Day 2 NYC tour: Crash and burn!

All things that go up must come down. I decided to celebrate my first day of success. 10:00 pm Monday night football local bar. So I ordered a glass of chardonnay wine, free range roasted chicken seasoned with rosemary and pepper, garlic mash potatoes, and spinach. My conscious said to stop at one glass, but no do I listen. I am going to have another glass... Fast forward to 4 am and I awoke with one nasty hangover. I really had only two glasses, after a day of not eating a lot nor drinking enough water, I was doomed. Well I made to all my appointments, they all went well, in light of my killer headache, cold sweats, upset stomach. Onward and upward.

Day 1 NYC Tour: Taking a bite out of the big apple!

Day One: Euphoria
So surreal... I cannot believe that I am really walking through the streets of NewYork, portfolio in one hand and my trusty iPhone in the other leading me every step of the way. Dream big, when I was young, the idea of knocking on the doors of some of the biggest publishers in the world in NYC with a body of work escapes me. But by the Grace of God here I am doing it.

NYC or Bust

Well the year has come down to this... Next week I will be heading off to the Big Apple with a lot of hope, prayer, and one killer portfolio. It is everything I have been working toward over the last 10 years. I would of never imagined that I would actually be going to NYC to promote Kurt Aspland the Illustrator, but here I am. Maybe just maybe in the coming year you might be able to head off to the local bookstore and see a book with my artwork on the cover... I have done all that I can, now I will leave the rest up to God.

Armed and Ready!!!

ASPLAND

One Illustration at...

By Kurt Aspland

Book Preview

Solomon once said...My son, be admonished: of making many books there is no end; and much study is a weariness of the flesh.

Thank God for the internet age, because anyone can publish a book. In a couple of weeks I will be heading off to the Big Apple to pitch my work to publishers, advertising studios, etc. Instead of a big bulky portfolio, I decided to show my work in a book format. Anyhow if anyone wants to see my artwork in book form, just check it out using this link.

The Gingerbread House

www.kurtaspland.com
I woke up early this morning to shut the oven door on this illustration. This illustration was quite the challenge. Up to this point most of my work only included one figure in a very natural environment. Well, I knew it was going to be a difficult to combine multiple figures, architecture and expression all in one piece. In the end I am pleasantly surprised at the results. It is a subtle reminder to press on when something seems to be a challenge or a bit risk taking. Many times I got very frustrated, angry and disappointed, but all of feelings were nothing more than steps that I had to take in order to reach my goal of completion. Press on, do not be afraid, always remember if you are being squeezed that is probably a good thing - God is at work, you are growing.

Tortoise and the Hare...

Here is the final drawing of my tortoise and the hare thumbnail...I have been very busy with my gingerbread house illustration. Hoping to be finished with that by the end of this week end. Stay tuned.

The Tortoise and the Hare

I was in the woods yesterday with the dog and was inspired...so I pulled out my sketchbook and did a quick sketch. Then I started thinking of the tortoise and the hare and put down this second idea. I will be working on a more detailed drawing of this in the coming weeks, maybe a whole painting... will see.

Sheep or Goat? Check youself...

What would we write in a letter at the end of our life, given the chance. This is the letter that Senator Ted Kennedy wrote. And following is the Passage of scripture where Jesus describes the difference between the Goats and the Sheep's.

Most Holy Father, I asked President Obama to personally hand-deliver this letter to you. As a man of deep faith himself, he understands how important my Roman Catholic faith is to me, and I am so deeply grateful to him.

I hope this letter finds you in good health. I pray that you have all of God's blessings as you lead our church and inspire our world during these challenging times. I am writing with deep humility to ask that you pray for me as my own health declines. I was diagnosed with brain cancer more than a year ago, and although I continue treatment, the disease is taking its toll on me. I am 77 years old and preparing for the next passage of life.

I have been blessed to be part of a wonderful family. And both of my parents, particularly my mother, kept our Catholic faith at the center of our lives. That gift of faith has sustained and nurtured and provided solace to me in the darkest hours. I know that I have been an imperfect human being, but with the help of my faith, I have tried to right my path.

I want you to know, Your Holiness, that in my nearly 50 years of elective office, I have done my best to champion the rights of the poor and open doors of economic opportunity. I have worked to welcome the immigrant, to fight discrimination and expand access to health care and education. I have opposed the death penalty and fought to end war. Those are the issues that have motivated me and have been the focus of my work as a United States senator.

I also want you to know that even though I am ill, I'm committed to doing everything I can to achieve access to health care for everyone in my country. This has been the political cause of my life. I believe in a conscience protection for Catholics in the health field and I'll continue to advocate for it as my colleagues in the Senate and I work to develop an overall national health policy that guarantees health care for everyone.

I have always tried to be a faithful Catholic, Your Holiness, and though I have fallen short through human failings, I have never failed to believe and respect the fundamental teachings of my faith. I continue to pray for God's blessings on you and on our church and would be most thankful for your prayers for me. – Senator Ted Kennedy

Matthew 25:31-46 (New International Version)

The Sheep and the Goats
31"When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. 32All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.

34"Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.'

37"Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?'

40"The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'

41"Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.'

44"They also will answer, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?'

45"He will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.'

46"Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life."

Gingerbread House Update...

After a bit of a delay, I got back to work on my Gingerbread house. You can see my initial sketches here. I hope to be finished by wednesday. Of course I still need to add the elves, Mrs. Clause and more detail in and around the house.

Red Robin Sketches...

I was in Red Robin the other day waiting for my friend Chris O Shea and sketched these people.

Schedules...a Necessary Evil

Autumn, back to school, cooler weather, and covering the pool... this is my most favorite time of the year. I work in our basement and having the kids home during the summer is fun, yet very distracting. So I sat down and wrote out a schedule this morning and thought I would post it. My point is to stick to it and by posting it, it just makes it seem a bit more official in my mind. Now the hard part for me is to stick with it. OOOO look at the clock/schedule, I should not even be blogging right now. Enjoy

New Painting...Vampire #2

I just started to work out some color roughs...we will see what happens today. Enjoy

New Painting...

I have started to work on new painting with the hope that it will be done by Monday...I will try and upload each morning the progress I make so you all can watch. This vampire is a drawing which I did at the beginning of last month at a new drawing club here in Baltimore called Drawnk!.

Drawing Lessons Anyone?

Some of you have asked about getting back into painting and drawing. This might be for you. I came across this site the other day and was really impressed with this guys teaching techniques. This painting was does from a head drawing tutorial. I have looked at some of his other stuff as well. What is nice is that you can try his lessons out for a week at only $1. Anyhow, click on the link and check it out. Drawing-Tutorials-Online.com

More Sketchbook Stuff...

Here are a couple more recent sketchbook things I worked on just the other morning. I am trying to start my day in my very traditional way...two cups of joe, bowl of oatmeal, a little scripture reading, and lot of drawing...enjoy