REFLEKTION

ALERT: Please excuse my not-fully-explained ideas and thoughts. This is just a stream of whatever popped into my mind. I'm not the smartest guy but I think a lot.

WHAT HAVE YOU LEARNED IN THIS CLASS ABOUT BEING AN ARTIST?

It's hard to answer this and act like I learned this in ONLY concepts...so I'll acknowledge that I'm taking from 2D also...

I think the worst thing you can do as an artist is to do what's popular...or what's expected. I really really don't wanna sound stuck up but when I talk to my parents about my classes I often explain others work as typical "art class art". What I mean by that is just the way that when we compare each others projects side by side in 2D... or one after another in concepts....most of them look the same. Doesn't mean they're bad...but very rarely does one piece STAND OUT. It seems as if a lot of people only know how to create art from a school project standpoint rather than a creative standpoint.

I may be way over my head here and sound like I have an ego....but I'm sick of seeing the same stuff. I don't get excited over seeing alot of my classmates work...sounds bad but it's true. I don't know what to say sometimes when critiquing because it's just the same stuff over and over. I will not claim to be the BEST artist...I am not...yet anyways. But I do try to do things differently and stand out.

And just to be clear...I get super excited about lots of art I see online. Again, I'm not stuck up...I just love creative stuff....and yeah I guess I might have high standards.

I only wanna encourage people to go beyond what's expected.

WHAT DO YOU WANNA DO IN LIFE WITH YOUR ART?

Too much probably. I may have mentioned this before but I dream of being a visual dictator. I want to get in my car....drive to Target and see billboards I designed on the way there....and then once inside I see album packages I designed....and magazine covers I worked on....and logos for this and that in which I designed...

I want to be everywhere.

I want to go HUGE with my work. I wanna have huge murals on the sides of massive buildings that are so in your face that people complain....but they still look amazing.

I'm not gonna lie...I want fame off my work. Why?? Because that opens the doors for me to spread my stuff further. I don't dream of dollar signs but I do dream of accomplishing and being able to show my kids everything I've done one day. The money will come eventually. Fortunately, I'm already making decent money off my work. But obviously I have such a long way to go.

I can see myself creatively directing projects more than anything in the future. I'm really good at making a brand and having it seamlessly form together...but I'm not the best painter or drawer or cut paper-er or whatever.

I could ramble forever but I really want to eventually open my own design firm....creative firm....and simply create awesome stuff. It's not about me. It's about the client and making their visuals look amazing. We can make the world such an AWESOME place through visuals and architecture. It's awesome to think about. It's possible. We can make things better via art and design. Art and design controls the way we think and the way we live.

Lastly.....I promise....lastly about this......I know I have such a long way to go. But I'm gonna get there if I'm living. It may not be until I'm 50 but I'll get there. And you'll hear about it.

HAVE YOU CONSIDERED AN INTERNSHIP DURING YOUR COLLEGE EXPERIENCE? IF SO, WHERE WOULD YOUR IDEAL LOCATION BE TO HAVE AN INTERNSHIP.

Yes. Charlotte Bobcats. Graphic Design intern. Please.

WHERE WILL YOU BE IN 5 YEARS?

Ohhhhh mannnnnnnnn. I'll be 25. I'll probably have been working somewhere as a designer for a year or two by then. It's hard to say. I have legit connections to the music business and famous people so I could be in LA or NY helping out a rapper or pop star with their creative direction...or I could be here in Charlotte working for the Charlotte Bob....errr Hornets. We'll see what happens.

If it's up to me I'll definitely have a girlfriend that I'm so in love with.

My brand will have been up and running for a few years by then. Hopefully I'll have it in local stores by then.

This is a hard question. I really have no idea what's going to happen with my life but I know what I want.

I want love and I want to succeed at doing what I love.

WHAT IS MOST IMPORTANT TO YOU IN LIFE?

Love, family and my dreams.

If I don't have my family, I don't know how I'd allow myself to live...honestly. I need my family. My sister is my best friend and my parents are great. I need them. Of course I'll move out and do my own thing and create my own path but they are forever so important to me. I wanna make them proud.

I've talked about love alot. It's the one thing I've never experienced as far as a GF type thing goes. I've never had a GF. I know it's not the most important thing ever....but I want it so bad because I feel like I'd be truly happy having someone who wanted me.

I'll be open here and say I don't chase girls for sex or anything even remotely close to that like others do. It's just not in me to do that.

The typical response I get from others regarding this is just.....be patient......girls will want you.....blah blah blah.

But it's hard to be patient! I haven't experienced anything that gives me hope that anyone will ever love me. It's just hard to imagine. I can imagine succeeding in the art world...but I can't imagine being in love and having someone hug me like I'm the greatest person ever. I can't. I don't know how to get that. It really makes me so sad. I feel unwanted.

My dreams are the one thing no one can ever take from me. People can hurt me and make me feel bad but I will always fall asleep dreaming of what I want. I have to protect and nurture my dreams until I can make them reality. I think I can do it...I just need time. Luckily, time is a luxury.

I'm holding back a lot of thoughts here....but yes....love, family and my dreams. That's all that matters to me. If I didn't have my family....or the chance of being loved by a beautiful kind caring woman...or if my dreams were gone.....I'd rather not live.

HOW WILL YOU BALANCE CAREER AND FAMILY?

If I find love and have kids....they will be what inspires me to do awesome stuff. I will depend on them to be my everything as much as they depend on me for financial support/father-husband love. I don't need anything from them other than to just be alive.

I won't struggle to balance things. I may be super busy but I will treat a woman like a queen one day and my kids will be put in the best position possible to make their dad look bad one day because they're so awesome.

ART MAKING CAN BE LONELY AND ISOLATING WORKING IN THE STUDIO. HOW WILL YOU ENTER AN ARTISTIC COMMUNITY ONCE YOU LEAVE ART SCHOOL?

I'm not sure honestly. I need to figure this out...I don't have the answer at the moment.

I do plan on creating my own community tho. I will have my own art shows and they will be amazing. I really hope I will, at least. I'm gonna do it all myself.

I don't believe in myself enough to think that someone else will cosign my work and put it in a gallery...but I'll make my own gallery and hopefully get people to come...

I'll shut up. I sound dumb but I have lots of ideas.

I'm really lonely. I don't know how I'm gonna be involved to be honest.

SHOULD ART BE MADE FOR AN AUDIENCE OR FOR OURSELVES?

Both. It depends on who you are. Do whatever makes you happy. I find joy in sharing everything I do and getting instant feedback. Others like to draw pictures and be happy because they created it for themselves...that's so awesome. I hope everyone just creates in a way that makes them happy.

CAN ART CHANGE THE WAY PEOPLE THINK?

Yes. Like I said, we can literally change the world via design and art. Sounds insane but I believe the world can be so much better if we improve the simplest things via art and design.

Art is everywhere. Someone...talented or awful....created everything around you. Steve Jobs once said.. roughly.. that things seem lot more accomplishable once you realize everything around you was created by people who aren't any smarter than you are.

I hope I can have an effect on the world somehow. I wanna make my mark. I gotta figure it out.

WHAT IS YOUR RESPONSIBILITY AS AN ARTIST, AS A CITIZEN OF YOUR COUNTRY?

To make awesome stuff.

I don't need to spread a message or have my art show people how bad things are in the world. I can and probably will do that tho...but my responsibility is to make the best visuals possible. Things must look amazing at all times.

I'm sick of seeing terribly designed flyers and awful billboards and logos and album covers and etc....we can make things so much better.

Real artists and architects can enter a store and tell you how things would work better if we change things visually and worked on adjusting the way things are arranged....and more.

I don't wanna seem ignorant but I really think we can make the world a better place by simply making everything more awesome visually.




I feel bad that I haven't fully explained all my ideas. I need to make a huge blog post explaining everything better. I have a lot to say whether it's viewed as important or not.

Thanx for at least looking at this tho, I really appreciate it.