About Noetic Art

For the curious out there (and the terminally bored), we've posted some information about Noetic Art, the clipart, and its underachieving creator. If you have something more important to do, like inventing new jello desserts, feel free to skip this.

Getting Started

Noetic Art got its start in 1996 when a friend asked me to draw an alligator for the invitation to his upcoming cajun-themed party. I drew it, handed it over, and he made a pretty cool invitation from the quick sketch.

I was not invited to the party.

I sat at home instead, sulking and watching Columbo reruns, and came up with the idea that if I drew more of this stuff, one or two people might stop by and have a look. I slapped some artwork together, as well as a mediocre web page, and Noetic Art was born. I can only thank John for leaving me off his guest list, though many of the visitors to this site have wished I had gone anyway.

So now, 11 years later, after some serious neglect, Noetic Art is still around and being visited by the likes of you, and perhaps a few others whose World of Warcraft accounts have been suspended. Over that time, the site has been overhauled and redesigned 5 times, appeared on TV once (though the clipart itself has been on TV a couple times), been featured in several books, used by many people around the world, including a restaurant, a dog biscuit company, a sailboat, a greeting card company, and a prominent internet search engine.

And, every few years, I draw some clipart and make it available to the public at large.

The Clipart

Actually, I started drawing when I was 3 years old, using my favorite media at the time: permanent markers and the bedroom wall. My Mom tells me I drew a train that went all along the bottom of one wall and over onto another one. I have been drawing ever since, sometimes drawing serious stuff, other times silly, puerile, junk, to which this site has become a monument.

The clipart has gone through several experimental styles, all of which you can see in the images that are present here. The current style, which I like a lot, is created using a quick pencil sketch, then pen and ink, and is colored using artists markers. The mosquito on the main page is a good example. The image is then scanned into the computer and turned into clipart images using Adobe Photoshop.

The "Artist"

What can I say that won't sound like a $20 ad in the personals section of the paper? I'm just an average guy. I live out here in Sterling, Va. I'm currently 44 years old, but more like a 22-year old with a partial sense of responsibility. I'm a software architect for a pretty nice company in Herndon, Va. I have absolutely the coolest friends.

Sometimes I draw stuff.