Pinterest photograph referenced!
Why Document Important Aspects in your Life
Keeping a record
The problem with today is that we consume so much media that it turns into mindless mush. So many things we have read, watched, listened to, discussed about, played, shared, discovered… and all for what? To be drowned with the other thousands of experiences we’ve accumulated?!
There’s a feeling of pointlessness to all this. Aimlessness. It’s so hard to know what to follow, what to keep up with and figuring out what is most trustworthy! There’s the FOMO effect and how social media can have negative impacts in our lives.
The Science of Effective Communication (Chapter 3):
How the internet is killing our conversation skills. Much has been writen why our online lives are damaging our social skills, but in my opinion it boils down to several key points. The internet impairs our ability to listen, it teaches us to be lazy thinkers, it destroys our ability to resolve conflicts in a constructive manner and it sets us up to feel jealous of other people. This is a recipe for poor relationships and a lack of high quality conversation.
Did you know we have a raging loneliness epidemic in the western world? We’ve known for a long time that elderly people suffer from loneliness but now this problem is affecting millions of young adults too. You might think that with all the technology we have available no one would have to feel lonely again, but actually the opposite is true.
I’m speaking quite generally now and if I continue I could literally talk for hours! Which is why I want to try to focus on the more creatively thought provoking aspect of things and also share what and how I document areas of my life.
Why keep a creative record
⦁ Austin Kleon: I write down events that seem mundane at the time, but later on help paint a better portrait of the day, or even become more significant over time.
⦁ Why History Matters: the study of the past is essential for ‘rooting’ people in time. And why should that matter? The answer is that people who feel themselves to be rootless live rootless lives, often causing a lot of damage to themsevles and others in the process. … understanding History is integral to a good understanding of the condition of being human. That allows people to build, and, as may well be necessary, also to change, upon a secure foundation.
⦁ Importance of Documentation to a Successful Design Process: the need ot create, gather and share effective documentation across the board, not just for use of designers, but also for development teams…one of the results and outputs of this effective documentation building, is software requirements, which become cricual for designers to understand what they’re effectively solving for. Measuring the success of documentation properly gathered.
OR SIMPLY:
- Documenting is a form of encouragement
- Knowing who we were enables us to avoid mistakes and grow more efficiently
- Helps others to know how to collectively develop things forward
There are three main areas that I keep a record of currently in my life:
-Faith
-Creative Journey
-Media consumption
The medium I use… is through analogue and digital.
The digital side of my record keeping is public. It helps to put a bit of pressure for me to produce and grow. On the other hand it is for others to learn from my mistakes and experiences. For both faith and creativity I record it through this Youtube channel and a blog. For media consumption mainly through my blog.
The analogue aspect of recording is more personal. It would be kept private unless I want to share specific things that I’ve been learning. I keep a journal for my faith journey and sketchbooks for my creative journey.
Why make use of the internet to keep such records? After finishing the audible book for Sapiens, I found this quote particularly striking (although there were indeed many striking passages)
Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari:
There is another new technology which could change the laws of life: cyborg engineering. Cyborgs are beings which combine organic and inorganic parts, such as a human with bionic hands. In a sense, nearly all of us are bionic these days, since our natural senses and functions are supplemented by devices such as eyeglasses, pacemakers, orthotics, and even computers and mobile phones (which relieve our brains of some of their data storage and processing burdens). We stand poised on the brink of becoming true cyborgs, of having inorganic features that are inseparable from our bodies, features that modify our abilities, desires, personalities and identities.
So I would like to end with how lots of things in life are tools, such as the internet. It can be used for good and bad. All it takes is wisdom to discern how to use it effectively and not let it be in control of your life.
Resources:
Creative Projects Overview
Hey guys, so if you don’t already know I’ve most recently started a teaching assistant job in Hong Kong! I teach Art and English. This job really is for an experience, depending on how the rest of the year goes, I’ll be finding out if I would like to stay or move on to what I initially set my heart on in the first place, which is animation.
So far, perhaps teaching may not really be for me! But we shall see over the coming months. In the mean time I’ve been working on a whole set of other projects on top of my work. My off days are Wednesday and Sunday and so I use the time to work on said projects, of which are:
- Digital Speedpaint art – just to improve my drawing skills and I enjoy it!
- Church Graphic Design work for Annual Report
- My workplace – app icon design and musical performance stage set design
- Collab with a friend for her ‘Draw My Life’ project
I’m so grateful to be active in these kind of design and drawing areas. I do feel strongly that I would like to get closer to working in this area in the future!
Speedpaint: Blue Raptor from Jurassic World
Vlog: Creative Christian Work Life Balance
Often I’ve wondered how I could best develop and make use of my creative skills that serve not only for my improvement but as a wider contribution for others. I’ve listed three main areas in my video!
- At work – where I can design posters, icons, logos for my company (even though that’s not my primary job, rather teaching kids is)
- At church – where I can design slide titles, annual reports etc.
- Collaborative projects with friends! And/or sharing life stories of my dear friends in an animation style… almost like animated interviews!
These are all really great reasons as to why I should continue to keep myself updated with the current design trends, as well as to up my skill levels whether it be in terms of how to use softwares or drawing skills.
New Speedpaint! Referenced from Pinterest
I decided to take a break with QuickPoses.com and try to be more specific in drawing faces. I did some initial sketches before I attempted this speedpaint. I got the reference from Pinterest.
In the painting, I wanted to exaggerate the features and make it more painterly rather than realistic. Perhaps it didn’t work out as well as I would have liked it to be but oh well, I’ll try again next time 🙂
Attempted Tutorial on After Effects – How to Animate Talking Characters
Um yeah not quite sure where I was going with this… but maybe spur of the moment tutorial plan would be more accurate. I just tried to incorporate some simple keyboard short cuts and to show how I navigate after effects by using a random example.
Here are the list that I have used in this tutorial:
- n == left side/bracket for render area
- alt ] == To trim a composition/image/audio file
- [ == snap beginning of composition to the blue time indicator
- ctrl shift c == new pre-comp
- c == camera icon (used for 3D)
- v == selection tool
- s == scale
- shift t == Text
- y == pan behind tool (anchor)
- p == position
- F9 == Easy Ease In
- Shift s/p/r/etc == Adjust another parameter whilst viewing other parameters
- u == view/hide changed parameters
- ctrl d == duplicate a composition/text/image/layer
Deception Speedpaint: Ilfenesh Hadera and Jack Cutmore-Scott
Now I know that some people feel that Deception was nothing much to shout about… and some people feel that if there was better marketing in place that the season may have had a second chance! It has been compared a lot to other series like ‘Castle’, now I haven’t seen ‘Castle’ before so I can’t really comment much on this… but all I know is that I feel the show has been able to produce really likable characters. The progression of character development and interactions are carefully developed over time, not rushed into sex scenes like a lot of other series seem to be and I feel that the underlying bigger plot is just so alluring.
Also perhaps some people may find this kind of unrealistic and a bit crazy how a professional magician is helping the FBI… I heard that ‘Castle’ is about a crime author helping the police department. Now I don’t know how writing fiction would really help solve crimes because perhaps you can create the scenario in your head, but without the psychology behind people like in the series ‘Lie To Me’, it does seem less plausible. (Now I haven’t seen the series, so if the guy has some psychology background then, yes it makes more sense)
The fact that in this day an age of technology, it seems far more plausible for a magician’s team that involve the need to have the knowledge of equipment to conduct more elaborate performances would be able to understand and construct ways to help the FBI. Let’s just say for the sake of such a world.
But regardless, I do feel it is a shame! Hopefully it would come back some day!
5 Top Influential Films from my Childhood
So I wanted to talk about my top films that have impacted me the most during my childhood. My love and passion for films really stemmed from the weekly film outings my parents and I would share.
Films has been a major part of my life beyond mere entertainment. It has been the main source of growth in understanding worldviews, morals and concepts.
What do you guys think about films? How much of an impact has it had on your life?
Drawing Progress Report: Getting Started
My main tool and method for improving my art skills is using websites such as:
http://www.line-of-action.com/
This blog here is helpful in suggesting free gesture pose reference photos.
I don’t know about you but I have this impatience when it comes to developing skills in art. I feel as though I want to get from level 2 to like level 32! Of course these things don’t come over night… and so these timed gesture practices really help to get myself started! And STARTING IS THE HARDEST PART.
Main Reference:
First Week as a Teaching Assistant | The Creative’s Journey
Hey guys! So I’ve been trying to rethink what the purpose of my blog would be about. I’m hoping to devote more time to it to really track my work progress.
Going back to what’s IMPORTANT
I have discovered my main problem is that I’m a jack of all trades but king of none. I spend too much time trying to do everything, that in the end I end up having low quality results. What I need to do is to find my specialty. This is also proving more challenging when I’ve begun my new job as a teaching assistant. Although I love spending time with kids and am learning how best to help them grow, I don’t want to give up spending time on the creative side.
The plus side of lacking the time to focus on other creative projects is that I must really prioritize and narrow my focus!
So I’ve been filtering out my goals and prioritizing my work:
- Teaching assistant work
- Animated Shorts projects
- Other graphic design tasks (i.e. helping out with church posters/templates)
- Developing drawing skills through speed paints
What I have filtered and left out:
- Continuing to learn cinematography
- Developing Motion Graphics (hope to be added back on the list, I just think I have sufficient skills for the moment)
- Setting up an online shop for digital/merch (i.e. mugs, shirts, design templates etc.)
FOCUS FOCUS FOCUS!
If you have similar problems… hope that following along my journey would be of some help 🙂
How To Stay Motivated To Draw
I’ve just been experiencing artist block for the past two months. Suddenly… or rather subtly… I’ve been feeling tired and trying to get over my ‘can’t be bothered’ state. Through my research, trials and experimentation with different methods over the months I have created this video that has further motivated me! So I do hope that this would be beneficial to all creatives or anyone who’d like some inspiration.
References:
⦁ Contains Doodling Video
http://blog.creativelive.com/5-drawing-exercises-turn-make-anyone-artist/
⦁ https://daisyyellowart.com/vividlife/15-tips-to-improve-your-drawing-skills
⦁ https://medium.com/personal-growth/a-quick-beginners-guide-to-drawing-58213877715e
⦁ https://www.mimochai.com/blogs/tips-tuts/tips-101-where-to-get-started-with-drawing
Inspirations:
⦁ CSSSA animation sketchbook ’16 Sketchynatalia
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nd7LMbrzK4c
⦁ When He Sees Me – Waitress (ANIMATIC) Sangled
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F6zrdJPhbZw
⦁ My FILMMAKING JOURNEY began at age 9 | DOAD Ep. 1 FilmVentureStudios
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7jXZ7ERM8qk
⦁ How To Animate A Fight Scene Howard Wimshurst
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xgK05-L3tGk&t=122s
⦁ My Sketchbook Kesh
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_UvS8r2Auj8&t=387s
⦁ Let’s Paint a MUSHROOM HOUSE – FANTASY ART FRIDAY LethalChris Drawing
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rDGmtnQ–LM
Videos on Artist Motivation:
⦁ TIPS TO STAY MOTIVATED (For Artists!)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MZyxnnxURNc
General tips
⦁ Overcoming Artist’s Block · Productivity and Inspiration Tips and Prompts · SemiSkimmedMin
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YgieNtMAXuI
You’ve been at the drawing business for a while… but you’re at the point where ideas are out, a period of drought. How to mend the situation!?
⦁ Creative Motivation – How to get things done!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BqzFpUbbhuc
3 points boiled down
CreativeClay Animations 