moon-gem.com

Satellite-3

ducky — Thu, 13 Jun 2013 17:17:00 +0000

something restless in your brain

ducky — Wed, 29 May 2013 03:24:18 +0000

2012 in Review

ducky — Sat, 30 Mar 2013 20:23:25 +0000

Before 2012 ended I sat down and assessed my job. For those of you that do not regularly visit this site, my job is essentially working on illustrated commissions for various clients. Sometimes it’s extra icon work for an android or iPhone app and sometimes it’s as simple as a caricature.

What I’ve realized is… I’m going broke.

I put a great deal of time and effort into what I do and I’m making significantly less than someone would working part-time at a minimum wage job in Wyoming (no disrespect intended Wyoming). If I was only putting 20 hours a week in that would be great but that isn’t the case.

Other than that 2012 was great (excluding the the hospital bits and various other non work related disasters).
I worked on tons of commissions and even managed to get a little paid acting work (sort of). I really love doing what I do and I enjoy the freedom that this job allows me.

What does the assessment mean?
I have to work extra hard, give up speculative work, charge more, or get another job.

You might be thinking, “Hey, shut up and get a real job already. Nobody cares”. The problem is that every college student, high school student, recent college graduate and I are all apply for the same jobs.

So, it’s easier said than done. This maddening job search engendered my foray into commissioned art to begin with. I’ve never truly given up searching for employment. It’s the sort of thing that is always occurring in the background. It’s just happening with more fervor now.

Are commissions closing?
No, commissions are not closed but the pricing is slightly more realistic. I cannot do speculative work (free drawings or samples); however, I do offer affordable sketches. You can view samples of my work in my gallery .

Wait, so what does this all mean anyways? Why is there so much text in this post? Where are the images?
I don’t know? I’m not trying to be confusing. I’m just trying to sort everything out and let people know what is going on. Thank you for putting up with all the text.

Lunch Projects

ducky — Thu, 21 Mar 2013 13:25:16 +0000

I made quick image for twitter a few lunches or dinners ago. It isn’t exactly a piece of art… but it is a little something I can post here while I work on more important projects .

Pet Projects 3

ducky — Thu, 28 Feb 2013 04:34:07 +0000

“Delta and the Bunnymen”

Found the face in my drawings folder and added a body somewhat hastily. It’s a variation of Tori.

Envoûtant et Magique

ducky — Tue, 19 Feb 2013 13:13:33 +0000

(Pet Projects Part 2)

Pet Projects

ducky — Sun, 17 Feb 2013 10:22:11 +0000

Happy New Year!

ducky — Tue, 01 Jan 2013 06:48:33 +0000

I just wanted to wish everyone a Happy New Year! I hope everyone is healthy and safe in 2013 and all of the other platitudes people normally ascribe to the holiday .

Let’s make 2013 kinder for everyone in the world!

TARDIS vs. Dalek Salt and Pepper Shakers

ducky — Mon, 31 Dec 2012 08:41:21 +0000

I tried to take a photo of the Christmas present my dad got me in the snow, but, as it was freezing outside and I haven’t a tripod, this was the best I could manage.

It looks a bit like a colorized version of the classic Doctor Who series if you squint your eyes.

So, photography at 2 AM isn’t my forte, but the ceramic TARDIS and Dalek are rather adorable and being that they are ceramic I think I’ll set them on a shelf to admire rather than to season my meal. I’ll just need to invest it a shelf first . I’m delighted with the pair and now I need to find my Sixth Doctor action figure.

ThinkGeek is sold out so I’m not sure where my dad got them but I imagine it was Books A Million or the local toy store.

Unfinished Christmas Animation

ducky — Mon, 24 Dec 2012 05:23:28 +0000

Well, I didn’t have time for the Christmas animation this year. Too much time was spent elsewhere (commissions) and when I did have a chance to work on it the animation tools proved woefully inadequate. I’m including some stills (finished and unfinished) in this post in lieu of a finished project. It isn’t as good but I hope everyone likes them anyways .

You can also see the animation of the house on my Youtube channel moongemdotcom.
It isn’t much but it was as far as I got using CreaToon 3.0 which along with Adobe Flash Professional CS6 is one of the easier (and yet also confounding) animation tools I’ve used .

That’s all! Happy Holidays! I’m going to start cooking and maybe turn on some Christmas music…or maybe work on some artwork…