Webcomic #2 "Weird Science 2: I Think I'm A Clone Now"

I had never seen Weird Science until last week. 

Now, any person can list tons of movies they have never seen.  It isn't difficult to not see movies.  Even the most experienced critic after a life's work has still not seen even close to all the movies out there.  So this isn't very remarkable, except that I have seen so much of the rest of John Hughes admittedly small filmography as a director and writer; Especially his 80's stuff.

I was born in 1980, so I grew up watching 80's movies.  When I really got into watching a lot of movies around 13 or 14, many of them were from the 80's, simply because I had heard of them, or was familiar with the actors.  I think that my first John Hughes experience was Uncle Buck followed by Home Alone which he didn't direct.  Then I stumbled across the Vacation movies, which he wrote, and loved those.  The first movie of his that really made an impact on me was Ferris Bueller's Day Off, and this wasn't until like 1994.  So I was a little behind maybe, but I liked his stuff and soon had seen most of his works.  Certainly not all, but a good chunk.

Somehow through all of this though, I missed Weird Science.  I even watched some of the TV series of the same name that came out in the mid 90's.

So, fast forward to present day.  I was listening to a podcast and they were talking about quotable movies and this movie got mentioned.  So, I figured it was probably in my best interest to watch it.

I didn't love it.

Not that seeing John Hughes name is necessarily a guarantee of a great movie, but I usually find them enjoyable.  Plus this was a movie I have heard great things about.  A podcast said it had many quotable lines which is usually a positive thing.  I think if I had seen it back when I was 14 it would have been a different story. 

Nostalgia can certainly affect how a movie ages, and I definitely think that seeing this at age 14 when the movie was only 10 years old and seeing this at 35 with the movie being 30 years old makes a huge difference.

Now don't get me wrong, I had fun watching it, and laughed and smiled in many places, I just don't know if I will ever feel the need to revisit it.

Webcomic #1 "Your focus determines your reality"

Let me start by saying that everyone I know has been very supportive of my new venture.  I am an artist though and therefor have some insecurities.  Okay, maybe a lot of insecurities.  The lady in the chair more represents a voice in my head that questions my decisions, than any real person.

That said, this is a fair representation of the number of thoughts in my head at any given second.  I would say it is a weakness of mine that I have trouble focusing.  I always have plenty of ideas, but one thought leads to another and another and so on, until half of the thoughts in my head are diametrically opposing the other half.

And then what do I do?  Usually, I pace back and forth working myself into such a frenzy that my head feels as if electricity is arcing from it, searching the air for more ideas to cram in.

This has historically been a proven way to not get anything done.  There are great minds out there bursting with ideas we may never get to see or hear about.

 Have you ever read "Infinite Jest," by David Foster Wallace?  It is a great read, but incredibly challenging.  It is 1000 pages but also has 100 pages of end notes.  As you read, the little numbers that send you to each end note start popping up, sometimes mid thought in the middle of a sentence.  So you are constantly flipping from where you are in the book, to the notes at the end that range anywhere from two words to two pages of description. 

At this point you need two bookmarks.  It is also told chronologically out of order.  At some point a timeline is introduced though so you know when everything takes place relative to the other events.  Now there is a third bookmark.

When asked why it is structured so he said he personally writes "what feels right," and whatever narrative structure comes from that he accepts. But, it is a sort of nightmare being the author of a novel "where you alone see the structure."

The point is, it is based on his mind which seems to be constantly pulling in many different directions at once.  Like a medieval quartering of your mind.

I am not the genius he was, but I empathize with, if not fully understand, the way his mind works.  Ah the perils of being creative.

Funny enough though, if I set a schedule for myself and have a reasonable goal, I always do exactly what I'm supposed to when I am supposed to.  It works wonders, I just have to remember that in order to thrive I must give myself the structure I need.

Also, instead of endlessly trying to figure out what the best idea is, that way madness lies, I need to seize onto an idea and just go with it.  What's the worst that could happen?

The importance of drawing

What are peoples idea of an artist?  If you went and asked people, what do you think an artist does or get more specific and ask about graphic design, you would probably be inundated with answers that all boil down to, "They draw stuff."  Right.  That is probably what normal artists enjoy and do.  It really helps to build your fundamentals to understand bigger problems.  It is an invaluable skill to have as a designer so that you can sketch out ideas quickly. 

Well, no one ever said I was normal.  I mean, I'm mostly normal, but I always have to get to things the hard way.  I went to art school, and you know what, I had to draw stuff all the time.  I learned technique, and was taught the importance of all things drawing.  I fought it the whole time though.  I always wanted to be using the computer to assist me and people kept saying, it will be easier on the computer if you understand the basics, the fundamentals of art. 

Of course they are right, but it took me some time to come around.  So my work these days is reliant on being able to sketch out ideas.  So I really need to practice and I am setting up a schedule for myself to do just that.  Drawing is not a talent that just some people have and everyone else is out of luck.  You see those people that make amazing stuff?  They have worked their butt off and practice all the time.  Oh sure, it comes more naturally to some people than others, but the bottom line is if you practice, practice, practice you will get better, better, better. 

So I hereby solemnly swear that I will start practicing more so that in the future everything I do will be better.  Sounds like a good plan, better get to it.

Book Review: Logo Design Love

When you are reading a book to educate you on a specific subject, the worst thing is for it to seem like a textbook from grade school.  This book is the exact opposite of that, it is a joy to read.  That being said, the virtue of a textbook is that it imparts massive amounts of knowledge.  I have trouble ever remembering any of said knowledge, because I am usually too bored.  This book may not have massive amounts of knowledge contained in it, but that is not the purpose.

So the bottom line is this, I do think this is a very good book for what it is.  Sometimes too simple, and sometimes it gives advice that seems too obvious, but it does it well.  I for one learned a lot about logo design from this book.  It goes in depth into the process the author uses when creating a logo for a client.  At every step there are examples and interesting anecdotes.  The writing style is light and fun to read. It's easy to say that advice is obvious after you've read it, but it is rather nice that it speaks to you as a beginner, but has concepts to make you a professional.

There are so many books on this subject and like with anything, many of them are not very good.  This is one of the better ones to get started with before delving into some of the more in depth tomes of graphic design.

Image © David Airey All rights reserved. Originally published at www.logodesignlove.com.

ByRegina gets me moving

Byregina.com is a great resource for getting started with blogging/freelancing.  It focuses quite a bit on blogging, but is a great resource for tips on how to get started and how to be successful. This post in particular (http://byregina.com/starting-your-freelance-business/) is a great checklist for getting started on your own business.  Look at me!  I'm following it right now, starting my own blog.  She really goes in depth about what you should do to get started.  It has multiple steps each well laid out and suggests scheduling these on your calendar in order to push yourself.

Once your there, make sure to check out other posts by her as well.  There are so many informative posts and they are a pleasure to read.  Her writing style is great, it is funny and punchy and makes me want to read everything, even when the post is about something I'm not necessarily interested in.  Okay, okay, I'm not actually listing 12 reasons, but there are at least that many, go check it out for yourself if you like awesome stuff.

Inspiration - Zen Pencils

Inspiration is an important thing.  I have had trouble in the past with inspirational speakers and books.  I have found the whole subject to be, in general, too cheesy, too plastic for my taste.  I have trouble listening to their advice, because I feel like I am trying to be sold something.  I don't think this is always the case, but more often than not if someone starts talking about inspirational material my eyes instantly begin to glaze over and I just wait for the "I spent x amount to go to their lecture and spent more money on their book once I was there."  Sounds like someone sold you something and good for you, you learned a lesson, right?  They were so inspirational they took all your money; Just another con artist at work.









Okay, okay, this is a jaded and cynical view and I don't actually believe it to be quite so dire, but it's the feeling I get all the same.  I believe that there are probably plenty of people out there who do truly want to inspire you and make you better, but it's all about finding what is right for you.  It's hard to listen to something inspirational if it doesn't really apply to you.  I mean, the root of all of this stuff is probably the same, it's probably the same rules to follow that will lead you to success and feeling good about yourself.

But I am an artist, and when someone is talking to me about their success in sales or business, it doesn't mean anything.  I want to listen to people in my field.  And this makes so much sense, but it was hard for me to get there.

What I'm leading to is Zen Pencils (www.zenpencils.com).  This is my new favorite site.  It is a site where an artist, Gavin Aung Than, has taken inspirational quotes and drawn out comics for each one.  It is amazing.  I think it is great for anyone looking for inspiration, but more importantly to me, it is great for artists.  Artists of any kind really.  A great deal of the quotes are from famous artists, though there are plenty from others who are just remarkable people with interesting things to say.  It makes me feel good.  For lack of a better word, it makes me feel inspired.

It is organized by name of the person who has been quoted, so you can probably find someone you respect, or at least someone who makes you laugh.  My personal favorite is the Bill Watterson quote.  One, because it feels like it is specifically for me, it is the way I feel about life but could never express so eloquently as this.  And two, because I love Calvin and Hobbes.  I can't recommend this highly enough.  Go check it out for yourself.

All images copyright © Gavin Aung Than www.zenpencils.com

In the beginning.

So, I'm beginning a new adventure, a new chapter in my life.  As with any new chapter, you need a new blog, right?  Well maybe not, but in this case it is appropriate.  This blog is going to record my search for my artistic calling.  Now, that sounds kind of vague and admittedly it is, but I'm still working this out.  If I had all the answers already this blog would be called "Fulfilled artist who is content with his life."  So, how about telling a little about myself, some self reflection if you will.

This is not the first time, nor will it likely be the last that I have felt a little lost.  Traditionally when I feel this way, I wallow in it for a certain period of time and then make a decision.  I don't always think out all the repercussions of this decision, but a choice has been made and I forge blindly onwards.

 This all began with college.  My first college experience was not traditional.  I failed all of my classes and flunked out the first year, not because of partying.  No, with my new found freedom I chose to sequester myself in my dorm room and watch movies and play video games all day long.  Sounds pretty great.  It was too, but it was not a direction in life, it was just a void of laziness.  So I made a decision, a traditional university wasn't for me, I should go to a trade school.

This was a fairly good decision as I saw it through and got a Bachelor's degree in Engineering Technologies. Unfortunately I graduated right after the tech bubble popped and the job market was horrible.  I finally got a job at a company that at least had engineers working there in some capacity.  Unfortunately I was in the slave labor department and they had me putting batteries in cell phones and turning them on.  It was as exciting as it sounds.

I ended up getting a full time job delivering pizza.  This sounds like a terrible job, but actually I was making a lot more money than at my cell phone chimp job.  There was the added bonus that I wasn't treated like crap and I wasn't stressed out all the time.  So I was happy, but again stuck in something that isn't a path to anywhere really.

At the time a friend of mine was getting a degree in computer science, and a school project he was working on required some artwork.  He was tasked with making a video game with Java that was comparable to what was on the market at that time.  So he needed some 3d artwork created to showcase his program.  This was something I had dabbled in for many years prior, never very seriously, but I always enjoyed it.  So I ended up buying a book and learning quite a lot about 3ds Max and creating some content for a video game.  I had a blast doing this.  I loved learning about it, and researching current trends.  I loved creating models in a 3d program.  I just loved soaking up knowledge about art.

 It was then that an acquaintance of mine said something so simple and obvious to me one night.  I had been complaining about crappy jobs and how much I had loved working on this artwork.  How much I had always been interested in art and the creative process.  How I had loved learning about engineering, but had loathed the actual work and the current job market.  I had loved the creative side of engineering, but it was disheartening to see the reality of  it.  People working for years doing something they hate to finally reach the level of engineering where you get to be creative only to be jaded.  And he said, "Why wouldn't you just do what you love?" 

Such a simple off handed remark, but something I forgot along the way.  I was always trying to please everybody else and not thinking about what I really want to do or love to do.  I was easily swayed in my youth toward paths that seemed more solid financially, like engineering, but forgot that if you don't love what you choose as a career, can you ever really be successful?  Even since pursuing first 3d art and then graphic arts as a career path, I still have struggled with wanting to please others before myself.  I'm beginning to realize though that the committee in my head made up of the fictionalized persona's of whomever I am trying to impress, doesn't jibe with reality.  I am the only one standing in my way.

So I did go back to school to pursue something I loved only to find what I love can change as time goes on, but seems to always be a subset of the art world.  I got a Bachelors degree in Media Art and Animation, and though there have been struggles, I know I am on the correct path now.  This last step is an important one too, realizing that I should start my own business.  This is what I have been striving for my whole life.  I am beyond excited about this and know that this is where success for me has been lying in wait.  It's going to be a fun ride, lets get going.