re: Aithan

Hey there! 🙂

The name is Aithan (or Aith for short) and I am a: writer, traditional pencil-and-paper illustrator (line art, mostly), web monkey (front-end), and graphic designer whose primary passion is composing creative works where art tells stories and stories illustrate art.

As a Jack-Of-Many-Trades, I am someone who tends to have their fingers in many different pots and projects all at the same time and I couldn’t be happier because there’s just so much to do and so many ideas to explore and if it isn’t one idea that needs to be fleshed out and formed then it’s another!

In the words of Calvin from Bill Watterson’s Calvin and Hobbes:

“Wow, it really snowed last night! Isn’t it wonderful? Everything familiar has disappeared! The world looks brand new! A new year … a fresh, clean start! It’s like having a big white sheet of paper to draw on! A day full of possibilities! It’s a magical world, Hobbes, ol’ buddy… let’s go exploring!”

I have learned over time that Ideas Don’t Wait and so Get Ready, Get Set, and GO, GO, GO! has become my modus operandi when it comes to the processing and executing of creative thoughts, ideas, and endeavors because I just can’t help but try and make the most out of any and all creative sparks that may fly.

That said, good music, good coffee, good food, and the occasional good company are an absolute must when it comes to furthering the “GO, GO, GO!” creative process.

What I Do

Communicating creatively (also known as Creative Communications) is my ultimate passion and the bulk majority of my creative projects reflect this from illustrated shorts, novellas, and novels to other miscellaneous illustrated word and text projects to web and graphic design to marketing to general writing projects and to general illustration projects… and more.

As a Writer and Artist, my primary focus is on the exploration of the simultaneous separation and integration of words and text and art – art that tells a story and stories that illustrate art.

As a Web Monkey, my goal is to create a harmonious blend of efficiency and simple and clean elegance.

Finally, as Myself, I intend to keep doing all the things that I do and grow in both my knowledge and experience and turn the end results into creative projects that I can both share with others and/or simply enjoy for my own pleasure.

What I Am Working On

In the Writing and Illustrating department, I have three to four projects that I am working on at present.

First and foremost is the illustrated novel entitled The Boy Who Loved a Dragon which is a collaborative studio project between myself (the primary writer) and Ian (the primary illustrator).

The rest are individual projects entitled Coming Home, InSpir(INK)ed, and Notherland respectively.

In the Web Design department, my recent for-web projects have mostly consisted of Portfolio-related work and working on my own personal website along with Keys and Strokes’ studio website.

Tools of the Trade

For Writing, I mostly use my personal tablet computer and Microsoft Word for typing. On the occasion I am without my laptop, I use my iPod Touch to take notes with.

For Drawing, I am mostly a traditional artist and I use pencil and paper for drawing, a flatbed scanner for scanning, and Photoshop and Fireworks for cleaning and/or coloring.

For Graphic Design, I mostly use Fireworks for the web and either Illustrator or Photoshop for print.

For Web Design, I use Notepad for coding and keep Fireworks open as a ‘cheat sheet’ for color swatches.

And…

To help facilitate File Sharing process with myself (and my partner), I use programs like DropBox, OneDrive, and Box…

And…

For all my Web Hosting needs, I choose DreamHost.

Odds and Ends

Oh yeah; if it hasn’t become obvious yet, I will say it now; I can be VERY detail oriented. 😉