I can't get out yet

Wow, this has been the most productive and unproductive week in the longest time. I have not been giving work the attention it deserves due to the arrival of my cousin, who is complete consumed by his pursuit of a career in hip-hop. I love it when people are passionate and driven, but I don't think I have the energy to drive everyone's projects. I should if I am claiming to want to be a creative director. I don't think my job is very creative, it can be at times, but most of it is managerial and that is what makes it hard. I have been searching for ways to build better ways of doing things and constantly finding that that way doesn't work or is not going to work very long. I have been at this job as Digital Media Developer for more then 3 years, I think, and I really feel like I have nothing to show. Well today after, being asked, for the second time, what am I doing "HERE" in so many words, and then getting frustrated with one of my employees I said it is time for a job change. So I went on the web and started searching for creative jobs. I started with looking for a position as a creative director, and came to conclusion that I have not been telling people what to do for long enough. I need another 4 - 7 years and I am golden, so I down graded and realized that any creative job would be great, and I found a sweet one. But once again the "Submit your demo reel" monster reared it head and I am hit the same wall I hit when I think about applying to Pixar, "I GOT NOTHING!" Well, in due time. Right now I am working on a music video for the rap obsesses cousin so hopefully that will be another piece in my portfolio. Although the quality of my products are slowly improving, the most difficult skill to develop is patience. The time will come when I have all the pieces to get out of this Tech heavy job and into a more design creativity position, till then I will use the equipment at my disposal to build my master pieces.

Becoming a writer

So, I wear several hats, and one of them is apparently a writer. I spent the past weekend with my favorite and closest immediate family, the Butlers, Rathje's and Crowes, (sorry Sid not sure if it ends with an "e" or not. ) The great thing about family is that you are allowed to be completely you, and they understand cause that is who you are. Well, Tayah has taken a job with University of Oregon and I think she may have just locked into her thing. The occasion that took me down to Eugene was Maggies, my 4 year old niece, to only grand child of the Butler Rathje lineage, but Loren and Brandon will soon put an end to Maggie's Monopoly of the Grandparent Attention, well not just grands, but everyone's. Eugene is about a 3 and half hour drive from my place which is about 15 minutes south of actual tacoma, so when I am driving back I always get back sooner then expected cause the signs only give the distant to downtown Tacoma, and not to Parkland. We are too little to warrant a place on the sign into town. I love my West coast family and it is nice to have them within driving distance, they are also very accomendating of my girls, Roxy and Karma, who have for all thier trouble when we first began our relationships have learned to work with me. Roxy a content Austrailian cattle dog, has gone from a Tasmanian devil to a steward of the house hold, her ability to walk without a leash and stay where I tell her when I go into work astounds me on a daily basis. Karma, is for all intents and purposed a direct translation of her name, reminding me everyday the world is not perfect and that the balance between good and bad is only keep in check by addressing both. I have totally forgotten what I originally set out to state in this blog, but I am sure it will come to me again much more profound that it did this evening sipping away on my 4th shot of tequilla, dreaming of the beautiful moment I had with all the people I loved over the last 32 years of my life.
Thank you.
Nick (buzzed)

Sequential Media Learning Center Online

The Sequential Media Learning Center Online (SMLC) is a web show dedicated to the process of taking an idea from story/concept to graphic novel, and ultimately to animation or film. This has been the trend in Hollywood for the last few years, but it doesn't require Hollywood budgets to do it. With the proliferation of Open Source software, Creative Commons music and social networking communities creating rich media can be done from any where unhindered by distance. Not only do these resources provide a means to produce media, but also a venue for presentation, promotion and distribution. Join me as we explore new media, emerging technologies, and current trends in the world of comic and animation production. I will even provide some tutorials so you can join in the the movement that is decentralizing mass media.

Below is the pilot Episode. I would really appreciate some feed back.

Interracial Intimacy

From Mythos Art

I have just realized that all my art has been on a single theme this entire time. I have recently started reading a book called Interracial Intimacy, and the picture finally clicked in my head. This is a running theme through all my work, from my sketches, to my comic, even through my fine art. I have many unresolved relationships, which I believe are a result of the issues involved with interracial dating. The book has been slowly opening my eyes, and now I must continue my research in order to figure out how this issue plays into my work.

Tragically Beautiful

This is Karma, she is good.

Judith and Holofernes

This tale is as old as the ages, Judith a simple woman is forced to defend her city, by seducing the general (Holofernes) and taking his head when he lets his guard down. This painting has been done by the greatest, Klimt, Titian, and Artemisia Gentileschi. Gentileschi, like many other woman painters found this image empowering, and produced serveral versions. I have done 2 in my life time and love the subject, the ultimate femme fatale, the power and darkness of this beauty is heighten by intimidation and raw sex appeal. Stay tuned.

Waiting

I am waiting to get back into the groove. Life has a tendency to find ways of distracting one from their primary goal. Waiting to see if it all falls into place, I have tried once or twice to force thing in the direction I would like them to go, but it is often fruitless. I find that patience like time and space need to be eternal, and I have done my fair share of waiting. Waiting and preparing to be in the right place at the right time, with all my pieces ready to go, for what's worth.

Unravelling the Puzzle

I am starting to find my rhythm with the story telling here. I think 5 rows may have been pushing it, but i like the way the flow went. I also tried a different color pencil and got a wholly different feel. With the improvisation of this work, I am finding things in the creation of each page as I would in the creation of a painting. The out come is never know which is what keeps this process so exciting and meeting the one week dead line is realistic. I wish I could be more alert when I make the blog post, but these are most often the last thing I do, to complet a page. The idea of the blog was to display the work as it is created and generate copy for other uses.
I am hoping to keep the story straight in my head with this tool, allowing me to make notes as they hit me, and allude to where things are headed next. Page 5 is a chat between Camille and Nick that begin to put cracks in the facade of this cushy job, when they return to the store they are greet by Hera, and the office staff.

Sensual Mythology

On the 3rd Thursday of the Feburary 2009, I am releasing a art book of my African art paintings. It will talk a little bit about where the work has come from and where it is going. The book will also be available to order online from lulu.com.

This book has been a work in process for the past 4 years, and this initial publication is only a chapter in the book of my life. I came up with the idea making a book while living and working in Los Angeles, CA. I have always loved the basic art series published by Taschen. I worked for them for less than a year, but have always enjoyed their books, in which always seem to find the sexual component of any art.

Look for the announcement and book release dates, around mid month.
And thanks to everyone for thier continued support.
-Nick

Page 3 Time for sleep.

I am going to bed. To write more than that would be foolish, Good night.

Page 2 missed Deadline

It is amazing when you set self deadlines or make resolutions, you are taking the challenge they call life.

"I, Nick Butler resolve to complete a page each week for the next 52 weeks, and at the end of that time have a complete graphic novel, about my life in Los Angeles."

This is the challenge I gave myself two weeks ago, and tonight I am posting page 2. With all the chaos of life it is difficult to find time to do what you love. This story was born out of my sketch books, and is a blend of my reality, fantasies and all the place in between.

Creating this comic has been the single most complex thing, I have ever undertaken, and has up until this point consumed 5 years of my life. All of it has been preparation for this culmination of factors, that prepared me to take advantage of the opportunity laid before me.

With that said, I have posted page two... so please let me know what you see.

Masked Man vs Blonde Assassin pg 1

On the eve of being freed, two Assassins face off torn between honor and love, the honor to their clan and the love they feel for one another.

Nick Butler's Head Trip Page 1

The news of Hunter S. Thompsons suicide moves Nick Butler, a Beverly Hills book clerk, to quit his job in pursue of the goal of becoming an artist. This semi-fictional tale is based on actual events, following the protagonist through his struggles with drugs, financial instability, depression and a lingering building debt which forces him to find new ways of addressing the challenges of life. Partnered on the journey by a eclectic collection of friends, family, vampires, and goddesses, he must find the balance between his bliss and and the demands of modern age, while trying to keep his feet planted in a reality which lies somewhere between dream and delirium.


This book will be released in weekly installments, all posts will then be collected into into a graphic novel an printed. For more information pleas visit: http://www.nickbutlerart.net