Robo-Bug

I suppose I should mention that I've proposed to my long time girlfriend.    We're now happily engaged and trying to figure out how weddings happen.  

Oh.  And an interesting / funny proposal story.  We met on April 26th of 2009, on the basketball court of Hope College in Holland, MI.  I thought it would be a cool idea to propose to her in the similar manner we met.  By playing some basketball, having the good friend put us on the spot at center court (like he did so awesomely way back then), and then propose after telling her how much she means to me.

All was going a little less than perfect as I was only able to get 5 of us on the court to play some b-ball, but it was enough for a game or two so I thought we'd just play a little and then I'd go into my whole proposal speech.  What I didn't know was that my girlfriend's shoulder was going to slam into my nose, effectively breaking it, and ending the basketball game.

Now, being the kind of person I am, I started to laugh about this.  She thought it was a defense mechanism for the pain.  lol.  Either way, I thought this was just to hilarious for this to happen on the day I'm going to ask her to be my wife.  So once I got a little cleaned up, we headed back out to the court.  She was trying to get me to hurry up so we could get to the ER, but I was persistent in holding my ground at half-court with my friend helping me with the story of how we were introduced.  Then, with a bloody sock over my nose, I got down on one knee and proposed.  She said "yes", and then we joyfully made our way to the ER.  

Since then, we've been working on a date, a place, and rest for my nose after my surgery this past Tuesday.  We leave for El Salvador with my church to dig a well for a small village this coming Saturday, and will be gone for a week as I try not to get my cast to close to the drilling equipment.  

Jus thought I'd share all of that with my peeps here on DA  God Bless you guys and gals!

Looking through my last 200 some favorites, I've noticed a trend that I was aware of but never really took into consideration.  The respect for an art form that I mocked in my earlier days.  An art form that is still mocked by many today, yet it continues.  It grows and improves upon itself more and more.  And it's an art form in which I fully recognize both the ingeniousness of the craftsmanship as well as my shortcomings in ability to match it.  I refer to art that is construction, varying in several other forms of art to accomplish a placement into this genera.  This art form being...

Cosplay.

Yes...  I was once someone that frowned at the idea of cosplay.  Close minded and unappreciative of the skills it involved.  That was all until I met a now very good friend of mine named Angel McLeod.  A.K.A. "Cosplay Angel".  Through her I discovered a few things.  

1.  Not all cosplay is a fat guy dressed up as Sailor Moon throwing themselves around the merchant area without having showered for a week.  Actually, there's a good number of cosplayers that are quite fit and with a good sense of hygiene.

2.  Not all costumes are made of duct tape and cardboard with crayon etchings for decals.  Truthfully, I am inspired by those cosplayers I have met that reach far beyond the standards of extremely above average sculptures and carpenters.  It has definitely become less shocking to see the use of molds and even electronics mixed into the costumes people make these days.  Some even rivaling professional movie effects.

3.  Not all cosplayers are people that never got out of the basement at their mom's house.  Sure...  there is a bit of geekiness in every cosplayer.  That much is true.  But it's not a degree of being socially inept.  These people are artists in every sense of the word.  Deep thinking, fun loving, intelligent, humorous, REAL people.  They may know more about anime and video games than your average individual, but is that a crime?  NO!  It's their passion!  I wish I was half as passionate about the things I love as most of these people are.

These are but a few things I have learned over the years in my increasingly growing admiration for the art form called "cosplay".  I've been fortunate to befriend a few of these artists.  At least on a "fellow artist" level.  Individuals who have inspired me through both their creativity and kindness.  To them, I say "thank you".  Thank you for continuing when others (through great ignorance) ridiculed you for being different.  Thank you for not giving up on your creative desires.

For those of you that shun this art form, verbally abuse those that partake in it's creation, or gawk with lustful eyes and minds, I have this to say.  Try to understand the craftsmanship, time, ability, effort, and courage it took these people to stand in front of an averagely dressed crowd while wearing costumes that are anything but normal.  This is an art form that isn't easy to do both physically and socially.  I'm sure that many of the seasoned cosplayers have gotten past the performance anxiety aspect, but everyone had a beginning, and it had to have been nerve racking.  Respect that.

So am I addicted to cosplay?  Maybe a little.  But what I'm really addicted to is art.  I'm addicted to craftsmanship, innovation, and imagery.  Thank you cosplayers.  I (and many others) appreciate your hard work.  

One of my numerous New Years Goals (I'm not a fan of the word "resolutions" for inducing change in my life) is to draw one sketch a day for every day of the year.  Now, this is a very large task, but considering it's only sketches, I believe it is something I can accomplish.  Therefore, you can now start to see a collection of sketches in the scrapbook section of my gallery.  

Honestly, I probably won't have a sketch in every single day.  This will be more due to the amount of travel I'll be embarking on this year, as well as the fact that I'm normally away from my home (and scanner) on the weekends.  However, I've taken all of this into consideration and have decided to do double, triple, and quadruple posts as needed.  The ultimate goal will be 365 sketches in 2011.

So enjoy the sketch-a-thon that has already started.  There won't be a daily blog on DA to go along with each sketch as of yet, but the thought has crossed my mind as a possibility.

Have a great weekend, and to those that like following my artwork, I suggest adding my scrapbook to your watch list.  It'll just make things easier for you rather than having to come to my page every day to see what's new.