Drawing is a movement...forward

My mom was always supportive of me drawing. She would always keep me supplied with plenty of pencils. I never really had a hard time requesting paper either. But, we were not rich, and the supply was limited. I remember using a pencil up until it was so small it I could no longer grip it between my writing fingers. It's amazing how when you have little, you make the best of it. And when you are abundant with things, you tend to take some for granted.

The Doctor Is Out

When I was a kid I also dreamed of being a doctor, but that dream was squashed like an intrusive cockroach. I was hospitalized when I was younger and the needle prodding and poking turned me away from wanting to pursue medicine. Mom always supported me nonetheless.

Curious George

I was about eight years old when she bought me a doctor's toy kit. It was this blue case that held inside all the things that doctors used, except for needles. I don't think there were any in there, or at least I blocked it out of my mind. I tend to do that with things I strongly dislike. Science and biology, on the other hand, I loved. In class, I would always read ahead in the text books because I didn't have the patience of waiting on the teacher's assignment schedules. It was always just so much fun to learn new things. I sometimes laugh at myself because even now as an adult I still have the same curiosity.

Moving Forward

If I could give anyone anything it would be the gift of curiosity. If they don't have it that is. It is one of the things that keeps me sane and in turn, happy. The ability to stay curious allows me to see things differently. That doesn't only come from being an artist but it from being open to new ideas, new suggestions, new ways of doing things. When we open our minds and exert the curiosity that children possess, we evolve; we learn, and in doing so we move miles away from the person we used to be.

A Whole New Universe

I love comics. I've always loved them, but there was always something exciting about creating my own comic characters. Through out the next chapter of my life (Puberty), Jose and I began our crazy journey of creating a universe. That universe is what I like to call The Show Comic Universe, at least for now, because I don't have an actual name for it.

New Project

Adam and I are collaborating again with yet another poster. Here are some initial sketches for it. Again, I'm doing the pencil work while he will lay down the colors for this baby.

I Never Gave Up Drawing

About 2 years after we first met, my wife and I married, but before we did, she told me she had to go to California and asked me if I would go with her. I remember it like it was just yesterday. I didn't even let her finish the sentence when I answered "YES!" Flash forward to 2017 and we are now Californians. Things have a way of materializing if you keep a focused mind on it. I've always wanted to have a family of my own and here I stand today with just that. I'm completely grateful for that and more, like the time when I went back to the Dominican Republic on vacation with my mom and sister.

It was a summer vacation, one of many I had taken courtesy of my mom. I can't remember the exact amount of time we spent there. It could've been a month, but it felt like a lifetime. I was 12 years old and I remember packing my sketchbooks and comics so I could draw on the plane. All this in case I ran into my cousin, the one who introduced me to comic book characters like Batman and Superman. I remember feeling the humid heat and the sun beating down on me and stronger than in New Yok, but it felt good. It felt like home. After a couple of days meeting up with my mom's side of the family, we visited my father's mother, "Abuela". It was at her house that I caught up with my cousin. It had been about 5 years since I'd seen him. He was excited to see me, but I was more excited to show him my drawings how much I have learned when it came to drawing. I could not contain my excitement, but that was soon snuffed out like a birthday candle when I asked him if I could see HIS work, to which he said: "I don't draw anymore." My jaw dropped in disbelief. "How could this be?", I thought. "You inspired me to draw and now you don't? What does this mean for me?" "Will I give it up too?" I think he noticed my disappointment but he did compliment my art and told me I probably drew better than he did. I never did give up drawing.

Team Works

It's been five years since my family and I decided to trek west to California. It was a spur of the moment kind of thing, or at least it felt that way to me. An instant spark jolted me to cut my wife off in mid-sentence as she attempted to ask me if I wanted to move to California. I said "Let's go!" faster than the spit comes out your mouth when you sneeze. Before I knew it, we were on the road, driving to California across the states. It was a surreal moment for me because the last time I moved that far from where I lived, was in 1995 when I moved to Utah. That time I did it alone. This time I was part of a team. I feel the same way about this project that I'm inking. It's the first time I've ever inked any one's work, but I'm doing this as part of a team. This is the third time the Turlock Toon Skwad collaborates on a project. It seems to be working