I recently wrapped up a Wordpress theme for the talented wedding/art/lifestyle photographer, Erin Saldana. She was a fellow Art major with me at UCSB while we were learning the basics of everything. We took the same digital media and photography classes, building our first web sites and taking (my) first photos. (Yes, she knew for a while that photography is what she was meant to do.) As we went down our respective graphic design and photography routes, the result became a nice, artistic collaboration. Things do come full circle. Moral of the story: do what you love.

See the new theme at www.erinjsaldana.com/blog and be sure to check out her amazing photography. If you’re getting married, contact her! If you need a Wordpress theme developer, contact me. If you need a painting, you can’t go wrong with either. ;)

I draw a lot when on coffee breaks, days out in LA or Santa Barbara, when traveling, etc. So I’ll have to thank whoever this man is for being my subject on his (what must have been) usual study night at the local coffee spot. (Also, just a note, he was quite far away. I have yet to explore my artist’s boundaries of creeping up close to unsuspecting strangers.)

Originally a piece of a Vegas themed sleeve tattoo I designed.

I recently stumbled upon the following video I made for a video class two years ago using Final Cut Pro, a fun set of roommates, and co-workers I illustrated with at UCSB’s paper. It’s a comment on using art for opinion and the role convention and conformity play in opposition. It stemmed from an urban art photography project (for another class) that at the last minute became a video shot and put together in one night during finals week with minimal equipment, lots of frantic drawing, and all the fun people I could round up. It had been compressed, burnt, ripped, then compressed for web so the quality has diminished, but I hope you still enjoy it.

(As for the slaptagging, there was no act of vandalization (that I know of) that occured in the making of this video. Owners of the stickers took down their work, and I never knew what the result of each piece became.)