Name: Bradley David Smoley

Birthday: 06/03/75

Birthplace: Lima, Ohio

Education: Well, after graduating from Perry Hall High School in beautiful downtown Perry Hall Maryland, I went on to take part in University of Maryland at College Park's Engineering program. After a year of that crap, I naturally realized that engineering was NOT for me and attended Essex Community College for 2 years while I tried to figure out what I wanted to do. While there, I decided on art as a direction and ended up joining University of Maryland, Baltimore County's graphic design program. I did that until I got offered a full time web design position and I've been doing that ever since. I'd really like to go back and get my degree in either graphic design or digital media, so anyone who wants to pay for it, send me money and I'll go back.

Currently: Right now, I'm working for Johns Hopkins Medical Center, at Bayview. Actually, I'm a contractor working through Bayview for the NIDA (National Institute on Drug Abuse) updating and maintaining their website. When I'm not doing that, I'm working on DaddyMonkey.com, going to see the Caps lose, or playing video games. I'll also be found sitting behind my drawing table either trying to piece together a cool sci-fi screenplay that I wanna do, or getting back into this whole art thing. I've got a couple ideas for some new pieces, so keep your eye on the portfolio section for some new stuff, and on the writings section for my verbal scribblings.

Additional "Useful" Info: Well, I'm 5'6", a Gemini, I like long walks on the beach, kittens, and snuggling under the covers. Oh, and explosions. Big firey explosions. Seriously though, I was born in Lima, Ohio and moved here in the 4th grade when my dad got transfered. To this day I'm not exactly sure what he does but he either works for Citigroup or is a secret agent for the Canadian goverrnment. One is more exciting than the other, but I'll be damned if I can figure out which. As you can tell, I think humor is very important. The randomly retarded kind is my favorite.

Art: As I stated above, I'm kind of an art dork so a great deal of my time is spent being as creative as I possibly can. Unfortunately, this does not include any musical talent that I have yet been able to discover, but I do enjoy drawing, writing, photography and digital art. I also enjoy making goofy short films with my California buddies Jeff and Brian. At any rate I'm constantly doodling, designing or tinkering with something on my computer, trying to make something artsy.

Music: Although I have no musical ability of my own, I do enjoy music a lot. I'm a big supporter of two local-Baltimore bands: Cloudbreak and Wisermind. They both kick ass and you should check them out as soon as you can if you live in the area. I love the rock n' roll, but I'm not exactly sure what's up with this Limp Bisquick nonsence. Hopefully this is just a lull before the real next-big-thing hits.

Recreation: What do I do for fun? I hang out with my friends and have a couple beers from time to time. If we get really nuts sometimes we'll go out dancing, which I think is really fun, but usually only after 4 or 5 Miller Lites. I enjoy biking when the weather permits, and playing football especially when the weather doesn't permit. Softball is fun and ultimate frisbee gets me very excited. Hockey is my new passion, and being that I'm the goalie, I'm obviously crazy. I've been known to play a video game or three, but only on the underdog systems. When Nintendo dominated the industry, I had Sega. Now that Playstation rules the roost, I'm the only bird with a Nintendo 64. I'm also a big supporter of the now-dead Dreamcast. That way, I'm not tempted to waste my hard earned money on all the popular new games, because they aren't out on my system. Wasting money is what beer is for.

Movies: Golly there are tons. In absolutely no particular order: Fellowship of the Ring, Braveheart, A Fish Called Wanda, 2001: A Space Odyssey, Ghostbusters, Fletch, Seven, X-Men, Princess Mononoke, The Princess Bride, Star Wars Trilogy (Episode 1 doesn't count), Indiana Jones Trilogy, Fight Club, Office Space, Dark City, The Crow, Airplane, There's Something About Mary, Wet Hot American Summer, Contact, Akira, Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind, Blade Runner, Alien, Legend, and literally dozens of others.

Music: Like I said, I love the rock n' roll. Some of my favorites are: Live, Dave Mattews Band, Pearl Jam, Stone Temple Pilots, Tenacious D, Tonic, Enigma, Crystal Method, Cloudbreak, Genesis, The Cartigans, Toad the Wet Sprocket, Cake, 311, Information Society, Van Halen w/ David Lee, Peter Gabriel, Led Zepplin, etc, etc, etc.

Artists: Wow, this is kinda tough. There are quite a few comic book guys that really got me into art, or who's style I really dig so I'll mention them first: Frank Miller, Jim Lee, Joe Maduriera, Geoff Darrow, Mobius, Todd McFarlaine, and Joe Quesada all come to mind. Now for "real" artists...I really love Roy Lichtenstein, Salvador Dali, and of course the Masters DaVinci and Michaelangelo. My current inspiration and favorite artist is Alphonse Mucha. He's called the father of Art Noveau and if you are at all interested you should check out some of his stuff here.

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