Tuts+

OMG!

So I was looking up boxing posters (in an attempt to make one myself with cartoon characters - wanting inspiration), I found a link that had a tutorial to make a retro boxing poster.

So I was like, "Hmm, this is pretty good." So I looked around on the site some more, mostly tutorials for Photoshop, and I couldn't believe my eyes....

I hit a freakin' mother load of tutorials for so much software! :D I'm talking about Photoshop, Flash, Illustrator, After Effects, even 3D software! I was like, "Are you freakin' kidding me?!" :D I'm just so excited. LOL

.....oh yeah! You guys want links! LOL

PSD.Tuts+
Flash.Tuts+
AE.Tuts+
Vector.Tuts+
CG.Tuts+

Hope you guys enjoy them! :D The ones for After Effects are already making me drool. :P LOL :D

Riskingly Amazing!

I thought his sculpture was a cool design to make, even if it was a risk. Though the police didn't like his "construction", I'm like, screw it. This is an awesome design, and definitely brings character to the road.

At the same time, you won't see me doing that. :P LOL

Learn From Jack

I am sure everyone remembers the movie The Nightmare Before Christmas, and how one's desire to push past complacency can open to many results. We saw Jack Skellington wanting to do something different, yearning to get out of the norm of his usual antics. In his discovery of Christmastown, he was intrigued to not only gain understanding of the atmosphere and its' spirit, but to also put his best efforts in doing the festivities. In his attempts, he failed; however, he still felt energized to try something new. After all his participation in learning Christmas, he was able to see more potential in his strengths of making mischief.

With this all said, I believe there's a lesson we can learn from Jack as artists: Putting our best efforts into an unknown skill/ability/medium will impact our strengths. Whether you are strong in drawing, or strong in photography, if you find the connection between your strength and weakness, your strength will benefit more from your experimentation.

For instance, I took up watercolor painting last year, and I was completely horrible at it. No matter how hard I tried, I could not get the medium down, or get a good understanding of it. However, if I had saw the benefits of the process, I would have found that it was helping me get better at drawing. Learning to use the strokes of a brush impacted my strokes of a pencil. How lightly I use the charcoal/lead pencil as I press against the paper. Allowing my arm to be loose and free, like painting with watercolor. Another good example was doing 3D: I thought it was a waste of time. I was proven wrong after I got into Life Drawing. If I had understood the necessities of 3D shapes, and how they relate, my drawings would have shown more volume and weight.

Now, I can see that not every weakness will become a strength. I do believe that through extra sacrifice and hard work the possibilities for that to happen are high. And I also believe that the weakness of a medium you put your best efforts to will push your strengths even further. So if you are not strong in drawing but you are strong in photography, push your drawing skills some more. Or if you are really good in sculpture, but you are not well in ink, see how using inks will help you explore sculpture. The key is having an exciting attitude to explore...just like Jack Skellington.

Adobe TV

Something I found today: Adobe TV.

Video tutorials and info on Adobe Software. Some things that are interesting to look at, and hopefully inspire. :)

Samples of After Effects I'm Enjoying

Found these on YouTube for inspiration. And I must say, I can't wait to get started in learning After Effects! :D

Other than that, I saw Pixar's Up for the third time today! Yup, I can't get enough of that film. :D

Saw Pixar's UP!

I know that Barron mentioned about seeing Pixar's UP, so I wanted to give my share about the film:

You have to see it, and you have to see it in 3D! :D I was able to go see it last night for the 3D version of the film, and I must say the 3D did the movie justice! I'm not saying it to say it, seriously, this is the first 3D film I went to, where the images aren't trying to come out to touch you. Instead, they calculated what's important in regards to perspective of the environment and the characters.

Even if you don't go see the 3D version (seriously, you'll be missing out if you do), this movie still had heart, adventure, action, and wonderful characters. I was just in awe with Pete Docter's (the director of the film) style for this film, so different compared to his first one (Monster's Inc.).

I also like how Pixar does its' movies, by making sure they crank out the best concept possible. They duke it out, tell it like it is, what each other likes or don't like, and then they go produce an animated film like their lives depends on it. Never have I seen a studio put in so much heart for the sake of telling a great story every time....I can't say the same for DreamWorks. That's a whole blog post in itself (the animation junkie side of me speaking).

Anyways....go see this film! Trust me, this is not a kiddie film! :D

Happy Birthday to Me! :D

I can truly say that my 25th year has been the greatest of my life so far. It was definitely a 360 degree turn around from what I had going when I was 24.

So with that said, I'm looking forward to see what no. 26 has in store me. :) That's right, I'm 26 years old today. :)

Enjoy Memorial Day! ;)