Motivation. I despise the word. Yet despite all my hatred I still find I must italicize it, a gesture of my grudging respect for the concept. The unswerving dedication to one's goals, to dreams so cemented in our mind that the insidious forces of bad habit and procrastination cannot drive us from the Golden Path. It is a noble aspiration.
And yet so often out of grasp.
Tis strange then I found this day my desires shifted to drawing. Now I consider myself an artist, but for all my boast and bravado I draw scantly. I despise it when my drawings come out looking like crap. This paralyzes my desire to practice. I, however, came to realize something today. The first four drawings you do every day will look like complete crap. This is caused by your hand warming itself up, stretching and growing accustomed to the forms of the pencil and eraser.
Your mind similarly falls into line, slowly becoming less critical and more loose. This I discovered today and with it... I discovered that I can once again enjoy drawing. I am also rather good at it. Perhaps my motivation is not so out of grasp after all.
I have set myself a rather lofty goal. As I came late to the art scene (my first attempts at drawing were in Junior year of High School), I find myself in need of spending many hours a day practicing to catch up with the competition. I've decided to attempt at least an hour a day of sketching, with weekly subjects in order to ensure I cover a variety of topics.
My first topic? Torsos.
According to my research, the torso is an apt place to start studying the human figure, as it is the literal core of the human body. Every limb is affected and in turn affects the musculature of the torso. Today I focused on drawing the male core, with exaggerated muscles in order to feel out the different groups. As I stated above, my first four drawings were complete crap. My 5th however, began to show promise. My play instinct kicked in and I began to focus on proportions, specifically between the pectorals and the length of the abdomen.
I succeeded in drawing for nearly 4 hours.
That said, I am hopeful for tomorrow, where I hope to continue this trend.
Wish me luck.
Thursday, March 10, 2011
Sunday, March 6, 2011
And on the Seventh Day
Sunday has always been a curious day for me. Back in my religious days I used to be expected to wake up in the nascent hours of the morning, wearily dragging my carcass towards the coffee pot, then the shower, then the closet. My "Sunday Best" usually amounted to some kind of Hawaiian Shirt and some slacks. (How deliciously Californian of me) These days however, what with the absence of institutionalized religion rapaciously violating the sanctity of my mornings, I find Sunday to be rather lazy day.
This could possibly result from my late Saturday night's that seem to be a more common occurrences since my 20th birthday, but I'd like to think there's something carnal about the need for excess rest on a day that is, in all respects, the traditional day of laying on your ass doing nothing. So believe it or not readers, this Sunday (despite a late start) I managed to achieve and indeed OVER-achieve my goal of watching not 2. Not 3. But -5- UDK videos.
...
In retrospect that achievement is rather ambiguous in the light that I haven't explained to you just what the overall goal involving said UDK videos is, what the hell "UDK" stands for, who I am, or exactly why I suddenly decided to start writing this Blog.
<Insert Metaphor involving Horse and Cart being bassackwards here>
If the identity of this blog's author posted on comment directly above this has not attracted your eye, then I must attempt a brief reintroduction. I have chosen (long before this blog began) the moniker "Euphorius", an apt "pronounization" (It's a bloody word. Shut up.) of the noun "Euphoria", defined commonly as "a profound sense of well-being". This adoption of such a positive personification pontificates my deep respect for the optimistic attitude that carries civilization forward. I am a believer in the human spirit, in the power of nature, and the beauty of the limitless human imagination.
I am a jack-of-all-trades. A musician, an artist, a writer, a creator. In this pursuit, I have pondered and refined my goals to point towards a career in the creative arts, preferably as an author, concept artist, or creative lead in the field of Video Games. One can dream no?
Having defined my ambitions, I must now (humble soul that I am) explain my shortcomings. I am sloth, unorganized, and fearful of my own success. I have a good mind, a good soul, but am only as human as the next man. Thus my mistakes are both numerous and serious in nature. But the passion of life and indeed the trick to it is learning to live with yourself, your faults, and attempting to solve as many of said faults as possible. This is where I am. Fighting my own short-comings in order to attain the dreams I have created for myself. Struggling up the uphill, slippery slope of habit. And I am making progress.
But I digress...
To the point, I elected the goal of watching several UDK videos a day in order to better my understanding of the engine known as the "Unreal 3 Development Kit" (Hence, UDK), one of the preeminent game creation software packages currently on the market. It is step one on a complex journey I hope to undertake in which I might learn the necessary skills needed to succeed at my dreams.
If you didn't know, now you know.
But I fear this rambling veers most philosophically verbose and thus I shall change topic to something a bit more interesting:
MOVIES:
Rango was a delicious animated film released by Nickelodeon films in Quarter 1 2011. Starring the voice of Johnny Depp and the directing of Gore Verbinski (Yes, I realized I personified those statements) this film is a blast for all ages. It brings special impact if you are familiar with other films in Depp's prolific film career, as several scenes are parodies of his early works. (Can you spot them all?) The writing was solid, the characters likable, and the animation was truly top notch. The textures and hair work truly was the icing on the cake, as several close view shots of the characters were visually breath-taking. I'm not the best of critics, but I would suggest seeing it in the big screen.
Truly, 5 stars.
In closing, I'd like to quote Douglas Adams in the spirt of redeeming myself for not going to church on Sundays.
"He hoped and prayed that there wasn't an afterlife. Then he realized there was a contradiction involved here and merely hoped that there wasn't an afterlife."
Toodles for now.
This could possibly result from my late Saturday night's that seem to be a more common occurrences since my 20th birthday, but I'd like to think there's something carnal about the need for excess rest on a day that is, in all respects, the traditional day of laying on your ass doing nothing. So believe it or not readers, this Sunday (despite a late start) I managed to achieve and indeed OVER-achieve my goal of watching not 2. Not 3. But -5- UDK videos.
...
In retrospect that achievement is rather ambiguous in the light that I haven't explained to you just what the overall goal involving said UDK videos is, what the hell "UDK" stands for, who I am, or exactly why I suddenly decided to start writing this Blog.
<Insert Metaphor involving Horse and Cart being bassackwards here>
If the identity of this blog's author posted on comment directly above this has not attracted your eye, then I must attempt a brief reintroduction. I have chosen (long before this blog began) the moniker "Euphorius", an apt "pronounization" (It's a bloody word. Shut up.) of the noun "Euphoria", defined commonly as "a profound sense of well-being". This adoption of such a positive personification pontificates my deep respect for the optimistic attitude that carries civilization forward. I am a believer in the human spirit, in the power of nature, and the beauty of the limitless human imagination.
I am a jack-of-all-trades. A musician, an artist, a writer, a creator. In this pursuit, I have pondered and refined my goals to point towards a career in the creative arts, preferably as an author, concept artist, or creative lead in the field of Video Games. One can dream no?
Having defined my ambitions, I must now (humble soul that I am) explain my shortcomings. I am sloth, unorganized, and fearful of my own success. I have a good mind, a good soul, but am only as human as the next man. Thus my mistakes are both numerous and serious in nature. But the passion of life and indeed the trick to it is learning to live with yourself, your faults, and attempting to solve as many of said faults as possible. This is where I am. Fighting my own short-comings in order to attain the dreams I have created for myself. Struggling up the uphill, slippery slope of habit. And I am making progress.
But I digress...
To the point, I elected the goal of watching several UDK videos a day in order to better my understanding of the engine known as the "Unreal 3 Development Kit" (Hence, UDK), one of the preeminent game creation software packages currently on the market. It is step one on a complex journey I hope to undertake in which I might learn the necessary skills needed to succeed at my dreams.
If you didn't know, now you know.
But I fear this rambling veers most philosophically verbose and thus I shall change topic to something a bit more interesting:
MOVIES:
Rango was a delicious animated film released by Nickelodeon films in Quarter 1 2011. Starring the voice of Johnny Depp and the directing of Gore Verbinski (Yes, I realized I personified those statements) this film is a blast for all ages. It brings special impact if you are familiar with other films in Depp's prolific film career, as several scenes are parodies of his early works. (Can you spot them all?) The writing was solid, the characters likable, and the animation was truly top notch. The textures and hair work truly was the icing on the cake, as several close view shots of the characters were visually breath-taking. I'm not the best of critics, but I would suggest seeing it in the big screen.
Truly, 5 stars.
In closing, I'd like to quote Douglas Adams in the spirt of redeeming myself for not going to church on Sundays.
"He hoped and prayed that there wasn't an afterlife. Then he realized there was a contradiction involved here and merely hoped that there wasn't an afterlife."
Toodles for now.
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