BLOG-a-versary!

Six years ago today this blog started and 819 post later it is still going. Somehow. For some reason. The blog continues on. Through highs and lows, the ups and downs, the blog endures! A hearty THANKS to EVERYONE who comes to the blog, comments on the posts, and in general lurks around this thing that I am creating. I couldn't keep doing it without you all.

Not much else to offer today except my thanks to those that come to the blog. The only visual for the day in my new pencil nub jar that, like the blog, continues on and on. You might remember my last jar from a couple years back. This is the one started after that one. Not sure what this has to do with a BLOG-a-versary, except that it too marks the passage of time, and hopefully growth...

The jar of nubs continues... 

It might not look like much now, but there are a bunch in there.

It is a bigger jar from last time too.

Again, many many thanks to everyone that frequents the blog and I hope the tales of my successes and failures help you all in your own journeys as artists or at least offer some amusing entertainment!

That is all for another exciting Monday on the blog, see you back here on Wednesday! Until then...

For more samples of my work or to contact me regarding my availability head over to my website: www.christopherburdett.com

And the winner is...

A week ago I had a little contest in celebration of my four year anniversary of blogging and for my 500th post. The contest was to guess how many pencils were in a jar that I have been filling for the last seven years. I was really impressed with how many of you took the time to post a guess and for all the kind words, it is really appreciated! While no one was able to guess the actual amount, one person did guess within 6 of the actual number... and if you were wondering, the actual number of pencils in the jar was...

306 pencils!

And the winner is, Guðmundur Harðar! The prize pack will be heading off to him very soon, congrats! Again, thanks to everyone who took part in the contest, hopefully in another four years and 500 posts you will have another chance!

I had no idea just how many pencils were in there until I counted them, and once they were all out they almost didn't fit back in. 306 seemed like a lot, but the amount didn't blow my mind until I started doing a little math. It took me about seven years to go through that many pencils, so that is about 43 pencils each year, or on average I go through a pencil every 8-9 days. I knew I drew a lot, I just didn't realize that I drew that much. This related back to my post about "What does it take?" where I first showed off the jar. I have been asked so many times about getting into the industry and being an artist and how I did it... well, I used up a pencil every 8-9 days... and this was AFTER I was already working in the industry, this was me working and trying to improve my abilities. There are no shortcuts to hard work and time.

See you back here on Friday! Until then...

For more samples of my work or to contact me regarding my availability head over to my website: www.christopherburdett.com

What does it take?

I have recently been interacting with a lot of younger artists and people with an interest in art and one point of conversation keeps coming up time and time again. I am continually being asked either, "How can I get to do this?" or "What do I need to do to make work like you?". In 100% of these situations I feel that my answer of, "LOTS and LOTS of hard work and time spent over the course of my entire life and spending all my time working towards my goals." seems to not be taken seriously or not understood for what to really entails. In these situations I always wish I had my jar with me...

The JAR
June 2005 - present.

On a whim when I started working professionally in the gaming industry I started throwing my pencil nubs into an empty glass jar. Very soon it just became habit and with the exception of a few, all of my pencil nubs for the last six years have been going in there. When someone asks, "What do I need to do to make work like you do?" I just want to show them my jar and say, "It takes 10 of these."

This jar also serves as a reminder to me that there will be another jar after it. The goal is to not simply fill it, the goal is to continue working and hopefully to improve. If I was not continually reminded of my skill level and the fact that I still have loads of room for improvement but the world around me, the jar would serve as a personal reminder to keep pressing forward. After all the events of last week I was left looking at the jar with fresh eyes. Even though I am reminded I am not at the level I feel I can be and I am still not working on the projects I think I have the abilities for, eventually I will. The jar proves that.

What does it take to get to that next level? "LOTS and LOTS of hard work and time spent over the course of my entire life and spending all my time working towards my goals." Sometimes, I need to remind myself of this.

That is all for today, see you back here on Friday! Until then...

For more samples of my work or to contact me regarding my availability head over to my website: www.christopherburdett.com