I have decided to join this contest to force me to do a self directed project in Unreal engine… it will be great to get some feedback on my 3D concept work and who knows maybe I can win something. Regardless I will view this as a win since everything we do to improve our skill set is a positive :)
There is an option to use the concepts of Max Bedulenko who I follow on Artstation and while I greatly admire his work, I think I will get more out of using my own concepts…
I will be basing my submission on my project, “ Smugglers Run “ , part of my ongoing self development project the Empire Of Man. it’s basically a science fiction world I am developing with the half baked idea to eventually produce a racing sim game and as a way to showcase my concept design work, environments, vehicles, props etc... I will incorporate designs created in Blender and Sketchup, my main 3D tools. The world will be built inside Unreal Engine 5 and will incorporate alongside my own work some assets from Megascans and most likely Cosmos and Leartes Studios. I intend to submit for both the 3d environment and concept art environment sections. This will of course depend greatly on my client workload.
The smugglers operate on the darkened edges of the larger system. Not always involved in illegal activities but always under suspicion by the authorities, something about that concept has always greatly intrigued me. Their equipment has to work but almost by default is older, rougher and worn, usually disguising hidden capabilities. Unlike the Empire these people cannot make many mistakes as for them there is no safety net…
Concept sketch for my Smugglers ship, built in blender, this may actually have been my first blender model, regardless I definitely had / have a lot to learn and :P
Concept art, PS paint overs of twin motion renders…
These are pieces produced earlier within the Empire Of Man project. These particular designs were a remote base of operations. Work was produced in blender, sketchup, twin motion and photoshop. I intend to create more full realized environments for the competition as my skills in Blender have advanced and of course utilizing the power of Unreal Engine. I envision fleshing out in greater detail the Smugglers hideout, the ship and some hint of Imperial trouble.
So we are done with the main work of refreshing the yard. It looks a lot better but there’s still some stuff to do. Plantings, pressure washing and building out The raised garden area.
All in all I’m glad we did it, maybe could have been cheaper if we had done more ourselves. but if I’m honest I don’t know how we could have done it and still had the use of our bodies afterwards. I don’t consider myself old yet but whenever I start moving cinder blocks or bags of soil around I’m quickly reminded I ain’t young no more
Pretty sure this van wasn’t designed with this in mind. Fun fact about 250 of these garden stones would be the smart limit…Got these on offer up, will need to be pressure washed but half price and no need for the gym today
Story’s best told in pictures anyway…
There are actually bird of paradise in there… you can see them now
Our guys pulled out a number of plants that were choking this poor Bird O Paradise and tree…Previous owners had a very interesting method for landscaping pretty sure its called whatever pops up grows…
Bushes whacked ground being prepared for stoneMurder plant home under construction I had to remind the guys that weed barrier would be in here. Attention to detail is a funny thing not everybody gets it…Looks pretty rough with all the hedges whacked back…Future site of the veggie garden, Another attention to detail area, our guys didn’t make sure the grass they were removing was square to the house. Moises insures me he will straighten it out…
So that’s the areas roughed out. Over the next few Days our guys came back and slowly the yard takes shape
Former weed alley now nicely stoned immaculate with heavy duty weed barrier underneath…Future veggie production facilityMurder plant rowTree circle probably should be biggerComing together
Well that’s enough for now, next time I post on this the landscape refresh will be complete. Then I can get busy on the garage arrangement so I can finally put that big caddy under cover…
Since I have been laid off from Universal, amongst other things We are trying to catch up on some of the things that need doing around the homestead. I posted earlier about our plan to build an additional Pool Lanai but at least for now thats on hold…
The current effort is to rearrange and organize our existing space for maximum benefit and fix any stuff we can to make this house look as good as possible in case we end up moving… For the last 5 years I have had my head down working for Uni and have let some things lapse here. Luckily the house itself is in good shape, our only problem areas being it needs an interior paint job and the carpets are in sore need of replacement. When we moved in the previous owner didn’t fix these things and took off money from the asking price to reflect that, We have done a good bit ourselves but to make it perfect these things need doing…
The First project is to get our landscaping under control, we had a bunch of hedges die off and Fanny and my attempts to fix and create growing areas have led to a sad state…
Thats a sweet potato vine growing out of a pot if you can believe it…Why did you die Mr Hedge?
And don’t forget Florida is weed heaven and while its great that things grow so lush its also a bear if it gets out of control…
Nice weeds ya got there…Weed Garden
To make a long story short we looked in local forums and neighborhood groups for recommendations ” by we I mean Fanny ” and eventually found 3 people that seemed up for the task. We scheduled for them to come to walk the property and get back to us with their estimates. All 3 were nice and seemed knowledgeable I am pretty sure any of them could do it. We have a large yard just under half acre with not much in the way of trees.
a lotta grass
To complicate that is our neighborhood is on the high end ” we are almost certainly the cheapest house in this place “. With that comes restrictions and theres nothing more nosey than a rich neighbor :P.
Why would anyone plant that here?
The main point is to clean up the hedges and beds and create a new stone bed to surround what I affectionately call the Murder plants… These things are Giant Prehistoric un-killable monsters and the previous owners just planted them in the yard which makes for some real fun when it comes time to cut the grass. I have impaled myself a number of times…
Murder Plant Row
another goal is to create a place where we can grow vegetables. I am thinking this will be a raised bed where we can control the soil as whats present in the yard is basically sand
Fannys Test Garden
While waiting I decided to make up a schematic plan of what needed doing , probably should have done this first but… I based it on the site plan I have been using to design our proposed pool area. Heres what I came up with…
The Best Plans
Heres the interesting part and I think it speaks to the necessity of always getting multiple bids on large projects. These three guys all looking at the same plan and having discussed pretty much the exact same design features came back with a crazy spread cost. Lowest was $2,500 highest $9,600. I can’t speak to the reasons for this although its possible the highest guy was looking at my neighbors houses and decided to pad his expectations. We decided to whittle it down to the two lower estimates and then revise the plan to make sure both were looking at the same thing. I actually felt the lowest price guy’s was low balling it… After going back and forth with them a few times we have decided to go with the mid range guy as I think he is capable and also more realistic about what things cost.
Our deposit paid we now look forward to seeing this project move forward next week. I am optimistic that it will go well and address the curb appeal issue we have been dealing with. After that we can move onto other facets of making the most out of our little castle… Like dare I say it an artist studio
In the first 2 post I tried to put down some advice for a young person starting on their journey to become an artist / designer now let’s discuss what comes next…
You’ve taken the plunge and did the work to complete school or some form of training as an artist. Let’s assume you did really well, met some great people and learned a lot of skills. You’ve mastered the tools and techniques needed to be competitive in an incredibly wide range of subjects maybe even figured out what your passion is. Congratulations and welcome to the creative world.
Now that you’re ready it’s time to really get to work. School was your first step, it gives you the keys to unlock the door. But you’re going to need to do a lot more to make this the joyous fulfilling experience it can be. Remember that you are entering the real world now. There’s a lot of competition out there and many things your education missed. It’s simply impossible to prepare someone for everything that will come at them and most curriculums don’t even address a lot of it.
Portfolio preparation – In school I had one class dealing with this it was an elective and to be blunt woefully inadequate. Your portfolio is your body of work. When you get started it’s literally the most vital things you have. Later in your career it will not be as important. But in the beginning this is the way potential employers will decide to give you a job or not. Back in olden times portfolios were big cases full of real artwork and paintings. By my time “ the dark ages “ they were usually medium sized cases full of prints of your work.
My Old Print PortfolioMore work…
Today websites and digital media can house your work to great affect and you should use them. In addition though people still respond well to a physical presentation. Something about being able to touch and manipulate the pages. I’m not even gonna mention what can be done with social media as I am a caveman, but you know what to do…
Thoughts on an Effective Portfolio
Break the work into projects and show a cross section of the design process. ideation, orthographic views, 3d massing, renderings etc…This shows that you understand the design process and it gives the reviewer an understanding of how you think and where you can fit into the team. Remember that in most instances you will be working with a group of other creatives and your ability to think and solve problems is as important as your skill as an artist
Be Strategic in your presentation.
Show your best work
Show the work you want to do…
Show work that fits the job you’re applying for
Utilize technology. I have started using my IPAD Pro as a portfolio. You can assign your work as a photo and group the work into an album. The IPAD displays your work beautifully and its very easy to pass around during a sit down meeting. Another positive aspect of this is that you can control who is seeing your work, very hard to do on a website…
IPAD as Portfolio
PERSONAL PRESENTATION
Present yourself well, this is one of those areas that can cause trouble for you and most people are reluctant to even bring it up. The art world is unique in that so many varied personalities come together. In reality your personal fashion taste are pretty much up to you. Long gone are the days of designers wearing full suit and tie. However use common sense, if you’re applying for a position at a company try and get an idea of the expected dress code ahead of time and reflect that during the interview. You can always relax and let your personal style shine through after you have the gig. As a side to this remember, the people who run the companies are usually quite a bit older than you and were raised in a more formal environment. It helps to show them you can adapt to their standard. This will make it more likely they take you seriously…
Physical Fitness
There’s an old saying healthy body healthy mind, I believe this to be true. As an artist your mind is what does the lions share of the work. It stands to reason keeping it healthy is a good idea. It’s a fact that exercise helps keep hormones in balance and an even releases natural chemicals like endorphins which help with your mental state.
I would suggest you add a physical fitness regimen of some type to your routine. It may seem an odd thing to say but I have important reasons for this.
Art / design is a somewhat sedentary occupation. You are going to be spending an enormous amount of time sitting in dark rooms staring at a computer screens. when you’re young this doesn’t present a problem usually, but your career is going to be long. Artist routinely work into their advanced years long after everyone else has retired to Miami. Keeping your fitness will help you enjoy that long career.
I believe vigorous training like weight lifting can actually protect you from the dreaded carpel tunnel and back issues. But I understand that’s just my thing. you find something that fits your personality and do it.
End result you will feel good and be more confident in yourself which other people will respond too. Perception is reality so use that to your advantage…
Enjoy yourself and stay calm.
don’t be too hard on yourself if you’re not getting the job offers you want right away. Remember this is a long game. You will be turned down for jobs
It doesn’t mean your no good it just means that job was not for you…
Take it easy says Grendel
If you stay positive and continue to push yourself to improve eventually people will notice. Don’t compare yourself too much with other artist, remember in the end you are competing with yourself, always striving to become the best artist / designer you can be.
Theres a lot more I could say but this is getting long…
“ Breaking news 2020 is a seriously messed up year ”
I really wish I had completed this post before the current situation we are all in. I wanted the post to be helpful and maybe even optimistic. I really did intend it to be for young aspiring artist like my beautiful lil niece and my friends daughter. That’s a bit tough when the world “ especially the USA “ is seemingly being driven off a cliff by circumstance and incompetence….
But as my dad wisely says “ don’t focus too much on things you cannot control “. That doesn’t mean don’t pay attention but it does mean take care of what you can do yourself first. I have been let go with hundreds if not thousands of others from what was arguably the best “ job “ I ever had. Just this week Disney is letting go of 28,000 employees. Things are gonna get weird here for awhile, but I also know I’ll survive it. and so will you…
Always good advice
I now get to put in play the things I wrote here earlier and get ready for the shift. Currently I see this as a move back to freelance work. I will target my themed entertainment and TV / Film set design folks by getting back in touch. I have updated and launched the new portfolio site, djgooddesign.com. There’s still a few tweaks to be made, I will be moving some stuff around and adding more of my ideation sketch work as I know Art Directors’s like that… Also thinking to produce a few storyboards to show the style I developed for Universal since I can’t show any of that work right now…
I am also making an effort to put ecstatic pixel to work. The blog has been fun and it’s served a good purpose but going forward I intend to use “ EP “ to represent my non commercial side as well. Fanny is working on the website and I am preparing some other goodies. We will be finally launching some ideas that have been languishing for over a decade now… original art prints, unique graphics for clothing and accessories and some fine art pieces I’m challenging myself to produce. More to follow on all that
Back to the point. Wherever you’re at in your career you need a plan.
Here’s a rough outline of mine for now
Finish off my Universal work in good condition. “ your only as good as your last gig “
Resume and portfolio
Prepare the studio; computers, software, etc…
Reconnect with clients
Breath…
I need to get back in contact with my previous clients as for the last 5 years I’ve been unavailable to them. Out of sight out of mind is a real thing…
Networking. Your network is your biggest asset outside of your actual skill set. Over my career 99% of my work has come through people I know, people I’ve worked with before and people who get told about me by the first two groups. You should cultivate your relationships with clients and workmates as the precious commodity they are but do it naturally. You should be friendly and supportive of people because it’s the right way to be and most people will return the favor…
Being an artist / designer is a great career. You can make really good money and you will never stop growing and learning. It’s not easy and without hard work you cannot succeed; but if you do have it in ya, there is no more rewarding life… I wouldn’t want to be anything else…
One of the things I have had to do most often for work is render out my designs. This is predominately done using Sketchup as a modeler but I also use some Blender and MOI. The design is then rendered out using Thea render which works ok, but I’ve never really gotten it to do all it is capable of. This isn’t usually a problem as in the end I paint over the model anyway. That being said I would really like to get a better handle on the rendering side of things as it just makes it so much faster and time is money…
Back in the mid 2000’s I bought Luxllogies MODO specifically to do renderings. At the time Modo was reasonably priced and about the only program around that would do what was needed with a SU file exported as obj. I never got into its actual modeling features but for a few years it was how I did renderings.
Today there are numerous apps to do this. I’ve tried Vray to some success and a number of other stand alone render applications. They all have pros and cons. I am thinking that Blender’s Evie / Cycles may be my ultimate answer but I’m not that far in my immersion with the software yet…
Anyway recently I saw an opportunity to DL Twinmotion the real time rendering App. It’s owned by Epic Games and is basically a stripped down version of Unreal Engine. The deal was you could DL TM 2019 and just use it for free. The new version is a subscription model but this weekend I decided to break out the TM 2019 to see what it can do…
I would like to use it for the base renderings I need to produce for my final Universal work. I also think it could be very useful for future freelance projects as I’m gonna be heading into that world again very soon.
I figured the best way to learn and test would be using some old models I had laying around. I chose a speed form hover car I did a few years ago to test sub division modeling in sketchup and a piece of a set design I worked on last year…
One of the attractive features for TM is that you can import SU files directly into it. And supposedly updating the source file should update in TM. The files are easy enough to import and they appear on a base design space that looks like your outside of Vegas in the desert.
“ Bat Country “Why is it way over there?
The interface is very bare bones and in my opinion not super intuitive. It’s almost as if it’s so simple it’s confusing. This happens to me all the time now I guess I’m just getting old :P. Anyways the geometry comes in pretty well and since I applied colors and textures in SU it’s easy to swap these out for nicer TW materials.
A concrete box
One thing I am excited to try is the function to import a SU asset such as a light source and save it as a user preference. This will be huge if I can make it work… I saw the technique on CG Essentials a youtube channel which I watch. The guy has a ton of very helpful reviews and tutorials for a number of architectural 3D design related subjects you should check him out…
This first test was fine until I decided to try and update the SU file. I have no idea what happened here, but all the materials are whacked and the file became unresponsive. In the end I force quit the program…
WTH…
I lost everything I had done and decided to try again with a simple scene using just the assets that come with TM.
Primitive shapes and a couch
These basic shapes and objects “ the red couch, Cyprus tree, etc “ come with the APP and as expected they work well. But my goal is to bring in original designs and render them. after playing with cubes, spheres and trees for a bit I brought the hover car in again to this scene.
Hover car on the grass
The model comes in fine and with some jiggling I maneuver it to a spot on the grass. TM doesn’t handle translation of imported models very well. I’m thinking at least for now the design models need to be complete and placed exactly where you need them because moving in the renderer is a pain.
I finally achieve a semblance of a car paint color. There is no preset for painted metals “ surprising “ and the method to achieve them is not clear. If I continue down this path will need to do a deep dive on materials.
Ok having shown some success with the previous test I decide to re import my concrete bunker which has now morphed into a small modern house because I can’t leave things alone… I’m am this time bringing in some terrain and a few SU trees and plants to see how well it plays with TM…
Doesn’t look like much in SU…Looks much more fun inside TMYou can change the sky conditions as wellThe built in environment materials and assets are quite nice…The more extreme weather stuff is less impressive, at least at first glance…
Overall I’m reasonably impressed but have many questions and some doubts. The interface is just weird to me. I feel like it’s so busy trying to be intuitive it; at least for me, is opaque. I tend to like to know exactly what a tool is doing, again this might just be because I need more time with it. My main gripe is related to what should be its best feature. The importing of my design model and ability to update the file in SU. It works, ……..sometimes… I ended up rebuilding this scene 4 times and reimporting it because I would get to a certain point and start getting weird behavior and this would eventually lead to a force quit.. Its a great idea but from what I see here now using version 2019 on my computer it’s pretty unstable. I think maybe the actual Unreal Engine would be preferable…
For a good portion of my career I have done most of my design work in SU, It’s industry standard now for television production because of is combo of accuracy ” if you know what youre doing ” and its speed. Since working for Universal I’ve actually returned to earlier techniques and been producing a lot of hand drawn design sketches. I’m really happy about that as I love to draw and for certain, clients like to see it… Since my end date with Universal is fast approaching I know I need to get back into gear for freelance work again. I will be doing a lot more 3D again and this rendering engine could come in handy. That is Assuming I can ever get it to work reliably.
Maybe next post I will have more success to share…
So like most people due to Covid 19 we have been spending a lot of time at home. I’m still working for now and we do our best to remain productive. I’m working on some new pieces and posting a lot of extra stuff we have lying around on my Etsy Stores; Box the Moon and Ecstatic Pixel , Fanny has been working to learn Divi a wordpress site builder we purchased.
Phoenix Rise
Sometimes though you just need to get out so we look for something easy and fun. This last Sun was such a day
Spooky Hill is a local “ attraction ?”
We found it online. An hour from Orlando near Bok Tower, it’s supposedly got some Native American history and sounded just weird enough. The idea is you go there and drive up this hill put the car over a line painted on the road in neutral and “ something “ happens.
We went, we found it eventually in a kind of run down neighborhood complete with signage and even a public school who’s mascot is apparently Casper the ghost…
Casper University
Here’s what you eventually find…
It’s All About Presentation
I can only imagine how tired the people on this street get watching morons like us drive slowly by looking for spooktasticness… Believe it or not there were people already there so we had to wait…We did the thing twice and were unable to discover the Spooky,.
3 possible reasons for this
* Our car is impervious to spookiness, if so Chrysler is to be applauded…
* We are just not doing it right. Always a possibility.
* The car rolls backwards because we are on a steep hill and what people perceive as flat is not.
# 3 seems reasonable to me as the road is at a pretty steep incline and I don’t believe our van is defying the laws of Physics
The story goes; Long ago Yaddah yaddah, Indian village, ” where did the Indians go? “, pesky giant gator, chief fights gator to the death creating the swampy area at base of hill, “ wouldn’t the gator already be in a swamp”? Later on dudes on horses find their horses get tired walking up this really quite impressive hill for Florida and the “ legend “ is born.
If you’re wondering why this is a thing your obviously a sarcastic bastard like me
Up ahead in the distance you see a signpost…
Ok. Not that signpost…
The Line Of Spookieness
Fanny presents the Spooky
The Terror Begins…
Spooked
And like I said that’s basically it. Our car rolled backwards… Our car in neutral on a hill rolled backwards…
I suppose you could freeze in terror and reverse into the swamp, possibly angering the giant Indian gator ghost… honestly I don’t get it, if anyone knows what we are missing feel free to share. After the fact I looked online for videos here’s one YouTube video.
These people were obviously impressed by something we in our jaded Los Angeleno mindset must not be able to appreciate.
The whole thing is on a hill. Newsflash gravity exist…
I suppose in the current social political environment I shouldn’t be shocked that people don’t understand gravity. after all it is 2020, 3.5 years into a Donald Trump presidency… Yeah you heard me right, Donald John Trump, the mail order steak guy that bankrupted casinos and paints his face orange is the president…
Leader of The Free World
This guys the president so anything is possible.
In closing; Spook Hill, it’s a real place with a hill and gravity and everything
“MORAL OF THE STORY”
WEAR YOU’RE FREAKING MASK PEOPLE!!!
Gravity is real, cars roll downhill and 4 months cooped up in a house ” even with someone you love ” is beginning to make us all a bit crazy. Wear the damn mask, observe social distancing, wash your hands And maybe just maybe we can get through this mess and see something cool in 2021…
For four and a half years now I have been happily working full time for Universal Creative. I was hired to be part of the new Creative Core. The idea being to have an in-house design dept along the lines of Disney’s Imagineering.
Needless to say I was excited and very happy to be part of something like that. From 2016 to late in 2018 that’s exactly what it was. The studio was rapidly expanding and I got to work on tons of projects, most of which I cannot even mention here for obvious reasons.
I can say that I worked on the effort for Nintendo world producing key art, design sketches and some of the marketing art that’s been released.
Official poster for the ride, not sure who did it…
I was actually put on this when I first came aboard. I worked alone for about a month and then a small team was created. At that time the effort was to come up with options for replacing the aging ” Dueling Dragons ” coaster. This was a challenge as that coaster was incredibly popular!
Old entrance to Dragons…
This effort eventually led to the current ride But by that time I was on other projects. I still produced a lot of design work for the ride. Some of which you can see below.
Working for the Core was kind of a dream gig, we were involved with every project Universal has in development. We even got to design the bluesky pre Concept for the future “ Epic Universe “. During this period I worked literally 5 minutes from home and really felt a sense of belonging. Great co workers great projects and a great environment!
Then everything changed, in one motion the entire studio was re organized and everyone was moved out to work on individual projects. It was a massive restructuring and now the core is just a shadow of itself. Don’t get me wrong I was happy to go join a team for The new park as it’s a chance to be part of something truly amazing! I can’t say much about it but rest assured it will be phenomenal, a real game changer…
Conceptual birdseye of the new park, pretty sure this was done by Pat Vogtli
BUT THEN ANOTHER SOMETHING SOMETHING…
Along came the Covid…
We’re still here, I’m still on the project, working from home since March. And I know how blessed we are to be able to do that… but the end date is fast approaching. It is obvious Universal along with everyone else in the world has been hard hit by this pandemic. People are sick and tired of feeling isolated and many of us desperately need to work to survive. This virus is pointing out serious flaws in our system. Our current federal leaderships incompetence has done nothing to solve the problem and people are scared. Our parks have opened up here in Florida a bit pre maturely IMO . But hey it’s Florida home of alligators on meth and ” Florida Man “.
The folks down the street ” Disney ” are being more cautious. Who’s correct remains to be seen, These are really challenging times and until we get a vaccine every move is a risk. At the end of the day they must do what’s best for the company to ensure its future and for now that means letting people go…
I am truly thankful for the opportunity to be a part of the Universal family. I’ve enjoyed working alongside some of the most talented creatives in the world on projects that have and will bring joy to so many people. I am looking forward to working for them again when things are better…
Working as a designer is a great job but you must remain flexible and ready to move with the flow because trust me these things move in cycles, Even if the Covid 19 had not thrown everything off kilter we were most likely headed to a downturn… who knows maybe once we get past this virus things will come roaring back. hopefully in November, America will have a change in leadership and we can get back to producing great work around the world…
If I could give one piece of advice to anyone who’s maybe a bit scared of what’s happening right now it would be this. Fear and worry will do you no good. It’s natural to be concerned in uncertain circumstances but you must try and remain positive. Take this down time and use it to your advantage if you can. Do some new paintings or designs, work on a personal project, take online courses, learn a new software etc etc… it doesn’t really matter what you do so long as it’s productive. This will help keep you in a good place mentally and spiritually. Then, when opportunity comes ” and it will ” you’ll be ready to act.
This is the third time I’ve seen the economy tank, 2000, 2008, and now 2020, it seems to be built into the system, what goes up must come down.
For my own sanity I am going to focus on preparation now. Update the portfolio, Re-organize the workspace, prepare my studio for efficient freelance and Begin to reach out to old and potential clients. I’m learning Blender 3D and have begun to explore VR on the Occulus. We are even planting a vegetable garden
With the Covid lock down everybody’s experiencing we have decided to try and finally see some of the many outdoor parks and such here in central Florida.
Today’s plan was to go to Wekiwa Springs to walk or ride our bikes and get some sun. it’s about 30 min drive from our house and after making a fabulous “ if I do say so myself “ Ham and bacon sandwich for our lunch, we hit the road. Traffics not too bad and soon we found ourselves outside the park greeted by signs declaring full to capacity.
I guess everybody else had the same idea
We then decided to alter and go check out Kelly park another outdoor recreation area.
At 3 bucks for both of us to get in how can you wrong…
There were only a few other people there but I imagine at normal times this place would be packed…
No body here
After parking and unloading our bikes we set out to explore. 2 things of note, we are both now assured of the sad state of our physical condition and that even though you may never forget how to ride a bike that doesn’t mean you will do it well… gonna need to work on this
The van is useful
Altogether we rode for about an hour and then had lunch, sandwich was excellent! . The park is quite nice and I can see returning especially when you can swim… only wildlife we saw was an otter a shy trash panda and some cranes, supposedly deer, bear, panthers and gators are possible… we did hang out with some squirrels during lunch who very much liked pieces from my excellent sandwich…
Florida has a lot to see I intend to get to know more of it over the next few years… that is of course if we don’t get shut in again because of this damn virus…
here is tis May of 2020 and like pretty much everyone on earth our lives have been put on hold. I have decided to use this time to reinvigorate my efforts for life and work outside of Universal Creative. I’m happy to still be working on the new Epic Universe project but no one really knows whats going to happen in the future so…
I have made a page for EcstaticPixel on facebook and Instagram still trying to figure out the best way to build some momentum with that. Fanny and I have redone the portfolio DJGOODDESIGN site using a development tool called DIVI Its quite cool will share that when its fully complete.
Took a stab at some logo designs for the Blog and eventual website. Going for a fun retro tech look…
Other Variations on the theme
And finally I have put together an Etsy store for my artwork in case anyones interested. The name is of course ECSTATICPIXEL :P. This will be a companion to our long operating BOX THE MOON and MY1000WORDS shops but with all original content versus the hobby supplies and vintage art reproductions. The concept right now is for Giclee prints of my artwork and original graphics for apparel and products. I would love to offer prints of other artist’s I know as well and I am thinking of how to present that idea. I am hopeful that this can eventually lead to transitioning from purely commercial work to more of a fine art mode but we shall see…
And Finally here are some late examples of the kind of painting I enjoy doing for myself these all started off as sketches on my IPAD PRO using Autodesk Sketchbook Pro…
Octopi
Breech
Hope this update finds you well. stay safe and whatever else is going on be creative…
So if you got this far I assume you must have decided that you really do want to be an artist. Truth be told its kind of a trick question. Artist really don’t get to choose. For some people its just what you are.
Anyway the question of how to become a successful one still stands. Unless you were born a genius prodigy ” pretty rare ” you will need training to make it work. In the old days ” art history here ” talented youth mostly wealthy later sons of wealthy families ” the one who didn’t get sent to the church and weren’t suitable for the military ” would be apprenticed to a master artist for years to learn the fundamentals and become an artist. Thankfully today education is a lot more available and less creepy. The training you need depends greatly on your ultimate goal but the fundamentals are the same for pretty much any artistic career path. As I mentioned in the first post the basics include
drawing ” sketching “
painting ” mixing of paint and use of tools, materials etc…
color theory ” understanding how color works and how to control it in your work “
composition and basic design principles
perspective ” the method you use to show 3D form on a 2D medium
figure drawing ” human and animal anatomy “
Theres more to this but by the time you have mastered these basics you will be well on your way to specialized training where you can expand upon what you know and add the specific skills needed for you discipline. Designers will follow a different path then say illustrators or Graphics Specialist.
Throughout the process you will be working with computers, printers, scanners photographic equipment etc… The current and future artist / Designer must be up to speed on all the industry standard equipment and technologies software packages etc. that you can. As somebody who came to the computer late in my development I cannot emphasize enough the importance of this. When I began working things were still being done mostly by hand, I made the transition to digital art about 2 years after graduation. Luckily thanks to my good friend Mat, I bought a Mac Clone the last term at school and he and I kind of taught ourselves Photoshop… I had friends who were already mastering serious 3D and animation software at the time, if I could do it all over I would spend the time down in that computer lab!
Anyway at this point its not even a question you will be using computers to produce most professional work.
Where to get your training is the real question and my answer is from many sources. While your still in high school take advantage of your schools arts programs. The more you learn early on the faster you can develop and the more enjoyable the process will be.
Here are some things to look at using in your training plan. Art of any type is not a cheap undertaking, unless you have the good fortune of well heeled parents you’re going to need to be strategic in your planning.
Make use of as much free or cheap training as you possibly can.
The library can be an amazing resource. look for classes and workshops. For example here in Orlando the downtown library offers training in beginner and advanced 2D and 3D graphics. For the price of the workshop which is just a few bucks you have access to thousands of dollars worth of equipment and an instructor.
art clubs and local artist associations.Almost every city is going to have some local artist. Connect with them, the advice and help they can provide is priceless
Online instruction sites and youtube. You tube is packed with an insane amount of tutorials and videos to teach you pretty much anything your interested in. Not all of its great but a surprising amount of it is very professionally produced and presented by working artist . Thats unbeatable! Then you have sites like Udemy and Skillshare that offer even more training for a very reasonable amount of money.
Artist blogs and podcast, I don’t do tutorials maybe some day I will but there are good artist that do. These people are sharing their knowledge and experience for a multitude of reasons. Its inspiring and instructive here are a few of the ones I watch
Fung Zhu Design, this guys work is amazing, he went to ACCD a few years before me…
Trent Kaniuga art Video Blog – I found this guy while trying to figure out some function in Sketchbook Pro my favorite sketch app which also happens to be free
Bob Ross – This may be ancient history but the guy still has something to say…
Blender Basics – good 3D tutorials even for an old guy like me
The Craftsman – I am not sure how to describe this show? But the guy is a lot of fun and full of great info especially for being creative on a budget…
Point of this is that there are an almost unbelievable sources for artist to learn new things online. This didn’t exist 20 years ago when I was a student. Be sure to take advantage of it.
Back to the core question should you go to school?
You don’t actually have too! I work right now next to an incredible artist for Universal Creative that as far as I know is self taught. He’s at the top of his game in fact most of the marketing art you have seen for Universal Studios theme park is his work so… At the same time most people do not have that particular brand of self discipline so you will most likely need some instruction.
On to School
Try your local community college. You will be amazed to find that some amazing artist instruct at Community college. Its a fraction of the cost and you can usually transfer your units to an expensive school if thats your ultimate goal. Do as much of your undergrad work here as is available. You don’t want to be paying Art School tuition for basic english and history classes if you can avoid it.
While your preparing the undergrad stuff really start to narrow down what kind of program you want. Not all schools are created equal and one school might be great for illustration and really weak for Graphic Design. Ask around and find the school you will really like.
Remember there are public Universities with great art programs which will be much easier on the budget.
My opinion is that dedicated Art Schools are a positive thing for an aspiring artist but not necessarily for the reasons you see on their marketing materials.
Some things to consider
Art School can be extremely expensive ” think $100,000 plus for any top rated school ” and realize that when you graduate that bill comes due ” more on this later “
It takes self discipline. Everybody thinks ” from the outside ” that artist because they love their work have it easy. It’s the furthest thing from the truth. Being involved creatively is exhausting physically mentally and emotionally. Outside of my time in the Navy I have never worked harder then I did at ACCD…
Some schools are a rip off ” Trump University anyone “
Some schools do not prepare you for the real world of Art / Design ” Theres more to being a successful artist then the quality of your work “
For the top schools you’re talking private institutions and they aren’t cheap… Choose this route and you will be hit with a bill that in other schools lands you a doctor or Lawyers credentials. It was the same for me but at this point probably 2 to 3 times more money… Remember that point about getting all the classes you can before heading to the expensive school?
Scholarships and grants can help, they are hard to get but if your serious about it they can make the impossible, possible. Take advantage or whatever programs you can. For example, If you happen to be a young Latina who’s interested in design, think of applying for a program where most applicants are males like product or transportation design. The school and whatever industries support them will jump at the chance to help you… Don’t be too proud this is going to be tough enough…
Make sure to check with the school you want to complete your training with to find out what their requirements are. They will help you if you ask…
One of the main benefits you can receive from attending a top end school is the name recognition of the school. Its hard to pinpoint exactly but there is definitely an effect on potential employers. Top schools also require you to compete for placement. Competition is good and if you approach it positively it will make you a better artist / designer / whatever…
Access to the latest technology and techniques is also a factor ” this is especially true for people working with heavy computer driven industries like 3D graphics or animation
Obviously the best schools should have the best instructors. Look for schools that use working professional as teachers. There is nothing wrong with dedicated teachers but the people actually doing the work in the market are the true experts.
And finally your peers. In my experience you will actually learn more from your classmates then most of your instructors. Not to mention you are building your network. Believe me when I tell you it matters who you know! In my experience the vast majority of the work I have done comes through people I know not necessarily classmates but some of them are in there too. Your network is a vital part of your artistic career…
Some examples of high end schools, this is by no means an exhaustive list but it should help to make a start
A note on financial realities. If you are like most people you are going to need to consider your budget and the cost of your education versus its benefit. I speak from experience here, I had no money and no support other then my GI bill which lasted me all of one term at school. I applied for and won a half scholarship and then increased it through a review process. Its the only way I could ever have gone to ACCD. I also was a completely naive about money and credit etc… I literally knew nothing as with my background it just wasn’t available.
I applied for credit cards ” they specifically target students or at least they did back in the 90s.” Don’t get me wrong I wasn’t living large I just used the money to pay for supplies and live, the problem comes later when its time to pay it back.
A few things to consider
Your education may end up costing way more then you will realistically earn when it comes time to start paying that loan. A great teacher we had Andy Ogden told us this in our 2nd term. He said when he graduated in the 1980’s he owed $50,000 and got hired as a designer for Honda at a salary of $45,000. He then said ” we ” would graduate owing around $ 100,000 and if we were lucky get a job paying $ 45,000… That was in 1994…
Andy wasn’t wrong, his point was that if you are in this career for the money you’re in the wrong place. Keep in mind that over time you will earn more money as you progress but this is not like being a lawyer or a plastic surgeon. Theres a reason we have the term ” starving artist ”
do this because you love it and it will be a great life. Do it to get rich and you may be disappointed.
Credit and loans can be a great tool but you should treat them like the deadly objects they are. Only take out what you really need and be frugal. As an example use cheaper art supplies in the beginning. There is a difference between a Windsor Newton series 7 brush and a cheaper alternate but as a student you will not get the benefit. Save your money and buy the other supplies you will need
Series 7 – about 350 bucks for 4 brushes
I really do not mean to scare anyone off or depress you, I simply wish someone had taken the time to explain some of this to me when I was starting out.
” learn from the mistakes of others, you will not live long enough to make them all yourself ” Eleanor Roosevelt…
Frank Abagnale is an FBI agent that was also a successful con man. His life story became a feature film and a number of TV series.Here is a link to the youtube video
Catch Me If You Can
I suggest anyone should watch. Its entertaining and highly informative. Well worth an hour of your time. The first part is the mans personal life story which is pretty amazing the second part is most important how to make credit work for you…
Some final thoughts on how to get the most out of your training
Be open to direction, whether as a student or in the real world you will need to accept direction. Listen with attention and if necessary take notes, address those notes immediately in your work, this will help establish a positive respectful relationship between you and your instructor / director. This makes it possible for open communication…
Learn to accept and give criticism. Critique is necessary if you want to excel at anything. Critique should be given and received as a positive. This is how we learn to push ourselves to become better. Try to accept critique without emotional reaction, remember it’s not about you it’s about the work… at the same time be ready to defend your design decisions, you don’t always prevail but part of being an artist is believing in your vision. I have found a good way to start this to always look first for what is good in something, this sets a positive tone and helps others hear your ideas without getting defensive.
Do not fall in love with your work. ” this is particularly important early on.” Unless you are working solely for your own purpose you need to not get too emotionally attached to things as they develop. In the end your work is for someone else and needs to fulfill their desire not yours. Over time you will become better at this, it’s one of the hardest things to do for an artist…
Recognize your strengths and the areas you need to develop
Be aware of your peers efforts and work to compete with them but do not base everything on this alone. In the end your only real competition is yourself. Becoming a good / great artist is a long process. Do not get down on yourself for perceived shortcomings or become overly confident at imagined strength.
That was a lot and there’s a ton more I could say but hopefully this is enough to help you start making some plans…
