A Blueprint for Quitting Your Day Job

So Seth Godin and the team of awesome-makers over at the Domino Project came up with something called Trust30, a daily writing challenge that would take place over 30 days that will focus you onto doing something that we tend to forget about - trusting ourselves.

Monkey decided to take this challenge and has been posting over at his own blog Politics:Art:Culture on a daily basis. We thought that one post in particular, titled "A Blueprint for Quitting My Day Job" was especially relevant to all the artists out there following our blog. The topic was being bold - participants were asked what one thing that they have been afraid of pursuing would they pursue, what obstacles were in their way, and how were they going to overcome it.

While I can say that I'm pretty lucky in terms of owning some businesses, getting to paint, etc. etc., the one thing I've always been afraid to pursue is doing art full time. I've had numerous business ideas and different product lines and whatnot, but I've yet to really formulate a strong business plan and formulate a plan for a wholesale line or work.

Having a fall-back job that comes really, really easy (see last post), in a way has almost become a crutch. It's not the worst job ever, and it doesn't really challenge me most of the time, and I get to talk about (not actually do, a lot of the time) art with people. I do get to teach, which is cool, but basically, I'm pretty comfortable.

So why don't I just quit? Well, the surface reason is that I have huge student loan bills, rent, etc. to pay every month, and if I were to completely set out myself, I would not have any of that safety net to cover myself. Additionally, I would need to get some capital for marketing, photography, raw materials, etc. Since my monthly bills are so high, I can't afford to save. Lame.

Additionally, part of it is basic fear. Fear of failure. While the idea of failing isn't such a huge deal, I think that a failed business venture early on when I quit my dayjobs marked with the high price of failure (not being able to pay rent, getting me and Eve evicted) is frightening.

So how to go about defeating all these obstacles and doing it up right? The plan is to a)reduce risk, b)create capital, and c)make it happen.

First, reducing risk. First off, to defeat the fear of failure, I have to make it so that if I fail, nothing too bad will happen. I won't have to live on the streets, etc. etc.

In order to reduce risk, I need to basically do B, which is to create some capital. I can do this by working to create multiple alternative streams of income. This will be done via $20 illustrations, craft fairs, and getting a handcrafted license to sell on the streets of san francisco. Saving and eating out less will also help. Additionally, making a kickstarter video can also be awesome.

So I guess the last part is just doing it all. While this is an overly simplified plan of action, I already have the entrepreneurial know-how to make most of these things happen, so why not start today on my day off? Oh wait, I guess I will.

So that's Monkey's plan. What have you been afraid to achieve? How are you going to do it? What are you waiting for?

PS - Monkey is starting to do 5x7" paintings on watercolor paper for $20. He'll paint anything for you, but it will most definitely end up involving a monster in some way, shape, or form, but that's probably why you'd be buying an original painting from him anyway.

If you'd like to commission one of these little paintings, you can buy one (or more!) right here:

$20 Custom 5x7" Painting

Ex: If you told me to paint your lawn, it would probably end up like this:

Do You Choose to Be Ordinary?

Monkey here:

Life can be hard. Especially if you are chasing your dreams. We've been told that following our dreams is the hard route - we're supposed to just grow up and work crappy jobs and get married and have kids and then retire and call it a life. So we struggle with our ambitions and our reality, with what we hope for and what we see in the immediate future. Thus, for a great majority of us, life is hard. It beats us up at times, kicks us in the ribs, and then makes fun of us. It is not an easy road ahead for those that dare to follow their dreams.

The truth of the matter is that most people aren't going to reach their full potential and aren't going to achieve their life-long goals. For a whole crapload of reasons, they're not going to make it. They're going to settle for being ordinary, with ordinary lives and if they're happy with that, great for them. Don't get me wrong - I don't think that there is anything wrong with giving up or being ordinary, as long as you make that choice. That choice isn't for me, but I don't hold it against anyone if they do choose to be ordinary. It is a very, well, ordinary life path to take.

But for those of us that can't stand to be at a job we don't love, for those of us that want to chase that dream, for those of us that want to achieve more than the average person, for those of us that want to do what we love for a living, this is unacceptable. If you're reading this, chances are you are one of these people who yearn for something more.

Now, I truly believe that people are amazing and there is almost unlimited potential locked away in each and every one of us. Granted, it's harder for some of us to get to that potential than others, and some of us have had more help than others too. However, we all have the potential to reach our goals - but it's a choice we have to make.

We have to choose to be exceptional, or to be the outlier. We have to bust our asses to be extraordinary. There might be a few geniuses out there, but we have to come to terms that we aren't one of them. And neither is the rest of the 99.9% of the population. If you weren't born with some amazing, near-superhuman talent that less than 1 in 1 trillion people have, you're not a genius (plus, you wouldn't be reading this). Michael Jordan, Tiger Woods, Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, Walt Disney. All these guys were not geniuses. They practiced longer, they worked smarter, they failed and tried again and again and again and they never gave up. They asked for help when they needed it and forged a path no matter how bruised or beaten or tired they were.

The point is that when it comes down to it, we all have a choice to make. Do we decide to be the hero in our own stories or are we just going to be a supporting character? Do we decide to settle for what's familiar and safer or do we risk it and go for something frighteningly unfamiliar and new? Do we let the opportunities pass us by or do we jump at them with all our might and damn whether or not we'll land safely?

Yes, choosing to be extraordinary is scary as all hell. While if you've met me at a craft fair or at an art show or at my gallery or wherever, I'm probably not the first person you think would be completely frightened by life. But I am. I'm actually scared of a lot of things. I'm scared of not measuring up to my own ridiculously high (often unrealistic) expectations I set for myself. I'm scared that my art isn't good enough and that no one will pay for my paintings and I'll forever be the stereotype of the starving artist. I'm scared that I'll get turned down from galleries or art studio jobs. I'm scared of calling people I don't know on the phone. But in the end, what I'm scared of most is that I'm going to be ordinary.

So I do the best I can any given day to try and prove my fears wrong. I've failed often, and I try my best each time to learn something and to actually change my behavior and actions in order to prevent myself from failing again. Like we've said before, failure isn't fatal, and it's part of the learning process, but I'd still rather succeed than fail any day.

Some days I end up choosing to be ordinary, and other days extraordinary. My own personal challenge is to push the scale towards the extraordinary. Which are you going to choose today?

Inspiration: Psuedopod

The Nightmare Planter

Monkey + Seal have recently taken to listening to podcasts, which seem to be the best thing since sliced bread. One of which, has been helpful to get Monkey in the creepy, haunting mood that is suitable for painting a crap-load (a scientific unit of measurement), of monster paintings for his upcoming show. That podcast is Pseudopod.


Pseudopod is a weekly horror podcast, and thus far it's been pretty damn good. You can download them via itunes, which Monkey then listens to while he paints, while he's on the bus, walking between the Monkey + Seal cave and Big Umbrella Studios.

Listening to podcasts is great for us, as instead of listening to music on the way to work, or while painting, we can expose ourselves to new inspirations and ideas. Granted, we lose a bit in the transition back and forth when we're trying to paint and listen at the same time (see our post on the myths of multitasking to see what we mean), but overall it's really great.

So far most of the stories have been pretty awesome, and it's nice to be exposed to new writers of horror. The host's closing notes after the story are always interesting, tying in the theme of the story with real life and his own experiences. It's good storytelling and definitely worth a download or two or twenty.

So for all you fans of the creepy and dark, the supernatural and horrific, go check out the Pseudopod! You won't be disappointed.

Process: Painting "Alone in the Dark"

Monkey here today, for a quick run-down of my process while painting a very recent piece, which I call "Alone in the Dark." In the photo above, the weird blue light coming diagonally across the upper left is just a lens flare.

So for a figurative piece where I want to really convey a specific emotion, I shoot reference. While others might be masters of expressions without reference, I am not, so I got our digital camera, a little work lamp, a sheet of blue acetate, some masking tape, a black cloth, and asked for the assistance of an awesome model, Seal.

If you don't have someone else you can ask to model, you can always do it yourself. I must admit, it is much easier to work with someone else. If you can't afford to pay someone, ask other artists if they might need a model of their own, and do a trade-sie.


So the above photo is primarily the one I worked off of. I like the hand positions in this photo, but I wasn't completely sold on her head position. I skimmed through some other photos I had snapped in our little 10-minute photo shoot, and after doing some Photoshop work, adjusting the levels, adding a very transparent gradient of aqua, I ended up with this:

With this as my reference, I started to paint. I paint with acrylics, and I like using Liquitex Heavy Body acrylics. For this painting, I used my usual palette set-up, which consists of:

titanium white, unbleached titanium (lazy painter's warm white), mars black, yellow oxide, cadmium yellow light hue, burnt umber, cadmium red medium hue, alizarin crimson hue permanent, cerulean blue, ultramarine blue (green shade), veridian hue permanent, and dioxazine purple. I will sometimes add extra colors to the palette if I need a large quantity of a certain color that I don't want to mix (I also keep a tube of magenta and an aqua handy), but usually I just stick with these colors and mix everything.

I also got a tube of ivory black to warm up the black since I was doing a cool light, but you can just as well mix some alizarin into your black to warm it up a bit if you stick with mars black.

I did a direct drawing onto the canvas using watered-down burnt umber. I mainly went for general proportions and gesture at this point. So you can see, I didn't quite hit that target on my first go, but since acrylics dry fast and you can paint over stuff, I decided to fix it later and just start painting.

I laid in a dark black for the shadowy background and mixed up a nice green to really push the creepy atmosphere and emphasize the unearthly lighting situation (which is also coming from below, which you don't see very often and adds to the creep-factor).

I also laid in a green underpainting where the flesh would be. Why? Because I like the effect of laying down a blue-green in my portraits and then layering fleshtones on top, especially if you're putting them in green light.

I then blocked in the lights and darks of the shirt, using a thin black wash to fill in the shirt, as I didn't want to lose the form of the shirt too early, while I was still figuring out the folds and construction and form. If I was a crazier painter, I could probably have gone with some opaque black, but I didn't want to push it, so I took it easy. I hit the light parts with green, since that's the color of the light.

The next step was to paint over the green with some unbleached titanium mixed with a bit of cad red light and yellow oxide. I also added the shadows on the skin, and took a bit of time to carve out the shape of the hand.


So the above photo is taken after about 3 hours of work. I paint fairly fast, thanks to a Quick Studies class I took at Academy, but I had to slow down a bit since I hadn't attempted to do anything even remotely realistic in a while, and sort of forgot what I had learned.

Tthis next photo was taken after about another 3 hours of work. What did I do in these three hours to go from weird chalk-lady to a decent approximation of a scared Eve?


Well, I spent a good two hours or so really studying the folds and buttons on her shirt. For some reason, I get a kick out of painting collared shirts on people, so I ended up devoting a bit too much time to the clothing, but it turned out pretty swell.

I also slowly painted, and repainted, and repainted again Eve's face, working to smoothly blend and capture all the subtle colors that are in her face in the reference photo. I also had a bunch of facial proportions all wrong, so I repainted her nose about three times. The first time it was too small, then it was too low and big, and then it was too high, and then I figured it wasn't worth it to go for a perfect likeness and decided that the nose looked proportional and real to the painting and that was that.

I also took time to start painting the hands. I then realized, while painting, that something seemed funny, and somehow during the painting process I stopped using the photo reference, and fudged the hands quite a bit. After carving a bit away, repositioning some fingers, and generally undoing a lot of the preliminary mistakes I had made, I repainted the fingers.

And after another hour or two, I decided I was finished. During those last few hours, I pulled out some highlights on her hair, softened a lot of the cast shadows on her face, sculpted the eyes a bit more, rendered the lips, added a bit of detail to the hands, and repainted her neck so that the anatomy worked a bit better.



Ta-da! So after about 50 minutes of reference shooting and prep work, and about 9-11 hours of painting, the finished product is here. I saw the painting starting to take a pulp-horror paperback book look early on, and decided that I would try to keep it in that vein as opposed to going for ultra-realism (which I find I just don't have the patience for).

Oh yeah! By the way, I also use Golden brand Acrylic Glazing Liquid (Satin) to thin my paints if I want to sort of glaze over dried paint to smooth transitions or tint parts certain colors. I used a lot of medium while painting the hands and face, due to the high concentration of blood vessels close to the surface of the skin. Due to the green light literally going through the skin, hitting the red blood, and bouncing back, you get this weird mixture of cool pinks and warm greens, with strange transitions in-between.

I hope you learned something from this process post, and feel free to ask any specific questions in the comments. While this isn't the style I'm currently working in, it is nice to bust out a creepy painting that flexes some of my classical realism training that I got in school, and also balances my work so it's also more fun to bust out and do my regular sweaty monsters. Woo!

Gotta Do What You Love

Creepy? Disturbing? Monkey hopes so.

Monkey here:

After a long talk with Seal late Saturday night, I came to the realization about two things - I am extremely lucky to have a strong support system in place (ie Seal + friends), and that I've been unconsciously preventing myself from doing the type of art that I really want to do.

From an early age I've always been fascinated and enthralled by monsters. I had a huge book (similar to the size of my collegiate calculus textbook) about nearly every film monster that graced the screen until the mid-80's. I was reading Stephen King at 7, and the illustrations from the Scary Stories trilogy haunted my dreams.

Even to this day, great horror films are some of my favorite films ever. 28 Days Later and Let the Right One In are masterpieces. I also have a place in my heart for films like Aliens, Tremors, Predator, The Fly (1986 version), and tons of B-movie horror flicks. I do take offense to some of the more recent slasher/torture-porn films in the last decade, but for the most part, no matter how bad a horror movie is, if I have the time, I'll watch it.

However, when it comes to art, I've been struggling with the notion that I have to make art that really touches people on a deeper level. I felt like I needed to really say something; to inspire or empower. I wanted to make a difference in the world through art. And until recently, I thought that this was in stark contrast to the horrific material that I was really longing to create.

Eve helped me realize that I was creating the dreaded false dichotomy - I was making it an either-or situation when that really wasn't the case. I could paint monsters and demons and still say something meaningful, or still reach people at an emotional level. I thought I needed to be more clever or funny or wise than everyone else through my work, when really I just want to paint a bunch of scary monsters.

Whether or not the work I produce in the future has lots of symbolism, metaphors, and deep social commentary doesn't really matter. Eve pointed out that horror and tragedy are art forms that are centuries old - people still liked them for a reason. These pieces can act as a catharsis for the audience, allowing them to feel horror, fear, and sorrow without really having to go through the terrible acts that cause it. The viewers can feel relieved after the film is over, thinking "I'm glad that wasn't me," and can be thankful for what they do have.

Additionally, I've decided that changing the world through art doesn't necessarily mean inspiring the next generation of leaders through my artwork per se. I can sell t-shirts with my designs on them to raise money for charities. I can donate paintings to charities for auctions, and teach classes for underprivileged youth. There is lots and lots to be done, it's just a matter of finding my own way to do it.

I've realized that the hardest thing is releasing the rhino. It takes looking at it from a new perspective, and not getting boxed into the way that you think things have to be. I can just draw child-eating mothers and swamp beasts and demonic cults sacrificing towns and still be able to make a positive change on the world. I've found that your own mind tends to be your biggest prison, and it's all about figuring out what key fits to let yourself free.

I hope my story will help in some way..if anything, if you're dealing with your own personal cages and dichotomies and thoughts on what your art should be or what you think the world wants - you're not alone.

In the end, you have to create for yourself.


Thanks to Eve and everyone else who has been really supportive in my pursuit of art. I realize how lucky I am and I hope that everyone can find that support for your work. Keep on keeping on, and we can all change the world together.

Releasing the Rhino

Monkey here:

So I'll be honest. I just came up with that phrase "releasing the rhino" right now, but I think it's pretty apt metaphor at what I wanted to talk about today. Plus, as part of Monkey + Seal, we like metaphors that deal with animals.

Many times, we carry around a lot of baggage. Whether it's familial responsibilities, loans, or a looming urgency to save the world, I know I tend to carry around a lot of crap that affects my art in negative ways.

I know that while constantly thinking about art as a business has its advantages, sometimes I get wrapped up in the money and that gets me thinking about my huge college loans, and that gets me worried about whether or not I'm good enough of an illustrator to get jobs, and etc. etc. etc., the downward spiral continues and then I start painting desperately to try and make money, rather than painting because it's what I love.

Let's call this huge force of negativity "the rhino." It's a stubborn, powerful beast that basically pulls you where you it wants to go, which is generally down and out. Whether it's money, or what you think your parents think of you, or what your peers think, or whatever it is, it can be frustrating and tiresome to fight the rhino. I mean, seriously, it's a RHINO for crying out loud, they're huge!

So, we have to learn how to release the rhino. I know this is hard to do, but it's the key to getting stuff done and being successful. The rhino can take what you, the real you, love, and turn it into something painful. If it's about acceptance and self-esteem, the rhino turns painting into just another thing they won't love you for. If it's about money, the rhino turns dancing into necessary, painful work. Once your love is turned into something painful by the rhino, it's hard to love it and you won't find that you enjoy it. At that point, why bother?

Well, you should bother because you love it. The pain isn't coming from what you like to do, it's coming from that giant rhino that's pulling you down and the straps are cutting into your shoulders and you're tired and grumpy and life stinks...because of the rhino!

So, cut it free. Release the rhino. How to do that is going to be different for everyone. Sometimes it's about taking a nap. Others it's yoga or meditation, or writing in journals, or playing a quick video game. Do whatever you have to do to center yourself and realize that to succeed at doing what you love, you have to love it.

It's not time to face the rhino yet. The rhino is like the last boss in the video game of life. You have to level up and gather courage and wisdom and experience and new tools and techniques before you can take on the rhino and finish the game and win your success. Just keep doing what you love, just to do it, and you'll find it's a lot easier to face the rhino later on.

In my case, I have to keep painting and experimenting and drawing because that's what I love to do. After I finish the illustrations and paintings, I then have the option to go and examine any business prospects - making prints, selling them at craft fairs, putting them in my portfolio, but that has to come after the art is done.

Are you fighting a rhino? Be honest. If you are, see what you can do about letting that beast go and get on with your love. How do you release the rhino?

If you know what you want, then be specific

We all (hopefully) have goals and dreams. Whether it's living off your art (like Monkey + Seal's dream), or becoming the highest grossing actor ever, or being able to get 40 regular marshmallows in your mouth and still being able to say "chubby bunny," we often have some sort of benchmark or achievement that we are striving for.

Sometimes, your goal is specific. For example, to be the highest grossing actor ever, you need to start making tons of money through acting. Sometimes, if your goal is being an internationally-recognized artist, it might be a bit more nebulous. How many countries do you have to be known in? Who has to recognize you as an artist in said countries?

Monkey made this one of his goals a year back, hoping to be invited to show his paintings around the world by some of the largest lowbrow/pop surrealist galleries in places like Sao Paolo, Brazil, and Tokyo, Japan. However, he never really consciously stated that. He chose his goal to simply be "an internationally recognized artist."

When your goal is more of an internalized concept like Monkey's was, you'd be surprised as to how quickly you can achieve it. Monkey has been selling zines overseas for two years now via our Etsy site, and recently, he sold some ties and prints to some fans in Australia (thanks everyone!). Technically, he has now been recognized by someone as an artist outside the United States, thus qualifying him as an internationally-recognized artist.

Sure, that's not what Monkey really meant. It's not what you probably think of when you hear "internationally recognized artist," but the term is sort of a vague one. While Monkey is happy he hit this goal, he's made his goal more specific, and is still waiting to hear back from curators abroad.

The point of all this is that if you have a broad goal and are constantly working towards it, you may have already achieved it in a sense, without even knowing it. If this this is the case, congratulate yourself for a job well done. If you find that this is a bit of a let-down, that you didn't really get what you wanted, then it's fate's way of telling you to be a bit more specific with what you want.

The realization of knowing that you're already gotten what you wished for is a bit sobering at times, and the feeling of "this isn't what I wanted" isn't the greatest. Many times Monkey + Seal will realize that we were asking for the wrong thing, or perhaps we didn't even know what we wanted in the first place. Use these "mini" milestones and learn from them, and use them to figure out what you really want, and set your sights on it. We think that once you figure out what you want in your heart of hearts, the steps to getting it will be clearer than you could ever imagine. Now it'll just be up to you to taking those steps.

Create something worthwile

This guy feels like he hasn't created anything worthwhile

Monkey here:

I have to create. Whether it's making stickers I'll never post up or painting huge acrylics or even just blogging, I have to stay in motion and keep on producing something. The trick is I have to keep making sure that what I'm creating is really creating and not just false ego-building. Bejeweled Blitz (BJB from here out) and other Facebook games are the largest opiates of the masses. I admit, I'm not immune, as I constantly strive for making it to at least the top 3 on my BJB leaderboard. Really though, what does that accomplish?

It makes me feel awesome, when I really haven't done anything to be awesome. Not to trample on the dreams of anyone who makes a living off video games (playing, coding, creating, or otherwise), but honestly I feel like it's just a fake emotional boost that keeps you coming back every week for more (since the leaderboards are wiped clean every Tuesday morning).

Make sure that you're spending your time doing stuff that matters to you. It doesn't have to matter to me, as if you want to be #1 on BJB every week that's your passion. But as I try to wean myself off the addictive teat of facebook video games, I want to make sure that my time and energy are better placed networking, writing decent blog posts, and making art.

As much as we all say we're addicted to BJB, or Farmville, or Mafia Wars, or Call of Duty, or whatever, I don't think a lot of us realize how addicted we really are. By accomplishing something in the game, we are getting really neurotransmitters flowing that make us feel good, and this is reinforcing the action that leads us to that feeling - playing more of these games.

How do you kick the habit? If you try to slowly get off the habit, I recommend kitchen timers so you limit yourself to how much to play. But seriously, going cold turkey seems like the way to go for me. But you have to make sure that you really ditch as many ways of going back as you can.

When I kicked WoW, it literally was me canceling my account and that was that. Do I still miss flying around on my windrider and unleashing flurries of arrows on unsuspecting squishies? Oh most definitely. But if you're like me and can give up entire days to gaming, you have to choose between being great at gaming, and being great at something offline.

I'm not trying to be a downer for any gamers, and for many of you casual gamers out there who can walk away easily, more power to you. But as someone in a field that is so subjective who has to get my art out in front of as many people as possible in order to survive, I honestly don't have the time for that.

Thus, after you read this, I will have deleted BJB from my iphone and removed it from my FB profile, so I can't keep going back. I honestly really, really, really want to change the world, and nobody ever did that while tethered to video games (although feel free to prove me wrong on this one). My goal isn't to be the best WoW PvPer, or the person with the highest BJB score in the world. My goal is to become an internationally-acclaimed artist.

Like I said before, I have to create, and now, I'm choosing to create something that's going to place me one step toward my goal, rather than keeping me nice and docile where I am.

Fighting paralyzation

Monkey here, to talk about a recent experience of mine fighting fear/inaction, and how I got out of it.

So the other day (on my day off from my retail job), I was sitting around compiling my list of things to do, and it sort of got overwhelming. It was all great stuff, but I also tend to put huge projects on my to-do lists, which I find I need to stop doing. My list was looked like this:

-rebrand Little Yeti
-finish Hyphen paintings
-digital illustrations
-card designs
-zine fest reg. update

Now while all this stuff sounds good, besides the "zine fest reg. update," these are all quite hefty projects. "rebrand Little Yeti" probably consists of at least 10 hours of design work, 5 hours or so of photo editing, and about a week's worth of me stumbling through html and xml trying to hobble together a working website.

Note to self and to everyone else: don't put items like this on your to-do list. On top of that, my enormous students loans are going to start coming into repayment, and my retail job definitely does not cover them, so I'm going to have to figure out some way to make more money pretty quickly. This anxiety, plus a monstrous to-do list did not bode well, and it just stressed me out and made me sit and stare at the computer screen.

Thankfully, Eve was around to let me talk things through with her, and then I quickly just had to start doing something. I started by throwing away the to-do list and just working on a digital speed paint. Even if it was just a quick little in-color sketch in photoshop, it was the act of creating something and finishing it that sort of broke me out of my slump.

I know I'm extremely fortunate that I have someone supportive that I can talk to. If you don't have someone you can share with, talk it out in the comments below, or stop by our facebook page and drop us a note. We will certainly do our best to send some positive energy your way and some encouragement.

If you don't feel comfortable reaching out, we highly suggest keeping a journal, or writing it out, or finding a quiet place and talking it out to yourself. Just getting all your anxieties and fears and worry out is the first step to overcoming them. When you can "get it all out" and really go back and realize that it's probably not as fatal as it seems, that's when you can push forward and start doing small actions that will help propel you forward towards big actions.

Take things in bite-sized chunks. Although I'm not going to completely rebrand Little Yeti tonight, you can be sure that I might just double-check the typography in one design, or I might make a little tweak here and there to another. It sounds stupid, but really just putting one foot in front of the other works.

Anyway, I hope this helps and keep on keepin' on!

7 Ways to Make Ordering Wedding Invitations Easier (and Cheaper)

The descriptive (yet lengthy) title of Monkey's first e-book is "7 Ways to Make Ordering Wedding Invitations Easier (and Cheaper)."

Monkey has been staying up until 3-4am every night for the past week making sure that this guide was ready to release on Sunday, and he managed to actually get it up for download by Saturday afternoon. Huzzah! Many thanks to everyone who gave/is giving feedback, and especially to Seal whose Narrative Theory/English degree helped out a ton!

Anyway, feel free to go to www.monkeyandseal.com/guides.html to download "7 Ways to Make Ordering Wedding Invitations Easier (and Cheaper)" today for free!

Now, since that project is done, Monkey is starting brainstorming his next guide(s), as well as working on some new projects for the Alternative Press Expo (which we just sent our registration in for!).

We both just finished submitting our work to the Academy of Art's Spring Show, so cross your fingers for us that we both get work in! Woo! More on submitting on Wednesday - so don't forget to stop by in a few days!

Monkey's Mini Guide to Wedding Invitations

Hi everyone! Monkey here, with a quick little self-promotional piece today. I've been working on a little itty-bitty guide for all those recently engaged couples out there who are just starting on choosing their wedding invitations.

After selling wedding invitations for the past three/four years, I've noticed that since most couples are getting married for the first time, they do not have a whole lot of experience in choosing wedding invitations. Many times this leads to me (as the person helping the couple order the invitations) asking the same questions again and again, which lead to couples spending anywhere between 2-6 hours with me working on their invitations, sometimes spread out over multiple weeks. While I am more than happy to spend this time with people, I often hear about how many other aspects of the wedding they have to deal with, so I figure if I could help speed up the ordering process, they'd be less stressed, my job would be easier, and everyone wins!

Thus, I've decided to write a short little downloadable guide titled and checklist for people to read before they even step foot in a stationery store. This way, they can deal with some stumbling points early on, so they don't waste precious quarters feeding parking meters (at least, that's what a lot of my customers have to deal with).

Anyway, I'll be launching the guide this coming weekend, although I guess it's not really a true "product launch" because it'll be free, but just mark your calendars! Woo woo!

Saturday Process: The monster lady

Today's process post is by Monkey, who will take you through a coloring of a illustration of some monster lady (who is holding a fish).

Hi everyone! So today I decided to work a bit more details than I usually do in terms of my pencils/linework. I started out in my sketchbook with a HB pencil, and roughed out this drawing. I then had Eve add something, and she chose to just add a little fish. Honestly, I was hoping she would do an environment for the character (since she's amazing and I'm not as experienced as she is), but I got a cute fish, so I'll take it.
After scanning the pencil drawing in, I then proceeded to multiple the drawing layer, and create a new painting layer underneath. I then started in blocking in color, not worrying too much about light and darks (as I took care of the basic lighting via pencil), and more about overall color harmony. Everything is a bit pastel-like at this stage, as I don't want to get too saturated yet, and since I'm dealing with a triad (yellow hair, blue jeans, pinky (ie red) skin and lips), I have to be careful not to make it clash too much.
Next, I throw in a gray gradient to give it a sense of a light source, which has to match with the light source that I first indicated by the shading of the character. I also decide to give her green eyes and blood-soaked red lips.

I want to give the illustration a bit of a mood, so I decide that the values are all waaaay too high key (ie. all the values are really light) and thus I play around with contrast, brightness, and levels to bring it down quite a bit. I add some blood splatters to her shirt, fish, and teeth.



Next, unfortunately, comes the "and then you suddenly have a cake" part, as I got a bit carried away fixing things and I forgot to take more intermediate steps of the painting. At this point, I realized that with the way I lighted the monster's body, her shadow should have been going behind her, not in front of her. Thus, I had to correct that, make a lot of the values darker, I threw in some wood textures behind her for a background, created a plane change where the wall hits the ground, added an overhead lamppost (outside of the picture plane), and hid more of her body in shadow.


So there you are, from pencil sketch to sort of a finish. In reality, I need to either move the light source over (to justify why so much of her face is lit up), or make more of her face and body darker. Also, the value change from light to shadow on her feet, leg, and arms could be made more apparent in order to really put the rest of her body in the shadows. Well, an artist's job is never really done - generally you just run out of time, motivation, energy, inspiration, or money, and that's when you call it a day.

Hope this was helpful and interesting, and thanks for reading!

Rough recipe - Vegan Hamburg Soup

So although the title seems pretty contradictory, Monkey + Seal got creative in the kitchen the other night and came up with this new tasty soup! While perhaps the photo doesn't really capture the full appetizing nature of this, we never cook for presentation, but for taste!

Monkey really missed French Onion Soup (one of his favorites when he ate meat), but after being vegetarian for the past couple of years, he hasn't tasted any in a long, long time. Thus, he figured he might simulate some of the pleasing qualities of the soup with this creation.

Since Monkey was trained in a Co-Op kitchen and learned how to cook by seasoning to taste, he never got the hang of writing down recipes - especially not exact quantities. So please bear with him as he (tries) to teach you how to cook this awesome vegan delight.

Ingredients:
-4-5 cloves of garlic
-oregano
-basil
-salt + pepper
-rosemary (or rosemary salt, yay!)
-vegan soy mozzarella
-1 big leek
-1 vegan beef patty (we used Morningstar Vegan Grillers)
-crap-load of vegetables (note: crapload is the technical term for a whole lot of stuff...we did a celerac root, a handful of chard, 4-5 small radishes, 1 large watermelon daikon, a head of broccoli, some carrots, and a small potato. You can really put whatever you want...think italian soups..)
-1 hamburger bun
-some pasta (1/4 to 1/3 pound of whatevs)

1. So in a soup-pot-thingy, boil some water and cook the pasta al dente (ie..almost cooked, but still pretty tough). Drain in a colander and set aside someplace. I'd also run some cold water on it so they don't all stick together.
2. Dump the water from the pot and dry it. Put some veggie oil in it and loosely chop the garlic cloves and leeks. Throw the garlic in first, let it cook a bit, then add the chopped leek. Stir so they don't burn. Once they're sorta cooked, add about 1/2 pot of water to the pot. Bring to a boil.
3. Chop the veggies (the smaller the quicker your soup will be done) and put them in according to how slowly they cook (the roots went in first, the leafy stuff later).
4. Season. Yes this is oversimplified, but you just take it as it goes. I used dried oregano and basil, and added about physically as much as the pepper and salt.
5. Let the veggies cook til they're as soft as you want them. Add in the pasta and turn down the head to medium (like a 3-4).
6. Tear up the hamburger bun into tiny pieces and mix them into the soup.
7. Slice the soy cheese into strips and lay them down on top of the soup. I kinda pushed them down just under the surface of the soup so they get nice and gooey, cuz I like cheese that way.
8. Once the cheese melts to your desired consistency, remove from heat, spoon into bowls, and serve!

The soup pot we make served two. Note that we ONLY ate soup for dinner (and an olive baguette from La Boulange) and also I am a ravenous beast that tends to have a hearty appetite. So, from what I've seen, if you're serving this as just part of a meal, then it can probably serve 6-8 small-medium eaters, or maybe 4 hungry souls.

Anyhoo, that's enough cooking with Monkey. Stay tuned for more art!

Screenprinting Squeegees!

So after a huge delay (that was unfortunately mostly Monkey's fault) he finally got his squeegees in. Monkey had previously been using the equipment at the Academy of Art, but now that he finished, he was slowly building up his collection of screens. However, he had forgotten that he needs squeegees as well, and the ones they sell at art stores by Speedball really just don't do the job properly.

So, he ordered some from Creative Screen Technologies in San Leandro (where he also got his screens) and due to a hectic work schedule, the squeegees were sent back to the manufacturer, then resent back = double shipping charge and an extra week and a half of delays.

On the good side, now all Monkey needs to do is get some heavy-duty screws for his clamps and he'll be back in action printing from home now!

Monkey is looking at a few options in SF to rent studio space, as having all the fancy equipment is nice, but at least he's made sure he can do it from home!

Process: Designing and Finding Inspiration Everywhere

This is Monkey here, and today I'll be talking about the design of my personal business cards which led to a new diptych of paintings.

So first off, for whatever reason, whether it be the creepiness or the iconography or just weirdness, I've always associated myself with skulls. My old logo was something like this:
So it was natural that when I was designing ties, I came up with this:
So, I ended up designing the front of my business card to look like this:
Using a scan of the original tie design, I changed up the crossbones to be paintbrushes, added a splatter texture that I created a while back by soaking a brush in ink and just going at a large sheet of paper. After scanning and saving it, I now have a really awesome, natural-looking texture that I can whip out whenever I need that grunge look.

So then, I realized that I probably should put a photo of my painting on my business card, since a)that's what most artists do, and b)it makes sense to show off your work. However, I was torn as I really liked the pink and black design with the skulls and the "create or die" underneath it (a motto I plan to live by). Then, inspiration hit. Duh, why don't I just do a painting of the "create or die" dealy? (slaps forehead). Duh.

In my paintings (most of which are not up on my website yet -_- ) I deal with the exploration of the hierarchy between text and image, realism and graphic representation, order of words altering meanings, and the nuances of language. So, it came to me that by having the order of the words be "create" then "die," it gives the reader the idea that I'm advocating the creation over the dying. I thought it would be then interesting to use almost the same image but switching the words around. I also wanted to keep the numbers of letters the same in the first and second word, so then I did another painting that says "death or art."

Believe it or not, these are the same color..stupid weird lighting in my apartment..

The top photo is longer cuz I formatted it for business cards and had to get clever with the stamp tool in photoshop to extend the canvas border.

I then decided to use a contrasting color (well, not a perfect contrast, but you get the point) on the back. I brought in the original grunge text, added some hand-drawn elements, and here you've got the back of my card:
Anyway, I guess what the point of all this was to highlight how what seem like problems or setbacks can be the best (although unlikely) place to find inspiration. I ended up not having to compromise my original design and ended up with not only a business card design but also two new paintings. Often I get the biggest inspiration when I'm frustrated or completely at my wit's end when dealing with a problem.

Instead of trying to bash your way through problems (as tempting as that may be, especially for me), I find that staying fluid and constantly looking for new ways of viewing your problem can lead to unexpected and novel solutions. Also, I like to think across mediums. From what started as a tie design led to a new logo which led to a new business card which led to two new paintings. Think about some cool doodles you already have. Maybe that's your next painting or postcard design. Anyway, I hope this was informative and helpful!

Monkey's Ties are up in the shop!

After only about a month of procrastination/delays/the holiday monster/etc., Monkey has finally gotten all five of his necktie designs up in our shop!

While the designing and printing of the ties are great fun, even more fun was the photoshoot! Monkey had Seal take photos of him doing silly poses, looking all grim and whatnot. We have compiled all of the staged shots here for your viewing pleasure. Which one is your favorite? Also, if any of you are talent scouts looking for male models, Monkey is interested :P

Have a great Friday everyone!

Monkey's Silkscreen Book, pt. 1

So in Monkey's last semester of study at the Academy of Art, he took a silkscreen portfolio class. Never having attempted to work on a single project an entire 15 weeks, Monkey was often frustrated and wanted to do other projects. While he ended up doing lots of prints on the side, he nevertheless buckled down and finished a twelve double-sided page looseleaf book (so 24 pages in all).

All the pages pinned up for the final class.

The book is a reproduction of a fictional biologist who lives in a world (Buuterra) that has just discovered flight. Centered in this world is a huge mountain range that is too high for anyone (until now) to climb. When the scientists (including the biologist's mentor) on the maiden voyage of the first airship goes missing, this biologist is recruited to go after them to find out what happened to his mentor and what strange creatures lie beyond the foggy peaks of the mountains.

The map of the Heart of Buuterra, where the story takes place.

Part fractured novel, part naturalist's sketch book, Monkey's book project was printed in an edition of 10, with 1 Artist's proof book. They are bound loose leaf in a faux leather portfolio. The books run for $330 and will be up on Etsy within the next week or so (which really translates into: sometime before the new year).

Stay tuned for part 2 of this post that will have scans of many of the pages, including the full text of the first two pages which set the background for the entire story.

In other Monkey news, Seal just gave Monkey a haircut, as he was growing more and more woodwose/wildman like, and needed a trim. Many thanks to Seal for doing a great job at grooming the Monkey!

A quarter way to Cousin It.

Trimmed and back to civilization.

THANK YOU!!

Monkey + Seal would like to extend a huge thank you to everyone who supported us last night (and the past few weeks) to make Handmade Ho Down such an amazing success. Everyone who volunteered their time, bought stuff, just showed up and hung out, let us get out of class/work early, who dealt with Monkey's lack-of-sleep-craziness - we really couldn't have done it without you.

Seal sold out of a few of her prints and Monkey sold a bunch of ties and is almost out of an entire edition of prints. We made a lot of good contacts and met tons of awesome people. Thank you for your continued support and we hope to see you at our next show!

Handmade Ho Down needs some volunteers!

Hello everyone!

As you probably know (or maybe you don't, that's okay too) Monkey is one of the committee members that is putting on the Handmade Ho Down urban craft fair on December 3rd! It'll be a really awesome event, but the Monkey needs your help!

He needs more people to sign up to help guard the VIP room (yes, there's a VIP room!), sell raffle tickets, staff the info booth, etc., etc. Ideally you would sign up for a 2-hour shift, but if that's not possible, Monkey will take an hour shift - after all, we are relying on your good will to make this event uber-successful!

Anyhoo, if you are able to help out, please email Monkey at info (at) monkeyandseal.com. He (and the rest of the committee) will be super appreciative!

PS - there will be some stuff you can do earlier (ie. pre-6pm!) . There is even stuff you can do before then! Just let me know!

Late Wednesday post (aka Thursday post)

So first off, sorry this is late. Second, in compliance with the new laws concerning bloggers and testimonials, etc., we would like to say that unless specifically notified, Monkey + Seal do not do paid referrals, endorsements, etc. If we talk about a product, we do not get anything via affiliate programs or anything. We endorse things because we believe in them, not because we got paid. And if we were to get paid, we wouldn't do it unless we believed in the product (and we'd notify you too). With that, Monkey would like to talk about a book today:

So I found a listing of good books that every illustrator should read (as well as some killer tips for upcoming illustrators on the fabulous and amazingly talented Yoko Shimizu's website. If you haven't heard of her, go to her site right now and check out all her amazing illustrations. Seriously.


Anyhoo, I ended up buying (and reading) all the books listed, and I found that the single most powerful read was Paul Arden's It's Not How Good You Are, It's How Good You Want To Be.

It's a pretty awesome read that you can pick up for cheaps through most online sources - we got a used copy :) It's a simple, short read written by one of the world's top advertising agents. Even though it's specifically for ad people, it really is applicable for any creative who wants to get paid to make art.

It has awesome pieces of advice like "Getting fired can be a positive career move," and "the person who doesn't make mistakes is unlikely to make anything." All in all, it keeps me motivated and thirsty for success. When I think thoughts like "I wish I was able to fully support myself from my art," I realize that I'm thinking small and change my thoughts to something like "I want my art to be more famous than McDonalds/Coca-Cola/Jesus." Gotta think big if you want big things to happen.

It also reminds me that making mistakes is alright, and that every mistake is just a learning opportunity to hep you on your way to international superstardom. I highly recommend it, and I think you can get it for under $8 if you play your cards right.