Ten years ago, I was sitting in the lobby of a mental health clinic working as a security guard. It wasn’t a choice; it was something I had to do in order to survive. I had been living with my mom and caring for her for the last few years, but her condition had taken a turn for the worse. My mom suffered from rheumatoid arthritis for 30 years and she had entered the advanced stage of the disease. I could no longer care for her at home; she needed to be in the hospital. My entire life changed in the blink of an eye and I had to do what I had to do in order to keep things afloat. Wearing that stupid guard uniform and sitting in that lobby were things that I loathed from day one. Things looked bleak at the time, but I had a plan. I knew from the get-go that my time there was going to be short. Truth be told, the one thing that drove me to get out of that situation and back to making art more than any other was my ego. Security work, are you fucking kidding me? I don’t think so. Everyday that I sat in that lobby I planned on how to get myself out of there. Slowly but surely I would escape. A year and a half later, I became a Spanish mental health interpreter; that was a step up, but it was just another phase in my plan – just as with the security work, I wasn’t there to stay. A little over 5 years went by before I finally achieved part one of the plan I had concocted while working as Barney Fife – I got my freedom back and I returned to making art full-time.

Lots of changes have come about since I got back to making art full-time. In essence, the day I left my interpreter job to get back to making art was the start of part two of the plan I had made in November of 2004. Now, the time has come to begin the best part of my plan: part three will be filled with lots and lots of surprises so keep an eye out and look sharp!

The drawing that accompanies this post is a drawing that I did a few years before all the aforementioned changes. It’s from the biopic Basquiat, and it remains a favorite from that period. It’s important to be able to see what you want for yourself in the future in fine detail. That’s what I did a decade ago. It’s why I’m sitting here writing this post. I knew then what I know now – success will be mine. In order to succeed you have to be your own person. If you decide to follow a path such as this, there’s going to be just a handful of people who will understand, and a boatload of people that will fail miserably to get it. Dump the latter, they’re just dead negative weight that will waste your time and suck up your energy. Am I surprised that I’m here doing this now? No, actually, I’m not. In ten years, I’ll say the same thing – well, OK, it’ll probably be less than 10 years this time…a lot less. Learn to see the future and build a bridge for yourself. Get what you want, it’s out there waiting for you.

I love the fact that there is always something or someone to draw – always. Rarely have I felt myself without a subject to put down on the page. Everywhere I go, there they are – they’re everywhere: a hottie sitting at Starbucks talking to her friend about getting drunk at some party, the beautiful girl sitting quietly on the couch at Empresso coffeehouse reading a book, the guy with the weird haircut at the restaurant. There’s also architecture and immaculate landscaping at the local university and the feeling of being overwhelmed by loud obnoxious techno music at a local bar. The world is a never ending three ring circus. In this case, I chose to draw a beautiful woman, Chef Amanda Freitag from Food Network’s Chopped. Luckily, I was able to freeze a still from a past episode on my iPhone. Yeah, I admit it, sometimes technology can be pretty cool. Sometimes. 

For me, nothing beats the visceral feeling of my pen scratching ink onto the page in my sketchbook. The human touch and the subtleties that it brings along with it is something that technology cannot and will not replace. I guess that makes me old school or stubborn, or perhaps a bit of both. I’ve been drawing with the same type of pens for 30 years – I’m just starting get the hang of the damn things! As long as I am able to draw and as long as they make Rapidograph pens, I will continue to carry a sketchbook and pens with me wherever I go.

These days, I’m feeling a sense of freedom in what I’m drawing that I hadn’t experienced before. When you’re young and fresh out of school you want people to like what you do, and more importantly, buy your work. Because of that, you end up doing things that compromise you as an artist. More often than not, I’ve had to deal with half-baked ideas from people who over art-direct me to the point where I feel like there’s nothing left for me to do. Oh God, and the crap that I’ve been asked to do: clowns, hawks in cowboy boots, hideous illustrations for promo posters based on ideas that were originally interesting, work so big that it could only ever fit in the Louvre – man, they put you through the wringer! Jeez, it makes me sick just thinking about it. Thankfully I’ve managed to develop a real prima donna attitude over the last 20 years. Nowadays I wouldn’t be caught dead doing any of the lame crap that I did when I was in my twenties – no siree Bob, it’s just not going to happen. After all these years, I have no qualm selling my work for big bucks. Hey, after five years of art school and twenty five more of toiling away in anonymity I deserve to earn some real cashola for all my hard work. The true prize of all this is being able to do whatever I want and not caring about what anyone thinks about it. I say, have a good time all the time. How many people can say that they live life on their own terms?

Not long ago, my wife and I went to Target to pick up a few things; amongst our list were a few food items: milk, ice cream, snacks, etc. Nothing out of the ordinary, right?

I didn’t think too much about it, why should I? I live a pretty good life compared to other people around the world: I eat three meals a day, I have a roof over my head, I have a warm bed that I sleep in, I go to Starbucks multiple times a week, you get the idea.

As we left the store there was an older gentleman sitting in a walker relying on the kindness of strangers to help get through another day and night. He was an older man who probably hadn’t had a shower in days. He looked like he was in his 60s and was going through something most of us would never wish to go through. He wasn’t bugging anyone, he wasn’t asking anyone for anything. He was simply sitting in his walker with as much dignity as he could. Imagine having to swallow your pride and depend on the kindness of others – could you do it day after day? I’m not sure I could. I’ve never been in such a situation and I’m not sure I could imagine having to live like that.

As I walked by, I pulled out a few dollars and gave them to him. He didn’t have to say anything to me, his eyes said it all. Still, he whispered, “Thank you sir, God bless you.” My wife asked him if he would like an ice cream bar, “Oh my, I haven’t had an ice cream in so long, thank you.” What can you say to such a thing? His words were so sincere and heartfelt that all I could do was nod my head and say, “You’re welcome, take care of yourself.”

I hate to see things like this. It angers me that a man in his 60s has to be out on the streets in the “greatest nation on earth.” Why does this man have to be out on the streets? Shouldn’t he be sitting on the porch of a house telling stories that he’s collected over 60 years? The fact that this happens is so wrong, and yet it does.

As I get older, my empathy for other people’s suffering deepens and my disdain for self-centered judgmental bullshit grows even stronger. I’ve learned that it doesn’t matter what I think about someone or their situation – it doesn’t matter a damn thing. People who are hungry and cold don’t care about your politics and what you think about them. They’re human beings who are in a situation that is wearing on them. It’s beating them down little by little. It doesn’t matter to me how or why they’re in this situation – they’re hungry and if I can help them, I will.

I hope that you’ll remember during the coming holiday season, when you encounter some of these unfortunate souls, that they’re simply human beings hoping to get some food in their stomachs for the night or a warm coat or blanket to cover themselves with. Remember that the person slumped on the sidewalk or sitting in the walker could be you or someone you love in the blink of an eye.

I recently scanned a bunch of new sketchbook pages that I’ve worked on over the past two and a half months. I’m quite happy with some of them. I’m very picky in regards to what pleases me and I’m pretty hard on myself even with sketchbook pages.

I’ve always felt that a sketchbook should reveal something about an artist. Someone who looks through an artists’ sketchbook should come away with an idea about who the artist is as a person: his thoughts, his ideas, his opinions, etc. In order to achieve this, an artist must put himself on the pages of his sketchbook. It’s not an easy thing to do, but it’s something that, ultimately, must be done. Otherwise you’re just filling pages that don’t say a damn thing.

Over the past ten years or so, keeping a sketchbook has really become a popular thing to do. This, of course,  isn’t anything new – it’s an artistic tradition and has been around for centuries. I, myself, have been keeping a sketchbook since my first year of art school in 1986. I think it’s fantastic that doing this has caught on in the way that it has; a sketchbook is a great medium that has gone from a way to practice to a way to journal your entire life. It’s fantastic to see this transformation. People are creating visual journals that tell their stories in ways that are new and exciting. The sketchbook has become an authentic and valid medium. Like any medium, it should be approached with the same high standard that you have for a finished piece of work. As a valid medium, a sketchbook should have as much impact as anything else you do. It represents you as much as any finished piece of art you produce and should be approached with that in mind. You should leave your personal stamp on each and every page. Two people that are great examples of this are Barron Storey and Robert Crumb (Google Crumb for examples of his sketchbook work). Barron’s journals were a revelation to me when I first had the pleasure of seeing them. I remember him walking into class with a suitcase of journals that were far and beyond anything I’d ever seen before. In many ways, they still are. Robert Crumb’s sketchbooks were also a revelation to me when I first encountered them twenty or so years ago. Looking through his sketchbooks is like looking directly into his mind. Barron and Robert don’t pull any punches – they put down every thought, idea , and opinion they have. I’m pretty sure that the last thing they worry about is pleasing anyone or following any type of trend, movement, group, or whatever. That’s the way it should be, always. They remain, for me, the two greatest examples of people who have defined what it is to keep a sketchbook. Coming from this same point of view, I also turn away from following any sort of trend. I become weary when things start looking too much the same. It’s great that keeping a sketchbook has caught on like it has, but you have to be careful to not fall into doing whatever everyone else is doing. If you’re not careful, poof, your work looks like everybody else’s. I’m not into that. Do it your way, and say something.

At the beginning of the year, I switched over to a new brand of sketchbook after 25 years – Stillman & Birn Alpha series (great sketchbooks, check them out). It may sound strange but this had an impact on the way I looked at what I was doing and what I expected to see in my sketchbook. My recent pages are some of the strongest that I’ve produced. I’m almost halfway through my book and am excited about what I’ll be doing in the upcoming pages. I look forward to sharing those pages with you.

This page started with a random trip to the Bay Area; the day was a much needed get away with a good friend to catch up and whatnot. We started our day with Middle Eastern food for lunch, and we ended our day ended in Half Moon Bay at Seville Tapas, a small tapas bar situated near the ocean. I’d been there a month before and was very impressed with their variety of tapas. 

It was about as perfect a summer afternoon in California as you could ask for: the restaurant was busy, the food was delicious, and there were lots of potential unsuspecting victims to draw. Off to the left of us was a group of what looked and sounded like students; one of them, a young man, was wearing white Ray-Ban’s and seemed like a perfect subject for my pen. Between the delicious food and casual conversation my friend felt that it would be a good idea if we made a small video of me working on my drawing. I’d wanted to do something like that for quite some time but hadn’t had the opportunity to do it until that day. I’ll post the video as soon as I upload it from my iPhone. Anyway, it was fun making the video – it even drew the attention of one of the girls that was sitting at the same table as my victim. I’m sure she must have mentioned it to him. If you’re ever in Half Moon Bay, stop by Seville Tapas and enjoy a little taste of Spain. You might even see me there drawing in my sketchbook.

The rest of this page was drawn at my usual drawing haunt, Empresso Coffeehouse. The girl in the middle of the page seemed suspicious of what I was doing and kept looking over to see if I was drawing her. She never caught on that I was because after so many years, I’ve honed my ability to capture unsuspecting victims in public! The gentleman at the lower right is a regular and always sits in the same corner. I could fill an entire book with sketches of him since he hardly moves at all.

At the bottom of the page are some thoughts that I’ve had in mind recently. Sometimes it feels as if we’ve hardly progressed at all as a race. The brutality, the greed, and the self entitlement really do get to be a bit much sometimes. They say that within 20 years we’ll discover another life-form  in the universe. Hopefully, it’ll be vastly different from us. 

I was recently invited to participate in an exhibition entitled Open Walls at
Empresso Coffeehouse, one of my favorite local haunts. I have not exhibited anything in public for quite a long time, but my friends at Empresso really made me feel that my work’s presence would add something extra to the exhibition. I’ve always said that I was unwilling to exhibit my work locally largely because I feel that a local artist stays local; that works for some people and I respect that decision, but it doesn’t work for me. It’s never been what I want for myself or my work. So, what made me change my mind? The fact that my friends Vito, Meghan, Tiffany, and Buddy have been so gracious and attentive has been very gratifying for me and that certainly had something to do with it. As a working artist, I need to decide on what will benefit me now and in the future. This opportunity has already led to others, and that’s exactly what I wanted. As an artist, I must make educated decisions that will ensure that my work is seen by as wide an audience as possible and in the best venue available. Thanks to the advent of the Internet and social media, I’ve been able, along with many others, to bring my work to a global audience. That is exactly what I’ve always aimed for and what I continue to aim for.

I also avoided exhibiting locally for so long because I wanted to avoid being labeled. I strongly dislike being labeled; whether the label be local artist, fantasy artist, comics artist, sketcher, sketch artist, Hispanic artist or whatever (trust me, there’s a never ending plethora of them). I equally DISLIKE them all. Fine artist works best for me – yes, I know that’s a label too, but it’s closest to how I actually view my work. Whether it be in black in white or color, a portrait, a nude, a landscape, it doesn’t matter – there’s more to the term “fine art” than oil paintings on canvas; it’s an attitude and a singular point of view about your work more than anything else.

The opening night reception was very busy and I got the chance to meet and talk to some of the people attending; all of them were very complimentary and enthusiastic about my work and that was very gratifying. Thanks to all of you who showed up that night. It was great to see you all. This was a small and calculated decision that has led me to the next step, which I’ll disclose that at some point in the future. Although I stayed away from publicly exhibiting my work for a long time, I now feel that I’d like my work to be seen and discovered by as many people as possible. As always, I will aim for the the widest audience, the best opportunity, and the best possible venue. Onward, ever onward.

By the way, my drawing of Virginia Woolf is for sale. If you are interested in purchasing it, please contact me at: artist@salvadorcastio.com with your contact info and I will get back to you.

Lately, the British music press has been in overdrive in regards to the much anticipated return of Kate Bush to the concert stage; twenty two shows are booked at London’s Hammersmith Apollo – her first live performances since 1979s Tour of Life, her first, and until now, only tour. Amazing. I’ve been an admirer of Kate’s since 1986 and nearly three decades later, I have lost none of my sense of wonder and awe for this woman’s music. She remains an artistic enigma to me and I regard her as a primary influence on myself and my work. It’s my pleasure to post this drawing from 1997 as my contribution to this week’s Throwback Thursday.

I’ve got lots of new sketchbook pages scanned and ready to publish, so you’ll be seeing me slightly more regularly from this point onward. Back in December, I posted about moving; since that post, we have moved and it was an all around good move to make in so many ways. For the past 8 months, I’ve been getting to know and enjoying the area and the surroundings where we are now living. There’s some real beautiful parts around here and I plan on drawing some of them for inclusion in future posts. Life is good.  

Most people that know me know there’s one thing that’s going to happen on a daily basis with me – I’m going to draw. Whether it be finishing a drawing for a project or drawing in my sketchbook – I’m going to draw. That’s never changed. Sometimes I draw a lot, sometimes I draw less, and sometimes I take a breather. Overall, drawing is a constant for me. It always has been. Still, you’d be surprised to know that there are still people who ask me what I do. Ah, life is short… when’s the next time I’m going to have tapas and sangria? Now, there’s a real question that’s deserving of an answer.

Recently, I acquired a new sketchbook. For the last 25 years or so I’ve been using Aquabee Super Deluxe spiral bound sketchbooks. I started using them when I was an art student in San Francisco because of the quality of their paper. At the time, I was drawing and painting in my sketchbook, so my sketchbook had to be able to handle both wet and dry media. The only drawback to using this brand is that their sketchbooks are spiral bound. I’d always wanted a hardcover sketchbook, but found that the companies that produced those type of books did so with an inferior quality of paper. Years went by, and nothing. I would occasionally look to see if, by a miracle, someone had invented one yet, but the answer was always the same – no. That continued to be the case until a year ago when I heard of a new brand of sketchbooks that featured heavy, natural white paper bound into a hardcover book. Could it really be? Was I imagining things? I took note of the company name and promised myself to investigate this at a later date after completing our recent move from hell.

Before I go on, you must understand the importance of my sketchbook. I’ve been keeping a sketchbook since the age of 18 and it goes everywhere with me. This habit has also come into question by various profoundly confused individuals. “What do you do that for?” ask the unenlightened. Wait, did I say that I need to have tapas and sangria soon? Yeah, there’s important things to do in life; answering stupid questions isn’t on the list. The sketchbook goes everywhere with me – people need to get drawn, things need to be written, ideas need to be explored, etc, etc. Get the picture?

So, I finally found the ideal sketchbook for myself; hardbound with natural white 100 pound paper – bloody perfect! It takes ink beautifully and is a pleasure to draw in. The image that accompanies this post is one of the drawings that I’ve recently done in my new book. I wanted to challenge myself so I thought I’d try my hand at copying a painting from the Renaissance, “Madonna and Child,” by Andrea Solari, a painter that was active between 1495 and 1524. Obviously, copying a painting in pen and ink presents certain challenges; the main one being subtlety. Capturing the subtleties in a painting in pen and ink is no walk in the park. I’m not sure that I succeeded in what I set out to do, but it was a good exercise for me. While drawing this, two things occurred to me 1. I could not have done this 10 or 15 years ago and 2. it shows that my draftsmanship speaks for itself. The best is yet to come.

A recent page from my sketchbook; It’s my reaction to an unfortunate incident that occurred earlier in the year. Translated, this reads, “Motherfucking Hypocrisy.” I wrote it in Spanish because I felt that it would have more impact – it sounds stronger in Spanish. In Spanish the word puta is very vulgar and depending on how it’s used it can either mean whore or f’ucking or Motherfucking. This idea isn’t meant to come across as nice, it’s meant to have impact. It’s intention is to get a reaction.

I did this on purpose because too often nowadays people have no reaction whatsoever to any type of subtlety in art; they just don’t get it. I believe that people need to be jarred by what they see otherwise they will not react. It’s as if you have to club them over the head to get a reaction. Someone who excels at this is British street artist, Banksy. His work is full of blunt, to the point social commentary. If you don’t know his work, I recommend that you Google him.

This is but a start; So far I’m liking where this idea is going. Social criticism is something that I’ve wanted to explore in my work for quite some. For some it will come as a bit of a shock, for others, it will be a new texture, a new side of my work. Art isn’t meant to always be beautiful; sometimes, it’s meant to say things in a very direct way and personal way. It’s not about beauty, it’s about communication.

Friends and Fans,

I recently made a post concerning the changes and direction that I’m going in with my work and all my social networking sites. I’m doing this because I want to bring the quality and look of my work and my sites up to the level where I feel it should be. You can read more of my post here. for now, I’d like to talk about this blog.

Along with the changes that I mention in my post, change, too, must inevitably come to my blog. After much thought, I’ve decided that my blog needs to reflect where I’m going as well as my current attitude and state of mind concerning my work and everything else under the sun. In order to do this, I will be going through and editing all my past entries; some will be deleted, some will be updated and edited for clarity, and all will be updated with higher quality scanned images.

It’s important to me that this blog be an accurate reflection of myself, my opinions, and my thoughts. It obviously functions as sort of an online journal for me and so therefor it must be clear and to the point in it’s point of view. I’m currently going through 20 years of sketchbooks and picking and choosing the best bits from the past two decades. There’s an incredible wealth of material there that I would like to eventually share with you in one form or another.

I, once again, would like to take this opportunity to thank all the readers of this blog for your continued support. I’m excited about the changes that I’ve decided to make and about the new and past material that I will be sharing with you. Keep an eye out, the best is yet to come!

Well, well, well, here we are again. It’s been a while but I haven’t stopped looking for and drawing my favorite type of people,   unsuspecting victims. It would be a bit hard to not run into them – they’re everywhere! Just look around, and there they are in all their weirdness. God love ’em. Let’s face it, people are weird and they do weird things all the time. They can’t help it. It’s this very weirdness that keeps me filling page after page in my trusty sketchbook. Luckily, I’m able to do this for a living – did you think that I was doing all that work at cafes for nothing? Hahaha, don’t be silly, you don’t think that I buy into that whole starving artist mumbo-jumbo, do you? Nah, not me – my ego would never allow that. Perhaps I bought into it back in the halcyon days of art school, but you live and you learn. Besides, how in the world would anyone take me seriously if I didn’t come across as supremely confident and whatnot? People love it when you’re confident and full of piss and vinegar – confidence makes you that much more appealing to most people. I say most people because there is that group who loathes confidence and determination – stay away from those types of people – they’re toxic. They’ll drag you down right along with them if they can.

Anyway, here’s one of my recent sketchbook pages. It was drawn in a couple of local cafes and at a laundromat. I’m not sure how the laundromat managed to sneak in there, but there it is. What can I say, I never get tired of drawing. Up until now, I’ve mostly drawn people, but that’s changing – I love drawing people, especially women, but believe you me, it’s not the only thing I like to draw. I like drawing all kinds of things: people, landscapes, cars, buildings, cartoons, portraits, cubist inspired drawings, surrealism, erotica, weird and crazy stuff, lettering – the sky’s the limit. I can’t imagine drawing just one thing; it get’s boring after a while, you know? I have to challenge myself. I have to keep stretching and growing. Above all, it has to be done my way and done right. Everything has to be art. I’m not interested in anything less than that.

Lots of changes going on at the moment; I’m in the midst of moving, and, yes, I hate it, but I know that in the end it’ll be a good thing.

Luckily, I’ve found a few moments, here and there, to get some actual drawing done. The girl in the drawing was getting some coffee at my local Starbucks a couple of days ago; she was definitely a hottie, no doubt about it. She was also full of herself. It’s too bad that she allows her attitude to wreck her otherwise good looks. What a shame. Oh well, at least I was able to draw her as she stood impatiently waiting for her coffee.

More to come after the dreaded move. Pray for me. See you soon.

New Orleans jazz wafts through the air as my pen scratches an image into the page of my trusty sketchbook. I’m finishing a drawing that I started earlier, over lunch, of a young girl who was engaged in conversation with an older gentleman. At one point, I remember he asked if she knew what the Manhattan Project was; a long pause ensued followed by a very stern look. Unbeknownst to her, I was recording her features as I ate the Indian food that we had picked up at the Davis Co-op. Later, after watching the new documentary, Inequality For All, we walked over to Mishka’s café, a favorite haunt of mine whenever in Davis.

The scene at Mishka’s is one I’ve seen a hundred times: a sea of laptops and university students glued to their computer screens as they complete assignments that demand their immediate and complete attention. There’s a guy sitting near me fiddling with a Rubik’s Cube – in thirty minutes, he’s solved it like twenty times. I’d be lucky if I could solve it in my lifetime. OK, time to get back to drawing.

1. Amedeo Modigliani 2. Auguste Rodin 3. Salvador Dalí 4. Pablo Picasso

As promised, here is my first blog entry on the go or art on the run as I like to call it. What you see here is a composite of some of my Belle Époque portraits; my question to you, dear reader is, which of these do you like best? They are, from top left: Modigliani, Rodin, Dalí, and Picasso. Please leave a comment and tell me which is your favorite and why. I’m curious to know because I’m interested in knowing your thoughts on these, and because I’m considering offering some of these on T shirts. I currently have lots of cool items available in my online store – please, go over and have a look.

So, I think this art on the run thing could grow on me; It actually opens up lots of opportunities for me to do more with this blog and offer you more variety in upcoming posts. Stay tuned dear readers, things are going to start getting interesting. 

I’m back my dear readers, and ready to get into the swing of things. This is my first post done entirely on my nifty new iPhone 5s, and I’m looking forward to posting more regularly, and on the go as well. The new phone really does have a great camera – the image that adorns this post was shot with it, and I must admit that I’m impressed.

The image that you see here is part of my Belle Époque series of pen and ink portraits. I’m not sure if Salvador Dalí fits into that era since it ended in 1914 with the start of World War I, but his rise to fame is close enough – he joined the Surrealists, in Paris, in the early 1920s. I’ve re-shot all the drawings that I’ve done so far and will replace any images that I have posted in the past.

I’ve got quite a few new things that I want to share with you, and I’m looking forward to the coming weeks, and months. Keep checking back regularly for all new postings.

A Quick Update – July 1, 2013.

Things are rolling right along as planned. My series of portraits are coming along very nicely; the newest one is the sculptor, Auguste Rodin and I must say that I’m quite happy with the results – it is, perhaps, the strongest one of the lot so far. Painter, Paul Klee, and writer, Ernest Hemingway are my next subjects – I’ll post the drawings as soon as I complete them so, keep an eye out!

I’m also excited to announce that I am starting an interview feature on this blog that, hopefully, will run in monthly installments. My plan is to feature artists who I feel you should know more about; The interview feature will be called “10 Questions with,” and should start in August. I’m putting together the first interview now and I guarantee that it’ll be an interesting read for you. I hope that I’ll be able to expose you to artists that you may not be familiar with and give you a little insight into their unique world views. I’m very excited about this and I hope that you’ll enjoy this new addition to my blog.

Exciting things are happening, and change is in the air – it’s a great feeling. Onward, ever onward.

Cool things are happening right now: projects are getting started, being worked on, and getting done; new people are being met, and new friendships are being made. It’s a good feeling, like a breath of fresh air.

My main project at the moment is a series of portraits of cultural figures, mostly from the Belle Époque (1871-1914). Doing these drawings gives me a chance to get back to inking in brush, something that I haven’t done much of in a long time. There’s something inherent in brush work that gives a drawing a much more visceral feel. It’s something that you don’t get when drawing with a pen – there’s a certain feeling about brush work that is completely unique. Thankfully, it’s something that I’m getting back to. The drawings that you see on my drawing table are (from left to right): Amedeo Modigliani, Salvador Dalí, Pablo Picasso, and behind and above, Auguste Rodin. There’s lots of different people whom I’m thinking about drawing, but I’m keeping my choices somewhat spontaneous so as not to kill my own enthusiasm. The Belle Époque was a rich period for the arts and there were many interesting people involved in it. Paris really was the hub of culture at the time; perhaps it still is. The drawings are looking fabulous and I’ll post more as soon as I can.

Another interesting thing that’s happened recently is that I’ve decided to start an interview feature on my blog. Most of the interviews will be with artists whom I find interesting and whom I feel you should know more about. I’m currently putting together the first interview so it should be posted here sometime soon; I can’t say whom it’s with, otherwise, I’ll ruin the surprise factor – I promise that you’ll find it interesting and well worth the wait.

There are other things happening at the moment that will reveal themselves over the coming months; I wish I could spill my guts about them but I can’t. Some things are better left to the imagination, right? In the end, life is good. Of course it’s good, what else would it be?

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!

Fannie Hurst. 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 Fannie Hurst 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.

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; 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.   

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.