

My Life Rules
by Brian Brooks
I began documenting my artwork and growth as an artist from my early days when I began drawing for a hobby, wanting to track my progress, and perhaps someday create the ultimate coffee-table book, inspired first by my brother’s books on the Beatles, and later those of Salvador Dali. I dated my drawings and later began taking notes and progress diaries about my projects beginning in junior high and continuing to this day, 40 years later.
I began notating my first personal timelines in just before high school. During my final year in college I began a daily calendar of notes of what I was working on, what I was wearing, and what I ate, and other events. This lasted for 13 years. I stopped it intentionally to ‘go dark’ and let something new happen, plus- I figured- that I was leaving such a digital trail (by 2008) that I could “always go back”. Plus it was getting tedious, it was tedious in a good way for the longest time, but then got in a bad way. A few months later Emily and I opened Smokey’s Tangle, and my life took a new direction.
How The Pandemic Changed My Artwork
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Before |
After |
Plein Air Painting Studio Drawings |
Plein Air Drawing Surveying Mapping |
Before
Reaction
In 2021 I tried something new, I began a series of books compiling all of the things I was working on. This included: graphics for Emily The Strange, Oopsy Daisy, my work on the neighborhood, media intake
Towards the end of 2021, at the suggestion of Emily Wick, we printed out and cut up some Emily images and filmed stop-motion videos, creating little vignettes to post on Instagram. Before too long, I created a way to do these types of animations directly in Adobe Illustrator (using multiple art boards).
I may speak elsewhere about my love of parameters and the “rules” I set for myself. They are my rails. Perhaps Rules rhymes with Tools for a reason– I set and limit and change both periodically. I have naturally fallen into an art practice where I almost alway work in “series”, where I create the same stuff for a while, then move on; sometimes completely, other times I return–sometimes frequently, sometimes not for a decade, or two, sometimes never.
Where I Am From
Before Brian
Brian’s Ancestors in America 1699-1973
Mother’s Side Family Tree – Link
Father’s Side Family Tree – Link
After Brian
Ohio • Phoenix • San Francisco • Boston
• Oakland 1999-2008 • Connecticut • Vermont
• Oakland 2009-2018 • Connecticut • Vermont
• Oakland 2019-2028 • Connecticut • Vermont
What I Do
Anthologies
Artwork Output
Media Input
IPs
Logos
Portraits
Patterns
Publishing
Style Guide
Tools
Logos
I am many me, I change through the day, cycling through the many me-s in me. Also roll through different me-s through different eras of time. I’ve had a lot of influences over the years. Sometimes I wear them on my sleeve. I used to have more influences when I was younger. Today I find myself limiting what media I take in. It gives me more time to do things I want to do.
I find it impossible to listen to talking and work at the same time. Dialog takes my full attention. Perhaps because I am hard of hearing. I didn’t used to be, I got that way from intaking too much loud audio media. My media history.
Portraits
by Brian Brooks
I post frequently on Instagram, from time to time. These are some of my profile pictures from over the years. I used to change my profile picture frequently, now I change it when I feel like it’s a new era.
©2024 Brian Brooks