12 Rounds: Pound for Pound

Welcome back to another rare episode of Tobias' random blog posts, lol. I'm still not giving this blog enough attention. At this point I'm not even sure if having a blog is even worth it.

But anyways, getting to the point...
If you're one of the few who has actually been here keeping up with my posts, you know that this has been a hell of a roller coaster year for my family and myself. There was so much that was suppose to change this year. But it has just been a non-stop tumbleweed of problems. I think I've done pretty well at keeping my head up as high as I could through all of it. I kept grinding away at my work. Kept doing shows. Kept looking for a steady job or stream of income. And I was hoping that we would've got over the hill by now.
If you're lost at this point and don't know what I'm talking about, I invite you to go back and read a few of my previous posts from this year (and there aren't really that many).

After a final yet semi-disappointing Comic Convention at the end of October, during this here month of November things finally started looking up. Both my wife and I finally started real jobs. So a steady stream of income will start flowing in. Next step is to get our butts out of my in-laws' house and into our own. And we have a potential lead for a house, but the process of obtaining that has turned out to be yet again another challenge. We were expecting some funds from a CLASSIFIED source to help us with the move-in expenses (deposit, first, last, etc). But that door of opportunity has closed. So now we're trying to figure out how in the hell we're gonna get in there if we get approved.

As mentioned above. I've been trying to keep my head high. But I'm getting mentally exhausted. I feel like I'm back at the START line. My wife is now working full time. I'm working Part-time (Seasonal). And when I'm not working, I'm home with our daughter, trying to chip away at my own work and pending commissions. I literally feel like I'm working 4 jobs with nothing to show for it. Which is what I was doing at the beginning of the year, minus the part-time job.

Don't get me wrong. I'm not writing this to get sympathy. I'm writing this to vent. I'm writing this because it is easier for me to put feelings and emotions into writing or drawing than it is to talk to someone. It helps clear my head. Which makes me feel like I should do this more often, wether it is negative or positive. And I don't think all this is negative. I know there are plenty of people worst off in this world. But I needed to get all this out so that all of this doesn't turn into an excuse for not getting done what I need to get done. These past few weeks I feel like my mind and body have been slowing down. I've skipped the gym more days than I'd like. Which affects me mentally and physically. I've turned to eating crap food, which in combination with not working out has lead to gaining more weight than I would've liked. Which affects me mentally and physically, again. Which in turn affects everything else in my life including art. I need to get my shit together quick before it tumbles out of control.

So, I'm determined to finish this year out strong. After I'm done typing this I will be headed to the gym to sweat out all this negativity. When I get back, I will shower and wash all this negativity off my body. Then I'm gonna spend some time with my daughter, maybe play some Disney Infinity, and get my mood up. And then I'm gonna get back to the grind and stay up as late as it takes to finish up pending projects and commissions. I will no longer use the term "I don't have time" as an excuse to not get things done. The reality is, there is always time. If there isn't time, you can make time. As Arnold once said "There are 24 hours in a day. You sleep six hours and have 18 hours left. Now, I know there are some of you out there that say; well, wait a minute, I sleep eight hours or nine hours. Well, then, just sleep faster"

I will not be defeated by this year. I've fought for 11 months,  I'm not going down in the 12th.
Lots to look forward to next year.

Tobias....OUT!
(please feel free to share your struggles below. Let's make this a positive and inspiring post to take us through the year)

Upcoming Stuff

Here's a little rundown of things to come. Starting this weekend....

...I will be at 626 Night Market at Santa Anita Park. This is an awesome event to check out. Tons of food trucks and vendors. A huge Artwalk with a great variety of artists. Music all night long. This event starts Tomorrow (Friday, September 4th) at 4 pm to 1 am. Saturday 4pm-1am and Sunday 4pm to 11pm. I'll be there all three nights displaying and selling art prints and original work. 

The following weekend, September 12th & 13th I'll be exhibiting at Long Beach Comic Con. Find me in Artist Alley Table AA1. I've done this event the past 2-3 years and it has become one of my favorite ones. 

 Now for some upcoming brand spankin' new artwork.....

....My Badass Princess Leia Stormtrooper slayer will available starting tomorrow at 626 Night Market to kick off Force Friday and the fast approaching opening of Episode VII. This was inspired by Luke's line in Return "my sister has it..." 

Also...inspired by the recent trend and release of Straight Outta Compton, I present to you...Joker, Straight Outta Arkham.
This will also be available starting tomorrow at 626 Night Market. 

And to top things off. This is a TMNT print created based of a recent commission for a client. I have received permission from this client to reproduce and sell this piece as it got tons of attention on social media. 

And there you have it.
For more info on these events go to:
http://www.626nightmarket.com/ for 626 Night Market.
and
http://longbeachcomiccon.com/ for Long Beach Comic Con.

Tobias....OUT!!!

Upcoming Print Lineup for future events.

Halfway

We're halfway through the year. Boy, what a journey 2015 has been so far. If you track back to previous posts you'll see what I mean. Things were looking down for a while, but the family and I held our heads up high. Now we embark into the second half of the year. Our plans didn't go quite as planned. I was suppose to be sitting on my porch in Washington state right about now growing out my woodsman beard, learning how to use a shotgun, hunt my own food, etc...But gonna have to put that off for a while. This here month of July should bring a whole lot of news. I'm gonna be optimistic and say that our dream of moving to Washington may not yet be 100% dead.
Anyway, If I haven't mentioned it in a previous posts, due to recent changes of plans, I am now signed up for a good 4 upcoming events. So it's safe to say that I personally will be sticking around here til about October one way or another. So you'll see me at upcoming shows like:
Central Coast Comic Con in Ventura, CA
FandomVerse Expo in Lancaster, CA
Long Beach Comic Con in Long Beach, CA
and
Comikaze in Down Town LA, CA

Possibly 626 Night Markets in Pasadena, CA
And don't forget to come see me this coming Saturday, July 11th at Earth 2 Comics in Sherman Oaks, CA for NonCon, that is if you won't be making it to SDCC this year.

Also, stay tuned for a lot of new prints coming out in upcoming months.
I know I said I was gonna try and stay away from doing so much fan art. But it's hard to stop, especially when it pays some bills and pretty much helps finance all my Convention trips.
But I do promise that my own material is coming.

I'm also excited to announce that I officially have a banner. So I'm really stoked to put that up on display at coming shows and get rid of my obnoxious wire cubes that I appear to hide behind. The banner features the Harley Puppeteer as depicted on the image.

Anyways, here I conclude this post. Have a great day. Hope to see you at upcoming shows.

When Life gives you Lemons that don't make Lemonade

Greetings people who read this blog.
If you've been keeping up with my rants recently on social media and my blog, you know that I was suppose to be heading up north in a U-Haul. But I'm not. My family's plans of moving to Washington have come to a hold. I won't get into too much details about why. But for some reason it seems as if it simply wasn't meant to be. At least not now.
But we need to remain optimistic and see the good in everything. So on that note, instead of sitting around asking the universe why it gave us some bad lemons, I booked up a bunch of upcoming shows. And the show must go on. As far as family, we are now in the process of coming up with a plan B. Not sure as of yet if that includes staying in California for good. But we are rolling some dice and see how they come up.

I am now working on some new designs for Cons with the intent of plugging some more variety into my arsenal. Having been running the Con circuit over the past two year has made me realize that success comes with variety and being able to reach out to a larger audience and relate to more people. I will also be looking into making a banner or two for a nicer display so I can ditch my annoying Wire Cubes. I will continue to produce more variety in my bears and am still in the process of finding a name or branding for them, but no promises there. But all in all, I'm aiming to make this a full-time career by attending more cons and more events. Life has put me in a position that allows me to pursue this and I plan on taking full advantage of that. I have two kinds of fire under my ass right now. 1) being that neither my wife nor I have a job right now and 2) that the reality of perhaps having to get a 9-5 is knocking at my door. So I'm officially putting the most important rule of success into effect "WORK YOUR ASS OFF."

Anyways. Here's a list of where you'll be able to find me in upcoming months.
C4 Central Coast Comic Con in Ventura, CA
Long Beach Comic Con in Long Beach, CA
Comikaze in Down Town LA, CA

Maybe's
626 NightMarkets in Pasadena, CA
FandomVerse Expo in Lancaster, CA

And whatever else may come up. So stay tuned.

So, when Life gives you lemons.....Say fuck the lemons.....and make shit happen anyways.

Till next time
Tobias.....OUT!!!

The Next Step

...Convention season is over for me right now and the waiting game begins. Our planned move to Washington state has been put on a slight delay. Until that becomes a certainty I can't plan any events at this point in time. 

On the upside, I will have time to redirect my energy towards my own personal project, now referred to as the Tobias Bear Project. Developments on that project will be posted up on my newly created Patreon page, so if you would like to be part of my support system you can visit http://www.patreon.com/tobiasbearproject.

I will also be starting back on our online comic Tales Of Hammerfist which has been on hiatus since about January. For those of you that have only met me recently you can catch up on those pages at http://talesofhammerfist.com and  also be sure to check out our other projects at http://coffeetimecomics.com.

By buddy John and I have been working on those projects for several years. But life has been getting in the way of really putting a 100% of effort into it. We will both be going through some big moves and life changes over the next few months. John still has one weekly updated comic up on the site, so please go and support him on that at http://blackwallcomic.com. But by year's end, everything on that site should be back in full gear. 

I also have a lot of other ideas and concepts in my head that I will slowly start putting on paper. As a matter of fact, today I will run out and get a new notebook dedicated to ideas and goals. I need to start learning how to plan and set short term and long term goals. I've never been much for writing, much less handwriting. But I'm hoping even that will come with benefits. But this year I will not just be an artist, I will also become a fully fledged entrepreneur. I have to come out of this shell of mine. I'm too quiet, too shy and not very outspoken. I think that is the big problem that turns most artists into starving artists. And I don't want to be that anymore. And only a solid plan in black and white will get me there. 

I am now in my second...or going on third year of pursuing my art full time (for the most part aside from taking care of my daughter). I am giving myself the standard 5 years to make significant progress. Or at least make it a means for surviving and paying bills without having to go get another 9-5 blue collar JOB! (aka, Just Over Broke) If I'm gonna be just over broke, I'd at least like to be happy doing what I'm doing. But the sky is the limit. 

So far this year I have set all my plans in motion and accomplished a lot of what I wanted. But I need to keep climbing. A call for a 9-5 is approaching and soon inevitable due to life changes and our situation. And it may become a necessary evil I will have to battle for a while. But I am making it a point for it to only be temporary. But big plans and changes are on the horizon. I appreciate everyone's support so far. I have gained a lot of loyal followers and friends since I started putting these plans in motion and attending cons. And I will appreciate your continued support. 

Thank you all for sticking by me. Your comments and "likes" have helped me overcome times of depression and artist's block. You make me want to improve every day and you make me want to push the limits. So Thank you All. 

And a huge thanks to my wife for putting up with me during good days and bad days. She supports me no matter what. And my daughter for continuing to inspire me every day. I feel like my imagination over the last couple of years has sparked tremendously because of her. I don't know if it's because of watching so much Disney Jr. But in any case, a lot of what I do and plan on doing is for her. To make her proud and to give her a good life. 

If you're still here reading my rant, thanks. But that's what blogs are for, right?

Tobias.....OUT!

My life, Art and......stuff!

Ok, once again I have abandoned this blog for way too long, probably since the new year. Why? I dunno, probably cause nobody really gets off instagram and facebook anymore, LOL. Yeah, yeah, I know, always blaming the other guy. 

Anyways, So a bunch of stuff happened since the new year. We had to move out of our Apartment because of a new neighbor with a bad chain smoking habit. Started making our daughter sick. Started making my wife sick and myself included. And since we are more than likely moving to Washington state in June, there was no point in signing another lease anywhere else. So we tossed all our stuff in storage and moved in with the in-laws while we await our next big and hopefully final move. 

But none of that has stopped the art. I still pulled off Long Beach Comic Expo with great success and am now gearing up for Wonder Con next week in Anaheim. 

At Long Beach Comic Expo, a buddy by the name Sammy The Bull (on instagram @sammybull1) introduced me to the famous cosplayer Hip Hop Trooper. I had done plenty of custom art work for the Bull and the idea of making a Hip Hop Trooper Print came about. 

So to kick off Wonder Con, I am now taking Pre-Orders for it. $10 and you get ONE of two Companion Prints for FREE. For more details visit my instagram, where I have been promoting the crap out of it. Or email me at artbytobias@gmail.com 

This print is limited to 35 Copies, three of which have been claimed as of today. Print will be $12 at WonderCon and each companion is $5 a piece. 

Also added to my inventory are these two new prints below. Both are sketches I did at Phat Con at Dave & Buster's Back in January. I tricked them out a bit and will be selling them as 5.5x8.5 Prints for $5 each. These will also be eligible for FREEBIES if you Pre-Order the above Hip Hop Trooper Print. That's in case you don't care for Darth Vader or DJ Wookie. 

I'm also brining back some old Classics in new sizes. These three prints started it all for me. Although no longer in large 11x17 format, they will now be available in 5.5x8.5 sizes. And will also be eligible for a FREEBIE if you Pre-Order the above....above Hip Hop Trooper Print.

Moving on, remember my BEAR?!!! Yes, he's being made into a collectible figurine. Courtesy of the awesome 3D modeling skills of Adler Romero (aka @eagle_3d on instagram) of Eye 5 Toys. 

Behold and gaze at the glory that is the 3D prototype of the BEAR. 

The Prototype should be available for viewing at my Wonder Con table. So if you're going, please stop by and say what's up. Artist Alley Table B-22, April 3-5 at the Anaheim Convention Center. 

And....if nobody read this, well then this was just a huge waste of time, haha. 

Upcoming Events

Greetings, 

I have two exciting events coming up over the next two weeks. 

First up: Saturday January 17th I will be a guest artist at Earth 2 Comics in Sherman Oaks for the Marvel Star Wars #1 release party. I will be premiering two new Limited Edition Prints, one of which will be an Earth 2 Exclusive. First 10 People to purchase a Blank Variant with an artist sketch will receive one of these Prints for free. I believe the Blank Variants with sketch will sell for $20. 

I will be one of the artists sketching on these covers. There will also be Yoda cookies, sales and tons of fun. This event is scheduled to start at 11am and end at 2pm.

For more info regarding this event please click link below:

https://www.facebook.com/events/335256813341021/?ref=3&ref_newsfeed_story_type=regular

Next up: Saturday, January 24th I will be exhibiting Artist Alley style at PHAT Con. This event will take place at Dave & Busters in Orange. This is a HUGE event with tons of awesome artists, best of all, it's free to the public. So if you like Comic Conventions but don't wanna pay to get in, this is the place for you. They do offer VIP packages that include lots of goodies including my Exclusive "Headaches" print if you feel the need to pay to get in, lol. I will be busting out commissions all day. New commission pricing and rules coming soon. 

For more info regarding this event please click link below:

https://www.facebook.com/events/713657188681347/

Also, I will be getting ready to prepare for Long Beach Comic Expo Next month....stay tuned.