started a sketch blog. hopefully i can stay dedicated.

http://www.oliverartist.blogspot.com/

cheers

so the wedding is over. insane. it was incredible though and here i sit at 2am in glasgow scotland in our "complimentary upgrade" hotel room. it's totally sweet. the nicest hotel room I think i've ever been in.  we got in to glasgow today and went to auchentoshan distillery. nice whiskey yumm

edinburgh was totally awesome too. edinburgh castle was amazing and walking around town the buildings and scenery were some of the most beautiful sights. i'll have other blogs for the trip tho.

i've been thinking a lot about the wedding and the reception. the wedding was great and super short. short and sweet. it was actually really fun, but it was nice to get straight to the party.  one of the things i'm actually most excited about are the pictures taken by the amazing jonathan willis. we loved our engagement photos so much, and i know the photos he took at the wedding/reception are going to be killer. i seriously cannot wait to see them!

the reception was better than i could've ever hoped for. having everyone there just talking/dancing/drinking was so nice. walking around and seeing only friendly was a thrill. really great.

there are some people i cannot thank enough for what they did. i'll never forget the special things they did for casey and i, and it's the kind of stuff that proves true friends are some of the finest treasures on the planet.  i feel like a jerk most of the time, so it's surprising that i have any! 

first, my brother. the most amazing guy on the earth. he gave the finest speech i think i've ever heard and many people through the night commented that it was the best toast they had ever heard. he's always been a genius with that kinda stuff, and i'm 100% sure and scared that i'll never be able to write one as perfectly for him. i'll always remember that toast and i know it was priceless to me and case.

sean and tony are the best friends anyone could hope for. i've hardly had the chance to talk, let alone see these guys at all in the past few years, but they flew from California and New York to come be groomsmen for me. I couldn't believe it. to sacrifice the time, money, vacation time, everything else to come into town and support me in my wedding. i still can't believe that after all this time they'd do that for me. we picked right back up too. it was the one of the nicest feelings i've had in a long while to sit with my bro, tony and sean and just chill out again. i can't say how much i miss that. no matter how many miles away, they'll always be two of my absolute best friends and we'll always have that special link that can only come from growing up together.

i also cannot say how much i appreciate the effort jessica fisher put into helping casey out. i always knew she was awesome, but had no idea that she would step up and help casey in so many, many ways with all of this. even all the small things. and the painting she gave us is something i've lusted for since illustration class, so that's double-cool. i'll always remember her commitment to casey through all of this and i'll always "owe her one" for it.

erica made the totally bangin' cake that was not only beautiful, but incredibly delicious. we received so many comments throughout the night about how great it was and i cannot say how thankful i am for her generosity in putting so much time and effort into that masterpiece for us.

it's amazing to me how much support people showed us. everyone taking the time out of their busy schedule to come watch us get married and celebrate with us! the generosity shown was really amazing to me and i can't thank everyone enough.

it's a great feeling to know that out of all of your "friends," there are TRUE friends there, who are willing to be completely selfless in their support of you. I respect them and i am forever greatful for them.

time to have a sleep. love you guys.

i had a really vivid dream last night about a friend of mine who unfortunately passed away years ago.  it was strange. he never had an easy way with things. his parents never treated him right...he had really awkward glasses that magnified his eyes real big, and he had chipped messed up teeth. he was adopted, and his adopted sister however, got everything a girl could dream of. he was a good friend tho. we used to play AD&D for hours and climb trees and hang out in his woods. we did chinese fire drills off his cement wall by his driveway. he and my brother are the reason i draw still. they're also the reason i got my black belt in tai kwon do all those years ago.  i just did what they did. i mostly just followed my brother, but i think mark influenced a lot of what he did as well. i had a weird dream he was actually alive and doin amazingly well. it's sad tho, cuz it could be true. he just happened to get into the wrong kind of things too early in life.

it's weird tho, how much you can miss someone all of the sudden. i actually think about him more than you might assume, but still, it's been awhile since i really paid him much thought. the last time i saw him, if i remember correctly and besides seeing him at his funeral, was at a party in highschool. i hadn't seen him in prolly about 8 months to a year, and he showed up as i was leaving. he had a bottle of whiskey or the like in his hand and he gave me the biggest hug. even tho i was i guess, 4 or 5 years his younger, he gave me a HUGE hug and i could tell he was honestly happy to see me.  i really remember that cuz it seemed sad to me. things always seem to go well for me. not that i don't try, but i feel blessed most of the time. he didn't seem blessed at all and had only a handful of people who really cared about him. and we were too young to realize it or do anything about it.

the dream made me really sad tho. it's really amazing the impact he had on my life in tiny, but innumerable ways. like i said, 99.9% of my life i attribute to my totally amazing brother. but i can't ignore the influence mark had on myself and him. my tendencies, hobbies and likes reflect heavily on my brother and in turn, mark as well. even tho i don't think about him all the time, i miss him and i know others that do as well.

here's to you mark, ol' buddy. we miss ya and hope you're doin better these days. i wish i coulda helped ya out.

been tryin to get some things together, scanned, messed with and uploaded to somewhere. my website is still in the shitter, but i dont' have time to mess with that. anyway, i thought i'd post a few recent things.

this was just me screwing around over a period of time. started with the robot on the left and i just kept adding to it. not the best composition, but it just sorta grew, so it wasn't planned. fun tho...

this was a city beat illustration about SAD and the depression some people face when winter rolls around. i liked this one.

this was my dj dangermouse illustration, again for city beat. yeah yeah, the type isn't the best in the world, but you get the idea. i had to do more than just simply draw the guy, so here it is. i'll hafta work on that tho if i ever put together a illustration portfolio....

and lastly, my first city beat cover. i learned a lot from this and really really look forward to the next one...if there is one. it seemed to go over pretty well, so i'm keepin my fingers crossed.  if anyone saw the print, you can tell it got drastically darker on the actual magazine. i need to figure out the best way to replicate that on my screen so i can adjust the values accordingly. i have a few ideas to try.

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oh, and this holiday carpenter elf.

i have a few other things in the works. nothing grand, but i've been messing around in painter, and a friend pointed out a super sweet brush that i'm lovin. if i can find  4 more or so and just get more acquainted with the program and the layout, it may become a great tool.

we'll see.

so besides new york being an amazing place to just walk around and experience, it also plays host to a bunch of totally sweet shops and stores. here's what i bought myself. may not look like much, but the stuff i like tends to be a bit pricey cuz it's "artsy" or something i guess....

starting on the left, i bought LORE with art by ashley wood at Midtown Comics...possibly the best comic store on the planet. following that, i bought a GOON book and loved it. i can't wait to get the rest of the series. i bought it at Forbidden Planet...possibly the second coolest comic shop/nerd store on earth. they had EVERYTHING nerdy you can imagine. below that are some markers i bought at the 5 story PEARL art supply store. of course the design floor was the top floor, so up we climbed. i coulda bought everything there, but limited myself to a new prismacolor marker and a 2 tria markers. the prismacolor not only displays their new marker design, it's also a brand new color called "driftwood." a very nice yellowy gray that i know i'll enjoy. i bought 2 tria non-repro blue markers which are super sweet. just like the waxy non-reproducable blue pencils, but with the grace of a letraset marker. so sweet. casey and i also discovered the KID ROBOT store. i didn't know they had a store, but it was super cool. i love vinyl toys. i have a kubrick luke skywalker, a custom dunny, and my own blank munny that i need to paint. it's going to be an absolute blast. the store was so cool. they had these gorillaz statues that i woulda loved, but alas, i couldn't paint them myself so i opted for the munny. coulda bought more for myself, but why be a glutton. these things are all great and i'm super happy with our discoveries. if i coulda bought a rockwell or leyendecker at the illustration house, i woulda. but i didn't have $208,000 to pay for it (the recent leyendecker they sold auctioned at that price!!), so seeing them in person was nice enough. of course i'm super excited about those blue sketch markers, so i did a few quick sketches. tons of fun.