I watched this episode of the Twilight Zone a couple of nights ago. I was first exposed to it a number of months back at my work (my locker is in the team center, so they usually have something playing on the TV most of the time). I wasn't able to finish the episode at that time, but what I did see of it had me intrigued. For those of you who aren't familiar with it, the basis of the episode is simple: A man obsessed with being called the best pool player around gets his chance to play for eternal glory when the spirit of the best pool player in town comes back for one high-stakes game where victory means life and defeat means death.
The concept is simple, but the theme is universal: Sometimes being the best comes with unintended consequences. In the case of this episode, the man does ultimately become the legend he always wanted to be, but in doing so becomes tied to the burden of being the best even in the afterlife.
I think in any field there's a price to pay if you want to be the king of the mountain. The man in this episode has allowed his life to be completely devoured by his obsession of being the best pool player in history. The spirit, "Fats" Brown, tries to warn him at numerous points throughout the story that there is more to life than just the game. He was the best not just because he put in the time, but because he also lived outside of the game too.
I think it's easy to forget to actually live life sometimes when we're being consumed by the daily minutia of our Facebook-infused and Internet-lined lives. That status update will always be there when you return. Get outside and enjoy the sun.
I've been printing out physical copies of my sketches for my long-gestating swimsuit magazine. At this point I have 14 sketches either done or close enough to being done that I can consider them finished. My estimated sketch count is 20, so at this point I need to do 6 more to have the final number of sketches for my swimsuit magazine. Completing the sketches is just the beginning. The next part is to go back over them and ink them to get them ready for coloring. I'm not sure yet if I will do that digitally or physically.
The images are the biggest chunk of the project, but even once those are completed, I have a bit of writing I'll need to do. Besides featuring gorgeous art, I also want the magazine to function as a type of introduction to several of my characters and their respective debut stories. I wouldn't be the first to produce an illustrated swimsuit magazine (though it's really going to be more of a cross between American Curves and Playboy), but I think I would be among the first to create a project of this type. Just gotta keep moving along!
"No one can ever give you what you do for yourself."
I read that poignant quote a couple of weeks ago while at a doctor's office with my parents. It was from an article in Reader's Digest where the writer was recalling the construction of a toy boat he was inspired to build by his grandpa. His grandpa told him that phrase and he carried it with him all his life.
Sometimes a certain word or phrase can unlock feelings and thoughts in the mind that were previously unreachable. All manners of things can be gifted in life. You can be given money, clothes, vehicles, houses, toys, and the like, but you can never be gifted what you do for yourself. An artist can never be given a sketch he created for himself. A musician can never be gifted a song he composed on his own.
My birthday was just a couple of weeks ago and every year I find myself wondering what it is I'm accomplishing in life. I've done a lot of art, yes. I've published a book, yes. In spite of those things, I still feel hollow like I've not yet ascended to my potential. Perhaps I'm just a bit impatient for as far as I feel I've come, I still have a ways yet to go. I know these types of doubts are not unique to me as everyone faces their own fears and obstacles in life. That said, I know I am the only one who can change my future for I hold the keys of will.
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For those of you who haven't seen the finished image, this was the completed Sarah from Titanfall pic. I was more or less pleased with how this finally came out. For coloring this image, I used a picture reference for capturing the way light would be falling on the character. Another fun thing I put in here that nobody to this point has noticed is the Call of Duty: Ghosts logo faintly crossed out in the background. I own both games for Xbox One, but the number of hours I've spent on Titanfall has thus far outweighed the time spent on Ghosts. I may do more of Sarah in the future, but at this point in time I'm spending most of my creative energies into getting an original project off the ground.
