Column 2 – Part 1

Mom quote for the week:

“Are you going to tuck that in?” in reference to my shirt as I was running behind one day for work.

“Nope. It doesn’t matter; the pants are coming off when I get there anyway.”

Warning: This column is not intended for children 13 years or younger.

How did I determine that age? I guessed. Besides, shouldn’t you be doing something, anything more fun than this?

My Usual Day

My day starts at 6:20, and as soon as I open my eyes, I take for granted all that I have.

Work starts at 8:00 in the morning. My job usually has some elements of sales as wellas designing any new graphic material or web content.
I whip through the graphic programs like Rosie O’Donnell after a Ho-ho. I know all the shortcuts, I know all the quick keys. Tasks that take me 2 minutes would take my friends double as long and my parents 3 hours or more.

It comes very natural to me, and I don’t ever give it a second thought.

I am a computer junkie

I come home, and I sit at my computer more, usually for a good portion of the remaining night. Sometimes I draw an image I have found from the internet. My drawing skills are superior to most, and are borderline mind boggling to others.

For almost two years I have committed to drawing an hour a night. Why would someone do that you ask? It is because I can, and because I have to.

In that hour not once do I think about my peers who aren’t in college. The ones that don’t have an hour to spare. They made a decision that led down a path of ten hour shifts six days a week, multiple children with or without another parent, and mounting debts.

I have top of the line resources

Sometimes I intend to take my drawings to a higher level of finish. I will photograph the different elements of the composition I have in mind with my digital camera, instead of wasting precious time searching on the internet for something close.

Then, I usually draw out that thought, ink it, and scan it into my computer using a high end graphics program. I have a pretty awesome computer, not top of the line anymore, but still way above average. My scanner does the job. Not many of my friends have one of these either. And I do have Photoshop, the tool the best artists use.

Then I will color that image on the computer. For this task I use my Wacom tablet, which is basically a pressure sensitive tablet with a mechanical pencil that I can use to draw on the computer. All of these are the tools the best artists use, and the best tools cost the best, or the most, money.

Producing this work of art is not an overnight process by any means. I take my time, though, because I can and because I feel like I have to.

Another friend of mine from high school is only now attending school. He is attending Baker, a great school, but it is no University of Michigan. He has to work all day to support himself to go to school. If he loses his job, he loses credit, simple as that.

Wedding Planning

After I have done my art for the night, I see my fiancée so we can continue to plan our wedding. We might invite hundreds of people, but we are always trying to save money. In the end, the wedding will cost over ten grand. I don’t once think what another friend of mine would do to his credit card debt with that money.

I stay up late, and I work real hard, because I choose to. I don’t have to work any harder; I have a job and a degree, but to sit idle, seems like a waste.

Continue to Part 2…..

Here are some similar arcade posts

• Column 2 – Part 2
• Column 9 – Part 1
• Column 9 – Part 2
• Column 1 – Part 2
• Column 10 – Part 2

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