So, it’s been three months since I last posted – what on earth has taken me so long to get back in touch with you, my dear readers? Truth be told, I’ve been working on all sorts of sorts of things. The bulk of what I’ve been doing is a series of 36 black and white portraits of cultural figures from the late 19th Century and early 20th Century. It’s been a good exercise for me – it’s given me the chance to get back to something that I’ve always prided myself in, my brushwork in ink. It’s also given me the chance to go back and study the work of many of the artists that worked for EC Comics in the 1950s: Jack Davis, Jack Kamen, Bernie Krigstein, Al Feldstein, and my all time favorite, Wallace “Wally” Wood. These men were absolute masters of black and white ink drawing and their work was a big influence on my own black and white work.

Much of what I have been working on will be offered for sale in my newly opened Zazzle store. Zazzle is a marketplace where you can set up an online shop and sell a myriad of products with your own artwork on it. The temptation is to go hog wild and put your work on everything possible, but you see, I have standards, high standards. I could never Kincaid my work – money, is one thing, real art is another. The drawing that adorns this post, Amedeo Modigliani, is a study for one of the portraits in my series. I should be done with the series by the end of May or Mid-June at the latest; I will keep you up to date on my progress, and I will share some of the drawings with you before I turn them into T-shirt designs.

The fact that I can offer items of my choosing from work that I’ve created to almost anyone in the world is simply astounding to me. Back in the dark ages, the 1990s, I could only dream of having this type of service at my disposal. In 20 years everything has changed; now, an artist is no longer at the mercy of the gallery owner or the publisher. Now, the tools are there, and world is full of opportunity. Well, that’s how I see it, anyway. All of this, is indeed a sign of the times. So, buy art! Go to my store and buy, buy, buy. With this store there are no more excuses for those who say, “I can’t afford to buy art; it’s too expensive.” Excuses, excuses. ¡Basta!

I want to wish all of you that visit this page from the four corners of the globe a very Happy New Year! Thank you for your comments and for following me on Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, and Flickr. I am truly grateful for your continued support. May the new year be filled with happiness and health for all of you. The new year will be filled with many exciting new projects. Keep an eye on this website/blog in the coming months – the best is yet to come.

Virginia Wolfe. Pencil on paper. © 2012 Salvador Castío.

Well, here we are again – the end of another year. This time of year has always resonated well with me; the chill in the air brings hope, new beginnings, and new ideas. My new year will begin full of optimism because I have chosen for it to begin that way. My wife, Allyce, often says to me that we choose (for the most part) whether we’re happy or not. When she first said that to me, I thought, “That’s nice, but I think there’s more to it than that.” I’ve learned that it is exactly what she says it is, a choice that we make. In fact, because of this, I’ve realized that making a choice applies to practically everything in our life. So often, we hold ourselves back from doing things that we want because we’ve decided that those things are unreachable. WE HAVE DECIDED that of our own free will. I’m no different from anyone else when it comes to this, except that I have finally reached a point within myself where enough is enough. I no longer want to wait for things to change or happen in my life; I no longer want to waste my precious time. I didn’t feel like this until I realized that I didn’t have time to waste. People often say, “Life is short;” they say it so much that, unfortunately, it’s become a cliché. Nothing will ever matter to you until it becomes something personal, otherwise it won’t mean a damn thing to you.

I realize that a lot of people will probably read this and forget about it in the blink of an eye – that’s our modus operandi in this technological day and age, and it’s okay. If I’m able to reach just one person with this post then it’ll have been completely worth it. Today, it’s easier to be cynical than to be optimistic; we adopt this attitude, and then we blame other people when we are not happy in our own life. It’s easier to find a scapegoat than to take a hard, honest look at ourselves. As I write these words, I can’t help but think of my dear friend, Hector. A decade ago, Hector decided to make a real change in his life; he had battled weight issues for most of his life, and had come to a point where enough was enough. Over the last ten years, Hector has not only lost weight, but he’s also completely changed his life. In that time, Hector has become an open water swimmer; within the last ten years, he has participated in a yearly event where he swims two miles from Alcatraz Island to the shore of San Francisco Bay. More importantly, he is happy and optimistic. Some years ago, I asked him what it was that had made him change, and he said, “One day I stood in front of a mirror and asked myself if this was what I really wanted for myself? I thought about my future, and I knew that I didn’t want it to be filled with health issues. That’s why I changed.” I’ve never forgotten those words. When he first said it to me, it went in one ear and out the other because it didn’t have any personal meaning to me. It’s interesting to see the changes that we all go through and how things end up having meaning for us.

I am blessed to have quite a few friends that have decided to make such changes in their lives. My dear friend, Kay, decided to live on her own terms decades ago, and continues to do things her way even at 80. My friends Wendy and Deb have also decided to live life on their own terms – I can’t help but feel inspired by the actions that my fiends have taken. My decision to change began a few years ago when I, too, decided to lose weight; It was just a beginning for me. Now, I want to complete that change – I want it to come full circle. It’s going to happen because I’m making that decision, that’s why. I’ve always been of the belief that what happens in our lives is something that we control 50% or more of the time. So many of us waste our time, thinking and pondering about our life – I cannot continue doing this. Life really is short,and my time really is precious. We must all live with the decisions that we make; this is the decision that I have made for myself. I would be greatly interested in hearing your thoughts on this, my dear readers. If one of you have something that you could share in regards to this topic, I would love to hear it. I would also like to take this opportunity to wish all of  my friends and fans a joyous Holiday season. I wish you all the very best.

A note on the drawing that adorns this post: this drawing of Virginia Wolfe is a sketchbook drawing that dates from circa 1996. I used it for this post so that you could compare it to the recent drawing of Virginia Wolfe that I used two posts ago. I’d like to think that the drawing from this post was the seed that was planted many years ago that has now come to mature fruition. I’m equally proud of both of both drawings and hope that you, my dear readers, can appreciate both efforts.

Modigliani. Brush and ink on paper. © 2012 Salvador Castío

Today, I logged in to Facebook to see what was going on, and one of the first things that I saw was an article that read, “Two men shot.” I logged out and thought, “I’m out; I’m done.” This is not how I wish to spend my time. I’ve felt this way for quite some time and it seems like today I reached my limit. I feel as if I’ve lost touch with things that are important to me and I don’t like it. This is why I’ve decided to cut back on my Internet time as much as I can and get back in touch with the things that truly fulfill me. The Internet is high on my list of things that I feel eat into my time, but it’s not the only thing.

There are a lot of things that can eat into our time today; it seems as if we’ve become prisoners to today’s technology and that we’ve forgotten simple basic things like going outside and enjoying the day or going out and having coffee with a friend sans smart phone. I know a few people who, miraculously, don’t have cell phones! Yes, it’s amazing that there are actually some of us who are free of a cell phone. At first I thought it was strange that they didn’t have one and even stranger that they didn’t want one. Now, my opinion has changed; now, I admire these people, and can understand why they choose not to have a cell phone. Thinking about this, I wondered if we truly need all the things that are available to us in this technological age. It seems as if there’s more and more things to distract us popping up all the time. I’m not sure that I want more things like that in my life; I feel as if I have enough already. There was a time when drawing, listening to music, reading, going to movies, etc was what took up my time. These are the things that fulfill me and they’re what I want to get back to. This desire puts me in an interesting spot being that I rely on the Internet to publicize and disseminate my work. Yes, technology has done wonders for people like me, there’s no doubt about it. That, however, doesn’t mean that technology dictates what I do with my time nor am I a  slave to it. It’s there when I need it and it’s not going away.

This realization means that there will be a change in the way that I spend my time. I’ve used the Internet for over a decade and I want to go back to what I did before that time; I want to get back in touch with non-technological, non-social media things. I miss doing those kinds of things. I want to get back to them being a part of my daily life again. Technology isn’t all bad, but it can eat up your time. In the end, it’s up to each one of us to decide how much time we wish to give to it. It comes down to priorities. Well, that’s how I see it anyway. Don’t worry, I will not stop posting new entries to this blog – in fact, I’ll probably post more often since I’ll be spending lots more time doing creative things. I guess you can look at it as a win-win situation.

Virginia Wolfe. Pencil on paper. © 2012 Salvador Castío.

 It’s been six months since I last made a post on this blog. That’s the longest period of time that I’ve gone without posting here. That time comes to an end with this post. Originally, I was going to write a long drawn-out post detailing why I haven’t posted in six months, but decided against it because I felt that it would be counterproductive. Instead of ranting and raving, I would rather simply get on with things. There’s much more energy in that than in some long-winded diatribe. Don’t get me wrong, there’s a time and a place for bitching and moaning and it is something that must happen sometimes, but this isn’t the time or place for that. I figure that there are better things that I can do with my time and energy – making art is at the top of the list.

The drawing that adorns this post is something that I did in the past six months. I really enjoy drawing in pencil, but I hardly ever do it. Most people usually think of a sketch when pencil drawing is mentioned. My drawings are not sketches, but rather finished pieces of work. A sketch can take a few seconds or minutes to execute but a finished pencil drawing, such as my portrait of Virginia Wolfe, takes days to complete. Sketches are fine and they serve their purpose, but it’s not what I’m going for here. I want to do more pieces in pencil and plan on finishing more in the near future. I’ll put them up here as I finish them. My apologies for taking so long to post something here; I will do my best to see that it doesn’t happen again.

Truth be told, there are some things that I’d like to get off my chest; my personal vision of my own work is going through some changes and I definitely feel that I need to document that in both words and pictures. I’m sure that the changes that I’m talking about will become plainly obvious in the weeks and months to come. My work is going through changes and so am I. It’s an important time for me right now; there’s a lot things that that are taking shape even as I type these words. They’re things that I’ve put out into the universe willfully and intentionally. Things take time to happen – one must be patient. I happen to be a very patient person. These things are things that I’ve envisioned for years. They will happen. They will happen because they are meant to happen. I’m of the belief that you can make things happen because you believe in them with every fiber of your being. It’s pure energy that you put out into the universe that cannot be ignored. It eventually makes its way back to you. I’ve seen it happen in the past and I don’t doubt for a minute that this will be the case again.

Photo © Hans Frederiks

In 1987, comics journalist Kim Thompson conducted an in depth interview with French comics legend Jean “Moebius” Giraud; in his introduction he wrote, “No cartoonist since Robert Crumb has had an impact greater than Jean (Moebius) Giraud. Like Crumb, Giraud is a liberating force: where many great cartoonists have offered one more possibility, Giraud has provided the opposite: an infinity of possibilities. In that, he is surely the most generous cartoonist of his generation.” I can’t think of a better statement to make about Jean Giraud, who passed away on Saturday at the age of 73, than this.

Jean Giraud was one of those rare people, like Picasso and Jimi Hendrix, that came along and completely revolutionized the art form within which they worked. Think I’m exaggerating? You know Heavy Metal magazine? It wouldn’t exist without him. Have you ever seen Alien, Tron, or the Fifth Element? He was a key reason as to why those movies looked the way they did. Even Marvel Comics belatedly celebrated his work with a slew of graphic novels starting in the late 80s and continuing into the mid 90s. He was also responsible for giving the world characters such as Lieutenant Blueberry, France’s biggest selling western character, Arzach, the silent pterodactyl riding warrior that appeared in a series of ground breaking stories in 1975, Major Grubert, the star of The Airtight Garage, Jean’s space opera masterpiece, and the list goes on and on. His characters and stories revolutionized comics in France and in the rest of the world as well. His influence on the global comics industry is wide ranging and profound.

I first discovered Moebius’ work when I was 15 years old. Like many other people, my view of what comics art could be was forever changed by his work. His virtuosity, his range of styles, and his imagination caused a true epiphany for my 15 year old mind; his work and the person that he was were both object and lesson for me. I could go on and on about what a great example he was but I remember a moment that makes that more clear than any amount of verbiage ever could.

I remember going to the San Diego Comic-Con in 1989 because I wanted show my work to publishers and because I wanted to meet Moebius. I remember that day very clearly; my friend Kenny Goodacre and I were standing in line in front of Moebius’ booth along with a very large group of other admirers. I was looking around and saw Jack Kirby at another booth just a few feet away and felt surprised by the contrast in the number of people that were there to see Moebius and the lack of people at Jack’s booth. And Jack Kirby was an important man in the comics industry. I remember that as we were getting closer to the front of the line there was a guy who had walked up and was insisting on being allowed to go to the front of the line. I remember Randy L’Officier, half of the husband and wife team that represented Moebius at the time, telling the guy that everyone in line had been waiting patiently and that he would also have to do the same. “Come on, all I want is an autograph and I’ll leave,” he said. Randy, once again, patiently told him that he was going to have to wait like everyone else. “Fuck you, bitch,” was his response. All along as this was going on in front of him, Moebius was doing a drawing in my friend’s book. I remember him looking up, completely unfazed by the negativity in front of him, then looking back down and continuing with my friend’s sketch. This moment showed me the kind of person that Moebius truly was. It’s something that I’ve never forgotten.

In closing, I think that the best thing that I can do is to encourage fans old and new to continue searching out Moebius’ work and exposing as many others to it as possible. When he passed away on Saturday, the world lost a brilliant man; thankfully, the body of work that he left behind is so vast that there is no doubt that many, many future generations will continue to be exposed to the brilliant and vivid imagination of Jean Giraud.

 Here are some links that will provide you with more information about Jean and his body of work: for general information: Wikipedia, The Comics Journal; for images: Quenched Consciousness; for merchandise and books: his official website and Humanoids Publishing.

Today, I decided to get out and draw my favorite subject, unsuspecting victims. They aren’t very hard to find; they’re easy to spot and they’re everywhere you can imagine. Luckily for me, the ones I like to draw like to live in coffeehouses and similar places. I started this page yesterday, as we were having lunch at a place called Vito’s in Modesto, California. The food was pretty good and, best of all, they had a good clientele. Unfortunately, I was only able to get in a quick sketch of one of the cooks. I wish I could have stayed longer at Vito’s; there were quite a few people I would liked to have drawn, including our waitress. Oh well…. This morning, I got up and walked over to my local Starbucks. It was a little quiet with just a few people there. I, nonetheless, ensconced myself at my favorite table over near the window and near the outlet. When you spend hours, like I do, drawing in coffeehouses, an outlet to plug your iPod in is of utmost importance. I need my music as I draw, you know? The lady that I ended up drawing at Starbucks seemed suspicious of me and kept glancing over my way as I was drawing her. I pride myself on having perfected my public drawing technique – the majority of unsuspecting victims never suspect that they’re being immortalized in the pages of my sketchbook and if they do realize that I’m drawing them, it’s already too late, the deed has been done. I, still, managed to draw her, despite that fact that she kept glancing over at me as I was drawing. Ha, take that! Later on in the day, I went out again – this time to a busier Starbucks. I’ve been to this Starbucks many times before and for some reason it seems as if there’s always people there that are peddling pyramid schemes to customers. Most of these people are young, in their 20′s, Asian males; they’re usually dressed all in black and are well coiffed. Today, two of them were sitting right next to me – one was the leader and the other was the lackey. Sure enough, they had quite a few people who seemed to have appointments to get indoctrinated into their get rich quick scheme. The guy who was the lackey was seated closest to me; man, he was the perfect unsuspecting victim – he hardly moved at all. He had very distinct features that made him easy to draw. I spent about 45 minutes from start to finish and the guy barely flinched. Feeling satisfied with my drawing, I packed up my satchel and left. After all these years, I still enjoy going out and drawing people;each person is a story unto himself or herself and that’s what makes it interesting for me. Anyway, that’s how I spent my day today.   

Ah yes, those questions; those incessant and insanely stupid questions that people have asked me over and over for what seems like forever. So, what’s to be done about it? Write and draw a comics story, that’s what. You see, through the use of words and pictures you are able to be perfectly blunt and to the point; no beatin’ around the bush here, mister! 

As written about in my previous post, this idea will form what I’m guessing will be a series of stories based on these ridiculous and and annoying questions answered by the one and only Picasso.  I’m starting with this preliminary top ten and building from there. It amazes me that anyone could ask such questions and expect to be taken seriously by the artist. I often wonder people would ask such asinine questions of me if I were a doctor or a lawyer? Do they ask Joe Blow that works at Home Depot these questions or are they so totally in the dark when it comes to art and artists? In some ways, you want to think that most people don’t mean any harm when they ask these questions but, unfortunately, the road to hell is paved with good intentions. For twenty years (probably longer) I’ve smiled and nodded politely as these questions have been lobbed at me but ya know, the party has to come to an end at some point. Give most people an inch and they’ll take as many miles as they can. Yes, it sounds harsh but it’s the truth. So, are you wondering if I’m a tad bitter about this? If you are then my answer is NO. Life is precious and too short to waste on this kind of bullshit. Those who ask stupid questions are the ones who feel most entitled to do so; they’re also the ones who act most offended when you call them out on their motives. Funny how that works, isn’t it?

I’ll be doing a few more character study pages before actually starting my story so you’ll be seeing lots more of good ol’ Picasso in my next few posts. Once I get things the way I want them for my story I’ll start looking for reference material and whatnot and then it’s time to start laying out the actual story pages. Once I’ve penciled the all the panels and I’ve done all the lettering then it will be time to start inking everything. I’m slow and picky when it comes to drawing so this project will keep me busy for quite some time. I’m really enjoying doing this and I hope that you will follow my progress. You can view more detailed information regarding the progress of this project over on the Graphic Stories part of this site.

Recently, I read a great article on dailymail.co.uk, “I wish I hadn’t worked so hard, and other great regrets of the dying… as revealed by former nursing home carer.” Overall, I think this article is a must read for anyone despite their age or level of ambition. Of the five regrets listed, the two that struck me the most were the first, “I wish I’d had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me,” and the third, “I wish I’d had the courage to express my feelings.” It brought to mind Mark Twain’s quote, “Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do…” Most of us know when we are not happy with our lives; we know when we’re not being true to ourselves. I believe that it boils down to this: all of us are given the same two choices in regards to this: you either do something about it or you don’t. It’s that simple. These things, along with others, have helped me make decisions that I had put off for far too long. It was this that led me to…

The image that accompanies this post is the beginning of a new project. For many years, I’ve wanted to write a comics story about the stupid questions that people ask artists; one day I asked myself, “What would Picasso say about this?” And thus, an idea was born. I’ve decided to tackle the ten most stupid questions using Picasso as my voice. Having read my fair share of books on Picasso, I feel that I have a decent understanding of how he would have reacted to these incessant and annoying questions. What you see pictured here is the first page of character studies that I’ve done for my project. I will do more studies before deciding on a final version of what he will look like in my story. It’s exciting to be writing about something that truly says something about me. This makes all the difference in the world. You can stay tuned to the progress of this project via the Graphic Stories section of this website. In the coming weeks I will post all my work, from start to finish, that I will do on this project in the Graphic Stories section of the site.    

And so it begins… a new year and a new start. This image might not be such a surprise for those that know me well, but for others, it might come as a bit of a surprise. For me, this image represents a truth that I’ve come to realize and accept after a very long time: my style is made up of many styles. I cannot adhere to a single defined style. For a long time I mistakenly assumed that I needed to have a certain “look” to what I did. Because of this erroneous belief, I spent many years feeling very frustrated with whatever I did. Every time I found myself feeling like I’d finally discovered the look that I thought I wanted ,I would feel that, once again, it wasn’t it. It seemed as if no style was my style and I started to feel very frustrated because of this. Believe me, it wasn’t something I enjoyed; in all honesty, I hated it. Almost all of the artists that I had grown up admiring had a signature style and I assumed that it was supposed to be that way. That assumption was a huge mistake on my behalf. Because of it, I spent years looking for something that didn’t exist: a defined style. I led my own self on a wild goose chase. Starting out as an artist and dealing with the public and their strange ideas about art can be frustrating enough; add to this a feeling of having no visual identity and you can start to understand how I was feeling. After a long period of nearly no activity, I started thinking about this; I’d be lying if I said that I made any immediate progress towards resolving this personal dilemma. It took another two years to finally come to grips with this idea. During that time period I began my first blog, Cubist Comix, and I began to get myself back into a daily routine of drawing which helped a lot. Eventually, all these things helped me realize that mine was a multi-style approach. Realizing that was a great thing, but accepting it was even better. Another great thing was realizing that my different approaches were tied to my different emotions. It all makes perfect sense to me now. Now, that realization is also enriched by the fact that I no longer seek approval from anyone in regards to what I produce, nor do I feel the need to have to explain myself to anyone either. The only thing that I seek now is total freedom; if there are any restrictions placed upon my work, they are ones that I have placed myself. The above image may not be something totally new for me but that’s the least of my concerns because, more importantly, it says something about where I am in the evolution of my own work: this is who I am and this is where I set off on my own.

I therefore  go forward along my chosen path; I proudly acknowledge all those influences, obvious and less obvious, that form a part of who I am. One must start somewhere and eventually come to a point where one veers onto a lone and unique path. Let the adventure begin.

Well, here we are at the beginning of another year; what exciting things do you have planned for yourselves, my dear readers? Did you make a resolution? Did you a break a resolution? Or, is it all the same to you? I hope that it’s not all the same to you; I hope that you can see endless possibilities for yourself in this new year. I certainly do.

The new year brings a change to my point of view in general. In recent months I found myself falling into a terrible and repetitive pattern that left me feeling very empty on the inside. It was horrible; it was like I was becoming one of the crowd. Now, I find that my tolerance for plebeian banalities is gone. There was a time when such things didn’t bother me; it was easy to overlook them – not anymore. I’ve reached a point in my life where I want more and not less from life. I see lots of people that are my age who seem to have lost their curiosity and sense of adventure; they’ve settled for a Walmart-level lifestyle and are cruising on down to retirement age. What a fucking nightmare! I can’t imagine anything worse than this. Seriously, imagine yourself waking up one day at 75 and realizing that the most thrilling memories you have are from going to Walmart patio furniture sales! I’d rather be shot dead, thank you. All joking aside, I honestly couldn’t continue sitting around listening to these types of things and acting like it’s OK. I’m sure that this will not bode well for some people that know me; I’m sure that someone will lob the “Elitist,” label my way and that’s fine with me. It doesn’t matter to me any more, it really doesn’t.

“It’s all possible if you really want it.” Yes indeed, I couldn’t agree more. The new year has begun and it is different for me. The recent events that I speak of have also had an effect on my work as as well; just like everything else, I want more and not less from it. The only concrete possibility that exists in regards to my work is a multifaceted one. I cannot continue down a road where I only see things one way. They say that life is short, but I imagine that it must be even shorter if you waste it indulging in banalities.

Here we are at the end of another year, and I look forward with much anticipation to the New Year that awaits us. I have lots of new ideas that have been put away in storage for far too long and I want to start working on them. I, of course, have new ideas as well; between new and old I will have more than enough work to do. We’ll see how things go – some of these projects are pretty involved and realistically I’m not sure exactly how much I’ll get done on these projects. Some of the projects are in need of attention much more than others, but at this point I just want to try and get as many of these completed as I can. Stay tuned! The last few years have been frustratingly slow at times in terms of creativity for me, but that’s now in the past and I can begin to concentrate on the many ideas that I have in mind. Establishing this site has helped a lot in terms of having a place to shed light on these ideas and that, in of itself, is a strong motivating factor. 

Along with the desire to create new things I am also filled with the desire to grow and expand within my given “style.” There’s always room for growth and sometimes the best way to achieve that is by just taking a big leap of faith and doing things differently. Styles have a lifetime and eventually run their course – you have to move on. This goes for the context of whatever it is that you’re trying to express. Sometimes, that can be a real challenge for some of us; after all, speaking your mind and not holding back can be a very uncomfortable thing to do. In the end, you have to do it; you either do it or you continue living a lie. Not exactly something I want to do.

This coming new year is one that promises a lot for me; it’s been a very long time since I’ve looked forward to the beginning of a new year with this much anticipation. I look forward to sharing all of this with you, my dear readers. Thank you very much much for your support. Happy Holidays to all of you!

This past week has been filled with lots of activity and I find myself somewhat reflective about it and other things. Things started last Saturday when I participated in Let’s Draw Davis!! A Sketchcrawl. I arrived about half an hour late but was surprised to see that a good amount of people had shown up – there were about a dozen of us. The first person I encountered was my friend and fellow artist Pete Scully who was already well into his first drawing of Davis Community Park. I greeted him and his wife and then wandered off to scout out a place to ensconce myself. I normally draw unsuspecting victims who are hunched over their laptops or sprawled out on couches at cafés so being at a community park was a little different for me. I sat next to a couple of ladies who were caught up in talk about pens and brands of sketchbooks; I thought about joining in but what would I say? I’m not on the lookout for different varieties of pens nor am I curious about other brands of sketchbooks. I know what I like and it works just fine for me, so I decided to keep quiet and just draw. After about forty-five minutes Pete and a few others had joined our little group to look at each others’ drawings. I didn’t have much to show; I had barely sketched the tree and scenery on the first image above – not a whole hell of a lot. Still, there was someone who seemed impressed by my tortoise like speed; “Oh, look at you. Wow, that’s really good,” bellowed a woman’s voice over my head. I didn’t respond as I felt that what I’d done wasn’t all that impressive. “Hey guy, I’m talking to you. Hey,” she said in a somewhat irritated voice. “Oh, thanks,” I said in  most unenthusiastic manner. By this point it had gotten too cold for us to stay outside so we decided to move into the Davis Public Library.

As we walked over, my friend Marlene Lee and I spoke about earning a living as an artist and being successful. At one point in our conversation Marlene turned to me and asked, “Do you feel that you’re successful, Salvador? After a brief moment of thought I said, “I used to work at a job where I spent lots of time in a cubicle and now I spend my days drawing. If success is measured by happiness then I would say I’m pretty successful.” It wasn’t the first time that I’d been asked that question and I suspect it won’t be the last. For me “Success” is nothing more than a process. If you keep at it eventually you’ll get what you want. The end result depends on what your goals are to begin with. You have to be honest with yourself in the beginning so that you can be prepared for the road ahead. My main priority is and always will be to be free and to enjoy my work. Whatever else comes after that isn’t something that I worry about too much. As we neared the library entrance I said to Marlene, “In the end you have to believe that it can happen. If you don’t then there’s no point in going forward.”

Today was Thanksgiving; today I saw lots of postings on Facebook about what different people were grateful for and that’s good. I too am grateful for all that I have: my health, my wife, and the fact that I get to do what I most love on a daily basis. Gratitude is something that should be shown on a daily basis and not set aside for some specific date or time. I believe it’s important to begin every day by acknowledging this most important thing. Aside from this you should endeavor to be yourself and live your life as you wish without worrying about what others may think.

This past week has been good, really good. Future plans were laid, I spent a day with someone that inspires me to live my life on my own terms, and had a good time in general. Life is good. It’s easy to overlook such things and take them for granted; lots of people do it all the time.

My week started in the company of my dear friend Kay; Kay is nearly eighty years old but you’d never know it based on her attitude towards life. I’ve only known her for less than a year but during that time I have watched, listened, and learned a lot from her. I don’t think it’s a fluke that she’s come into my life. Change is in the air for me and meeting someone like Kay only serves to precipitate that. Last Monday I had the pleasure of spending the day with this wonderful lady and, as you might imagine, talking about everything under the sun. During our conversation, she talked about how her life had changed when she was my age and how she had taken that opportunity to basically start anew and get out and explore life. Since that time she has gone back to school and completed a Master’s degree, taught in Vietnam, lived in Thailand, and traveled to lots of interesting places. At her age most people have fallen into a routine and have no interest in future goals. My friend is not that type of person. She continues to have a desire to explore and learn, and travel. How can you be around such a person and not feel compelled to go forward and aspire to everything that life has to offer? Thank you Ms. Kay for being who you are.

It’s hard for me to imagine continuing in the same way that I was prior to meeting my dear friend. You see things differently when you meet someone that’s done many of the things that you yourself want to do. None of this is new, It’s been on my mind for quite some time, but it wasn’t until now that I saw what needed to be done. There’s a lot to be done and there’s places and people to see and meet. I am ready; I’ve been ready. Making the decision to live life on your own terms can be the hardest decision that you’ll ever make, but in the end, you have to do it if you truly wish to live.

Recently, I was confronted with the hated and much asked question, “How do you make money?” This question was asked in regards to being an artist. Even after all these years this question still leaves me totally and completely perplexed. I’ve often wondered why people are so worried about my economic state of being. How are they affected by it? Strange. I often wonder what Picasso would say in situations like this? I’m sure that his response would’ve been, “Of course I make money you idiot. I am Picasso, fuck off!” Picasso had sizable cojones (Spanish for testes) when it came to expressing his opinions about art and there is a valuable lesson to be learned from his blatant candor. I believe that Picasso’s attitude in general was deeply rooted in his belief that what he did was as valuable as anything done by anyone else. In fact, I’m sure that he probably thought that what he did was infinitely superior to what others did. I’m also sure that anyone that ever came into contact with him most likely  thought that he was totally arrogant and full of himself. Maybe he was, but in the end who cares, right? There’s a fine line between arrogance and self belief; it’s so fine that most people can’t distinguish it. Even I have been have been accused of being arrogant because of my determination. Do I somehow feel guilty for being accused of this? Not really. I’ve actually been asked, “Do you think that you’re a great artist?” What am I supposed to say to that question other than, “Of course I’m a great artist.” These types of questions are laughable at best. The fact is, there are people who will never understand what I do nor do they care to; on the other hand, there are those who will understand my efforts without any explanation at all. It is those people that make it all worthwhile.  I guess this is how it’s always going to be and that’s fine. The fact is that there’s always going to be people who somehow feel entitled for whatever reason. These are the ones that will matter-of-factly ask you blatant and ignorant questions such as the aforementioned money question. Not only do they ask you stupid questions but in the process they think that they’re also doing you a favor by showing interest in your work. Oh, and let’s not forget that expect a Goddamned discount to boot! A good set of cojones comes in handy when dealing with these people; a healthy dose of sarcasm doesn’t hurt either.

After years of running into this bullshit I’ve come to the conclusion that these schmucks deserve nothing but the best: high prices and sarcasm. You get to a point where enough is enough, you know. Life is too short and I’ve got better things to do than deal with these types of people. If you’re a creative person in any way shape or form take this as an example to learn from. Stand your ground and don’t give in to the ignorance of these people. And if they don’t like it then tell them what Picasso would have told them, “I am Picasso, fuck off!”

The week has begun on a positive note for me – cool and overcast. Unfortunately, it’s also begun with the beginnings of a cold as well; this predicament has led me to my computer and this blog to share some recent thoughts. Over the last few months I’ve spent lots of time sitting around cafés whiling away the time talking to friends and whatnot. This is nothing new,  it has been de rigueur for me  ever since coffeehouses exploded onto the scene back in the 90s here in the US.

A few days ago,  I thought to myself, “What if you spent the rest of your  life sitting around at a café talking and swilling coffee?”‘  I was very ambivalent about that thought; on the one hand I could see myself, sketchbook in hand, firmly ensconced at café somewhere in Europe taking in the scenery, but on the other hand I cringed at the thought of staying somewhere (here) where there is no ambiance or creative spark, even if there are coffeeshops. There was a time when sitting at a café was serious business; artist, writers, and intellectuals all sat around discussing and debating the issues of the day. Such is not the case here in my part of the world. Here,  intellectual conversation is as scarce as water is in the Sahara. As a creative individual this is unacceptable to me. I have chosen to put this into print because I wish to precipitate changes that I’ve wanted to see for quite some time. No longer will I be content with the monotonous rhythm that is so prevalent here in what I’ve sarcastically and accurately  termed Purgatory. I have no interest in patio furniture sales, American football teams, boating, hunting, barbecuing in my front yard, or any other number of banalities that people get excited over these days. Perhaps some of you who are reading this can relate to what I’m talking about; I’m sure I’m not the only one who feels this way.

In closing, I can safely say that, yes, I can picture myself sitting at a café table for the rest of my life. As long as as it’s somewhere else and as long as there is interesting and stimulating conversation to be had you can bet that I’ll be happily ensconced wherever that may be.

 For the better part of a month, I have spent a vast majority of my time in front of  a computer screen helping to put together this website; it’s been a challenging and educational experience for me. From this point onward, this website will be in flux; changes and revisions are inevitable.  Now that all the initial work has been done, it’s time for me to get back to what I do best: it’s time to get back to making art.

Establishing my own website means that I can now communicate with you, my dear reader, in a way that I’ve never been able to before.  It’s exciting to know that I can now share my thoughts, ideas, and current projects in a way that will bring you closer to knowing and understanding my work. Your feedback is very important to me and I look forward to sharing my current projects with you.

I saw this picture a few days ago on a friend’s Tumblr page and just had to use it. I normally adorn my posts with images of my own creation, but I feel that photography, found or my own,  is something that needs to be added to my posts in order for me to clearly express my thoughts. Images are everywhere and ideas are a dime a dozen so it only makes sense to marry the two in order illustrate the thoughts behind those ideas.

The longest journey begins with the first step says an ancient Chinese proverb. This seems particularly appropriate since this marks the launch of salvadorcastio.com! At last, in one place, you will be able to find everything related to me and my work. This is truly a new beginning for me. I have lots of new projects in progress, and will be sharing them with you as soon as I can.  Please take a look around and tell me what you think. I have worked hard in conjunction with my partner Eric Giese to make this look as good as possible, and bring it to fruition. A big thank you to Eric for all his excellent work!

For those of you familiar with my Typepad blog, you’ll be happy to know that I will continue to maintain a blog within my new site. The actual blog page may not have all the bells and whistles that my former blog had but I feel that the other features on the site make up for those in a big way.

As I said before, I have quite a few new projects underway. I will be updating their progress here for you to see as soon as possible. Aside from new drawings and paintings, I will be starting work on some graphic novel projects that I’ve wanted to do for quite some time. I will make updates on these as my work progresses on them. My work has to have some personal reason, or meaning behind it, otherwise I won’t find the proper motivation; because of this, as you might imagine, progress is often tedious and slow. This is the nature of my work; quick and easy are not words that come to mind when talking about my work.

Finally, I’d like to thank all of you who have supported me in the past. You’re support is heartfelt, and means a lot to me. Thank you. I look forward to sharing all of my future projects with you. The best is yet to come!

Welcome to my blog! This will now be the permanent home for my blog where I will continue writing and drawing about my day to day adventures. Look for a new post very soon; in the meantime, please update your bookmarks to this new address. Please look around by clicking on the above menu items or by clicking the image on this post.