Intuos for George

Hi All, This is Geo's wife, Damian. I am writing this blog on behalf of my guy. He is far too modest, to ever advocate for himself. Some of you may have already heard, so forgive me if this is becoming repetitious. We had a little visitor yesterday who was quite activated by Geo's colorful studio. Unfortunately, he couldn't keep his hands away from Geo's desk, and as a result...spilled his water on the Intuos. It's fried and completely dead. It's asking a lot....however, thanks to the suggestion of a fellow Illustrator (a true and compassionate friend of Geo's) we have started a "chipin" event, in hopes of helping him replace his old and dear friend "Frank". Yes, he names his art supplies. Haha!!!!! Aything helps!!! Xo, Dame

Addicted to Tech :(

Hola Dudes and Dudett's,
                                          Another gap between blogs lol. I knew I would not be good at updating this frequently. Just to dang busy, but its a good thing :). Now for something different....

                 Yesterday my daughter and I went to the Borders book store. She need a certain book for school. Well as most people might know Borders is closing all its stores. Funny thing is our Borders is not even 5 years old. We went inside and it was so so sad. The cafe where they played live music is gone : ' (.. as I typed this I just erased an entire paragraph of rant.....whew... okay composing myself...... Books and everything were I guess 25 - 75% off , but I didn't really see anything that was 75% except the sign that said everything was 75% off. Signs everywhere said computers not working. I was able to get a sales person to help me. Problem is without the computers no one knows where the books are???????? Wow so I sat back and let this guy try and help me. I finally had to pull the plug and thank him. He nor anyone else knew where anything was. Sad part is that guy worked there since the store opened ( true story ) . So now what??? is Barnes and Noble next???? I guess we still have the library .....Kinda a funny thing . When I started reading comics as a kid we had no " LCS ". The only options were going to the library and or 7/11. So does this mean the spinner rack will return to 7/11 :). Ehhh maybe wishful thinking but history does have a tendency to repeat itself. For now, I am just glad that I have donated my comics through the years to the local libraries. Looks like I will continue to do so, until they make it were I can drop of pixels ;)

Later days dudes :)

New Direction

Well its been a while since I wrote one of these. To be honest it might be a while longer lol. Let me explain, I have been putting pieces together slowly one by one. I think I might be on to something!!! My entry into the comic world has been interesting to say the least. I have gone from being a fan boy to a penciler, Writer, inker, colorist, pod caster, web cartoonist, am I leaving anything out....whew!!!! Exhausting isn't it :) . Well it sure as hell is!!! lol so I had to really simplify things. I am canning the Podcasting right off the bat. Its just not me and its that simple. I had already had a long run on another Podcast before mine. Even though several people suggested I do this, it started to take away from the true goal which is " Being a better Artist" ! I did two podcast shows on my own, and I proved I could do it!!! Even though one individual in particular made it seem like this was rocket science LOL, Well its not!!!! So if your reading this and want to start one ask me and Ill help you :). Same goes for Web comics and any other venture that takes me away from the true goal at hand. I just want to be creative and do what I Love to do!!! I went into this whole comic thing the total wrong way but I have learned SO much I would not trade it for anything. I have met some very shady and broken people which I like to call them " Wizards" they will tell you what you want to hear only to use and exploit you!!!! With that though came very awesome good people as well!!!! Positive people that will make you a better person all around :) That is the true key friends, " You are what you hang around with"!!! If you want to get a book done or any other project for that matter. It will not happen if the the peers you hang around are not doing anything except " Talking" about doing something!!! Surround your self with Healthy minded positive people and you would be amazed of the results!!! That being said I want to take a second and Thank those peeps for just being Awesome!!! My mentor Richard Dominguez!!!!! My rad awesome Punk Rock Comic buddy Kevin Cross!! My Latino comic brother Javier Hernandez!!! My amazing talented friend with tons of awesome advice Devon Devereaux!! Thanks to him and his awesome hospitality I have belonged to his Illustration club and will do so as long as he will have me :) That club brought me to the amazing talented positive people I needed in my life :) Matt,Aja,Dan,Alan,Beca, to many to list :) My good friend and publisher Jim Main who with out him I could not see so much of my work in print :) Thanks guys I love you all :) . Lastly I think I am shaping up to be a good daddy and a good husband, which thats probably the most important part at the end of the day. Wish you all the best and keep creating :)

Life is a lesson learned when your through!!!!

So I learned a hard lesson today. My buddy Rusty over in FB land made me aware of something ( Thanks man) I messed up lol!!!! Now I did so not on purpose, but pure ignorance. I created a rock poster based off of one of my favorite bands " Boston " . I originally thought of selling it as a print. A whopping $11 bucks, now as you can see it's not a fortune. I don't know of anyone " rolling" in it off of Etsy. This being said my buddy was right! Even though I created a image of the band that has not been created in the past, it's still infringement! So that poster will have all funds donated to the Humane Society. I know the lead guitarist of the band would be okay with that. In the future forward I will only sell 100% ORIGINAL prints and art work!!! I will still draw posters of my favorite band and post them on line for others to enjoy. The difference will be I will not profit what's so ever when it comes to $$$$$. Only profit would be enjoyment, and that you cant put a price on!

Dude

Fighting the good fight

Bam...Kapow.....Zap.....Kaplow...... This is how I have to start this blog. Today was a crazy day indeed, lots of stuff going on several levels. The things I want to focus on though, are all positive :). First and foremost we got a huge order from a single customer!!!!!! Whooo Hooooo. I could not believe the order when I saw it, I cant wait to get to it!!! So it is true " If you build it , they will come " this is so true. I went into this comic thing all wrong when I started, everything takes time!!!  No matter what the goal is, Strong foundation = Solid structure!!!

            Free Comic book day is this Saturday, so I decided to do something different. Instead of going to the already established FCBD events that happen in Portland every year. I decided to try my own city of Vancouver WA!!!! Well upon researching, I found out that only one comic book store remains in all of Vancouver WA!!!! Yikes!!!!! so so sad. Now even though I could cross the bridge into Portland and go to any number of comic book stores,  I 'll pass. My hope is, I can pull of a few things in this one event. The plan is ( if the store allows me to ) to set up a table for myself and maybe another artist. In turn we would do free sketches for the kids, and I would give out free all ages mini comics. This would not only be a fun event, but we are also promoting community, literacy, and the arts. Being the last Comic book store in Vancouver, I shudder to think what if that one closes also???????? Maybe its just the inevitable, maybe everything is going digital????? The Local Comic Book store concept is antiquated???? Did Video Games really win????? Well .....Maybe all of that might be true. I think its worth a fight!!!!!!! If the above does take place and no longer does Vancouver have a Comic book store. Well the failure for me would have been not contacting the store, outside of that it was out of my control. Fighting the good Fight

Yours Truly

G

Pick yourself up and start all over again!!!

Hola,
            Well I write this blog today on a very uneventful day. I am okay with this, hence the blog tee hee. I thought I would turn it around simply by blogging. On this new journey I have taken in life and art, I find many roads that are unfamiliar. One of those roads would be " Pod casting " !!! Some might know that I was co-host on another podcast. On that show I did nothing but co-host, That's it!!!! Easy just be myself and someone else did the editing etc. Well now there's no one else just me. I love that portion, since you can flow the show in away that is beneficial to everyone involved.  I did not take pod casting 101 and just pushed forward. First two shows went great!!!!. Now enter the Technical problems UGGHHHH!!!!! Last night I recorded a show that I thought went awesome, upon playback that good feeling went away:( I tried most of all day to get that show running, and to no avail. Now the old me would have sunk into a dark hole and crawled into a ball and not come out. Like I said the " Old " me, today I spoke with two mentors of mine. Both doing this way longer than I have, they seem to have the same point of view. " Shit Happens" and that's just it. You have to know when to walk away and come back later!! Even if just for a walk, that would have made a world of difference. So in closing I share this with you . Failure is not getting the end result you sought after, but never taking the journey is!!!

George

Make Time your Amigo!!!!!

Well another lesson learned. Back when I was a podcast listening junkie :) I made a point to listen to a select amount of shows. Comic Geek Speak, Planet Comic Book Radio, Big Illustration Party Time, Comicology and Art and Story. Whew a lot to keep up with trust me lol. I spent more time listening and no time doing lol. Its totally flipped flopped now and I like it !!!! Along the way certain information I kept in the memory banks to store away for a rainy day. Out came the huge Golfer Umbrella baby!!!!!! I listen to BIPT and I zoned in on host Kevin Cross segment about time management . It really makes so much sense now, but back then I could not put it in practice for some reason or another. I thank my compadre Kevin for this :) My wife writes out what I need to do for the week. We have a meeting on Monday and she draws it up, just like that. Monday - Friday 9-5 this not only allows me to complete tasks and stay focused, but it gives me down time and family time :)
( not even gonna list all the positives, self worth, work ethic, fulfilment, etc) . I guess those can be one in the same, but you get the picture :) . Now if something else in your life is taking time away form your passion, you have two choices.

1) Do something about it

2)  ?????????????

:)

Dude