People, Creatures and things...

Hey everyone... just added some more stuff to my portfolio. Hope you like.

A sigh of relief...

I was talking to my wife the other night telling her how much I regret things I have said or done in the last couple of days. How in the world does the Lord work with someone so flawed...a complete idiot. The verse from Ephesians Chapter 1 jumped out at me. "who works all things according to the counsel of His will." I am so thankful that He uses even stupidity for His glory. The singer Bono had it right when he wrote "grace makes beauty out of ugly things."

A new concept...

I have added a concept section to my website now that I am looking for full time employment in the Video Game industry. So take a look and if anyone hears of anything let me know.
Thanks
Kurt

New Portfolio

I recently attended this Game conference called Game X. I received some great feedback from a representative from Obsidian and Firaxis Games. I needed to rework my entire portfolio. Here are some sample pages.

Back in the saddle...

I went back to one of my drawing groups last night for the first time in a couple of months. It is called the Charcoal Club. It is an art group that has met in Baltimore for over the last 100 years or so. Anyhow this is not a history lesson on the Charcoal Club. It is about getting back into good habits. NIKE had it right when they said ”Just do It!” When is it a good time to restart or start a good habit. Right now, Today, This minute... This is the problem...the first couple of weeks can be very difficult, because it is going to take a conscious effort, new energy, and over coming that nagging voice that says ”I am tired, It wont last, Just quit quitter, etc.” So as I try to get back to attending 3-4 different weekly drawing groups in the evening in the city (takes about an hour of driving to get to them), I will be humming...back in the saddle again!

Now available...

Just added one of my personal favorite paintings to the marketplace link on my website. Firefight! I just love the idea of shooting fireballs at bad guys not to mention that I used my youngest son Ryan to be a model for this and my neighbor Greg to be the bad guy.
Enjoy

Backup Plan!! The Golden Bird:Part 1

Well most of you know I am trying to break into the world of children and young reader publishing. It is always wise to have a backup plan. So end of the month is this video game conference in Philly, which I plan to attend with portfolio in hand. The only problem is that the portfolio I used in NY will not work for the Gaming Industry. Most of my work needs to be more of the concept type. So over the next couple of weeks I will be working on putting together a body of work that reflects more of the concept gaming type. What is concept art? Well it is more ideas, brainstorming, sketches of a story. Say I suggest the idea of a log cabin in the woods...what comes to mind when I say that? Can you picture it? Now my job would be to draw it so everyone else can see what I am thinking.

With that being said, I was inspired by a book called The Skillful Huntsman, where a group of talented artist drew out concepts based upon a tale written by the Brothers Grimm. I am going to take another tale called The Golden Bird also by the Brothers Grimm to illustrate my concept skills. I have about two and a half weeks to see how far I can take this. Here are my first ideas:

Raining Cats and Dogs...

Just added this painting to my Marketplace section of my website-more next week. Enjoy

A change of heart

Luke 6 Give to every man that asks of you; and of him that takes away your goods ask them not again.

Repentence is a u-turn. I was eating lunch with a friend the other day and sharing about my time in NYC when I had mentioned to him about this change of heart I had while I was there. I have always struggled with giving to homeless people. Are they using this money for drugs, alcohol or are they just lazy and in giving them money will I just encourage this pan handling. Well sometime in NY I decided to give to all who asked. I would simply drop a coin or two to all who asked. How they use that money is between God and them. It was really freeing to just let go of this. What is nice about the scriptures is that it never tells us how much to give, but just give to all who ask. This was the only stipulation...they must ask. This got me thinking, what a sight it would be if every single person dropped a quarter in their cup. Some would waste it, some would be lazy, and then there might even be a few that might rise up to a better life. I would love to here what you do.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

100 Pushups

So I started to get in Shape last year on February 16th. Still at it, but the summer really slowed me down. In fact I stopped losing weight and just maintained over the last four months (starting weight 2/09 236lbs-todays weight 208lbs). Anyhow, my brother introduced me to a great Iphone app called 100 pushups. The program helps you to get to 100 pushups in 6 weeks or so. I just started it Tuesday and I completed 9 pushups as a starting point. Wow I was sore and still am today, but onward and upward. Anyhow I will let you all know how it goes. I did take a couple of Advil for the soreness today, but I did complete the program this morning.

New Work in the Marketplace

I just uploaded three more paintings to the marketplace section of my site-The Mermaid, The Ball Man and The Triangle Man. Let me know what you think. Just click on the paintings above and it will take you right where you need to go.

Open for business!

A lot of you have asked if you can purchase prints of my work. Well now you can by clicking right here or by clicking the marketplace tab on my site www.Kurtaspland.com. I have used a site called Fine Art America to print, frame and ship my work. Right now I have three of my more popular pieces for purchase. I will be adding more over the weeks so keep looking back to see what is new. What is so great about working digitally is that each painting is exactly the same as the first so there is never any breakdown of color or quality.

If there is something that I have done that you like let me know and I will add it sooner than later. If you purchase an unframed piece and have it shipped to me, I will be happy to personally sign it. There will be a slight additional fee in shipping from my studio to your home, just let me know by email or phone that it is coming.

Texas Gold

Just finished a week ago. This illustration was for a magazine in Texas. For all of my southern California TRBC friends... do you know the person in the bottom right?

Recap NYC Tour:

So here are a few selected images from NY
With this trip so successful, I think I might blow on over to the Windy City!

Day 5 NYC Tour: Things end right where they begin

One thing that surprised me about NYC was the number fruit vendors scattered across the city. It was really sort of neat to be walking along, reach into my pocket for some spare change and buy a peach, banana or apple for some quick energy. Anyhow I was packing my things for my flight home and noticed I had an apple from the day before. That apple I was going to take with me and eat it in the airport to a fitting end to this great week. Little did I know that I would literally take a bite out of an apple on the last day of my trip. My work is done, seeds well planted, now I will have to wait to see if anything grows. Stayed tuned.