Back to Personal Art / Raising Baby Ri

It really feels good to be back to drawing robots again! The past few months have been hectic, what with the move to QC and the book that I just finished editing and laying out. Now that things have settled and that book is done its time to start working on some of my personal projects that I've placed on the back burner.

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I thank the Lord everyday for giving me my son. My wife told me yesterday that ever since my son was born she has never seen me depressed and that she feels that there is a happiness inside of me that was never there before. 

That's true, to be honest. I'm not as prone to getting sad as before, there's just so much to do around the house and having a little boy following you around just makes things more fun. I'm really happy with my wife, she's literally my best friend and it caught me by surprise just how much happier I've become when Ri was born.

Raising a boy scares me a lot. I feel that sometimes I'm not setting up a good example for him or that I haven't been able to give him the best of what I can do. However, I also believe that he needs to see me enjoy the process of raising him so I promised myself that I'll do my best to enjoy raising him with my wife as much as I can.

So I blew off someone today...

I got angry at a close friend today, something that rarely happens. I know that I don't get angered easily and when I do I tend to handle situations in a calm manner but this morning I felt that I needed to say something and I needed to be a bit more forceful because my friend stepped on some core principles that I have regarding my responsibilities in life and the manner in which I try to fill them in.

I think its wrong to say that I don't have responsibilities because my wife and I, we do have them, and its a lot and it's something we gladly do for our families. We believe that God gave these responsibilities for us to help us grow and so far we have been able to fulfill them because we studied and worked really hard to get to where we are today. By no stretch am I claiming that we are "successful" financially but I can say that we are in a generally good place at the moment and we are happy. To label me as a "textbook entrepreneur" just because I said no to a business proposal because I'm not a big fan of brick and mortar businesses these days is an insult not only to my efforts but also to my wife's work ethic. We've studied really hard and tested all that we know because that was all we had then, we were not funded by our parents so we had to trust on our efforts and to belittle all of that hard work is disrespectful, specially when you say it in front of other friends.

So yeah, I'm just  putting it here because I'm sympathetic to the plight of all of us online art entrepreneurs.  We are in a good place. Here,  effort and time is a good enough substitute for money if you want to start a business for yourself. Be open to the possibilities that the global art market opens for you and don't get distracted by the naysayers. I just blew someone off so it feel hypocritical to say this right now but mind you, I did say so in a respectful but direct manner because that is what he needed from me, and I tried really hard to state my case before I did so. So do your research and work hard and smart, and God willing everything will pay off eventually.

Day 16: Powermaster Optimus Prime

Day 16: Powermaster Optimus Prime

A kid brought this toy to school when I was, I’m not sure,  Kinder 1 or 2 and I was just shocked to see this in person. During that time the only TF I had was Pretenders Splashdown and only saw this Prime on the catalog. I was stunned and stood there as I watched the kid transform this big truck and turn him into an Optimus body and then he stuck the smaller Optimus truck on the chest. 

I wanted this toy since then.

I often see this on the shelf of one of the stores I frequent to get my kits. .I still haven’t bought him though, I don’t know. I guess the proportions of the actual toy does not appeal to the adult collector in me who has grown to the better proportions of the TFs that came out since 2008 when I started collecting. But the nostalgia factor… that’s something else.