First Post Evar

Hey all,

Well I guess it would only be proper to introduce myself. My name is Kristen and I'm a super-senior at Marywood University. It's a nice little school in my hometown where I've taken up Illustration with a minor in Biology. It's an interesting combination that stemmed from my interest in being a medical illustrator. In my Junior year, I decided that medical illustration wasn't exactly my cup of tea, though, and I now look forward to (hopefully) working as a character or concept artist once I graduate. Maybe. I hope.

I was recently laid off from my job at a newspaper ad agency in a nearby town and I now find myself unemployed and dumbstruck. I can't decide whether the layoff was a good thing or a bad thing. Having money is, of course, not a good thing, but I'm kind of happy to have been let go. I have one semester left to go at Marywood and then I'll have to fend for myself in the wild, hunting jobs like our animal-skinned ancestors hunted caribou or buffalo so long ago. It's an awesome, frightening thought, and I can't wait for the challenge. These next few months will give me a chance to hone my skills before applying for real, interesting jobs, so I want to take this opportunity to do as much work as I can and prepare!

Part of the reason why I'm starting this blog is for the curious young artists out there. I was in your position once. I was a confused high school student, labeled "odd" for my moody artistic tendencies. I was a frustrated college student, changing my major four times before settling into illustration and changing entire schools once. And here I am now, an enthusiastic young professional with not a hardened edge on my work ethic, the world my oyster and me starving for seafood. 

I am frightened. I am unprepared. I have a very vague idea of what to expect, but I don't think that's good enough.

So I want those of you who are in the position I once was to learn from what I leave here. This blog will probably evolve over time, as these things tend to do, but starting off I would like to offer my own experience as an example for you to learn from.

What's above is the first assignment that was recently given to my classmates and I in our Summer Internship course at Marywood. I'm a big fan of the Legend of Zelda video game series and I have based other projects on similar themes. I did two comic pages showing an encounter the hero, Link, and a supporting character, Medli, might have in a fictional game I dreamt up.

Comics are fun to read but a pain to draw.