Mark Walczak TheApostle Location: Naperville, USA Language(s):
English Member Since: April 2007 Last Updated: 29 August 2008 Portfolio Views: 5977 Chosen as Favorite: 2
You may be wondering how I came up with the name “ExplosiveGraffix.” This was the result of two prerequisites; one: define a mission for the site; and two: finding a domain name that was available.
I have recently been fascinated with the story of 1 Kings 18, in which Elijah challenges the prophets of Baal to a contest to see which god is genuine and true. As you may have read, the two sides each build an altar and place a sacrifice to their respective god on it. The prophets of Baal pray, shout and mutilate themselves for more than half a day before Elijah starts to call on the LORD – and when he does, he makes sure that his bull sacrifice is saturated with water. At just the right time God incinerates Elijah’s bull even though it is wet, and, at that moment, incites immediate praise from all onlookers. Another example of God showing satisfaction through fire can be found in 2 Chronicles 7:1, when Solomon is dedicating the temple. I have always been fascinated with the whole sacrificial system, and how God finds it pleasing. I am a firm believer that we as people no longer need to prove ourselves to God by sacrificing things to him in order to win his favor – I believe that Christ was the ultimate sacrifice. Nonetheless, I believe that it is the job of every Christian to dedicate their gifts to God, and this site is my method of doing just that. Don’t expect your monitor to spontaneously explode while viewing my work, but, please know that each design was made with the hope of pleasing and honoring God.
The People Behind ExplosiveGraffix
This site would not exist if not for God, his son Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit. It is the love of Jesus that inspires me, and it is the Holy Spirit that keeps the server running!
I, Mark, design the graphics, format the site, and simply get the word out! I am a student in the Midwest studying film at a local college. In my spare time, I do graphics work – both for my church, and now, for this site. By no means is this a full-time operation for me, nor should it be considering my other priorities. I do, however, accept the responsibility of having a website, and will be more than aware of your feedback. Last, but not least, my friend Kuo was kind enough to allow me to host the site on his server, and is the brains behind making it all work. He is also the person who gave me the idea to host my work online.
Inspiration
The Bible is a giant well of inspiration for me. The stories, the people, the themes – they are all so fascinating and awe-inspiring that I cannot help but get images in my mind that are inspired by the text. These are the images that eventually become my work.
In the times when the Bible is not enough to get me fired up about Jesus, music is what drives me. In particular, the albums “Phenomenon” by Thousand Foot Krutch, and “Strong Tower” by Kutless have taken my faith and art to new levels. Other favorite groups of mine are Third Day, Jeremy Camp, and Chris Tomlin. They all serve as a wonderfully loyal supplement to the text of the Bible.
The Craft
In total, I have only had a few hours of training in Photoshop – the rest of my knowledge was self-taught through online tutorials, and mostly through me simply opening up a program and clicking through different menus to see how certain effects and options affect my project. I am constantly learning, and teaching myself new things, so please bear with me if my designs appear simple in nature. I am constantly trying to take things to the next level and push myself to grow. At the current time, I am content with my knowledge of Photoshop and Illustrator, so most of my new designs will be coming from LightWave, Maya, Terragen and Vue. From time to time, though, I will take breaks and do strictly 2-D work.
Freelance Work
I am always interested in doing paid freelance graphic or animation work.
