PC and use AVS software.

I've also got another review coming up for Tenacious Ninja this next Monday, of the Kubros series "Hellboy" kit. I had just been doing time lapses, but I decided to get more interactive with this new video and review.

It's actually hilariously cool looking in all the best ways.

Thanks to some recent freelance work and income from Patreon, I've been slowly upgrading my video equipment bit by bit. I managed to find this INSANELY bright cold shoe mount light on sale for $20, with all kinds of metal accessories, and two rechargeable batteries w/ charger.

It's the Bower VL8K. It's not quite prosumer level in build, but it is light, durable enough, and bright. If you look at the iphone screen below, the only two light sources were the flash on my camera to take the picture, and the light coming from the Bower, which fully illuminated the studio area behind me, which was showing up on the screen.

The size of it in my hand, and in a solid dark room, the light is mounted on the assembly I have on the wall used for my vlogs and other youtube content.

I've had a few people ask me if I am using tripods, and yes I do, but the lion's share of shots happen using mounted camera supports strategically placed in my studio, so I can run and shoot most everything solo with bluetooth controllers and wired/wireless audio. The light I picked up helped round out the lighting issues I'd been having during evening to night recording sessions.

I may start adding reviews of some of these things, because honestly, they are also counted alongside my other tools of my trade, and help chronicle and create my art.

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

A path of Discovery - Part 5 - Rockefeller Mansion... the one not used anymore.

You know, I started to write a really indepth overview of my visit to the Rockefeller house, but came to realize that honestly, all of the pictures below just need captions, and not much more. Mainly because these photos don't even do justice to the magnitude of this place, and really, so much more could be said of the interior of the home. No photos are allowed to be taken of the inside though.

The images are pretty much in order of how the guide took the group around starting after the bus interior shot.

Old, stately, and iconic of an age of early American high society wealth.

A small tour bus is your transport over to the Rockefeller mansion.

The varied architectural elements around the property were varied and seemed to borrow from a lot of different time periods.

Center of one of the many fountains.

This was the fountain/pool just in front of a small pool room.

(Top) The left side of the house. (Bottom two images) More details of the previous fountain/pool.

(Left) The side entrance. (Right) The area right below the first level balcony.

Entering the gardens towards the left of the house.

The front facade of the fountain/pool room.

One of the driveway front gates.

Retaining wall towards the front left of the house, located in the gardens.

Massive Italian statue that stood at the end of the driveway in front of the house.

(Top) The front lawn. Acres of it. (Bottom two images) The stairs that led down onto the main lawn.

To get a sense of scale, that white statue at the top of this image is the same massive one I showed just earlier.

(Left) Outside tea room, next to an Asian inspired garden. (Right) One of two statues flanking the stairs to the main lawn.

A rain gutter. For rich people.

Various gates divided the four lawns and side of the house's overall property. This one led into a much larger garden.

That had small grotto caves.

And Greco-Roman statues.

(Left) I did manage to snag a photo of some flowers for my next poetry book release. (Right) Close up of Aphrodite.

(Left) One of two identical fairy play rooms that were for the Rockefeller children to play in. (Right) The back yard and the Hudson River.

So there you are. I could have gone on and on about so much of that house and it's land, but truthfully, this is one you should just go and experience in person because to walk in the footsteps of the insanely stupidly profoundly rich even for just a few hours, can rearrange a lot of thoughts in your head. And this is coming from a guy who works for the Hall family. I see incredible art and corporate wealth daily. But this, oh man. It's something.

But in the end, it doesn't change how I look at things in my own life. It's cool to think about this kind of life, and to imagine it. But aside from being able to be a philanthropist and help a lot of animals and kids, I'd never want that kind of wealth.

I'm worried I'd end up a super villain. A moronic one. :D

Until the next part of this update, support your local artists, be kind to your fellow beings, and I'll see you next time! - Mario, the Artisan Rogue

A path of Discovery - Part 3 - The Liberty Bell Museum of Allentown PA

The Liberty Bell sign at the entrance of the museum. The large war veteran memorial at the center of an intersection nearby.

The Liberty Bell Museum in Allentown, is a great little history lovers place. It's located just of the street, on the side of a huge church (you can check out the site above shown on the sign in the photo for more info).

There were a fair few great items on display, but the real treasure of the visit for me was getting to meet and be guided by fellow Eagle Scout and retired Air Force Two Star General, Jerry Still. I stood rapt with attention as he spoke about history and made it come to life.

Look, history is more than facts and dates, it's more than old items and locations, it's the oral tradition of story telling and making it not only accurate, but relate-able to people today,... that my friends is a rare gift indeed. And Mr. Still had that ability by the wagonful.

One person's trash certainly proved to me a lot of other people's treasure in this case. What a lucky save indeed!

I was glad to see some information on Mary Tippee, as she was one I was looking into to do a short comic about.

The dedication plates on the iron fence outside the entryways.

Seeing that particular bit of writing from 1863 makes me wish more respect was given to penmanship in today's schools. One of the copies of the Liberty Bell.

If you're ever up in the Allentown area, do yourself a favor and stop in. It's a great little museum, and here's a real treat... they let you use a draw stick to ring that bell. I tell you, I still get goosebumps remembering what the gorgeous tone sounded like in person coming off that bell.

Just powerful and really like a voice from another time.

Until the next part of this update, support your local artists, be kind to your fellow beings, and I'll see you next time! - Mario, the Artisan Rogue