Developing for Mobile, on Everyone's Website but Yours

I know it's not everyone ok?  Calm you normal developers that are scoffing at the idea, and rolling your eyes atop the high horse.  That insult was very unnecessary and a defensive mechanism.  I like many others have developed a website and left mobile on the to do later list.  However due to freelance and other projects I've been working on, I haven't prioritized and left it.  This is a bad look, especially if you are looking for some kind of development work and the client visits your website.  They don't know that every other website you work on is cellphone and tablet friendly.  They will look at your website and possibly you can't do it, or at least be skeptical about your capabilities.

This past year and a half in particular, I have been busier than any time in my life.  I will be coming back mid September from a 14 day vacation, and my time will free up significantly.  I will likely look to improve several other aspects of my website, in the last post listing another dumb mistake of leaving the website 720px wide.  So if you don't have the mobile version of your website, get on it.  Don't be me.  Many people use their cellphones and tablet to visit websites.  If the website looks like shit on those platforms, they will quickly move on to something else, making all your hard work of making a website fruitless.

Websites - 720px Width .. Don't Do It.

About 3-4 years ago, I did something really idiotic when making my website.  I made it 720px wide so even people using prehistoric computers wouldn't have issues once they visited my website.  I knew then that would be a small amount of people and that wouldn't last for long.  Now years later, I need to change that.  Either a full 100% width with some padding or a 1080px min width is a must.  It's going to take some time.  For the people who know they're doing something stupid but do it regardless like myself, don't be one of us.  Be better.  Don't fucking code with 720px width.  For the people who can't see it because they have such old computers, your grandma will be allright.  Code it right.

Speed Painting 38: True Detective

Last year, I was introduced to one of the best shows on TV in 2014, with Rust being one of the most interesting characters.  Season 2 brought an entire new cast, story and setting.  Very excited, and I decided to make a speed painting about it.

I focused mostly on Ray and Ani, my two favorite characters from season 2.  Even though I'm not quite good at it, I chose to use the same style that both s1 and s2 intros use for the character.  Weird abstract figures showing characters which I love.  I don't want to spoil the black background encompassing Ray, but you will know what it's about if you're far enough into the story.  Ani appears in the smoke and the town of Vinci is shown through her outline.  Enjoy. :)

Also, thanks HBO (or music corp) for taking down the intro songs of True Detective s1/2 openings from the original video, despite me never monetizing a single video.

I normally use real life pictures for nearly every speed painting but in this case, I used an illustration of an artist for ani's face only.  This is the reference due in a reddit link:
https://www.reddit.com/r/TrueDetective/comments/3dhqka/fan_art_i_warm_up_for_work_days_by_digital/

European Trip: What do you need?

I know, I know. What does this have to do with my blog? No much (anything). I'm going to Europe at the end of September. I wanted to do a quick help guide for what I do in case any people from North America plan to go. It's not as expensive if you take some time to look. I'll make this post slightly different compared to previous ones. Now this is mostly off the top of my head and not planned, so I'm certain I'll miss several things.

Essentials:
- backpack for.. backpacking. Get a proper one you would use for hiking, preferably with some zippers for some decent organizing.
- storing cubes. I believe that's the name. They're small bags for organizing your things. Trust me, things get messy as I found out. My buddy had several of these in his bag, and all of his things were in order. My backpack looked like pigs lived inside after a few days.
- Towel is optional. You have to pay for it if you go to a hostel, but then do you really want a sweaty towel to carry with you so you can save 2 euros per hostel?
- 2-3 main clothes, and a few more socks, underwear, possibly a jacket depending on location/time of year, etc.
 - A bit of extra space in the bag because you're a tourist and you have to buy dumb shit you won't care about other than place it somewhere at the house to tell your neighbors/family members that you were there.
- Personally if you can, I'd recommend something simple you can wear Necklace, ring, bracelet, or something unique that doesn't look like they make for millions of tourists.

Hostels:
- I recommend you take them unless you're going as a couple. I still recommend it, just stay a couple of nights at a hostel and 1-2 nights per city/country in a private hotel if you need the privacy.
- Go to hostelbookers.com to find the right hostel. They will tell you the address, how far away it is from the center of the town, photos, cost and most importantly reviews to hear from other people's experiences. Picking a place where the people there are very helpful and knowledgeable is a huge plus in my opinion.
- Once you find the right hostel, do not book it at the website. They charge far too much. I'm going to Ireland and found their actual email and contacted them. Hostelbookers was selling it for 34$ I believe, and the pub was selling it for 25$ if you contact them directly.
- Be careful of taxi drivers trying to hustle you. Hostelbookers sometimes tells you how much taxi drivers should charge from the airport to hostel and you confront them if they bullshit you.

Other:
 - Be careful of robbers. Be wary of others and aware of your surroundings. Most people are really laid back and great to talk to, but always be on point when it comes to observing others. A German friend I met at Barcelona told me that he had his backpack there near a coffee shop being held by the chair. Someone went and stole the backpack while he was sitting down. He lost most of his things on the first day. Don't be like him. I have a feeling now that I gave this tip, someone is going to rob over a month from now...
- Use airplanes. They're cheap as hell provided you don't look last minute and saves a ton of time. In Europe, the prices are a joke.
- European Flights. Keep in mind a lot of them give good prices, but there is an extra charge for your bag that isn't put up for consideration unless you add. This further bumps up the price. Just something to keep in mind, not a big issue.
- Call your bank beforehand and let them know you're traveling international so they don't freeze our VISA/Mastercard.
- If you rent a car, I've been told to put a limit on the card you use to borrow the card with, once again talking to the bank. A friend of mine suggested this, as he said they can overcharge because you're a tourist and why not take advantage of that? Not with my amazing guidance, they're not.

It's not everything, but that's all I remember for now.

Speed Painting 37: Final Fantasy VII & XV

If you are a gamer and haven't been living under a rock far, far beneath the Earth, you know about Sony's E3 conference.  They announced that Square Enix is remaking the most popular jRPG of all time, Final Fantasy VII.  This time around, Shinji Hashimoto is not trolling us with a PC port as was shown half a year ago, but the real remake.

Now I have been waiting for Final Fantasy XV (known as Versus previously) since 2006, when initially revealed.  It's looking like a 2016 release, and there a chance the FFVII Remake might be a 2017 release coinciding with their 20th year anniversary.  FFVII ironically enough, is the only mainline Final Fantasy that I have not played (other than XI and XIV, but those are MMOs).  Somehow, this game has always alluded me.  I've always wanted this game to be remade rather than my favorite FF which is IX for this reason.  I also created both games in this illustration because I will very likely make them as their speed painting on their months of release.  

Work that You can't Show

I've been thinking about this lately.  This has yet to happen to me in terms of freelance, but in my current job I am unable to show any of my work to the public.  I generally upload some of my work to my website, which you can find on the top, right side where the information goes called My Personal Website.  No, I have 0 shame for that plug.  This is a bit frustrating for me, especially since I have some pieces I'd love to show others in terms of design.  I also have been working on two websites, one that consists of over 60,000 products and another that has over 100,000 products.  It's a little hard to explain to clients that I work on this but can't show them.

Now this hasn't happened to me yet, but I take the advice of someone who is far more accomplished in this business in terms of what to do in that regard when it comes to freelance work that you can't show to the public.  If this were to happen, it's been suggested to charge anywhere between 2 to 3 times the final amount that you would originally charge them.  Some of you might have spit your drink onto your computer and are trying to quickly wipe it off thinking I'm crazy.  Think about it.  The work you do becomes your portfolio.  This shows your accomplishments, and allows you to get better work from clients, more work from clients and gives credibility to your quality of work. 

Working at an Office or at Home?

Big question.  Most of the time, it isn't your choice.  But in the creative business, there's some leeway in this regard.  I have three years of experience working since I've graduated, and I have worked at two different jobs.  One was at home for over a year, and another is currently working at an office for nearly two years.  Both had had their good and bad.. also mind you, this is my preference.  So unless you have the exact same type of personality, do not take my view on it as the word of law.  That I'm arrogant enough to think anyone would is also pretty incredible in a sad way.

I personally enjoy working from home a bit more than at an office.  I can start work at 7:00AM or 9:30AM, convenience is a huge bonus.  Certain important and human necessities, emergencies even.. such as a Champions League game where Bayern plays are events I don't have to miss unless I have a meeting.  I also have one hell of an office (for me anyways) made for freelance, so this works out well.  Get the work done and all is well.  However there are good aspects for working at an office.  Talking to people instead of being a creepy, social hermit who only speaks via skype or cellphones is supposed to be healthy for your social skills.  Also if you are a designer working with other designers and people in advertisement, you can bounce ideas off one another producing some potentially fantastic work.  I recently decided to make this blog post because a friend of mine suggested that there might be something opening for his company, but it is working from home.  Maybe another day I will get into a more extensive explanation, but for now I gotta go eat. 

Game of Thrones Depiction of History & People's Reactions

Game of Thrones is one the biggest shows on TV, and it might be argued that it is HBO's most successful tv show of all time.  It's already broken a few records and one episode got ratings to a level that even the Sopranos never did.  It's one of my favorite TV shows, and it is the non-complete book adaptation from George R.R. Martin's 'A Song of Ice & Fire'.  I like to call him GRRIM since that is the tone of his entire story.

People die in Game of Thrones.  A lot.  People die so much that there's people out there that say that it is for shock value.  While I do think there are very few and rare cases that people die because something had to happen, stating that as a general statement is utter bullshit.  Maybe you should go watch some more comic book movie or comic where the hero always wins, and dead characters get brought back to life as if the 7 dragon balls are there to be used at will.  They either find a reason, or there is universe #31241512 that all those people live.  And that's fine if you prefer that kind of story that has no real sense of danger, but don't bs me with nonsense that people die for pure shock value.  Have you read a history book?  Maybe that's your problem.  Get to reading and educate yourself, quench the thirst of knowledge and learn that people died a lot.  Just as brutally as GoT sans the magic segments.  Now, I will jump into spoiler territory below so if you are not caught up to Episode 9 of Season 5, it's time for you to book it out of here and catch up.

So there isn't a nice way to say it but on episode 9, but Stannis the Mannis did it.  He burned his daughter alive to win the war and become the King of the seven Kingdoms.  They even kept it long enough to hear her screams until she died.  It was pretty damn horrific.  I was literally wincing throughout that segment, as I felt uncomfortable throughout the entire event.  Several people then posted that they are tired of seeing deaths for the sake of it which is wrong.  I hoped he wouldn't do it, but it made complete sense that he did.  Stannis' introduction is burning his brother in law.  He later kills his actual brother and states later that he never loved the other one.  I was just hoping he wouldn't do it.

These people that complain about violence, sex, deaths of good characters to me just don't want to face reality.  Many things like this happened in slightly different manners.  I hear there was no magic in the past, but I want to see the proof.  But really, people were pieces of shit.  It's nice to see a writer write a book with very gray (and realistic characters) and become incredibly famous due to it.  The people that state that only bad guys win are completely delusional, forgetting that there is a very balanced way of good and bad winning like in the real world.  Or the pseudo-intellectual snobs that make me roll my eyes that state GoT is so predictable because the bad guys always win.  Their attitude atop their high horse, you have to wonder when they slip and fall on top of the pool of bullshit.  Man those people aggravate me.

I agree in season 5 the foreshadowing for most storylines is obvious and I can see people's point but overall?  I'd wager less than 1% are anywhere near on point of calling the plot points.  Bad things happen all the time, and I would bet the people that don't want to see these events that want to stop watching are the same people that live in a bubble and don't want to know about the thousands of atrocities that happen in the world even in today's time.  Must be wonderful to live in a blissful ignorance bubble, even though I am also an offender on many occasions.

I'm thinking that I should really stop swearing and cussing, adding so much color to my vocabulary on here.  However, since I don't think anyone actually reads it, I'm going to continue doing it.

Ohh and Stannis...

40/Hour a Week not What You Want?

So you have found your 40 hours a week job.  You're happy, you got a job and a safety net.  6 months, 1 year, 2 years, 5, 10 years.  Some time later, you realize that 40 hours might not be for you.  Now this is likely due to one of two reasons (if not a bit of both).  You should trust my judgment because I've been working for over 3 years since I graduated.  That practically makes me an expert on anything related to jobs and I've seen enough movies/TV shows that is the equivalent of a PhD in Psychology.  Now that we've established my credentials, lets get to the two reasons.

One of the reasons is that you don't want to do a 40 hour job.  You want to work on your own time, you work better at night.  You might enjoy working for 14 hours one day, and then spend the next day with your kids.  You work 25 hours in two days and are able to leave for a 4 day weekend somewhere special.  Having a more flexible schedule and working when you're really in tune works out for you.  The other reason is that it's not what you really want to do.  You chose it as it was a good option when you initially started working or/and due to the safety of the 40 hour a week.  However, after some time you realize this job is not really for you.

Unfortunately, I am starting to feel that way with my current 40 hour a week job due to the latter option.  I originally signed up to work on a relatively split 50-50 design and front-end development.  As time moves on however, there is less and less design.  I love writing, designing and digital illustration, and I enjoy doing front-end development.  However for me to love my job, it has to have a sizeable portion on one of those three areas.  I know to many people a job is a job, but I do believe that you should love your job and a Monday shouldn't be something you bemoan when it eventually comes every week.  That's why I chose to go on a creative route, to do what I love.  One recommendation to people struggling for either of these options is that you do what you want on your spare time, something creatively that you yourself enjoy.  It unleashes pent up creativity, and it will help when you're doing your 40 hour a week as well. 

Professionalism

Ohh boy.  So the life of a designer, web designer, illustrator and anyone in the creative field, it's very likely you have done some freelance work.  You work for the client, you do the work and in exchange they give you money.  Simple concept.  I've done this since I was studying in school and have continued to do it after graduating for three years until now.  I generally do most of this work in Canada and very little has been international.  It's worked out well, and I make some extra cash when needed.  The last year and a half in particular, I have done almost no freelance work for anyone, since I've been working on a massively experimental project.  I've been writing this for some time, and I had no time to work outside of the generic 8-5 timeline that I do to pay the bills.  However, for the first time, I was the client and paid someone else for the work.

Ohh boy.  So I contacted a company about a job I needed for this project I've been working on.  Initially, things went well and the first steps of the project went mostly to plan.  Afterwards, it was like an inevitable crashing train that had no wheels nor a break.  Nothing would be on time, and it took weeks for work that should have taken one or two days.  I remember at some point, I got roughs for part of the job that I know did not take a full day's worth after a month and their response was a casual "ok so what do you think?"  Not sorry for being incredibly late, and this looking like something I would do as quick as possible once someone asked for an update.  I had to call the whole thing off after a constant barrage of failures from this company, and it's definitely been my worst experience in any type of deal whether I am a client or vice-versa.  At least, I got my money back which is about the only positive.  The downsize is that I lost the most important thing, time.  About half a year's worth.

I ended this relationship on a cold but professional note.  The mediator of the company did not want for this news to get out there in regards to his company's incompetence, and I am not doing it either.  What's happened has happened and I do believe they just weren't professional enough to take care of it.  For me to be vindictive when they weren't malicious would be a shitty thing to be.  So, we left it off to a "shit happens, let's move our separate ways" road.  Anyways to any youngins' out there (that would be 3-5 years younger than me...), be professional.  Have your work on time.  if you can't, fucking let the client know ahead of time so they aren't wondering what is happening.  Your client should always be in the loop with what is happening to their project.  A major mistake is also to take too many jobs at once and not have the time to properly do them, which is what I believe was happening to the previous company.  Now, I have found another company and they seem a lot better for now, so hoping this continues until this project is done and I can see if anything happens with it.  Once again, be fucking professional.

Speed Painting 36: Batman Arkham Knight

So something-something related to Batman is coming out, and yes it is another excuse for me to once again to do a Batman-related youtube speed painting.  The final game of the Batman trilogy from Rocksteady Studios will release on June, and that is my next topic.

This illustration is heavily inspired by the wonderful Witcher 3: Wild Hunt concept designs of their artists.  Well done to them.  I used the Batman logo as the background while illustrating the two major villains of the game, Scarecrow and the Arkham Knight.  I also used one the Dark Knight songs from Hans Zimmer and James Newton Howard, and the second song from the Arkham City game.  This way, I pay tribute to both the best comic book superhero movie and one of the developer's own games.

I hope you guys (whichever person accidentally stumbles here) enjoy this one, because I believe this to be my best one in exactly three years of (creating) speed paintings.  Can't believe it's been three whole years so far!

Speed Painting 35: Avengers 2, Age of Ultron

With the new Avengers moving coming out in May 1st, I thought it'd be a good choice to pick A2 as my next speed painting. I wanted to practice illustrating metallic substances, so Ultron was a perfect reference. I chose to go with Ultron looking as intimidating as possible while in the process of ripping Captain's shield in half, and Ironman and Thor trying to get involved behind him. Enjoy.

Youtube Restructuring

I am two months shy of releasing a youtube speed painting illustration at the start of each month for three years.  Well, I am still doing that.  However, I had some issues with the latest illustration itself and then youtube is as usual unreliable.  So it released on the second rather than the first.  I think from now on, I am going to focus on illustrations that focus heavily on a single character.  The background on my latest speed painting simply took too much time.  The issue isn't that it's just painting it, it's the editing afterwards to remove all the times that I look at references.  This latest speed painting itself may have taken me 80 to 90 hours. 

Now if this was all I had to do, I wouldn't have minded it as much.  However, I am and have been working on a project I'm writing that's very likely going to fail.  However by the small chance that it succeeds, it needs a certain amount of my time every week.  I'm in that weird creepy place where I am optimistic and realistic at the same time.. it's.. it's weird.  A lot of its work is going through some final stages and if things go smoothly which a lot of the time don't happen, I might finally find out if this was all worth it or all for naught.  I have been working on this for three years and the last year has taken a lovely amount of my time.  I've cooled off even on freelance work for some time for this reason.

Anyways, the last speed painting, the last two-three days I wasn't having fun and that's not why I do this.  I always do things that I love, that's why I put an average of 60 hours a month on a project that makes me zero money.  I don't monetize any videos.  Of course I do have in the back of mind my mind that if a video blows up, it could open up a lot of chances for easy freelance options.  That doesn't escape my mind.  Anyways, I will be focusing more on characters for my illustrations to save me 20 hours worth of time.

Overreliance on Technology

I recently had some issues with my internet service where it was practically unusable for nearly a week.  I called my internet provider they explained that for two months there have been issues and now it's gotten worse.  There was a small conversation on why they were taking their sweet time and all that jazz, where I rightfully got 50% discount for a certain amount of time.

Without a proper internet, I then got a taste of just how much I rely on it.  I always listen to podcasts or youtube videos while painting, and I was painting my latest speed painting at the time as well as writing.  In regards to music, I listen to grooveshark and in this computer I barely have any actual music downloaded.  So the choice was to either to paint in silence or listen to the same 10 songs over and over again.  Not being able to look for any images as references hurt a bit, as I had to make due in some occasions by finding them while I was at work.   Why not use your cellphone for data you ask?  Well because I only have 300MB of data per month.  I pay 40$/month which is perfect for peasants like me that use WIFI at home and at work while not having much money to afford a better deal. 



For me, it is a bit terrifying how over-reliant I am on technology.  I think as a society especially in North America, we all rely on it.  Husband and wife being in the same room and looking at iPads, cellphones and computer instead of talking more to one another, kids looking down at their cellphones texting instead of actually speaking to the friends they have next to one another.  We can't even go a bit away without looking at our phone even when we're driving, which has become such an incredible health issue in North America.  Louis CK goes over this subject in a manner that's much better articulated than what I'm doing on the youtube video above.

Speed Painting 34: Game of Thrones Season 5

Here's my new speed painting for the month.  Came out a day late.  I'm going to find out the programmers who work for Google/Youtube and fight them.  Ok, I need to calm down a little bit pretending to be an internet tough guy.  I won't talk about the description or my process too much as it runs into 'have you seen season 4 of Game of Thrones' territory.

Aftereffects - Particle World

Hey guys, this is a quick tip for people who might be interested in particle world effects for Adobe AfterEffects.  This is a way to make rain, or balls (among other things) that move around a screen in an organic manner.  It's very likely that I will be adding this effect for my next speed painting in the first opening 6 seconds that all my videos have.  You can even compare any previous video with the upcoming one and see the difference yourself.  If you would like a good step by step on how to do it, I have just the video for you.

Avengers: The Most Overated Movie of all Time

DC fanboy! Hater!  Internet hipster!  Let it out.  Let. it. out.  Now that you're feeling a bit better after frothing at the mouth when you read the title, keep reading.  I keep hearing here and there that Avengers is the best comic book movie of all time.  Now this rustles my jimmies.  I try to be reasonable and accept other opinions and preferences.  But I draw a line somewhere, both literally and metaphorically.  Some people for example have the nerve to find football ("soccer" for North Americans) boring.  The nerve of someone enjoying a different sport and not liking the exact same thing as I do.

Let me start off by saying that I enjoyed the first Avengers movie.  The main issue was that every time I thought about it, the worse it got.  When I saw it at the theaters with all the bells & whistles, the shine allowed several of its problems slip by me like a thief.  Still at the end of the day, one thing most people cannot deny about the movie is that it's enjoyable.  It still has a lot of flaws, but it's fun to watch.  I don't think I will ever watch it again since the movie got a lot worse the second time around.  Marvel movies in general aren't good for viewing a second time around, so this was no different.

As I said, the movie is fun.  The main protagonists are fun as hell to be around and they all have great chemistry with one another.  You want to root for them, you want them to win.  The comedy even though it's very sitcom-like and incredibly overdone, is still pretty damn funny.  The CGI is always on point and the action scenes are pretty good, so you're always enjoying yourself.  Also bringing in so many characters from so many movies as seamlessly as they have is something that's never been done so well nor do I think will be bested for a very long time, if ever.

That's supposed to be the main villain ?...  Loki, you're a shit villain.

Now that I got that out of my chest, lets get to the bad.  A huge problem I have is Loki.  He's a terrible villain, the worst in all Marvel movies which says something considering how bad their villains generally are.  It's a huge problem when half the Avengers team can solo the main villain of the movie.  It's worse when one already did it in a previous movie.  It's even worse when he gets humiliated by another one for sitcom-comedy.  I have no idea why Marvel didn't write one of Thanos' devastating subordinates coming out of that hole.  Then we would have had a proper tie-in to Thanos two movies earlier, showing that one of his soldiers can cause this much damage.. imagine what will happen when Thanos eventually comes.  Marvel completely fucked up any chance for a sense of danger and need for accomplishment in that regard.  You can pick any C rated generic action flick and find such uninspirational villains as Loki in the Avengers.  He was better in Thor.

Other issues that are (mostly) not as big.. well, here's a list of them:  Comedy witty banter often past the suspension of disbelief, everyone is a professional 1-line comedian machine.  Captain America not being captain of the Avengers.  It's basically Tony Stark as the leader until a 10 minute sequence at the end of the movie when Rodgers gives a few orders.  Tony even saves the day, and I wouldn't mind as much if he wasn't the star beforehand.  The hole closes, and all the villains conviniently get taken out?  Plot convenience at its finest.  The movie is by the numbers and not particularly deep at all (ie. no point re-watching it again).  It also contains what I consider one of the two worst pieces of writing in a comic book movie.  One is in a flashback scene with Clark in Man of Steel watching a certain event happen, and the second one is Banner turning into Hulk and being magically able to control himself.  No development, no hints, nothing.  Just purely out of plot necessity.  Only thing it needed is a cool 1-liner of "I am always angry" to rub the salt on the shitty writing.

Lets see how big of an improvement it will over the original

Ok, that felt good.  I feel better, looser, shed a few pounds talking about that.  Saying all that, I still am very excited about Avengers 2.  Ultron already looks like a far better villain than Loki so that already looks like a massive improvement.  Whether it will have the other issues of Avengers 1, I don't know.  But I sure am excited to see this movie.

Speed Painting 33: Bloodborne

I played Demons Souls on the PS3, and its spiritual successor has finally come out on the PS4.  These games are hard as hell, and you basically get your ass kicked on a regular basis.  However saying that, the gameplay is fantastic and it's incredibly addictive.  The atmosphere and music just adds more to each of these (similar) series.

I used one of the settings from the game and added (one of) the main characters along with one of the enemies you have to fight.  The tone is pretty mellow.

Marvel Cinematic Universe, Generic Writing that Sells

Even if you have been living under a rock, you have heard of Marvel and its cinematic universe. I don't know why anyone would live under a rock, but what the hell, live where you want as long you're not hurting anybody.  Before I get sidetracked too much, I'd like to tackle the most popular and successful movie franchise at the moment and talk about how overrated it is.  Now before you start throwing Starbucks coffees at me while simultaneously calling me a hipster douche, give me a few paragraphs to explain myself.

It's a good thing the leader of the Avengers, Captain America is leading this poster...

Let first start off by talking about the things that Marvel does really well in their movies.  The protagonists are all likable and their interactions with others most of the time is really interesting.  In my opinion, this is the most important aspect of a story.  It's so important that nailing this aspect allows you get away with mediocrity in other parts of a story, as evidenced by the success of Marvel Cinematic Universe.  The movies are also always fun.  The characters are having fun, and you get to enjoy the ride with them.  Prime example of it is Guardians of the Galaxy that came out in 2014.  The action scenes are fun and the CGI is on point every single time.  All Marvel movies tend to have likeable protagonists that you want to root for and are fun to see on screen, good action scenes with great CGI followed by the scores that tend to be on point.  Not to mention bringing so many worlds together from different comic books may be something that may never be done this well.

Now lets get to the negatives.  Let me start it off by saying that I do enjoy the Marvel movies.  I will continue to watch every single movie they make.. then completely forget about them the next day because of how incredibly shallow the stories are and how little depth is in every single movie bar Captain America 2: The Winter Soldier.   The movies are not memorable and there isn't a story to think about once you're done.  It's just a really generic storyline with some comic book paint sprinkled in there.  The stories don't have any plot-twists that shock you.  I can call where the story is going, step by step, and I'm not a smart guy so that should not be happening.  The only real plot-twist that I can remember is Ironman 3, and that was a shit show excuse of a surprise.  I was left wondering what just happened, but I imagine Ironman comic book fans must have been pissed off.

Oh look, it's the same poster Marvel uses for all their superhero movies!

The villains are generally terrible.  Ok, there is one or two that are below average.  But the rest are some of the most forgettable, non-threatening villains that I can't remember.  I never feel the heroes might not achieve their goal and defeat the villains.  Not to mention characters don't really die.  This is a huge issue I have in general with comic books and manga altogether, the bullshit fake deaths that happen on a regular basis to build false tension.  But just as a has been magician that uses the same trick, you can only do it so many  times before you fool me.  Also who gives a shit about good character development?  Not Marvel.

It also feels like a generic stat sheet of what to put and what not to put is used for every single Marvel movie.  Apparently every fucking character is a witty sitcom comedian with perfect one-liners and just the right delivery.  The overuse of comedy gets annoying at times, and I'm someone that loves to laugh and loves comedy.  You made me dislike comedy Marvel, what the fuck?!  I feel like we are reaching some sort of climax of the blog post so instead of using something original, I'm falling back to dropping F-bombs everywhere.  It's kind of sad that Disney's Pixar animation studios that make movies for kids that adults can tag along have more meaningful and impactful storylines.  Their movies all stay with me longer than any Marvel movie sans Winter Soldier. 

Please be great...

And no, I'm not letting DC out of this.  I like the DC comics more, but they have bombed spectacularly with the Green Lantern, which was an abomination.  Even Man of Steel had some problems but unlike Marvel movies, it wasn't a fun, forgettable experience like most of their movies.  Snyder just had a few segments in the movie that were written or executed horribly.  I'd give Man of Steel a 7.5, and most Marvel movies fall under the 7-7.5 scale with Ironman 3 hitting 6/10.  Winter Soldier was definitely not perfect, but I still give it a 10/10 with Ironman 1 a 9/10 and Guardians an 8.5 despite having several flaws that all Marvel movies have.  This is the segment where I give numerical score and pretend to be a movie critic.

To close this off, my opinion isn't worth much.  Everyone has different tastes which explains why I'm giving reasons why the Marvel movies are very flawed, yet they print money after each installment.  Either way, I am beginning to get a little burned out of comic book movies, especially when the movies from Marvel seem like a suit gave a paper indicating the generic bullshit that needs to be added for every single movie.  I hope to see more movies like the Winter Soldier that had a compelling villain that was dangerous and a memorable story that connected with our society, albeit with a comic book spin added into it.  Me thinking like this shouldn't hurt your experience on those movies.  It's just opinions, preferences and bullshit at the end of the day, but yeah Marvel Cinematic Experience is essentially a fun, but incredibly shallow and forgettable experience.  Other than the Winter Soldier.  Yes, I do have to repeat it several times.

Art Exposure: The illustration of The Order 1886

The latest speed painting for February was The Order 1886, a video game on the PS4 created by Ready At Dawn.  Considering I made the topic about a game in a console that I owned, it was obvious that I would buy it.  I did so on the day of release.  The graphics in this game are absolutely incredible, the best I have seen so far.  However what impressed me is the style and feel on top of the wonderful graphics.  In terms of presentation and feeling like this is a world that your mind buys when playing, it's one of the best I've seen.

This blog post is just more about admiring the artstyle with the high graphic fidelity of this game:

Brilliant use of film grain.  Usually it looks tacky, but in this game it adds a lot to the feel of the game.

This is ingame.  In the actual game.  CGI graphics :')

The level of detail here is mind-boggling

For illustrators out there, check this game out if you have a PS4.  Last time I remember constantly stopping to look around and just enjoy the scenery was 6 years ago I believe when Uncharted 2 released.  They wanted to emphasize their cinematic experience, which they succeeded.  You really do feel as you are in this world and the style of the game is incredibly appealing.  You might also have fun playing it.

In The Creative World - Use Your Friends

Wait.. wait.. WAIT!!!  Don't run away, it's not what you think.  If you thought this was meant in a malicious way, you are a horrible human being.  If however, you're thinking that the title is a click bait title for the sake of pulling in 1 more viewer than I normally pull then.. yes, that's pretty much it.  This blog post's primary role is for you creative people to do something that seems like common sense, yet a ton of you still don't do it.  Ask other creative people for advice on projects you work for.

My work revolves around illustration, all related design work, web development, and some writing.  I have several friends that I use for all these creative outlets.  In regards to illustration, I use several friends.  Two of them being my good friends I went to school with, another is professional comic book illustrator, and another is my illustration teacher in college that is now my friend.  In regards to design, I use another friend that I went to school with along with the designer that taught me both design and front end development during my 2 month period where you work before graduation as a requirement.  Two of my best friends are programmers, so I can ask them for help on what I need to look for in web development, sometimes via hangouts while I'm at work.  My sister wants to be a professional writer in the future and has the grammar & vocabulary that an idiot like me does not come close to.

My point is use the people around you.  It's very likely some will come and ask for your input as well.  If they don't.. well then, you need to get better because they clearly don't think your input means much.  Before you start crying in a corner how you will never be good enough.. well actually go on ahead and do it.  A good cry as long as noone ever hears or knows about it is good for you.  Now I never cry because I am a man, and men don't cry.. but I have heard that it is good for you...

Recently, I was creating a mobile video game app logo for a company.  Throughout my creative process, I talked to one of my friends which helped me reach the logo to a level I don't think I would have had I not asked for her view on it.  Sometimes no matter how many hours or how long you look at a project, you need a pair of fresh eyes (that sounds creepy...) to take a look at it.  Having another perspective is huge and many times can give you a nice roadmap in telling you if you're going in the right direction.  This is something that sounds so simple, yet a lot of people in the creative world don't do it.

Speed Painting 32: The Order 1886

The Order 1886 seems to be the first really big game coming out on consoles this year.  I love story driven games like Uncharted and The Last of Us, and this game really piqued my interest.  Knights of the Round Table who never age and have been living for centuries to fight Lycans, aka werewolves.

The entire premise for the first game is set in England.  From what I've seen, the story seems incredibly interesting.  The game has the typical 3rd person shooting and what looks to be some exploration/creepy sections in the game, which is what I focused on during the illustration.  I created a scenario where the main character Gallahad is searching in a room and the blood leads the viewers eyes to one of the Lycans.  There's a few little tid bits here and there but I'm not going to tell you.  Where's the fun in that?

Speed Painting 31: Arrow

So Mid-season Finale of Arrow season 3 was pretty crazy, and I felt like this had to be topic for January when the second half of the season begins.  Unfortunately, I cannot go into huge detail on my process thinking into this one unlike previous illustration videos since this video contains spoilers only for the ones that are caught up.

I purposely illustrated this piece this way for the simple fact that some people may get interested in the show or simply not caught up.  This illustration is set up for both people that are caught up and those interested.  Anyways, I hope you guys enjoy and don't mind how vague or how little information is being conveyed in the description unlike other instances.  Cheers! :)