Check Out This Video I Made at My Internship

So I don't think I've mentioned this on the blog yet, but I've been working as an intern during the summer at a company called Packsize. Basically, it's a box company. I know that sounds super boring, but it's really a lot more than that. It's a little hard to explain, so I'll try to illustrate it below.

But first, I want to show you this video project I managed at my internship. It's designed to help educate the public on how smaller packages can help save the environment. Please give it a watch, comment on here and on YouTube, and LIKE the video!



Alright, if you'd like to know more, here's a more in-depth explanation of how Packsize works:

Imagine you're the warehouse manager for a large internet-based company that ships a variety of products. A company like Amazon or Zappos. How many different sized boxes do you carry?

Keep in mind that there is a trade off here. Because empty space in a box has to be filled with packing peanuts or those plastic airbags (which cost money and pollute the environment), and because shipping fees are based in part on the size of the package, you have an incentive to have many different box sizes so that you can fit your products in the smallest possible box.

On the other hand, the more box sizes you carry, the more boxes you'll have to order, the more time your employees spend looking for the right box, and the more space in your warehouse is take up by cardboard.

Long story short, no matter how many box sizes you get, you're probably going to end up with a lot empty space. In fact, it's estimated that 40% of everything shipped is empty space.

So, the Packsize way of doing stuff is much simpler. We provide cardboard and a machine that can print a box of any size instantaneously. This clears up a bunch of inventory space that would be taken up by boxes, reduces the amount of cardboard needed, and the space taken up by each package. In the end, everyone wins. Businesses save money, the environment receives less pollution, and you the consumer don't have to throw away a massive box with tons of air pillows.

Thanks guys! I'll post more of my projects as they become available.

I finally made something in Illustrator that doesn't look like poop.

After a long time reading an online tutorial, and an even longer time trying to figure out how to use the pen tool, I finally made something in Illustrator I think is worth sharing.

I give you "Emo Comic Book Self-Portrait In Amateur Illustrator."

Ignore The Batman on Draw Something

 So apparently drawing pictures of Hitler was a pretty big hit, so I continued to do it for a bit.

floss

Thing is, Ignore Hitler is someone else's meme. I want do stuff that's original. So I've been looking for irrelevant things to put in my drawings.

Anchor

Mexico

Seagull

Thug (that's supposed to be Napoleon Dynamite)

Grass

Most of the different items just didn't have the same punch as "Ignore Hitler."

But there has been one that has been almost as fun to draw: Ignore Batman

Catwoman

Dinosaur

Peacock

Snorkel

Tolkien

I still play Draw Something, but I have so many games going these days that I probably won't get back to your pictures for a little while. Sad, I know.

Art Wurk

Hey, it's time to update the blog again with some of my newest artworks. [Because I do like to remind people that I can do things outside of MS Paint sometimes]

Because I had so much fun repainting the Caravaggio, I decided to try to create another old-school style portrait. Here it is:

I'm trying to get away from simply copying famous artists' works and create original content from now on. This portrait is a composite of a profile portrait done by Botticelli, as well as a few other stock photos I found on the interwebs:

So my second work is from my computer graphic design class. The assignment was to make a concert poster for a band. I chose to create a poster for The Format. Because, let's be honest, we'd all like to see them go on a reunion tour. 

Even though it's a computer graphic design class, I'm allowed to use any medium I choose. Since I don't have Photoshop, or even know how to use it that well, I decided to just paint the whole poster the old fashioned way. I scanned it in at school and then did some quick touch-ups on the computer.

Sorry for the crappy image! I'll replace it when I get a better one.

I wanted this poster to have a childlike nostalgia quality to it. I noticed that all of The Format's music videos tend to involve something kind of playful (a school play, performing hands, moving paper cutouts), so I thought that maybe a puppet show would be a good subject for a poster. It was suggested that the poster told the abstract story of what happens in a typical song by The Format, so that's what's going on there.

The poster is currently on display in the Harris Fine Arts Center on BYU's campus (fourth floor). You should go check it out if you have the chance.

As you can see, the rest of the class used their awesome Adobe software skills.

It's a pretty cool exhibit, if I do say so myself.

Finally, I wanted to show off a piece I did recently as a commission for a friend. She really likes princesses, so she asked me to paint Belle from Beauty and the Beast. I was a little sketchy of doing the project at first, since Disney princesses aren't really my repertoire. But, the project turned out to be a lot funner than I thought it would, and I'm very pleased with the results:

On that note, I'd like to put in a plug for myself: I am always looking for extra money and I would love to paint something for YOU, as long as you're willing to pay me for it. I charge a relatively good rate and am willing to negotiate. Just let me know either through Facebook, Twitter, or the comments here on Shared Musings.

Some Big News!

So I've been working on a pretty big project this last summer that has finally come to fruition, and I'm really excited about it.  As of right now, I am officially a published artist!

I was approached to illustrate the children's songbook that accompanies Celestial Song's Children's Primary Songs Keyboard.  The project involved creating watercolor paintings for 22 primary songs as well as the cover of the songbook.  The book is now available to order in both full color and coloring book form.  In addition, the Mormon Marketplace has been generous enough to create a number of limited edition prints of the original watercolor paintings that are available to order.  These prints will be numbered and signed by yours truly.

For this project, I wanted to try to push myself to do something new.  I went for a style that is meant to loosely mimic the stick figures that kids draw.  I focused on drawing kids living today, in settings that relate to the song.

Book of Mormon Stories

Called to Serve.  A personal favorite of mine.

Families Can Be Together Forever.  Based on a statue on BYU campus.

I Am a Child of God.  I got several of my friends to model for the various kids.

I Hope They Call Me on a Mission

I Love to See the Temple.  This was the first painting I finished.

Once There Was a Snowman.  Not exactly a doctrinally drenched song, but a primary favorite nonetheless.

Popcorn Popping on the Apricot Tree.  Another fluffy song, another favorite.

Scripture Power

Tell Me the Stories of Jesus

The Wise Man and the Foolish Man.

When I Am Baptized.  "I want my life to be as clean as Earth right after rain."

This isn't all the pictures that i made for the songbook.  In fact, some of my favorite pieces are missing because--and this is going to sound weird--I don't have digital copies of them yet.  I'll post them on here when I get a chance.

Honestly, the whole experience is somewhat surreal and humbling.  I never thought that I would ever be a marketable artist.  I'm very grateful for this opportunity and for the gifts that Heavenly Father has bestowed upon me.

Please visit MormonMarket.com and have a look at some of their other products!


Also, I wanted to announce that I am now accepting commissions.  If you wanted a personal piece of artwork for yourself or a friend, please get in contact with me.  Facebook, email, and the comments here are all acceptable forms of communication!  I can work in acrylics, watercolor, pencil and ink; and in several different styles.  I am willing to negotiate price.

Kneaded Erasers Can Be Molded into Fun Things

My Art Skills Have Improved

During Christmas of 2006, my parents decided to nurture my artistic abilities by buying me a giant canvas measuring 30 x 40 inches.  After thinking about it for quite some time, I decided to paint a copy of a Caravaggio piece called "The Inspiration of Saint Matthew."

I loved the style, the power, and the emotion behind Caravaggio's work, as well as the honesty of it.  I spent much of the summer after my high school graduation painting the canvas.  And by the end of the summer, I had this to show for it:

At the time, I was pretty darn proud of this piece.  I had never attempted anything on this scale before and mixing colors in acrylic paints was pretty new to me.  That summer I learned something about stretching yourself.

Then, in a year, I was on my mission in Arkansas.  I never had time to draw, let alone paint anything.  I had the occasional assignment from my mission president or an assistant to create a poster, a t-shirt design, or a logo; but never anything large.  I occasionally worried that my skills would become rusty without practice.

One day while serving I read an article in the New Era about a boy who was really good at playing the piano.  He stressed and stressed and stressed about serving a mission because he wouldn't have the chance to play for several hours a day.  The young man fretted about this to the point that he almost didn't serve.  Then he was promised by an ecclesiastical leader (I can't remember if it was a bishop or stake president or what) that if he served faithfully, he wouldn't have to worry about losing his talents.  This young man did just that, and when he came back, he claimed that his skills actually improved during the time he was gone. I didn't worry about losing my talents from that day forward.

Flash forward to this summer.  A couple of months ago I was visiting my parents house, where my copy of "The Inspiration of Saint Matthew" still hung on  the wall.  I had just finished the drawing and 2D design classes at BYU with pretty good grades.  I looked at the painting and saw colors that had been mixed wrong, lines that weren't clear, and faces that were. . . off.  I decided that I could do better, so I took the canvas home and repainted over the whole thing.

I'm sure that the year between graduation and serving a mission, as well as the two art classes helped sharpen my skills, but I'm still very happy about how little  my abilities rusted while I was away.

This is what the canvas looks like after I repainted it:

And some comparissons:

Do I owe this improvement in the face of a two-year break to a divine miracle?  I'll let you draw your own conclusions.

P.S.  I looked for that New Era article online, but I cannot find it.  Please let me know if you are familiar with the article I'm talking about.  It came from an older New Era.