Several weeks ago a friend of mine suggested that I start a blog to expand my fan base and to keep in touch with people who may not be connected through the likes of my normal social outlets DeviantART.com, Facebook.com and DigitalWebbing.com. I’ve always preferred these sources to associate myself with fans because; a.) I'm not much of a talker. And b.) they’re quick and easy ways to socialize while getting your name out. On DeviantART and Digital Webbing you take 10 minutes to post a pretty picture then write a few short phrases about the piece and BAM! People flock to it and before you know it you have a steady base of fans with minimal maintenance. Facebook is the same thing except it’s based on short bursts of frustrated venting or self gratifying back pats. It’s like Cliff’s Notes for your life. “Had a shitty day, dog got hit by a car and contracted herpes type 2 from Baby Dolls cabaret”. POW! Short, sweet and to the point now people know what’s new in your life and that you’ll be frequenting the family physician more often than you used to. They’re quick easy networking solutions for Generation-Now’s fast paced lifestyle and fit perfectly into the chaotic unorganized time schedule of people such as comic book artists like myself. Blogs on the other hand always seemed like such a time consuming endeavor that I don’t have much time for and when I do I’m frankly too lazy to accomplish such a task.
On top of that, aside for poor gramer skills, I've also never been involved with blogging in any way other than perhaps stumbling upon a random blog while doing a Google search something of interest or like “nipple” and/or “toaster oven”. Indeed this is a foreign alien land for me. I fully expect the unforeseen monstrosities of Blogland to jump out from behind a curious rock or for it’s native inhabitants to pounce and steal my expensive shoes and rob my milk money. With my lack of knowledge for said blogs I’ve always perceived them as nonsense rants by people who feel self important enough to vent their frustrations to a public that is willing to listen to their drama. I’ve always connected them to the live journal trend of the early 2000’s (Random thought #1: are those still around even?) until the recent conversation with my friend who was advising me to start this blog. He told me blogs are much much, well for the most part, more than what I presumed them to be. He sat me on his lap (don’t ask) and told me how blogs can be what ever you want them to be as colorful glitter shot out from his finger tips like a Rainbow Skittles commercial. …this seemed like a man a could trust.
So it's with a new more open mind that I debut this addition to the Mike DeBalfo information highway, but I don’t plan to promote it to acquire new fans as much as I’d like to use it for a more personal connection between me and the fans I already have. I’ll post artwork on here, but more than likely this blog will focus more on my random personal interests and news that you can hopefully connect with. I will warn you now that some material may be offensive to younger viewers. Yes, there will be nudity. Yes, there will be foul language and awesome links to further debauchery that could get you fired or possibly deported so don’t say you weren’t advised. …that is unless you didn’t read this far into my first post prior to moving on in which case --wait… Yeah, it would still be your fault. In regards to art that I’ll post: Mostly sketches, commissions and other random illustrations that I do to make it some-what exclusive and generate some diversity from my DA and FB posts.
Right now it’s nearing the end of 2010 which gives me a little more than two years to post before the end of the apocalypse but it’s a fresh start for a new blog with 2011. I’ll try to update this as often as I can, hopefully weekly, but we’ll see what reality pans out to be. But for now eat, drink and do Mary! Merry Christmas!
Best Wishes,
mIKE d.
