With a new year I like to revisit the past year and reflect on any major changes and see how they could have been done better. Besides moving across the country this past year, I also became a full time freelancer. With slow and busy periods, this next year holds a lot of opportunities to improve and expand. Continue reading
This is a topic that I always come back to every couple of years, whenever faced with a new batch of college graduates and job hunters. General etiquette and preparedness for job fairs and networking. I find it is always worth repeating.
I was surprised by the number of people that didn’t have a card, whether because they haven’t designed one they liked or they just didn’t get to it. Continue reading
I started by just looking at my backlog. All those games bought over the years from crazy Steam Sales or from an article raving about the gameplay. Of course I will play ALL of them.. someday.. I wanted something that I had barely touched but I would have to dive deep into. Twenty games off the shelf later, I landed with Final Fantasy XII. This is one of those titles I bought when it came out, collector’s edition of course. I just had to have it and knew I would love it. Over the years I maybe played 4 hours of the game and pulled it out to play a dozen times, only to have a change of heart or be interrupted. Now it was time to delete all game saves and start from scratch.
A frequent problem of mine – coming up with too many tasks to do in my free time. Its something that plagues me when I’m too busy to add to the list; I have to keep piling it on. A backlog of games/books/movies, new projects, blog updates, clean out files on my computer or desk, picking up gardening, trying new recipes, begin an exercise program, catch up with old friends, and the list can go on and they do and they multiply. Often it leaves me just sitting and staring at the wall, not knowing which way I should be turning and my brain scattered across the room. Or even worse, it ends with endlessly streaming through Facebook posts and articles, mindlessly going where everyone has gone before. I feel lucky when it’s more productive procrastination, cleaning the apartment and reorganizing my desk, both usually on my “Household List.” In the end comes down to me not getting anything meaningful done.
Really cool post from the Gothamist showing off a project out of MIT.
In case it wasn’t already clear we’re headed for a WALL-E-esque future populated by robot bakers and oblong humanoids who communicate solely via iPad 7s, scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have apparently invented a screen that allows you TO VIRTUALLY REACH OUT AND TOUCH THINGS on the other side.
I’m just going to let the post speak for itself and think about what other uses this could have.
Found a cool video using Real Flow!
Novel WaterMan (RealFlow Unofficial MV – ModernDog) from Ping on Vimeo.
A followup to the previous video on how to work on water effects. Still have no clue how to do it but still enjoyable.
The Making of “Novel WaterMan” from Ping on Vimeo.
What inspires me?
I of course am inspired by greatness, just like anyone else. To see someone blow away the confines of normality. An artist, that effortlessly paints a masterpiece, with you just sitting there unbelieving of how easy it is. But I think that I am more inspired to see how those same people screw up. To see how it wasn’t smooth and how they are just like the rest of us. To see the way they work is how I work and that I am NOT doing it all wrong. To see that when you constantly redo the same gesture over and over again, amassing a pile of papers next to your desk, that the greats do the same thing. That is truly inspiring.
It instills the confidence needed to do great things. To push boundaries of convention. You are no longer focused on the technique of your task. You are now focused on your task and how to drive it forward. The technique means nothing if the outcome is right. This very concept is so important for any artist, whether they are a writer, painter, sculptor, or director. There is no right way to do it. There is only a right outcome and even then that gets a bit hazy.
I am a firm believer that when it comes down to your goals, it is your journey that makes the person. Again there is no right or wrong answer to this. Its what you get out of it. Can you learn from your mistakes? It is how comfortable you are with your path. YOU only have YOU to answer to. You can look for inspiration in all the greats, and yes that is a good place to start, but it comes down to you. YOU make it happen. YOU make the choices. YOU are the director of your masterpiece. We sometimes forget that, but those truly are words to live by.