Out With the Old, In With the New

Man! The Year 2005 here at The Ward-O-Matic was quite a wild one. It started out with a bang early on when I decided on a whim to submit my POLAR EXPRESS post to Boing Boing. I would've never guessed the amount of traffic and attention that my lowly little rant on the ill-conceived motion-captured kids in that film would garner. It got kinda hairy for awhile, as it was similar to having your front door open and letting the entire world enter into your tiny corner of the world, but it was worth while. Even though it got a little crazy with the spam comments and pseudo bloggers (interesting to see how the ugly side of the net works), I still would never change the fact that because of the extra exposure, I met some fantastic people.

And that's when the internet works: making connections with like-minded people. To say that I met some of the most interesting and fascinating people during the course of 2005 is a major understatement! Whenever I go online and start to click through my blogroll and Flickr contacts, it becomes a daily trek through this wonderful world of ours. I love the fact that I can read the thoughts and check out the mind of a mother in Vancouver, and then suddenly visit my buddy in Toronto, and then onto Melborne, Australia right after that. Mindboggling, to say the least. And I never tire of it!

If I could sum up the Year 2005 in a few short quips, it would be that the year was monumental and eye-opening. It was through this past year where I was able to be a part of a fantastic collaborative blog, Drawn!, and meet some brilliant artists and illustrators, most of whom I had never heard of before when I was asked by John to join that fateful day in March. I remember at first being a little stand-offish about sharing my links with others, as I always revered my links and bookmarks to being something special and only for me. But it wasn't but two weeks into it when I realized the necessity of link-sharing and the warm fuzzy feeling of exposing brand spankin' new talent to the world. It's become one of my all-time favorite sites to visit on a daily basis, and I still pinch myself when I realize that I'm actually a part of the site! It's been a fun ride, that's for sure.

When Andrea turned me onto Flickr, I did not realize the potential that that photo sharing service offered. Not only have I had the most fun uploading and sharing my photos and scans of old books and whatnot to others, checking out the multitudes of other Flickr-ites has been an addiction that will not be easy to stop. I simply LOVE to check out my contacts' photos and see what they're up to, as well as see what people are talking about in all the wonderful groups that I'm a part of. It was nice to be able to upload pics of my workspace and then place them in a cozy photoset for all my friends and family to check out whenever they felt like it. I never knew you guys were so nosy! Ha, well, I knew that it might've been a hit, as I'm just as nosy about checking other people's workspaces as the next guy. There's something about viewing the intimate spaces where artists create that really appeals to me. Something so special and unlike any other area you'll ever find out there. Unique to you and you alone.

So, yes, the Year 2005 was nothing short of amazing for me. My only fear is that it'll be quite hard to top in 2006.


And what to think of 2006? Hmmm.....

I know that I'll never reach the same levels of excitement and traffic that my site got from last January, but that's okay. I've never tried to top that incredible feat, and I never will. I understand that it was a once-in-a-lifetime thing, and that I've since made the most of it. It opened some great doors for me, as well as allowed me to meet many new friends.

I'm excited to see what this next year has in store for me and for this blog, as I know that I've got some great things to talk about and post in the next couple of weeks. I'm always thinking ahead about what fun and intriguing things to discuss as well as what glorious imagery to share with you all. Inspiration never takes a break as far as I'm concerned and I cannot wait to see what new and fantastic gems are yet to be discovered! Boxes of fun ephemera and books have yet to be scanned, my friends!

What to expect? Well, one of the earliest concepts I've wanted to do ever since I started this thing was to do an on-going 'influences series', basically a series of posts on various artists, art movements, and/or items that have played a major part in my development as an artist. Some may be well-known, but others not so -- but all of it important to me as an artist. I hope to enlighten as well as educate some of you on what it took for me to get to where I am as an artist and animator. Everyone's road to discovery is different, and mine was/is no exception. I think it'll be a fun trip to take. I hope.

Expect more posts on past jobs I've worked on at Primal. There's been a nice backlog of projects that I've been meaning to talk about and so I've been saving all the sketches and conceptual artwork to hopefully scan and share with you all soon. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised to find out what spots I've worked on.

Dont' worry, I haven't forgotten about the stories I plan to tell from my Things post from October. I don't plan on getting too personal with some of these tales, but there are some interesting antidotes that I think you'll find amusing, especially when I got to meet Charles Barkley as well as the multiple times I've encountered Andre 3000. Very amusing.

More more more abundancy with the linkage, rest assured!

Oh, and expect more Ava Thursday. But of course!

And so, essentially, expect more of the same quirkiness and bloggity goodness from yours truly. I've been having fun with this thing, and I seriously doubt that I'll stop anytime soon. I'm having TOO MUCH FUN! (I hope that you are too!)

Here's to a great 2006!