Hello, friends!
It means a lot to have you here anticipating some content!
Thanks for following me! Here's to 3,000 fans!
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WHAT AM I UP TO!?|
I've been busy since my August update!
Fall started with a trip to Colorado to attend Terminal Montage's wedding!
I enjoyed the ceremony, the company of my artist pals (Supardanil, Mister_Crits)
I fed some giraffes, and Lollergator dropped my phone in the mountains. RIP.
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Afterward, Lollergator and I drove to Salt Lake City to check up on friends and family.
The drive across the country was a great way to enjoy the weather before winter hit us hard.
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After returning home, it was time to find myself a job. I've been working as little as possible these past few years to self-study illustration and it was time to put my knowledge to good use!
I stopped all my activities; such as playing DnD, working out, and streaming. I put together a portfolio to hunt down some art gigs. I put it on ARTSTATION since my Newgrounds account is convoluted with personal projects.
With portfolio in hand I went to nearby game dev meetings to see if any locals wanted to collaborate. I had no takers but I did learn about upcoming events such as VGM CON (A local video game music convention) and The Minnesota Electronic Theater (film festival). So I signed up for both.
10 days before the deadline for the Minnesota Electronic Theater, I created “The Fun One” from scratch.
It was a great way to test my abilities and see where I stood among local talent and professional ad firms.
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I got runner up (Second place) in the independent category! Unfortunately nothing came of it.
With Christmas around the corner I set my sights on the Smash Bros Collab! I missed every Newgrounds collaboration in the past decade so taking part in this project was very important to me! I swore to myself that if I couldn't get my segment done, I would quit animation forever!
Sure enough I had to drop out of the project due to complications and personal matters beyond my control. What little I had done was re-purposed as a bumper and placed after Sir Pelo's fabulous contribution.
This hit me really hard. I can't express how disappointed, angry, and frustrated I was with myself and the factors that prevented me from achieving my goals no matter how hard I tried to get a handle on them. I then realized that if I wanted to get any projects done I needed to separate my work space from home.
Amazingly enough, an opportunity came to me shortly after!
A local art studio I attended for figure drawing courses needed a volunteer to facilitate classes! Even though they didn't offer any pay, they had a vacant office I could use! I needed the space and moved in immediately!
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When December came around I couldn't job hunt due to holidays. I submitted applications to a few ad firms and got no response. I got extremely sick and at the same time found out that our family cat of 15 years was cornered and mauled by a loose dog.
RIP Bandit.
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And immediately after that my father was hospitalized due to blood clots in his lungs depriving him of oxygen. I would receive daily updates from my mother and I would relay all the information to family. All while stressfully preparing for Xmas with my girlfriends family. I was extremely miserable and I wanted the year to END.
When 2018 finally concluded, life got significantly better.
My father recovered, he adopted a new cat, and the art studio gave me space to work and practice my art!
January came and I got back on the hunt for a job. My friend Anti-Dark-Heart (Who I met in person at Pico-Day 2014) heard I was looking for work. She introduced me to TheOdd1sout and I got to animating immediately!
Since then I've worked on two awesome animations with The Odd1sout team!
I did some storyboards and backgrounds. I'm looking forward to being a part of many more cartoons!
But things didn't stop there! I had enrolled myself for VGM CON a few months prior and the convention was right around the corner! I made plans with Lollergator to share a table and sell a bunch of cool stuff! We worked really hard on designing some merch! I worked on new posters and cleaned up old pictures to make some awesome prints!
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I tried my best at polishing each piece to make some fantastic posters and postcards!
https://www.newgrounds.com/art/view/funymony/minions
https://www.newgrounds.com/art/view/funymony/octorok-v2
https://www.newgrounds.com/art/view/funymony/ridley
I created little M-Candy Zine's for people to enjoy at the convention too!
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When the show finally came, plans fell through with Lollergator and I had to run the table alone with little to offer. Despite this I made things work with a stack of blank greeting cards I found at the art store that came with envelopes! This helped me make up for the missing merch and utilize the space as best as I could. It was a small convention so it wasn't very demanding. All of my custom cards sold!
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Local artist (and long time NG user) SamChappy and Mighty Pegasus kept me company through the weekend in the artist alley. It was really fun! I even met The One Ups! A long-time favorite band of mine!
My go-to jams for those late-night work sprints!
Overall the convention was a fantastic experience. I still have a bunch of merch leftover from the show so I plan on attending a bigger convention in the future after I expand my inventory. I might open an online store in the meantime...
After the show, my friend Terminal Montage approached me to be a part of a special project!
I did the cleanup, coloring, and backgrounds! It was a lot of fun and I had a huge grin on my face the entire time working on it. Donkey Kong Country has always been a favorite game of mine.
The misfortunes kept following me though, prior to the project I got a letter summoning me for JURY DUTY!
I bought plenty of art books and made myself an anatomy reference sheet to keep me occupied while waiting around the jury room. The view was really cool and I made some new friends. It was also the first time I got to explore Minneapolis on my own.
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Luckily I was quickly chosen as a juror in a criminal case and it was resolved within 2 days!
I went home satisfied having done my part.
And that's pretty much it! You're all caught up! There's so much more that I'm missing in my recap, but I think this is enough to show you where I've been physically and mentally.
Despite all my achievements, there were a lot of outside factors that slowed me down and took me out of the artist game completely. I find what helped me the most was having a schedule on Google calendar with a list of tasks. I keep track of everything I do and log it at the end of the day so I can look back at all my accomplishments, hang-ups, and down time. This helps me sort my hours and steer my focus in this turbulent sea we call life. If I don't complete everything on my task list, just getting a few things done is enough to steer my boat in the general direction of where I want to go.
I hope you all have good fortune and get to follow your dreams!
SO WHERE TO FROM HERE?!
I'll be working with Odd1sout on some cool vids to keep me afloat.
I have many options on what to work on next.
I still have a show on the horizon that I want to make and a handful of tutorials that I will post here on Newgrounds.
So far the future looks promising. Here we go!
-Edgar
