Ladies and gentlemen, as we stand together on the precipice of adulthood, gazing out at the many years of responsibility yet before us, we face many challenges. There’s college, of course, and then a career and family. But the greatest challenge is maintaining and cultivating the practice of quiet reflection in the midst of the hectic nature of daily life. In light of this, I have but one piece of advice for you on this, the inauguration of your new life:

Seize the day. Seize it with your teeth and claws.

The precious moments like this, the most important day of your young life, are all too fleeting. Before you know it, the summer will be over, and your first college semester or day at work will begin. Months, maybe years will flash by and you won’t have a clue where they went. So always remember to take a deep breath and look around you, I mean really take it all in. And then plunge your long, yellow fangs into the day’s neck, and bite hard until you taste the sweetness of its lifeblood.

Maybe give it a shake or two, snap its spine, make sure you really got it.

And I know, it’s not always so easy to appreciate the small quite moments that make up the journey. Life can be so agile, always evading capture. So let me share with you some practical tips. Hide yourself around the corner from the day, pupils wide and back hunches lifted. Shift your weight around until you’ve got yourself in a comfortable stance. Now be still. Very still. Every muscle in your body should be tensed, poised to pounce. And then launch yourself at the day, full force. Take it down with your front claws, then immediately roll on your back while gouging it furiously with your back claws. I personally find this is the single most effective way to render the day limp and pliable, able to be carried around in your mouth and maybe dropped on the doorstep of a loved one.

We all still have a lot to learn. In fact our education never ends. Every single day offers us something that can enrich and deepen our existence, if only we take the time. To acknowledge it. To receive it. And to tear it limb from limb in a blood-drenched ballet of gore and carnage.

Thank you, and good luck to you all. Now, I don’t know about you guys, but I’m ready to get some catnip and PARRRRRRTY! WHOOO-HOO! SPARTANS RULE!

—————-

Remember, you can always find me on Twitter and Etsy!

All the images in this post (except the header), © Copyright Her Interactive, Inc.

So, high on the work of others, I decided to attempt my own (less ambitious) What Are You Like piece:

How about you guys? I’d love to see some of the favorite things of everyone out there. How about this: if you decide to make your own What Are You Like piece, send it over to me and I’ll collect everyone’s together in a future blog post.

Sound good? ‘ight, get to it then!

As you probably already know, I’ve been employed at Her Interactive for the past couple of years, working as a 2-D artist on the Nancy Drew series of PC adventure games. In previous posts (found here, here, here and here), I’ve shared some of the game art I created for the first title I worked on, The Haunting of Castle Malloy. However, I haven’t posted any art from the games that have been released since Malloy, and if you can believe it there have been FOUR.

So, I’m starting a new segment here on the blog dedicated to showcasing what I’ve been doing for eight hours a day for two years. Every Tuesday, I’ll post a new piece of art from one of my old games.  Should be a hoot!

And I should mention right off the bat that, if any readers have found this site looking for game info, THERE ARE SPOILERS AHEAD! Proceed at your own peril!

Today’s art is from the 20^th Nancy Drew PC game called Ransom of the Seven Ships. But you had to be pretty smart to discover it – the image appeared on a special Easter egg that only the most resourceful and cheating players could find:

Captain Whiskers of the Spanish Armada, here to pilfer your booty and your heart! He actually the first of several behatted cats I’ve put into the games. I just can’t get enough of cats in novelty headwear. My own cat refuses to wear the bonnet I knitted him, and I suppose this is how I cope with my bottomless disappointment.

Okay! See you next week!

All the images in this post (except the header), © Copyright Her Interactive, Inc.

Just a few quick sketches about Autumn. I’m trying out this new drawing style where I keep the edges really ragged, the shapes simple, and the color monotone and loose. It’s way more fun then my previous drawing style, where I keep the edges very smooth, the shapes complex, and never finish anything.

Any thoughts?

ALSO: And speaking of keeping it simple, I want to give a quick plug for a documentary currently in the works about Ed Emberley‘s classic drawing instruction book Make a World. I spent a lot of my childhood creating thumbprint animals and triangular dragons and orange and black Halloween bats by following the instructions in Emberley’s books, and I think the idea of a film showing the impact of his magnum opus is a great idea. If you’re not familiar with Emberley and his uncomplicated drawing style, go check him out next time you’re in a bookstore. In the meantime, please visit the filmmakers’ site and maybe even help them produce the film by buying a snazzy shirt.

But don’t get a blue one. That’s the one I want.

Sorry for the lack of posting recently! I’ve been in the middle of a pretty complex project the last couple of weeks, a preview of which I’ll post early next week. In the meantime, enjoy this view from my art desk. That lump of fur is Ichabod, my cat/intern.

Ichabod! Get me some coffee. And get some for yourself while you’re at it.

I just spent the last two weeks working on a freelance project during my off hours, the fruits of which will soon be posted here. But in the meantime, please forgive me if I spend tonight working more on dreams than Sketcharoos.

She’ll get you into a house, even though you’ve got terrible credit? That’s just evil.

CONTEST UPDATE: In other news, there’s only one week left to get in your submission for the Contestaroo! And while I am absolutely loving all the entries I’ve got so far, I heard through the grapevine that you guys might like to have a clue to guide you in your punnery. And while I’m a bit hesitant to clip the wings of your creativity, I shall relent. So here it is, your very own rhyming clue:

While taking jabs at politics and things like that is fun,

it puts you on the wrong racetrack for finding the right pun.

You’d be advised to check the size of the auto-driving fowl,

compared against the elephant that feathered hunter prowls.

And get your mind off GOPs and Dems, try instead Sisyphus,

for that’s no eagle, but an ancient bird from well known myths.

BUT I’VE ALREADY SAID TOO MUCH! Hopes this helps! Remember, if no one gets the real title, the best pun still wins, so if the above clue was gibberish to you, don’t be afraid to toss it out and come up with something else entirely.

And happy punning!

Hey folks, welcome to the blog. For those of you who remember Zack Rock, let me introduce you to his doppelgänger, Zack Rock Illustration. Zack Rock Illustration is a lot like Zack Rock, only branded for easier ingestion. It feels a little weird to institutionalize myself, but hey, if it leads to more illustration gigs, I’m all for it. It’s either this, or continue to hire alley cats to shake down pedestrians for loose change.

Anyway, I plan to make regular postings (which I promise will be far more interesting than this one), so visit often or sign up for the RSS feed. And feel free to link to this or my portfolio site from your webpage. Gotta boost my Google rating somehow… ]]> http://www.zackrock.com/blog/2008/01/29/hello-world/feed/ 4