Whatever happened to humility? 

"Remember to love your neighbor as you love yourself."

Whatever happened to humility? Being humble used to be a quality that people really admired. I don't think there is anything wrong with having high self-esteem. As a matter of fact, it's something I have ingrained into my children, but I also taught them humility. Humility is the understanding that even though you have strong self-worth you should always remember that you are part of society, which means not always putting your own self-importance above everyone else. Simply, try to remember that it's not always about you. 

My office mate and I have a name for those kinds of selfish, "me first" people, we call them Universers. They think that the universe revolves around them. They think that they shouldn't have to wait in line or sit in traffic. They're so self-absorbed that sometimes they're not even aware of their rude behaviors. Behaviors, such as; talking loudly with their cell phone on speaker mode, next to you, while in a restaurant. They are the people that skip the line in coffee shops, sandwich shops, and bathrooms. They pull into handicap spots even though they don't have a handicap placard. They drive up the medium or the curb to get around traffic. They step in front of you at the grocery store while you are shopping like you are invisible. I can keep on going and going because people are getting more and more selfish. At least in LA, it's getting out of control.

There are a few things that I believe contribute to this problem. First, poor parenting plays a huge role in this "me first" attitude. Parents are telling their kids how special they are and how unique they are and that's all good but they should follow up with, "Remember to love your neighbor as you love yourself". They give their children anything that they demand even placing them above the social surrounds at any given time. Example; A child screaming at the top of their lungs in a restaurant and the parents do nothing to correct the behavior. What has the child just been taught by its parents? I can spend much more time on poor parenting but let's move on. 

Next, is the problem of the lack of accountability. Making excuses for bad behavior or ignoring bad behavior does nothing to fix the problem of people doing bad things. Rude and selfish people are bullies and they work off of the idea that most people don't want to make a scene in a public place or that some people are just too cowardly to say anything at all. Many people are afraid of confrontation but that is part of being an adult. Bullies bank on you not confronting them, and so they skip lines, steal parking spots, and do what they want which is usually taking advantage of situations and people. Remember, self-centered individuals feel little to no conscience;  they don't care who they hurt or offend, it's all about what they want. Most of them will back down in an instant if you confront them, this is probably because they know that they are in the wrong and so they don't have a defense for their rude behavior. Rude people love, "Oh, I'm sorry, I wasn't aware," defense or they will avoid eye contact all together so as not to give you a chance to say something. God has written on everyone's heart the ability to know the difference between right and wrong. They know exactly when and how they are doing something wrong, and if they can get away with it then so be it.

Now, moving on to the most influential problem of them all. The biggest maker of the, ME, ME, ME mentality. Social media! As far as I'm concerned it's also a constant reinforcement of the ME, ME, ME, I'm so important, attitude. It talks about people in entertainment (Singers, Movie and TV stars and Athletes) as though they are nobility. There are no kings and queens anymore, they are just people, people who are no better than you or I. Remember equality, all humans equal. We fought against monarchism hundreds of years ago but now we put people on pedestals and allow them to do and act as they like. What's worse is if someone gets enough views on Facebook or U-tube they become famous. Rich and poor people get reality shows because of their rude and appalling behavior. Rappers, Rich Housewives, Moonshiners, and Pregnant teens, get shows. There are shows like The Maury Povich Show, the Steve Wilkos Show, and The Jerry Springer Show that promote downright awful behavior. Regular people watch these shows and think, "This is how I should act and I'll be treated (like royalty) and rude and selfish behavior is how I can be distinguished from the rest of society." Unfortunately, many people are like puppets, they do what they see.

"BRAVE" 

This is a drawing of Fergus The King, done in blue 

color-erase pencil on vellum. I scanned it and

 tweaked it a bit in Photoshop.

ANOTHER ONE BITES THE DUST

This was the latest film I was working on, it is 

currently on hold because of a major overhaul. 

There is a good chance it may never make it to 

the box office.

BEFORE I HAD PHOTOSHOP

Here is a very old marker comp. of the Everglades.

Back in the day of 2D films we didn't have computers.

  So, us layout guys had to do marker comps. on actual paper. 
We used Prisma-color marker, and then detailed them using 
Prisma-color pencils and whiteout pens and anything else
 that got the job done. 

This is a drawing done with a semi dry 

Sharpie marker, grey Prisma-Color marker

and a whiteout pen.

"TEMBO"

BEFORE AND AFTER

This a before and after. The drawing on top is a

quick Photoshop sketch.  I then used my new 

technique to clean it up and make it more graphic.

"MONKEYS OF MUMBAI"

This is the first panel from a sequence called

 "I AM HANUMAN". I had to sing my pitch to 
Bill Dameski, who I had never met till that 
morning. Talk about stress!

LEPRECHAUN

 

 I had a pencil sketch of this leprechaun in my sketchbook

 and every time I flipped past it I felt I should do something 

with it. So, I eventually scanned it into Photoshop and 

worked it into an illustration using my new technique.

 

DEER INSTEAD OF BEAR

This Drawing originally had a bear instead of a

deer, but I could never get the composition to work. 

Eventually, I abandoned the bear and tried this and 

low and behold it worked.