I didn't set up the chair in the shot on the right, I found it there in the alley way like that. There's another one that was up against the wall with a busted front leg. It kind of reminded me of the old wooden chair that was out in the woods near a park pond shore in Warrensburg for years and years before someone finally up and stole it.
I don't get down to the West Bottoms that often at all, even though there are huge haunted houses and the Gangsters and Ghosts tours held down there. But when I do, I try to get photos for reference and future projects, and this past first Friday, all of the antique boutiques were open.
The incredibly cool "Green Man" door knocker was on this massive oak door that was partially buried behind a lot of other decorations in one upscale boutique.
Now mind you, this whole antique thing is quickly becoming very mainstream, and there are some places down there that offer upcycled and renewed items, which, hey that's certainly cool. But there were a few places that had massive old bookshelves and items like that, that LOOKED sort of vintage, until you got up close and realized that it was just a fairly decent job of drybrushing and artificial weathering that had been applied to many items. From mailboxes, to bookshelves, to industrial pipe fitting lamps, there was probably about 30% bland-tiques (I just made that word up) that were available for the hipster and upscale crowd.
Places like this are where you find the really good items.
Maybe I had too many junk dealers in my family, maybe I like legitimately worn out and previously used things too much, perhaps I like authentic and time ravaged elements to not come out of a tube and onto a texture sponge. I mean call me old fashioned, and I'll answer, but I do like finding something that no one else can get. Amazingly that was found within the first twenty minutes of being down there, but I'll get to that in a moment.
So many old and cool items. These three immediately stood out to me.
I may try to go back and find this little book. It was only $4 or so, and had a blown out binding. I read a little bit about the story, and it seems like a quirky and odd but fun read.
An old green lantern. As opposed to the new Green Lantern, which was a terrible movie.
There were some really odd finds like the dental tooth replacement kit in the upper right hand corner.
This was another set of books that would have been cool to pick up. They were published right after the Great War (WW1), in which I can only imagine what the authors must have been feeling not knowing that WW2 was only a few years away.
I guess TPS reports were WAY bigger back in the day... Seriously what the hell kind of paper do you type on this thing?
As a kid, I HAD this set of die cast cars, and I remember, man it was a weird bit of deja vu when I picked up the still sealed cars, because it took me back to my birthday around 1982 or so when I first got this set. I know I still have these three somewhere in storage.
The cool thing about finding a lot of the shipping boxes and crates is that there is a lot of really cool typography that I find pretty inspirational.
The big round object is what I assume is a Society of Creative Anachronism viking shield. I was labeled "Wagon Wheel".
There are a lot of LEGO knockoffs nowadays, and I really want to do some digging into what and where these building blocks came from, and if they were precursors to the LEGO ones (which originally didn't snap together either like these).
I ended up with the very kick ass little shelf, but before I was going to hang it up to put art supplies in it, I wanted to put some polyurethane on it.
It really brought out the colors in the wood.
And so with the newest shelf addition to hold my inks and dyes, my studio status upgrades once again. Bit by bit, until I can either get more money in with more steady work, or win the lottery. Personally, I'd take the work.
I did work on a few other things, including this new podcast dealing with what I go through mentally when doing resumes, interviews, things like that. I try to find the humor in things so that I can face daily challenges with as much gusto and positive thought as I can.
I also have some more additions to my Art Creation playlist on my YouTube channel you can check out below.
The Visit the Moon art isn't going to the Moon anytime soon, but I will be on it's way to a show in Iowa tomorrow.
Until next time, thanks for reading, watching, and listening to what I do. If you'd like to help me keep creating this sort of stuff, check out my store at the link above, or on Patreon. Remember to 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
A new episode of Radio74 is now available for you all to listen to. I've been up to my eyeballs in attempts to get organized. And I have a meeting in like 8 hours I have to be at, yet I've not been to sleep yet.
I'd been working on an update over at Tenacious Ninja reviewing a Lego Ninjago Flyer set. As well as pushing ever onwards into the the depths of hell known as sanding drywall with a tennis elbow. But it's coming together. That part is about halfway done, to be followed by getting the electrical wires and lighting done next.
And taking priority over all of that, has been my commissions, of which I am down to two, which I am hoping to share images of in my next week's update.
It will be wonderful to look back at these photos and be standing in my finished studio and utter the phrase, "NEVER AGAIN WILL I HANG DRYWALL."
In my latest episode, I talk about how sleep is good, and should not be ignored. I had fun with this one, trying to keep it light hearted and also a bit informative. Hope you all enjoy it.
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
It's Monday once again, and for many of us, it's back to a rigid and segmented formulaic way to get through your day. I actually had a pretty productive weekend in being able to get some things accomplished around the house, getting some new items created and up for sale, and had a decent chance to decompress and brace myself for whatever may come this next work week.
So, although I think you all would LOVE to hear about my adventures folding business cards, or batch editing photoshop files (the DRAMA!), or repeatedly flubbing lines while working on audio files, I think I'll start off with a few new things I published up online here in the last few days.
Podcasting!
This is where you can find my fledgling efforts at podcasting at the moment.
Yes, I finally have gotten the gumption and time to get this thing off the ground. I had wanted to provide a companion to the efforts I had been doing on YouTube, but one that allowed me more flexibility and a lower amount of effort to produce. Well I should say a more streamlined effort, because podcast producing can be like pizza. It can either really lift your mood and be at least acceptable towards the end of it, or it can be just terrible. As of this date, at least the initial feedback has been positive, and I feel energized that I can spread out into topics (all still very art and educational related) that maybe would not work as well as just a blog post or in video format. I'm working to get the RSS feed up on iTunes, but in the meantime you can check it out at Artisan Rogue at PodBean
YouTube!
Thank you and welcome to the four new subscribers that joined up this weekend! :)
Oh my goodness. (I know faithful subscribers, all fifteen of you whom I am grateful for!) I uploaded a video on my channel and this one covers the first half of the work I did on my illustration of Tank Girl, which I had debuted at Spectrum Fantastic Art Live earlier this year. If you like it, give it a thumbs up. If you really like it, comment!
Storenvy and Society6!
You'll note the new cover for Volume 1 of my poetry has new photography on it, by yours truly.
I really love how this design came out.
Publications and more are coming out!
If you check out my Storenvy Site, you'll notice that a bit more new art is up on there, and some new stuff like the Pagan Zoetrope Anthology and Issue 4 are on the way very soon (got word that the printers are almost done with them), and a second collection of poetry and art is going to be available by the time FreeState hits in October.
If you meander over to my little area of Society6, you'll find my humble collection of wearables and other items now have Tank Girl as an option on there.
Upcoming Shows for the rest of 2015!
KCCC, KC ZineCon, FreeState, and Air Capital Comicon are the ones I have lined up so far, but there are a few others that I might be participating in before 2016 runs into me like a wayward double decker bus carrying Harry Potter. Keep checking back here or on Twitter (@theArtisanRogue) to see where either I, or my artwork will be appearing.
Tenacious Ninja Lego Review!
This set has quickly entered my top five favorite Lego sets.
So, yeah, a new week is here, and who knows what that's going to bring us. A good friend of mine once told me that no matter what, if you look to the new day with a positive outlook, then only good things can happen from there. I've subscribed to that thought for a few weeks now.
I hope this week finds good progress, bountiful things, and good moments for all of you. Always remember to help that hand or paw in need. We are the only ones that can really navigate our futures. That doesn't mean we don't have obstacles or challenges along the way... but it does mean we learn more about ourselves as we face up to them.
Have a great week you all! And I'll see you next time!
