Thursday, October 04, 2007

28

I celebrated my 28th birthday on Sunday... so much has happened in the last year and I still feel behind, struggling to process it all. Since last September 30, I got married, landed a spot here at Pixar, moved to a new country, and changed some life paths. It all happened so fast. I often thought when I was really young, that adulthood came on with, or as an attainment of some kind, as though adolescence ended with an epiphany that set you up for the responsibility of living well among others and potentially raising a well adjusted, loving family.
Looking back on the last few years, I've realized that IF that epiphany is coming, it'll come so slowly I'll never notice it, and that we all have to live well now, and that that will always be a challenge.
Looking ahead, I have much to learn; some that involves pen and paper, some that involves heart and mind, sturdied that all things take time and that life is a process, a series of successes and failures that allow us to whittle ourselves down to who we are , and what we want.
At 28, here's to clear thinking, and strong feeling.
I received a real treasure of a gift from my parents this year in the form of Ronald Searle's Paris sketchbook. It's a case of right book, right time and it has lit up the furnace of inspiration.
Some pen and ink drawings from a new new new sketchbook, taken from the BART rides, the only time I have nowadays with run free with line.
They're kind of a step back I think, but what can you do?
Thanks for reading,

james






23 comments:

Anonymous said...

Happy Birthday again James, and remember we're always in it together!

Randeep Katari said...

Happy birthday man. I haven't been on blogs much these days - busy working on the film and stuff, but congrats on the birthday and the words of wisdom. Gerry sends his regards.
Glad to hear all is well - hope the next year is even better than this.

-R.

RAWLS said...

Happy B-Lated B-Day man!! and congrats on all the great blessings you've recieved...marriage is great isn't it!!...and i'm sure pixar is not bad either! Keep up the great work!

lillian said...

Happy Birthday James! I'm awed by how much you've accomplished in 28 years...look forward to seeing what you do in the next 28!

Cookedart said...

Happy Birthday man,

Glad to see a new post and hope things are going well!

Adrian Molina said...

Great sketches James, there's nothing like the boldness of ink! All your stuff is awesome, can't wait to see how your art grows in the years to come.

And happy birthday too!

Matt Ferguson said...

James! Happy birthday. It HAS been quite a year, and I couldn't be happier for you. I can't wait to see your stuff coming out of the 'house the luxo built'. You're going to take over the world.

Amelia Lorenz said...

Happy birthday! Great sketches. Do you think you'll be going to the next SketchCrawl? It's Sunday Nov. 4...

Unknown said...

Happy belated birthday dude! Drawing without 'undo' capability? Pretty ballsy, man. I'll be stopping by to borrow that book real soon.

lorelay bove said...

great sketches! so much life in them!

the doodlers said...

Happy birthday James.

and Wow! Big congrats on your marriage to you and Daniela from John and I.

Speaking from experience, we have found that a creative partnership is the very best kind. :)

Adrian Lubbers said...

Happy belated my friend. Hope you grow more artistically and intellectually for many, many more years to come.
Oh yeah... nice doodles by the way.

Enzo Avolio said...

I'm glad to have stumbled upon you blog.
Great work!

MikeS said...

All the best to you James! I can't believe it's been almost a year already! Many happy returns.

Claudio Nader said...

You make Beautiful "Signs"! And Wonderful images..

Bravo! Gran bel tratto

PEDRO NUĂ‘EZ said...

great sketches. love the " soul " of your characters.
Cheerss¡¡

libra bear said...

Happy Belated. Loving the sketches as always, Appreciate the wisdom even more

Todd Harris said...

Happy B-day! Great post!

justin said...

Hey James,
Great post. Happy belated b-day. Congrats on your first anniversary over there. It's great to hear these journeys in other people's lives. Man, if someone told me 11 months ago that by this time I would be married, have a kid, a mortgage and living in a different city, I would have told them they were crazy.
As for the sketches, I don't think they're a step back at all. It's intimidating at first, but I see all the same appeal and keen observation there. There's a great quote by Bill Sienkiewicz on drawing with pen. All my books are in boxes for now, but I'll let you know as soon as I find it.
Give Nick a nudge for me.

J said...

Hey all- Thanks to everyone from writing in. Sorry it's taken so long to get back; work has been really busy lately.I don't know if anyone will check back into the comments section for a reply now, but here goes.

Rawls- Thanks! Dani is awesome!

Lil- That's a very big compliment coming from you.

Adrian- Thanks man!

Matt- Haha, yeah.... you too man. Show TO what's good.

Amelia- Nov. 4... hmm. I'll have to see what I'm doing. Ill post again if I'm going.

Austin- Fo sho man. Stop by. Searle is the best.

Lorelay- Thanks so much!

A&J- Thanks guys. Yeah Dani is the best, I'm just trying to keep up... doing that makes me ok sometimes too.

Adrian- I hope so.... gotta keep beasting.

Smook. Me neither!

Justin- Great comment man thanks. I'm really lucky to be where I'm at right now. Nick nudged.

Thanks again to everyone who posted. I'll try to get some posts I've prepared up.
Thanks for reading.

DEANNA MARSIGLIESE said...

congrats on everything James! good luck! i enjoyed reading your entry- you are exactly right on your feelings about life- in fact, i think the paragraph IS an epiphany! you're very talented- keepit up! (Searle rocks!)

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