Friday, 1 August 2014
Speed Painting 26: Guardians of the Galaxy
August 1st. Guardians of the Galaxy the movie comes out. This movie was practically begging me to illustrate on my youtube channel where I create one youtube speed painting a month on the 1st of every month. I focused on Groot and Rocket for this illustration. One because I didn't want to illustrate all 5 of the main characters, and two because they seem to have a pretty good bond together.. based on 0 actual knowledge and only basing it off off the 3 trailers I've repeatedly watched over and over again. Played with light and colors a lot. Still a long, long way from where I need to be, but it was still a great exercise for me.
I have to go see the movie. You have to watch my video first. You read this far, might as well spend over 5 minutes watching a video that hopefully you like. I'm really exuding a lot of confidence in that last sentence...
Tuesday, 29 July 2014
Show Others Your Tricks in the Creative Field
This may be an area where it may depend if my advice is good or bad. I don't want to superimpose my ideology on this subject since it isn't always the case. When it comes to what you know, I always am of the opinion that you should show others your tricks. I am competitive guy, but I think being competitive should be beating someone working your ass off rather than being the weird, I'm not going to show you anything since you're my enemy. Friendly competitive creative work is always best, especially since you have a more positive attitude on this subject.
You know some Photoshop tricks? Show them to someone you either work with or that asks for it. Someone who could do the work a bit faster in AfterEffects if they tried using the hotkeys, show them. In group projects, this will always be beneficial since your co-workers will know more and do the work more effectively (and likely better), which means you all benefit. They will also appreciate you more and the working environment is much better. If they are decent human beings, they will help and show you their tricks so you can also improve yourself.
The only situation that I can think of where it would be a bad idea to show someone your tricks is to an asshole. Someone who has a metaphorical knife that they constantly try to stab you in the back with and will use anything against you. In that case, the obvious answer is not to be so forthcoming in regards to showing your tricks. Again, this is my outlook on this but there's plenty of professionals that are more reluctant to help others, and I can't put their ideals down. That's their outlook on this subject, and this is mine. You have to choose yourself what type of person you'd like to be in the creative world.
a really bad & cheesy helping hand photo
You know some Photoshop tricks? Show them to someone you either work with or that asks for it. Someone who could do the work a bit faster in AfterEffects if they tried using the hotkeys, show them. In group projects, this will always be beneficial since your co-workers will know more and do the work more effectively (and likely better), which means you all benefit. They will also appreciate you more and the working environment is much better. If they are decent human beings, they will help and show you their tricks so you can also improve yourself.
The only situation that I can think of where it would be a bad idea to show someone your tricks is to an asshole. Someone who has a metaphorical knife that they constantly try to stab you in the back with and will use anything against you. In that case, the obvious answer is not to be so forthcoming in regards to showing your tricks. Again, this is my outlook on this but there's plenty of professionals that are more reluctant to help others, and I can't put their ideals down. That's their outlook on this subject, and this is mine. You have to choose yourself what type of person you'd like to be in the creative world.
Monday, 28 July 2014
Podcast Beyond
This one of the 3 podcasts that I listen to as I sit in my cubicle, for those that also need something to listen to. This one is a bit different, it's about games, specifically PlayStation hosted by Greg Miller, Colin Moriarty and a third chair. If you have any interest in gaming or PlayStation in general, I'd listen to this when you put your headphones in.
The good thing about this Podcast is obviously that it's enjoyable. They have charisma and don't always stick to games all the times like heartless, boring robots. It goes off the rails most of the time, which is always good. Ok, I can't really sell this anymore to you. If you sit in a cubicle, you use headphones and want something to listen to while being a gamer or wanting to be one, this one is a solid shout. It comes out on Tuesdays of every week.
Beyond!
The good thing about this Podcast is obviously that it's enjoyable. They have charisma and don't always stick to games all the times like heartless, boring robots. It goes off the rails most of the time, which is always good. Ok, I can't really sell this anymore to you. If you sit in a cubicle, you use headphones and want something to listen to while being a gamer or wanting to be one, this one is a solid shout. It comes out on Tuesdays of every week.
Sunday, 27 July 2014
Apple Rant: Updated Programs, Shittier Products
Lets hope no Art Directors ever read this post if I'm ever looking for a job in Toronto, otherwise I probably won't get it. About 50% have some weird blind loyalty when it comes to Apple.
I bought the new iMac and it has the new OS. Shortly before that, my Macbook broke down again and had to replace its hard drive. The people at Best Buy upgraded my OS to the newest one, which made me quite happy at first. Then I started to use Pages. The UI must have been made by some high school students that don't know a thing about design. Something as basic as changing the font, you have to use "command + T" just so the font options show up instead of.. I don't know, maybe having it at the top of the fucking program like it's always been? I'm not one of those people who instantly hates change, but why do you make changes that make a program worse? The UI is a mess and even the add/remove options for it are clunky, which is not typical of Apple's UI in their programs that is always about being as easy and fast to get to the point as possible.
I use Quicktime Player to record my screen for my youtube speed paintings. I realized when using this that the only options are the ones they give you, one. One option. 60fps, with the given HD settings that won't change. The issue at the moment is that when I edit work using the HDV files on Adobe Premiere, they go as high up as 30fps, and the original videos along with the settings don't particularly match up. This causes me issues during my editing stages. Shouldn't the updated programs be better than its predecessors, not worse? I've looked online and Apple apparently dropped the ball with many features missing, which includes more than the two programs I'm ranting about.
Then you get the inverse trackpad. You move your mouse left, it moves right. You move it up, it moves down. Can someone.. anyone, explain to me why Apple does not give you the option to change it back to how I use my mouse? It's fine if they give people the options to change it up if that's effective for them, but why do I have to go and download the Reverse Scrolling app just so my mouse works properly? This is the typical douchebag hippie thing that Apple does to show everyone how different they are.
Now that I've trashed them enough, it's good to know that I've likely burned a bridge to one of the best places I could have possibly worked at in the future. There is however, always the possibility that I didn't look hard enough for some of the options, because I tend to make tons of mistakes so please don't take my comments as law. Look it up and research it yourself if you must.
I bought the new iMac and it has the new OS. Shortly before that, my Macbook broke down again and had to replace its hard drive. The people at Best Buy upgraded my OS to the newest one, which made me quite happy at first. Then I started to use Pages. The UI must have been made by some high school students that don't know a thing about design. Something as basic as changing the font, you have to use "command + T" just so the font options show up instead of.. I don't know, maybe having it at the top of the fucking program like it's always been? I'm not one of those people who instantly hates change, but why do you make changes that make a program worse? The UI is a mess and even the add/remove options for it are clunky, which is not typical of Apple's UI in their programs that is always about being as easy and fast to get to the point as possible.
I use Quicktime Player to record my screen for my youtube speed paintings. I realized when using this that the only options are the ones they give you, one. One option. 60fps, with the given HD settings that won't change. The issue at the moment is that when I edit work using the HDV files on Adobe Premiere, they go as high up as 30fps, and the original videos along with the settings don't particularly match up. This causes me issues during my editing stages. Shouldn't the updated programs be better than its predecessors, not worse? I've looked online and Apple apparently dropped the ball with many features missing, which includes more than the two programs I'm ranting about.
Then you get the inverse trackpad. You move your mouse left, it moves right. You move it up, it moves down. Can someone.. anyone, explain to me why Apple does not give you the option to change it back to how I use my mouse? It's fine if they give people the options to change it up if that's effective for them, but why do I have to go and download the Reverse Scrolling app just so my mouse works properly? This is the typical douchebag hippie thing that Apple does to show everyone how different they are.
Now that I've trashed them enough, it's good to know that I've likely burned a bridge to one of the best places I could have possibly worked at in the future. There is however, always the possibility that I didn't look hard enough for some of the options, because I tend to make tons of mistakes so please don't take my comments as law. Look it up and research it yourself if you must.
Friday, 18 July 2014
gumroad, tutorial videos from the best artists by paying a bit of cash
I really didn't know how to make a title that was both very short and gave you an exact idea of what this blog post is about... well that's not true. I just didn't want to waste more than 20 seconds thinking of one. Ok? That's the absolute truth. Now, gumroad. It's a website that people can upload a video off which involves anything from 2D, 3D illustration in areas of concept art, creating environmental art, how to make fire, characters all the way into how to work using different programs. Only thing is that you pay a bit of cash for it, in some cases some videos are even being offered for free for the absolute cheap bastards. There's plenty of videos based on the 10-12 that I have seen so far ranging mostly anywhere between 1-7$. There's another video that's 35$ that's a 9 hour tutorial. My advice would be to stop being a cheap asshole and buy at least one video that relates to an area you know you need to work on. Why am I being so insulting and rude? Honestly, partly because I don't think anyone is reading this even though that's a bad excuse. Plus a bit of harsh love is sometimes needed to spring someone to action.
A lot of talented people are getting on this and you can learn a lot from them. I have seen one and will be buying two more from the same artist today. If you are afraid of spending so much money on the big files, just spend 2-3$ on one of the cheaper ones and see if they are worth it. This could be very helpful to young creative people that may be in school or just out of it. My ideal is that you should always look up to others regardless of time or experience to see what they can teach you to further improve yourself as an artist, developer and/or designer, but that's just me. We're in this world for a very short amount of time, so we might as well learn as much as possible in the time we've got. Some notable people uploading videos in the illustration/2D, motion graphics and 3D fields are Dan Luvisi, Maciej Kuciara, Ash Thorp, and.. I really didn't do any research for this to look up more names. I would apologize but I'm not getting paid for this blog, so I'd like to do as little work as possible while simultaneously updating people on some (hopefully) important news in the creative world. Enjoy it boyos & start learning.
A lot of talented people are getting on this and you can learn a lot from them. I have seen one and will be buying two more from the same artist today. If you are afraid of spending so much money on the big files, just spend 2-3$ on one of the cheaper ones and see if they are worth it. This could be very helpful to young creative people that may be in school or just out of it. My ideal is that you should always look up to others regardless of time or experience to see what they can teach you to further improve yourself as an artist, developer and/or designer, but that's just me. We're in this world for a very short amount of time, so we might as well learn as much as possible in the time we've got. Some notable people uploading videos in the illustration/2D, motion graphics and 3D fields are Dan Luvisi, Maciej Kuciara, Ash Thorp, and.. I really didn't do any research for this to look up more names. I would apologize but I'm not getting paid for this blog, so I'd like to do as little work as possible while simultaneously updating people on some (hopefully) important news in the creative world. Enjoy it boyos & start learning.
work by Dan Luvisi, an example of what it looks like
Thursday, 10 July 2014
Bill Burr Podcast - Monday Morning Podcast
As I stated in my last post, here is my other favorite podcast to listen as you work at home or at your cubicle. While the Collective Podcast is all about knowledge that you can obtain as you work through it all, this is all about comedy. In case you don't know, Bill Burr is a comedian, currently my favorite to listen to.
It comes out every Monday. Billy boy generally talks about news or what he's done during the week. Then around the end of the podcast, people send him questions through his e-mail in regards to advice which is hilarious. Basically if you need your mind to be at ease, this is the perfect podcast. I like diversity, which is why I sometimes listen to music, listen to a podcast that will give me information on the fields that I want to work on, or a podcast like Bill's where I can laugh as I work. Sometimes, I even take out my headphones out and talk to the awesome co-workers I've got so I don't remain as a social fucking hermit.
It comes out every Monday. Billy boy generally talks about news or what he's done during the week. Then around the end of the podcast, people send him questions through his e-mail in regards to advice which is hilarious. Basically if you need your mind to be at ease, this is the perfect podcast. I like diversity, which is why I sometimes listen to music, listen to a podcast that will give me information on the fields that I want to work on, or a podcast like Bill's where I can laugh as I work. Sometimes, I even take out my headphones out and talk to the awesome co-workers I've got so I don't remain as a social fucking hermit.
Wednesday, 9 July 2014
The Collective Podcast
I'm sure many of you are sitting in your cubicle, listening to music as you work until your 9-5 workday is over. Well you're in luck, because I'm going to shove my preferences down your throat so you can enjoy exactly what I enjoy. I initially started listening only to music when I worked through projects or during 9-5 jobs. Then I began listening to podcasts to mix it up. I'll be uploading a few of the podcasts I listen to hoping that it will help the only person who reads this blog post through their day.
The first to start it off is the best one for people that work in creative fields. I say creative because it can range to too many mediums and I don't feel like listing them all. My blog, my rules. The one you need to go listen to is The Collective Podcast, hosted by Ash Thorp.
https://soundcloud.com/the-collective-podcast
Ash works in the motion graphics industry but dabbles in illustration. I know this not based on knowing him personally, but merely by listening to his podcast and following him on facebook. He questions many people in the concept art, design, 3D/2D, video game/movie industry, film making and even a student trying to get into concept art/illustration. He covers a lot of bases and asks some good question. Thankfully he isn't a stiff robot that only sticks on the subject matter the entire time to bore us all to death, instead the podcast feels organic which makes it far more interesting in its set up. He has interviewed some of best guys in the industry, so I don't see why you wouldn't listen to his podcast. Go to the link, start at #1 and keep moving on up. He and the people he interviews are more experienced and far more knowledgeable than any of things you will read here, unless it's a statement that's copy & pasted by the same people that know more than me. Now that I've trashed myself enough for the day, here is a link to some of his great work:
Your cubicle work sessions will be a lot more informative from now on.
The first to start it off is the best one for people that work in creative fields. I say creative because it can range to too many mediums and I don't feel like listing them all. My blog, my rules. The one you need to go listen to is The Collective Podcast, hosted by Ash Thorp.
https://soundcloud.com/the-collective-podcast
Ash works in the motion graphics industry but dabbles in illustration. I know this not based on knowing him personally, but merely by listening to his podcast and following him on facebook. He questions many people in the concept art, design, 3D/2D, video game/movie industry, film making and even a student trying to get into concept art/illustration. He covers a lot of bases and asks some good question. Thankfully he isn't a stiff robot that only sticks on the subject matter the entire time to bore us all to death, instead the podcast feels organic which makes it far more interesting in its set up. He has interviewed some of best guys in the industry, so I don't see why you wouldn't listen to his podcast. Go to the link, start at #1 and keep moving on up. He and the people he interviews are more experienced and far more knowledgeable than any of things you will read here, unless it's a statement that's copy & pasted by the same people that know more than me. Now that I've trashed myself enough for the day, here is a link to some of his great work:
Your cubicle work sessions will be a lot more informative from now on.
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