I know, I know, before you even start, I haven’t written anything in over a year. Shame on me. I have no excuses outside of the one’s that apply to everyone, “I’m really busy.” But all that shaming aside, I do want to take a moment and share with what few of you still linger around these dusty and cobweb filled halls of my blog, all that is new in my world. So with that said, let us dust off the leather chair, light a fire in the fire place, pour ourselves a drink and sit back for a little bit of “What HAS he been up to?”
I guess the biggest news is actually one of the more recent bits of change in my life. I have officially been moved over to the digital side of work, at Sideshow. I no longer have my little traditional office where the smell of clay and wax abounded. Now I have taken residence in Bay 5 of the Nostromo. Our themed out new digs at work are pretty darn cool. If you haven’t seen pictures of it yet, check out my Instagram or go follow @sideshow_sculpt to get more specific posts about our room. The question I’ve been asked by dozens of friends and fans alike is “Are you done with traditional sculpting?” And of course the answer is NO. In fact, I’ve already scheduled time with my favorite model in just a few weeks to do some more traditional sculpting. But as far as Sideshow goes, I’m afraid that I will not be doing any more traditional sculpts there (outside of some smaller stuff - have you guys seen the court apple?). The other question I get is “Do you like digital?” That’s a much tougher question for me to answer. If I’m honest, I can’t say I’ve really enjoyed much of it so far. It’s a crazy interface that is not at all intuitive. However, I don’t have to like something to be good at it. I was a great handyman and builder and I never really liked doing that work. But I also see its benefits and have, in fact, already started to create some of my personal work using Zbrush. At this year’s Monsterpalooza (just two weeks ago), I debuted 3 pieces that had been sculpted digitally. And I’m proud to say that people still saw my style in my work. Nothing had been lost to the digital process. So moving forward, I’m going to try and find the balance between traditional and digital sculpting in my life. When I feel like sculpting something by hand, I’m going to do that, and where it makes sense to do it digitally, I’ll try and embrace that too.
The next bit of news is that the long awaited return of the Rotten Food Series is here!! I’ve introduced two new pieces to the line (which you can find in the all new and re-designed Store - but more on that in sec). The Mad Muffin and the Crazy Cupcake are the pieces that are bringing back this line with more unpleasant pastries to follow. I’ve also given you guys loads of choices when it comes to variations. Head to the Store to see them all.
And speaking of the store… it should look different to all of you. I’ve been putting in a lot of work to get this new store set up with better flow and payment integration for all my customers. International orders will still need to contact me for pricing info, as I just can’t get all the regions and shipping costs loaded into the interface. But for all you who don’t have Paypal, no worries!! Credit cards are now even easier to use through the store which is powered by Stripe, making it even more safe and secure. I will ask you guys to let me know if you run into any issues using the store (I’ve tested it and so far it’s all working well), because as we all know, getting new technologies integrated and seamless is never quite as smooth as the companies would like us to believe it is. So please, check it out. Explore. Share. BUY!!! I appreciate all the years of support you guys have given me so that I can continue to create my silly little things.
Lastly, on a more personal note, I’m really taking my health into account this year. I’m almost a year and half without soda, and it feels good. I still crave an ice cold coke every now again, but my will power is stronger than my cravings. I’ve also been making healthier food choices. The only missing part of my health puzzle is exercise, which I plan on remedying soon. I just turned 43 on the weekend of monsterpalooza, and while I feel very young at heart, the man that looks back at me in the mirror is more wrinkled and worn. My body is also trying to remind me of my age with aching knees and bursitis in my right shoulder. But I say “Damn the torpedos!! Full steam ahead!!” It’s never too late to improve on where we are and my goal is that when I’m 45, I’ll be in the best shape of my life. Not an easy thing as I’ve been in pretty good shape all along, but I know I can do better. And with better health comes more energy, and with more energy come more ability to spend time creating. Which I think you guys would like to see. At least that’s what I like to tell myself.
So cheers for now, and hopefully not another year. But let’s face it… I’ve made that promise before.
-Alfred