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Tag: art

  • Crossroads

    neon

    I’ve been working on Phantom Port for a year or so now, on and off.

    This past weekend I vended at FlameCon (which was incredible) and I’ve got another show coming up in September. Admittedly it is not what I had hoped it was. Don’t get me wrong, I do well enough. I’ve met plenty of other vendors who have had far less successful shows than me, but I imagined doing better than I have been.

    I don’t mean for that to sound disparaging to others; I mean that I am fortunate that I can make a profit and not just break even. That said, I know that I haven’t put my all into it. I have a day job. I have other things to do that are far less exciting (like waiting for the AC repair guy to show up, but that’s another story.)

    So I hit a cross roads.

    I could call it and let the anxiety win and attribute to “not being good enough.”

    …or I could step it up.

    I chose the second option. I’m taking a hiatus after the next show to do this thing the way I envisioned it. Like a real art project. Real statement. Real brand. (Okay, that last one sounds very corporate and gross, but you get what I mean.)

    I’m going to take time and focus on putting together more items to sell. New shirts, new keychains, new prints that fit in more thematically, new products altogether, and more. I’m going to redo the presentation of my booth and make it the way I envisioned it, like some kind of cyberpunk black market stall ripped from the rainy streets of Shinjuku in some sci-fi setting.

    There’s this problem with ADHD where you feel like you’ve engaged or started a hobby because you bought the tools. I am tremendously guilty of this. I’m sitting in this moment, right now, where I am talking a lot about doing this revamp.

    I don’t want this to be another checked box on the symptom list.

    Check back in a few months. Let’s see where this goes.

  • Still here.

    neon

    My last post was in May. Funny enough, it expressed a genuine love for the design aesthetic of the new Marathon game. Turns out that was built on stolen design. I’m mostly shocked I hadn’t picked up on any of it as I’ve been a fan of Antireal’s design work. The idea that they lifted another designer’s work, put it in their game, and said “I made this” is absolutely insulting. If they wanted that so bad they should have consulted and paid Antireal properly. Just… wild.

    What else? Well, I’ve been “gone” because I’ve been busy… and sick. My wife has had a solid number of conventions lately since it’s con season, and I’ve even done a few as well. I’m currently working on new designs for apparel, accessories, and even a few zines. The first of which I’ve mentioned here several times. On top of that I’ve been getting back into the groove of work for a few projects I’ve been commissioned for. I can’t quite talk about them but I will say one is an indie video game and the other is work for a tabletop RPG.

    Needless to say I’ve been busy.

    I’d love to get back into making music again. The last release I dropped was a rework of the low.poly.exception track “Nanocarbon Shrine” but under the neon shudder mantle. It’s a silly idea but very much intentional as the tweaked version fit the direction of neon shudder more than low.poly. I have two rough album concepts in the works: “Traveler” and “Seraphim.” The first being funkier, more chill, and more instrospective; based on, you guessed it, traveling. Being on the move. Seraphim is more conceptual and has a theme about angels and demons and all that fun stuff. Still figuring out what that looks like. I would have loved to release either of them much sooner than whenever they will come out, but I’d rather take my time.

    If you’re reading this, what have you been working on?

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