| Art, Reptiles, Dinosaurs, and Dragons... | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| An Artist Since Childhood | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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I was drawing by the age of three, inspired at first by Disney flicks and life's events. Then one day my Dad brought home a small package of plastic dinosaurs, and I was hooked. In Kindergarden, I amazed the teachers with my ability to pronounce the dinosaur's names (kids amaze ME today!) I continued to develope my drawing abilities, then in seventh grade I met my mentor. This teacher created drawings in an exquisite manner with so much detail I was in awe. I never thought I could actually meet someone who was as good as the aritists in the books! I took my first formal art training from him over the following summer. I continued drawing and won awards along the way, among them a Gold Key from National Scholastic, a couple of Christmas Card Art contests sponsored by a local bank, and a scholarship to take weekend classes for high school students sponsored by Indiana University at South Bend. I graduated second in my Jimtown High School Class of 79, but I felt that my art was what made me special. I went on to obtain a B.A. with a major in art from Goshen College in 1983. I also studied Graphic Design at IVY Tech for a period of time. I learned to use the Macintosh while working at Instant Copy and worked with PageMaker, Freehand, and Illustrator. My most recent honor was being selected a semi-finalist in L. Ron Hubbard's Illustrators of the Future contest, which awarded me a trip to NASA to participate in seminars conducted by well-known illustrators; I also witnessed a space shuttle launch. gloriousmane I'm 39 years old, from Indiana, USA. | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Anything Reptilian... | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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I saw and held my first snake when I was about four years old. A neighbor had a baby boa and brought it down to show off. I was fascinated right away, and not afraid at all. Who could be afraid of something so cool? It was like an intricate plastic toy that moved! I began catching garter snakes and moved on to larger prey by jr. high school. I bought all the books I could get my hands on, and practically ate, drank, and slept "snakes." I almost memorized Roger Conant's Field Guide to Reptiles and Amphibians (part of the Peterson Field Guides). Over the years I've had several Burmese Pythons, an Anaconda, a Blood Python, a Ball Python; many different kinds of rat and king snakes; water snakes and garter snakes from everywhere; a wart snake and a red-tailed green rat snake (from Asia); and several Monitor Lizards. I eventually tired of all the pets, and now only have one Savannah Monitor, a Ball Python, and a Sinoloan Milk Snake (looks like a Coral Snake). All eat mice. In the meantime why not check out the link below to get your own 20MB of free webspace? | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Art Style... | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
When I entered college, I knew how to draw, but had | little idea what art itself was about. It wasn't long before I realized plenty of possibilities, and my imagination grew. What sparked me was creative imagery; realistic images showing playful ideas brought to life in a way that only a drawing or painting can. Color and expressive "brush- strokes" were irrelevent to me then. Therefore I would use photographs, still lifes, and even sculpt some forms to give me what I needed to piece my imagination together. On the other hand, my doodling skills were (and still are) improving, and I began to realize I needed to incorporate them into my work somehow. Right now I see a need to bring both "styles" I use together in a form of Children's Book illustraton, and am now in the process of developing this.
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