Sorry about the length!
I hope someone can learn from my experience.

I'm a 33 year old, self taught artist living in a small town in Tennessee. I am originally from California, but moved to TN. in 1980, when I was 7 years old.

The only reason I started drawing was because I saw Star Wars in 1977.
To me, Star Wars is the most visually exciting film I ever saw (Especially as a child) and it really made me want to try and capture that in pictures. I love the characters, but the look of the films is what got me.

Growing up, I did my share of Star Wars, Spider-Man, G.I. Joe and Transformers artwork since those were the only things I saw on TV or in the few comics I could get or had still had as a child. My town didn't have comic shops, it still doesn't.
The reason I took art much more seriously in high school was I saw Jim Lee's work on The Punisher War Journal and I also was able to find a comic shop in a neighboring town and went crazy collecting and reading everything I could afford!

I did have 4 years of high school art, but in my town, the education wasn't in depth. My art teacher wanted me to pursue fine art, I wanted to study illustration, specifically comic books or design. We didn't get along, but I did get to win some art contests in school thanks to my talent.
I didn't have most of the basic skills I needed so I turned to buying art books (How to Draw Comics the Marvel Way and some Jack Hamm books) and copying what I saw in the comics I bought.

After graduation, my pride & reality got in the way. My family didn't have money & I didn't want to owe my life for any continuing education, so I didn't attend any art schools even if I would have gotten in. My math grades weren't good enough to get me into a state college or university and I really didn't want to go through the college system, I had to keep working.

During high school and after, I still tried to keep drawing, even was working on the submission packages for Marvel and DC comics. Their submission packets proved to me I was outclassed and ignorant of how to really draw.
My high school job dragged on and I ended up working in restaurant management. I left that job and had to get another job in a steakhouse, where my "artist's eye" allowed me to get pretty adept at cooking good looking food, I just wasn't very fast.

In 1997, I decided I was sick of working in a restaurant. I saved some money and bought a Macintosh Performa 6400, the goal was to get into computer coloring. I worked hard to pay everything off and was figuring out what I could do next.

After a few months, there was an ad in the local newspaper looking for a "Commercial line artist" for a promotional products company. This really was amazing.
I applied and after the most nerve wracking interview I ever had, I got a job as a professional artist!

Thanks to that job, I learned about pre-press, dye-sublimation printing, PICKY CUSTOMERS, computer repair/troubleshooting, DEADLINES, computer programs, etc.
I didn't really learn much about art, most of the line art work was drawn on acetate (tracing paper) with Rapidograph pens and colored with Adobe Illustrator. In time, it was streamlined to Illustrator only.

I also learned about pre-press and photo-retouching/manipulation using Photoshop. I also learned that I could destroy anyone's art due to bad printing processes.

In the meantime, I spent my spare time trying to learn 3D modeling (Bryce, Strata 3D) and making tons of Star Wars wallpapers in order to learn more about Photoshop. It was fun, draw at work and then work digitally at home. I submitted a lot of work to The Force.Net and a few other fan sites.

My art job wasn't always easy or fun, but I did my job to the best of my ability. I thank God for the opportunity to prove myself and to make money doing artwork.

In 2002, after 5 years, I was laid off from my art job!
Thanks to the poor economy, staff changes and bad business decisions, I was involuntarily unemployed for the first time ever.

I couldn't get another art related job, even with experience, in my area. I tried to get a job working for newspapers... Nothing.
People I knew that had printing jobs didn't know of anything. I eventually became depressed and lost any need to draw. It hurt that my experience wasn't need, a degree would have gotten me a job. I didn't have a degree!

The Star Wars character portraits in my gallery were created during my unemployment period, before I lost my edge. They aren't prefect by any means, much to my chagrin, but they aren't meant to compete with the likes of Drew Struzan. I'm still happy with them.

In 2004, I got a job working in a 24 hour restaurant. I washed dishes, bussed tables, and eventually, I got back into cooking. I spent most of my time working 3rd shift and was usually too tired or uninspired to want to work on any art.

Luckily, I did manage to get some Punisher artwork online to celebrate the Punisher movie starring Tom Jane. I also did a few flyers to promote the comic book store I'd gone to since 1996, in the end, it didn't help and the comic shop closed it's doors... Twice!

In the past year, I did get the chance to put together a couple of ads and some job posters for the restaurant I work at. Nothing fancy, but it did show that I still had some skills.

I recently hurt myself at work. Nothing major, but I did cut myself badly on my thumb (My drawing hand!) and ended up in the emergency room. I realized if it was worse that I wouldn't have a chance at another art career. I've had close calls in life, but this dumb cut on my thumb finally got me thinking.

This gallery is my chance to get all of my older work in one place. I also hope that in the coming year I can find it in myself to get back on track and can add some new art to this gallery. With luck, effort and God's help, I really hope to add some work that really shows my ability to this site.

I have spent lots of money and time collecting materials I need to get better at art, I've neglected to practice and seek out any help from others.

I'm sure I'd need some formal education to really achieve my potential.

Still, I would appreciate any advice or encouragement this community could offer me.

Thank you for reading this and take care.