My Brain Just Went Into Overdrive

I just listened to The Perfect Bait by Bobby Chiu. And it was fantastic. Really insightful and really touched on subjects I often find myself thinking about. There were excerpts throughout his dialog from other successful artists as well.

Coming off the highly unproductive weekend I just had, the subject matter really hit home for me. I honestly couldn't have chosen a more perfect time to buy the book. It seriously spoke to me and my current mindset.

The book is available in the iTunes store for $9.99 for both the audio and readable versions. And of course you can order the paperback version if you so  choose. Do yourself a favor and go pick it up.

Sketch 1.11.12

Sketch 1.11.12
Originally uploaded by Vanessa_Ramirez

Getting back to business. Working on sketching and sculpting. Will be posting an update once I have more solid work done.

Let's Dance 2012

I look forward to posting my New Year's post. There is always a sense of excitement for the unknown events that will shape this next year. And above all, it gives me the opportunity to reflect on the year I have had as a whole.

It has been a year full of extreme goods, and extreme bads. I have struggled professionally and personally for sure but I have accomplished more than I had hoped. I have met amazing people that have helped to shape this last year in ways I could never have anticipated. And I am most thankful for those who brought a smile to my face when I needed it most. And when I stumbled, those words of encouragement were welcome and appreciated.

This past year I found myself further immersed in this amazing community of artist and collectors that have such a passion for what they do or what they love and I have loved every minute of it. The opportunity to spend some time with some of them at DesignerCon was most definitely a highlight and I hope that I will have that opportunity again. And for those on Twitter, Instagram, and the CP forum it has been a pleasure to get to know everyone and interact with you. And thank you for those of you that have willingly shared your knowledge and insight. I am indebted to you.

As for my family, thanks go out to my sisters and cousins, they may not always understand what I am doing but they show up. They go to shows with me and support me regardless of what my crazy mind is cooking up. My older sister and her husband are my biggest cheerleaders, and my cousin and her husband are the proud owners of several of my original illustrations and customs that they kindly display in their home. You guys warm my tiny tiny Grinch heart.

And now with the sappy stuff out of the way, I turn my attention to the new year. This next year will find me trying to keep my life balanced. As amazing as this past year has been, I was very distracted from a very important goal. And I cannot allow that to happen again. So I go into this year with a renewed sense of purpose and focus and I am take on this goal guns blazing. I will continue to update my sketch blog randomactsart.tumblr.com but I am going to try to hold back a bit and get better. I want to paint better, sculpt better, draw better, and just BE BETTER. As of right now I have nothing on my plate so I am taking that as a sign that I need to step up my game. I need to evolve if I am going to have a presence and if I am going to be able to consider myself an artist.

So as you can see, I have no specific things I want to achieve. There will not be a bulleted list of resolutions or hopes and dreams. In fact, I really only have some professional aspirations that I will not share here. I will continue to do my thing and if opportunities arise, then I will remain open to them. I am an ambitious person so I have many things I want to accomplish in my life and they require more than  year to come to fruition. So I am trying to think differently and not get hung up on small things.

As I wrap up this post I hope the new year finds you well. Best of luck to everyone. 2011 you have been kicked to the curb. 2012. You. Me. Now. Let's do this.