Recent Comissions

 Commissions I've completed in the last three months. In no particular order.

My Birthday

2001

2001

2012

2012

Random Sketches

I call them sketches even though the proper term is probably "unfinished drawing".

Christian Artists I've Met

I decided I'd do a post dedicated to the various Christian Artists I've met or know. All of these people are great at what they do and are amazing people. It's been a pleasure to talk to them and several of them have given me advice, answered my questions or just given encouragement.

Please check out their websites!

Ron Wheeler - Cartoonist - www.cartoonworks.com
Mr. Wheeler was my soccer coach for several seasons. I also attended his summer cartoon camp one year. During the camp I got to try my hand on the first digital tablet I'd ever seen first hand. He's a lot of fun and both he and his family are lovely people. He was also the first professional artist I met. (or at least remember meeting)

Mr. Wheeler has several published books and comics. My brother and I loved the Jeremiah series when we were younger. I highly recommend them, as well as the Stinky Stevens books. (:

Sharon Jeffus - Art Teacher - www.visualmanna.com/
I took an art class from Mrs. Jeffus in 2011 and then again in early 2013 through online classes. She helped me in my jump from hobby to hobby/side job. She also used my art as examples in a Schoolhouse feature that can be found here. She puts a lot of emphasis on creating art to glorify God and encourages her students to use scripture in their work or as inspiration.

Regann R Hunt - Murals, Pet Portraits - www.artelegance.net/index.html
I met Regann at a conference several years ago. The musician who was performing that night, mentioned an artist friend who had come to see him perform that evening. Afterwards I asked my mom if I could go up front and try to find and talk to the artist. We did and I was able to talk to her for several minuets. She was so very nice and gave me a ton of advice. Including the reminder that glorifying God through my art is what matters the most. I'm still working on it, but she mentioned that when people comment on her art she tells them that she enjoys it and is grateful God gave her the passion and skills to create art.

Lucas Knauss - Cartoon, Various - lucas-knauss.tumblr.com/
I met Lucas through a Christian training camp (CYIA) he was a staff there. We didn't connect art wise till the year after, I suppose as neither of us realized the other was interested in art to a similar degree.

Lucas is an art student at Sterling. He has a lot of variety in his art and it's nice to talk to a fellow young adult artist. He's also an excellent resource for my questions about college art classes and Sterling.

(I also envy his creativity and fantasy like drawings)

Jack E. Dawson - Paintings with symbolism and hidden meanings - www.jackdawson.com/
I met Mr. Dawson at his shop located in Silver Dollar city. He was extremely pleasant and answered a few of my questions. His work is amazing, I really enjoy looking for the hidden pictures and meanings. The creativity and skills needed to produce the paintings he does is pretty impressive.

Follow this link to find more information on the bellow painting, including closeups of the hidden images.

Sarah Elizabeth Taylor - 
I met Sarah several years back when she was still a college student. I was helping with a church event and while I was cleaning tables I noticed she was working on something across the room. I walked over and started talking to her. After several minuets of talking back and forth, I mentioning my love of art, and she asked if I had some art with me. I grabbed my beat up sketchbook and let her flip through them. I asked her if she had any tips and she filled out a sheet of paper writing things down for me. All I have to say, awesome!
It was a huge benefit to get some info from a college art student, and she was incredibly nice! Our styles are completely different but it made talking to her all the more interesting. Artists see things differently most of the time. So critiques from fellow artists are valuable.

So, if you have the opportunity to talk to an artist, young or old, jump on it. Artists are some of the most fun loving, wonderful people you can meet. (Or maybe I'm just lucky) I've never had an artist turn down the opportunity to give me some tips if asked. I end up learning a lot, from how to handle critiques, to places to buy art supplies, to pricing tips.

Old Sketchbook Drawings

I apparently lived, breathed, and drew art when I was 15. I found my old sketchbook the other day. I picked out my favorites to share with you. :) Man, I wish I had the time to draw as much as I did then.

I actually saw Tangled in theaters, which is a huge deal in my family. We see maybe 1-2 movies in theater a year. I can name the last few movies I've seen in theater.  Wreck it Ralph, The Hobbit, Courageous, Soul Surfer and Tangled.

Don't know where the reference photo is, I only drew from photo's back then.

I guess I was going for a western vibe?

This was back when I use to help with the soundboard at my old church. If I recall I got the pens and drawing pad for Christmas, so this was December 2010.