Thursday, March 30, 2006
Spring Schedule and Misc.
My spring schedule is available now in the student section.

The syllabi aren't there yet. Look for them to be available for download next week.

We just had a short break and once again I spent my time working on an illustration.

Unlike my Christmas project this piece was for a small freelance job. I'd share but I want to make sure the folks I did the work for are okay with me displaying it on my site before I post it.

I've finally gotten around to listening to my new Imogen Heap album and I have to say I'm very impressed.

If you decide to give it a listen be sure to check out track 5. It's called Hide and Seek and I listen to it pretty much every morning as I'm spinning my brain up to working speed.

BUT BE WARNED!

If you purchase the CD it does in fact have copy protection on it which will install nasty spyware on your computer and most likely eat your cat!

Instead, why not download it from iTunes? Apple's copy protection is benevolent and doesn't hunger for the flesh of your purring little ball of fur.

Lost sucks now. You should be watching The Unit instead.
Thursday, March 16, 2006
Music and Hardware
Sometimes it's nice to draw something besides human beings.

This is not a cell shaded 3D model. If you don't believe me, go to the in progress section and check out the pencil drawing.

Some of you asked me if I had any more music recommendations... I don't really. I'm not in the habit of telling people what to listen to. But I'll gladly tell you what I'm currently enjoying and that would be Athlete.

For those of you who are students of human anatomy I'll also share this little website that details the muscles and bone structure of the human head.

On the educational front, it appears that I'm teaching a Maya class next quarter as well as 2 3DS Max classes. Needless to say I'm very pleased.

I'll post my schedule for next quarter as soon as it's finalized which should be very soon.

Later.
Tuesday, March 07, 2006
A meditation on texture mapping...
I'm finding it hard to even get started on this post. You see, I'm a bit of a perfectionist. Okay, I'm a great big huge perfectionist. And the more I work on the texture maps for this model the more imperfect the entire project feels to me.

Now I know that some of you will be quick to point out how nice the model looks over all and how what little texture there is so far looks very convincing... and for the most part I'd agree with you. But, you see, it's not perfect. It's not brilliant. And that's what's making me crazy.

But I've been doing some reading lately about how the human mind works... Especially the parts about motivation, creativity, self esteem, etc. And it seems that, contrary to what I have believed for the past oh... 20 years or so, perfectionism is actually a major hindrance when it comes to creativity. It can give rise to procrastination. Which is exactly what happened with this project.

I believe that I'm not as strong at texture mapping as I am at modeling so I tend to stall out once the model's built. Now, mind you, that's not to say that I can't create very competent texture maps, I can and have but they're just not (in my opinion) on the same level as my models.

Now, notice the words I used in the previous paragraph... I said that I "believe" I'm not as strong. Originally I typed the word "know" in place of "believe". Then I went back and corrected myself.

Why you ask?

Because progress in this field requires the artist to have faith in his or her self. Trust me the world will present you with many reasons and opportunities to doubt your own abilities and you should certainly pay attention and learn from the experience when it happens. But if you start to believe that you are in some way limited or crippled then... You are.

About 8 or 9 years ago when I got laid off from my job at Take 2 Interactive and started working at AIP I believed that my modeling skills weren't at the level that I wanted them to be. So I spent the next 8 or 9 years focusing almost exclusively on organic polygon modeling and I had the exact same doubts and frustrations that I have now as I begin to focus on my texture skills.

I built a lot of bad human form models during those years and I thought about quitting a lot. Why put myself through the torment? I didn't need to continue generating new models. I was steadily employed as a teacher and had no plans to return to industry.

So why did I continue? The answer is simple. Because it's what I do. I can't stop doing this sort of work. It's in my DNA at this point.

So expect me to complain a lot about my texture maps for the next, oh, 10 years or so. But don't expect me to ever give up, crap out or get tired. I can't. I'm too anxious to see what my textures will look like in 2016.

And when I've managed to build up a sufficient amount of "belief" in my abilities as a modeler and a texture artist, well... There's always rigging and animation to contend with right?

Those of you who hate these kinds of ruminations can stop cringing now... I'm done waxing philosophical for the moment. I know, I know... That was a lot of words to convey the simple idea that an artist must have faith in his or her self in order to improve... And beyond that, why waste time stating such a simple, obvious and sappy fact?

I hate to say it, but it seems that these simple little truths really do drive not only the creative process, but the entire process of living.

Isn't that just awful? After 8 years of college I really wanted it to be much more complicated. That way I could feel like a real fancy person when I explained to others (with my nose in the air) that I'd love to share the secrets of wealth, success and happiness with them but it's all simply too complicated.

Instead, now a days, I end up telling people to get plenty of sleep and do what they love to the best of their ability.

Most of them look at me like I'm nuts. And after 8 years of college I probably am.

I wrote a novel tonight didn't I? Oh well... I needed to clear my head. And what good is a BLOG if it isn't therapeutic to the author?

There's another shot of the loader in the In Progress section. And please note that the only section that actually has a bitmap applied to it is the cab...

I'd post more but it's bedtime...
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