New Website

Hey Peeps,

I am ramping up. I've got a new website. I am about to launch a podcast, publish several books, and I will be blogging about all things life related regularly. The theme is thinking for yourself and acting for yourself. Come check out the new website, and let's all get smart and powerful together!

Endless Unlimited

The new website!

Our narrow perspectives...

It's so difficult to walk in another person's shoes. You can't realize what somebody is thinking, feeling, or experiencing until you are there yourself. It is sad to realize that, though I have known we live in a very unfriendly country, understanding and experiencing this are two different things.

Of course, the disclaimer here is that it's a generalization, and there are plenty of kind people...

But when you're looking for some help, you suddenly realize all the opportunities you had to help other people out that you have passed on. Needing help is one thing, you have to rely on the kindness of somebody else, but in needing the help, I now see how I haven't really gone out of my way much to help other people around me.

Where does this come from? We're taught to be scared. Watch out for the sex offender in your neighborhood, or the murderer who lives in your state. Thieves and terrorists are everywhere. Everyone is out to take your stuff. Nobody is taught how to defend themselves in the case of an emergency, and in many cases it is difficult to do so (you have to get a permit to carry a weapon, and many other weapons (such as knives) are illegal). So we are a society of helpless, frightened people running around.

Remember, I am speaking in general terms here..

But it makes me sad to be waiting for some help, and to realize that there were many people that I could have helped myself, but didn't. Going to have to work on that. I'm not going to be frightened by people anymore..

How to sharpen a charcoal pencil

Want to learn how I sharpen my charcoal pencils?

New Drawings and Drawing Book Proof!

Hey peeps, here's a few new drawings. 25 minutes each.

Don't forget to check out that upcoming class in Maple Valley, starting this Thursday.

Also, I've got a copy of the book proof. I am hoping to have it fully corrected and released by the beginning of next month! Keep an eye out for it!

New Class next week!

Starting a new class next week! All about drawing from life, through drawing from the live models!

This is the cheapest class I have ever run, at 99$, and I am doing it so those of you with not much money can afford to take a class!

Hope to see some of you there! You can register on the Maple Valley website http://www.maplevalleyarts.com/content.aspx?page_id=22&club_id=181069&module_id=53680

Do what it takes..

I teach classes. I teach private lessons. I teach workshops at art stores. I'm about to self-publish my own book on learning to draw. I've got one show hanging up, and another going up in April. I think it might be easy to look at any one of the things I am doing and think that it just happens, or that these things just put themselves together, or the just fall into place. Oftentimes, it's impossible for another person to see what goes on behind the scenes.

I've been working my ass off to get my book done before my demo at Daniel Smith (Bellevue) on the 25th of this month. I spent the better part of the last three days attempting to get a proper cover image. I wanted to do a self portrait for the cover and, as I was attempting them, they just weren't turning out as I wanted. I thought it might take me one afternoon to bust one out. Turns out, it took me almost three whole days of working, and twelve attempts to get something that was satisfactory.

Twelve self portraits. Eleven of them sucked.

Just because I've spent the better part of a decade drawing doesn't mean that it just comes out easy. It's a constant progression towards better, and it is still a lot of work. I think it might be easy to think about how excellence just is. Wrong. Excellence is a lifestyle, and most of the time we only see the end product. We never see the hours and hours that professional athletes have spent training. We never see the years of research, development, and failure that goes into each new product. We never see the months or years of prep work that goes into starting each new business, or each new venture. When people see my show hanging up at Bauhaus in April, they probably won't think that it will have taken me over a full month to put together the show that will hang for a month. As far as they can tell, the work just shows up, and then new work replaces it. 

The point is, it takes work, and failure happens. You just keep going and you keep growing. If you're not willing to put in the work, if you're not willing to learn, and if you're not willing to take a risk, then you'll never accomplish anything. If you don't do what it takes to get that result, you'll never get that result. 

After eleven failed attempts, this is what I came up with. But remember, it took me eleven failed attempts to end up here..

Are you willing to do what it takes?

Do you live in Seattle? Do you like music?

A good friend of mine is going to be playing on the 26th of February at the Nectar Lounge. Her voice is amazing. Let her dazzle you... https://tickets.aftonshows.com/jackiesullivan

Listen to some of her other tunes www.JackieSullivan.net