Log 03 - Introducing The ArtVenturers Series

An origin story

Dec 18, 2024

The ArtVenturers is my passion project, my legacy, what I am meant to bring into this world.

Sounds a bit much, right? Yes, I know. Nonetheless, it’s true.

I first got the idea circa Fall 2014. I was teaching in a juvenile prison environment at the time that would ultimately cost me health and sanity. Earlier that year, a flip switched somewhere higher-up in the juvenile legal system. The guards’ hands were now figuratively tied and the inmates set free. From then on, teaching staff were daily subjected to verbal assaults and physical intimidation, to witnessing violent physical outbursts between inmates and all too often, voracious beatings amongst themselves. I left this job March 2015 a total emotional wreck with a nasty case of PTSD.

During my last few months there, in a desperate bid for survival, my mind distracted me into the creation of a whole new world as an escape.

Out of chaos The League of Travelers was born – a.k.a. version 1.0 of what would become The ArtVenturers of today.

A World Emerges -

Next came a new state, a new job, a fixer-upper house, piecing myself together, focusing on day to day. The ArtVenturers went on stand-by… but never out of mind.

I began jotting down ideas about potential structures and story elements in a pocket notebook. I would add an idea, tweak another, upgrade yet a third. My mind was alive with possibilities.

Soon I added several notebooks to flesh things out. One for Structures: (i.e. Systems) items, characters, levels, organizations, etc.; Another for Stories: characters’ bio, roles, locations, appearances, origins, etc., story ideas, chapters, overall arc, styles and topics to explore, places to visit and the likes. A third later-on to documents what happens in each book to keep track of artist, styles and topics covered.

These notebooks record the history and evolution of The ArtVenturers - a living document that continues to grow, change and adapt as needed.

The ArtVenturers Workbook Series -

One final evolutionary step came from switching from an online art program (version 2.0) to the physical workbook series it is now (version 3.0).

During lockdowns, I started building this as an online art program with the first three courses. This step was instrumental in defining the format on how this would be presented to the world, as well as how to transform a mere “participant” into an ArtVenturer.

Only there was one big snag – having to be online made the whole thing rather unsatisfying of an experience, at least for me, and ran contrary to the point of getting folks off of their screens and into their sketchbooks.

Realizing this unease, I agonized over the decision to essentially start over. Once the decision was made, however, I knew deep in my core it was the right one. It felt good. And so back to the work I went.

The ArtVenturers workbooks 1 and 2 were published in 2023 and 2024 respectively. Workbook 3 is in progress.

These dark times in my life have brought about something beautiful, something I am immensely proud of, something that would not exist had I not had these experiences.

I wouldn’t change a thing.