Dra Studio.com - Design & Illustration

This week, I bought the latest Death Cab for Cutie album, Narrow Stairs and it is just so gorgeous. The sound is immersive and the lyrics are spell-binding.

As I was reading a devotion this morning from Psalms, I fell into some thoughts about the song “I Will Possess Your Heart” that gave it some real meaning. In Psalms 16:9-11, David says:

No wonder my heart is glad, and I rejoice.
My body rests in safety.
For you will not leave my soul among the dead
or allow your holy one to rot in the grave.
You will show me the way of life,
granting me the joy of your presence
and the pleasures of living with you forever.

When I first heard the song, I thought it was about a boy pursuing a girl that isn’t really interested in him, but every time I hear it now, I hear God calling me, wanting to draw me closer. He is after my heart and has plans to guide my future, but only if I am willing to surrender my all.

Here are the lyrics for your enjoyment:

How I wish you could see the potential
The potential of you and me
It’s like a book elegantly bound, but
In a language that you can’t read just yet

You got to spend some time, love
You got to spend some time with me
And I know that you’ll find, love
I will possess your heart
You got to spend some time, love
You got to spend some time with me
And I know that you’ll find, love
I will possess your heart

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Vinyls (uploaded by DRA Studio)

Besides two MXPX albums that I didn’t already have, the two books I picked up this weekend at the local Christian thrift store are probably what I am most excited about. A Wrinkle in Time and Loser by Jerry Spinelli (my favorite childhood author). Yay!

(These LPs, by the way, are Michelle’s. I am working on fixing her record player so that those Journey and Benatar albums I have can get some run time. ;)

I can’t wait to pick up the new Foo Fighters album … here is my favorite track so far … I really like the video for it.

IF – The Blues (uploaded by DRA Studio)

Pencil and Sakura Pigma ink on medium tooth paper. Photoshop CS3 for the final color touches. I tried to model the guitar after a BB King classic.

While working on this piece, I was listening to the Bottles and Bottles playlist from my iPod “Love”. It isn’t really blues … but that is the same feeling I get while listening to artists like Ryan Adams, Lucero, and Mike Dunn & the Kings of New England.

I bought my newest set of Apple iPod Earphones last night … I feel a bit more comfortable with life now. It’s a bit like Jerry Fletcher, needing my next copy of Catcher in the Rye, but really I do love my Apple earphones.

And sadly, the only reason I had to purchase a new set is because last week the night I brought home my new pair that Apple replaced free for me, my kitty was wonderful enough to chew right through them. (Sigh).

Btw, anyone not use their iPod Earphones? Want to trade? I probably have something we can barter. ;)

I keep hearing this words from Anberlin’s song in my head, so you should probably hear them too:

Come and go now as you please
Your actions write the melodies
To the songs that we sing
And you just sing

And I finally found that life goes on without you
And my world still turns when you’re not around

Is this the way you want it?
Is this the way it has to be?
Sitting here beside you
With my heart’s lost in New Orleans
Dreams come clever
Hearts now severed
Difference of forever
And I am lost there

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Jodie is apparently the new bass player for the Sloshing Puddles, so I thought I would make a logo for them. :)

Oh, and I was sick last week, so blame that for the lack of posting. I know I do.

IMPACT this weekend was pretty amazing. Not only was I really pleased with my bass playing for our sets, but I have heard so many great things already about how we did. Yes, that was me on stage … the kid in the Karate Kid bandana, killin’ it rockstar style. :D

And even more than being pleased with how the band did, I was totally psyched about how much the kids/teens enjoyed us and how much they were able to take away from the worship sessions with Josh Finkler. And of course, it doesn’t hurt that plenty of people had great words to say about my shirts and were interested in having some Oscar-art of their own. *Chhsk*

So, I have been thinking about getting a new bass. I mean, I do like my most recent (2 years now?) bass plenty … but it is just a Carlo Robelli 5-string with built-in pre-amp … nothing too special, and I think I have outgrown its look and feel. And as much as I like having a 5-string, I really don’t like any of the available options that any of the big guys put out (Fender, Gibson, etc.) … most are just so ugly and pretentious.

Everyone has been recommending Fender Precision Basses to me, and a few of them are in the picture above, but I also had my eye on a few others. I really like the look of the Gibson Thunderbird IV, but I hear some disconcerting things about its weight and playability. And even before I saw the Dark Romantics girl with a Rickenbacker, I have loved the way they look. But I am pretty much pushed that aside, since I have been told more than a few times that they lack the low-end a better bass can deliver.

So right now, I think I am really into the Fender Reissue ‘51. It’s simple and slick, with just a touch of retro-goodness. And the more I see the butterscotch blonde color, the more I like it.

Yes! Finally! Now I am old enough to … to … um … er … drink? Nope. Smoke? Nah. Go clubbin’? Ehh. Oh wait, I got it. The best and only way to celebrate your 24th Birthday is to lose your Canadian Citizenship! How could I forget. :)

Thanks for all the “Happy Birthday” goodness … among some of the best was the pizza party, the house party that I missed most of (band practice and all … but that was good too), and of course, the day off of work. I don’t remember ever going to school or work on my birthday and I don’t plan for that to change any time soon. ;)

At the top of my B-day gifts was definitely the M-Audio USB MIDI keyboard that Jodie got me. I just started taking piano lessons this year and this 49-key wonder is just perfect. Not only does it have a nice feel and weight to the keys, but it interfaces with Garageband so stinkin’ well (for instance, like how the volume slider on the board matches the individual instrument volume sliders … so yummy).

So thanks to that and a few hours of getting us to playing with MIDI tracking and notation, here is my song (in MP3 format) I wrote for this week’s piano lesson. Nothing too fancy. Just 15 measures and it had to be in the key of ‘C’. Enjoy.

So the other day, we were watching Monster House (quite the enjoyable flick, too) and it dawned on me that, not only would “Thou Art Dead” be a great game to play, but I am sure someone had already made it into one. Sure enough. And I even found a blog by one of the artist/animators. Fun!

Oh and in case I didn’t already tell you about Anberlin’s soon coming album, Cities, consider yourself told. Why don’t you head over to iTunes and buy the two new songs that are available now? You won’t regret it.

**Note: This is the second version of this post. Why, you might ask? Let’s just say that staying up late, typing in a comfy cozy bed and feeling drowsy while waiting to talk to a friend on iChat aren’t the best combination for blogging. At some point while typing in my sleep, I managed to lose the first version. Oh well.**

So Christmas morning was most wonderful this year. Not only did we get to enjoy some yummy Chesser “breakfast puffs” (quite delicious), but there were stockings for all and plenty of presents and gifts to sedate our materialistic urges. ;)

As you might have guessed from my little sketch, I am very happily back among the “I own an iPod” cult (thanks, Jodie!) and what a good cult it is. The dues are cheap, the poison is long-lasting and you get to name your own vice. I call mine “Love”, after the scripture from Psalms that Jodie had engraved for me. And since I knew an iPod might be among one of my presents, I requested one of the (Product)RED ones, so that I could participate in their worthy campaign (My gift will provide anti-retroviral (AVR) treatment for one month to a person living with HIV).

There were plenty of other gifts and giftcards and fun toys (and some pictures of geeky me growning up too … thanks Mom! ;)), but “Love” was of course my favorite. Coming in second were probably the Prismacolors (also from Jodie) and 3D drawing paper (cuz I miss the Wilsons) and then the iTunes card (I’ve been making a Buy Me! playlist for awhile now). Oh and of course the yummy yummy cookies from my Great Grandmother’s recipe that my little sis made me! So delicious.

Jodie liked what I got her (every boy can relate that it is always good when those gifts go over well :)) and the rest of the morning did result in some Nintendo Wii fundage, which is very exciting.

So, tell me. What did you get for Christmas? What were the expensive things and what were the personal things that meant alot to you? Ohh and what was your favorite Holiday song this year? Mine was “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)” by U2. Peep the music video on YouTube … so 80’s amazing!

Work just dragged on and on, but chinese for lunch with friends was pretty fun. The lady at Great Wall just seems to get funnier everytime we go. We got Missy’s sweater finished and it is probably the most wonderfully tacky thing ever … and I discovered how incredibly difficult it is to not laugh out loud when *someone* compliments something you know is a total joke. Ah well, what can you do?

Friday night was most amazing, with me again getting to go with Tyler to a show … again to see a couple of bands I don’t really know and again being totally blown away by the goodness. This time it was the Death + Taxes Show at the HOBO (House of Blues, Orlando … hehe) and it was Appleseed Cast and Copeland playing. Owen as the opening act wasn’t too shabby; I really didn’t care for Acute, except maybe the piano/keyboard portions.

Appleseed had such a phenomenal sound and Copeland … well, Copeland definitely surprised me. Back when good ol’ D Marrs drummer, John Bucklew joined them, I wasn’t a fan at all of their music. But what they brought tonight was very enjoyable and moving … though it is entirely possible that my opinion was swayed by the piano sounds from Aaron Marsh during most of the show. ;)

Tyler and I finished off the night with some Rockstar and a few late night vodcasts … DL.TV and The 1UP Show to be specific. Oh and his new Brian Regan DVD. Very fun.

** P.S. - Before I forget, the rabbit there is for Vanessa. That’s right. Vanessa … that cool girl that we don’t get to hang out with anymore, except over iChat or the phone. Yay for a very Merry Bunny Christmas! **

An apt name for a post that should really be about all the things I didn’t do at work today. What with it being “Take Your Daughter-esque Friend to Work Day”, how could I not have been distracted and less productive … ;).

Truthfully, I got quite a bit done at work today … it is absolutely amazing how well your mind can work on zero hours of sleep and just one cup of coffee. “Why an all-nighter”, you may ask? Who knows! But nothing is better than getting caught up on design work while talking for 7 or so hours on iChat (that is AIM for you, Bethie!).

Plenty of people were in and out of the office today … some of whom were nice enough to contributed to the beginning of my sketchbook collages, which makes me very happy. Thanks in part to the great post of David Kilpatrick’s sketchbook on Drawn yesterday, I am now so excited about filling each page with as much art and color as possible, especially of the mixed media kind. And the idea of a sketchbook that is overflowing with items and artwork inspired by a roadtrip or tour of a foreign country sounds so incredible!

Chick-fil-A was pretty bomb-diggity tonight (don’t ask … I think it is the ice-dream going to my head … literally … right though my ears, Missy!) and if you happen to be one of the many in attendance at our Chick-fil-A’s grand re-opening coming up soon, you might just get a hug from a really cool guy in a cow suit :) … hehe. There was plenty of other fun had tonight … involving hair dye and frosting and Rockstar and possibly me forgetting about Amanda, but those are just great memories of a well-spent youth.

I hope you like the piece for today. It started out pretty innocently but evolved into something a bit grander, I think. Jack’s Mannequin and “I’m Ready” weren’t necessarily the inspiration, but they are the dedication. Enjoy.

How well do you know your iTunes Library? I think I know mine pretty well, but I am still finding tracks that either don’t have names or I have never even heard. Like last month, I totally discovered some great songs by Coldplay that I didn’t even know were in there. Just today, I found/re-discovered songs by The All-American Rejects, Bayside, and Bright Eyes. So much fun.

Today was a pretty laid-back Saturday, full of not much else than lounging around, sketching, inking, coding and all that other good-time easy stuff. I made some minor updates to the Illustrative site, but no biggies … hopefully more to come soon. Spent plenty of time with Jodie, too … shopping, hanging out and watching some much needed Simpsons. Lots of fun and the perfect way to chill-lax’ from this week.

On Wednesday/Thursday, I took a few more shots of Melissa’s shoes … click through to Flickr and check them out. I really love the way they turned out … they are going to be so great for her upcoming trip to Amsterdam. And her mentioning their likeness/relevance to John 15:1-7 made it all that much more meaningful.

“I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.”

Maybe it’s all this emotional junk that seems to be going on right now or maybe it’s just that Jack’s Mannequin has been dominating my playlist lately … I don’t know … but I am falling in love with the piano.

Andrew McMahon is a bit of a hero of mine right now and tonight’s Night of Noel at FCC only further re-enforced my growing love in that sound. Uplifting to my current state of mind and so sweet in my ears, it is just the best right now. It’s almost enough to make me want to learn to play, just so I can be a part that sound.

Here are some of the piano rockers I am currently listening to:

• Jack’s Mannequin


• Death Cab for Cutie


• The Rocket Summer


• The Early November


• Waking Ashland


• Forever Changed

Today is the first in many that I feel like I actually might want to talk about my day and not slip into a mire of lyrical prose or drown myself in fountain of memories.

What started out as a lazy, but promising Wednesday (what with no work and nothing to do in the morning except wake up and eat breakfast), it progressed into a bit of a disappointing afternoon. Apparently both the Orlando Museum of Art and the Mennello Museum of American Art close earlier than I had originally understood – definitely ending our art trip before it even began. Darn you Museum people and your amazing work-hours (including Mondays off)!

It might have been a day off-of-work for naught, had it not been for some resourceful thinking on Missy’s part. Not only was there art to admire and critique, exotic cuisine to enjoy, but even time for wandering among Orlando’s finest fashions … eh, sort of.

And of course, the icing on the day’s cake was getting to watch all of Death Cab’s The Direction music videos. Each was unique and wonderfully made … with my favorite probably being “Different Names for the Same Thing”.

So … when your favorite places to go for art and culture aren’t closed, what are they? Where are they? How did you find out about them?

So you’re heading on a pretty stinkin’ long roadtrip to see family for the holidays. What do you bring? I mean, its gonna be like 6 hours, so the usual “License Tag State” Game is out. How do you plan to spend your time? What fills your backpack? Wanna peak into mine?

• Art box full of pencils, markers, erasers, rulers, whiteout, etc. The essentials for putting anything on paper.


• Plenty of paper (duh!).


• Prayer journal.


• MacBook (I mean … com’n … this is my little pearl baby here … where doesn’t it go with me?)
  
  


• Computer games. Michelle and I agree … the best is getting the old skool ones on there (i.e. PacMac, Tetris, Street Fighter, Dragonball Z … etc.)


• Full iTunes Library. It doesn’t hurt to have plenty of options. Mine included videos from SNL, The Office, The Simpsons, and plenty of Music Videos


• Mix Tapes. Or really, playlists. I had a sweet new Death Cab for Cutie one from Missy … made my trip so much more amazing!


• DVDs. I brought Season 4 of The Simpsons, Lemony Snicket’s S.O.U.E., Spider-Man 2, You Got Served, A Knight’s Tale, and A Goofy Movie. You can never have too many options.


• AC/DC Inverter. Because it sucks when your Mac runs out of juice mid-trip.


• Magazines. This is kinda the de-facto standard, but you should never give up on the basics.
  
  


• Snacks. Obvious reasons.


• Toiletries. Because nobody likes smelly roadtrip buddies.

Any roadtrips coming up in your near future? I would love to hear about ‘em.

**P.S. - The One Dark Summer album artwork is for the FREE Digital Sampler that Tooth & Nail put out this past summer. At some point they updated it and now it includes over 30 free songs from some really great bands. Some stuff is harder than I normally enjoy, but there are plenty of my favorites on there. Check it out … I mean, you can never go wrong with free, right?

Today was a pretty good day.

It starting with church at Poinciana, lunch with Jeff and Allison at Chipotle and a new necklace for Jodie. It got really cool when we stumbled upon the Kissimmee Art Festival on Main Street and Tyler and me at the Death Cab for Cutie concert (UCF Arena - Orlando, FL). It ended perfectly with late night Denny’s fun with friends and a conversation into the early morning hours. So good.

Not knowing Death Cab’s stuff, I was a bit worried that I wouldn’t enjoy the show very much, but not only did they rock pretty hard and bring one of the best and long sets I have seen in a while, but Ted Leo and The Pharmacists were so much fun. I haven’t seen that kind of dumb rock n’ roll love in a long time. If you have a few minutes, definitely check out all the great Cutie concert photos on Flickr (especially since all of mine turned out pretty junky).
Today I realized how much I miss those long heart-to-heart conversations you have with friends … the kind that keep you up all hours of the night and make you reluctant to leave, even if it is for much needed sleep.

You know what … today was a great day.

If you haven’t already picked up and fallen in love with Forever Changed’s new album, Chapters, you are missing the boat. Even with the inevitable break-up planned, it is still excellently-crafted, captivating with sound and song. You won’t regret adding this to your iTunes Library. Trust me.

Are you as excited about the new Hawk Nelson release as I am? The accompanying artwork and and site design is really great (minus like 10 point for having such slow download times … though once you have seen it, it is kinda worth it). Definitely be sure to check out some of the wallpapers available for download … sweetness.

If I actually end up going to Cornerstone, FL this year, it will be because of these guys! But don’t worry … if you still want to hang out with me, I will be heading over to the House of Blues in Orlando for the Anberlin, Emery, and the Fold show. So be sure to be looking for me and the Jodie. I probably will be wearing my Forever Changed tee. :)

For those among you that have been wondering what Evenstar has been up to lately, you can now check out the fruits of our labor at MarkAtteberry.net (for you tech fans … this was our first Ruby on Rails endeavor). Yay for site launches!

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Wondering what I have been up to lately? Wondering what has been keeping me from my sketching? Here is one thing.

This is the AbyssJazz magazine version of an advertisement for the upcoming Jazz Fest Kissimmee event. Pretty fun, right?