Carlschanz's Blog

IF: Popularity

carlschanz — Sun, 12 Feb 2012 20:27:52 +0000

I got the idea for this image while flipping through a copy of Esquire while waiting in line at the grocery store. All the male models always look sooo made up and over polished to where they look too perfect. When I started searching for reference materials I cam across a picture of Jon Hamm at an awards ceremony. I am a fan of Mad Men and his character, Don Draper. In the show, he always tries to portray himself in the best light and always perfect, even though his past tries to come back and haunt him.

materials: pen/brush and ink, copic markers

Filed under: Uncategorized Tagged: brush, copic, Don Draper, Illustration Friday, ink, Jon Hamm, Mad Men, pen

Pete Rose

carlschanz — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 22:56:19 +0000

I was looking at old photos of the 1976 Cincinnati Reds and came across this pic of Pete. I am a huge Reds fan and actually met Pete about 6 years ago. It was a few months after his book, My Prison without Bars, came out and he was dining in a restaurant I was working at. I was polite and waited until him and his party finished their meals before I approached him for an autograph. He was very friendly and didn’t hesitate to sign TWO things for me. We talked about the current Reds roster for a few minutes before I thanked him and left.

materials: brush and ink, copic markers

Filed under: Blog Tagged: baseball, brush and ink, Cincinnati Reds, copic, markers, Pete Rose

IF: Separated

carlschanz — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 22:58:03 +0000

“Gotta keep’em separated”

The Offspring song “Come out and Play” was the first thing that popped into my head when I saw this weeks topic.

The Offspring was one of my favorite bands during high school. Their style of pop-punk and rock were a big hit with me and my friends. It was really cool when we saw them play an ampitheater show in Cincinnati.

The odd thing though was when I did a Google Image search for some reference photos of them, a lot of their promo photos have them wearing sunglasses.

materials: brush and ink, Copic markers

Filed under: Uncategorized

Back again

carlschanz — Thu, 21 Jul 2011 22:24:46 +0000

So after a year of having my own hosted site I decided to take the less expensive route and come back to wordpress.com.

I know, I know. It was fun while it lasted but I was still too novice at CSS to make it do what I wanted it to do. Besides, with all the new upgrades WordPress has done here it makes sense to come back. That way I can spend less time coding and more time creating content and art.

So I’m gonna post this post, tweak my site a little more, and go make art.

Filed under: Uncategorized

New home, same content

carlschanz — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 22:01:00 +0000

Yes, I know I haven’t been on here in a while. The reason is that I have moved. No, not physically but digitally. I finally got a hosted site.

My new home is carlschanz.com. Is is going to be my portfolio/blog home for my illustration work. After I got comfortable fiddling around on here I made the leap. Now my am busy figuring out how to tweak the CSS so I can really customize my page.

So step #1 for me to get an illustration career is underway. Now I am working on creating more content and work for the site. AND I am also working on designing my promo stuff (postcards, business cards, etc.).

So now I must get off of here and go create.

Filed under: Uncategorized

Wha…Visitors!?!

carlschanz — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 20:19:41 +0000

Wow. I never really paid attention to the stats panel to the right of my Dashboard page until today when I noticed that I was getting visitors.

Granted, I do want people to check out my art and posts but not right now. This site is just a working prototype for me to get used to working with WordPress until I can get money together for my hosted site. And I want to learn some CSS so I can tweak it to my liking.

But to those who do visit, please leave comments and tell me what you like or don’t like about my site so far. Any constructive criticism is helpful. Thanks.

Filed under: Uncategorized

Almost there

carlschanz — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 23:01:41 +0000

So, I have been spending a lot of free time planning out my illustration website/blog, and I think it will be ready soon. Now I just need to get through June with some cash.

June is always a bad month for me and cash. With a couple of birthdays and Father’s Day thrown into the mix I am happy to get out of it alive.

BUT I will press on. Also I am kinda liking this ‘Under the Influence’ theme. It may be my theme for my paid website. Hmmmmmm

Filed under: Blog

Change is coming…and it’s good.

carlschanz — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 23:14:08 +0000

Okay. So since I last posted I have been researching creating my own website from scratch. I think I will go with godaddy for a hosting plan and use wordpress as the development tool. Since I am not that familiar with wordpress, or css for that matter, I have been checking out library books and reading tutorials online like crazy. I think my brain has turned to mush by the way. So all I need is the money to get a domain name and hosting plan and I’ll be on my way.

Filed under: Blog Tagged: wordpress.org

The Battle Plan

carlschanz — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 14:33:39 +0000

Okay. Since I last posted I have sat down and thought about what I need to do to be able to start freelancing again.

First was equipment needs. It seems that my six year old hand-built computer can’t handle the riggers of modern design software. So I need to spend a few bucks and get a new one. I also want to get a desk caddy that goes on the side of my drafting table. For $20 I can get a little more organization in my space. And if there is some funds left I want to get a set of Prismacolor markers. I think I can put them to good use.

Second was advice. I have gotten a few good websites bookmarked to go to for some newbie advice. I also want to join the Graphic Artist Guild for their forums and legal advice. As for accounting and bookkeeping, I knew that my aunt was an accountant. But I recently found out that she specializes in small businesses. So I am going to have a meeting with her and talk about what I should be doing so the IRS has no need to pay me a visit.

I have finally decided on who I want to go through for promotional materials. For the web I am going to use Squarespace to host my website. Their WYSIWYG design system is right on the money for me. For print I will use either gotprint.com or moo.com for my business cards, and gotprint.com for postcards and mini portfolios.

That’s all I have for right now. I can’t wait for the holidays to be over so I can spend more time working on this that picking up shifts and stressing out about family gatherings.

Posted in Blog Tagged: freelance, gotprint.com, illustration, moo.com, small business, squarespace.com

Stalled Attempt

carlschanz — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 13:11:44 +0000

Okay.

So my plan was to start posting art, sketches and a web comic or two on here to jump start my freelance illustration career, but I haven’t. The reason is I’ve been having problems getting motivated and creative enough to put pencil to paper. I think it’s due to the holiday season stress and the lack of money for it. I really need to get a second job to have some cash on hand for business cards, web site fees, and supplies. But if I get a second job then that’s less time I get to draw or paint. But if I get a site up and start getting work then I can quit the second job and draw more.

Hmmmmm. I need to get off of here and get in gear.

Posted in Blog Tagged: freelance, illustration