Wednesday 17 August 2011

Using FB to Live The Dream!

Today is a big post dedicated to a few pretty entrepreneurial people [say that really fast ten times!] who regularly pop up on my Facebook feed with the exciting things they've been doing lately.

Each one inspires me and each one shows that if you have a bit of passion, and drive, and the determination to take down those barriers that prevent you from making your dreams a reality, then you really can grow that idea or dream and bring it out into the world for everyone else to see. Just work hard, and make it happen!

So, in no particular order, here they are:

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Alice Cat


Alice is a sweet little lady who really has bloomed in her chosen trade of modelling over the past year or so. On her Model Mayhem profile she gives this quirky little description of herself:
"The best way to describe my modelling style (my style in general in fact) would be that it's a mish-mash of cheesecake cuteness, a sweet and silly Sandra Dee classic Pin-Up, mixed with a dark, gothic edge that shines through in bizarre little bursts."
Give her a look, especially if you're a bit quirky yourself and have a secret desire to get into modelling [or if you fancy getting in on a bit of the style - she has been selling off a few of her things lately to make room for more!]. She also expresses her creativity in the form of Cubles - cute little plushies, each one lovingly handmade by Alice - and she really does love making each one!


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Inkspill Illustrations - François Savarimuthu


François is a designer, illustrator and printer living and working in South East Wales. A truly passionate artist; he always seems to busy working on multiple projects and commissions. One look at his intricate and highly detailed work and you just know that patience and love for his work are definitely traits he carries.

"I Illustrate, Design & Print because I love producing work that meets a purpose, working with others is a passion of mine and when I can incorporate my love for art and design into that scenario that's when I'm most happiest."


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Paint the Moment - Chloé Bruce


Chloé was one of the initial FB users to catch my attention through my news feed for selling her work online - drawings, canvas paintings, canvas bags, cute handmade cuddly things, photography work and even tattoo designs. She seems to be one of those people whose passion for painting and creating art spills over into any medium she can get her hands on!


"Art has been a huge influence in my life since I was young, from the days when finger painting was all the craze up until today, and now all aspects of art interests me. I love expressing my feelings, creativity and imagination through my work, whether it's a photograph a painting or even a piece of design. It's what I know best."

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Not Your Hero - Pete Harries


The most recent work to be thrown up into my view has been Pete's Not Your Hero work. He's been working really hard over the past month to get his t-shirt business started, and if you check out the info on his FB page you can see he really means business!


"Each T-shirt is an individual experience, each one of our T-shirts has a story. With art specifically design for that cut of shirt and packaging specific to that design. At Not Your Hero we want to bring you shirts that you will look forward to putting on in the morning.

I love T-shirts.

And what's not to love? Such a simple garment with so many possibilities.

Actually I take that back, T-shirts are far from simple. Colour, texture, fit, design. Does it represent you? Does it show your beliefs? Or maybe your interests? Is it comfy? Does it smell nice? T-shirts are a complex blend of these elements, of which there are thousands of possibilities. The trouble is when you have thousands of possibilities combining them can produce a variety of outcomes, that's where another one of my loves comes into this story.

I love art.

Film, graphic design, music, photography, fashion, painting, video games, poetry, storytelling, cooking this list goes on... I love getting the chance to experience great art and I love being able to participate in creating great art for others to experience. When creating a great T-shirt there is a distinct art in selecting and creating the elements that will go into the shirt to create the finished work. To create an experience."

Well now, that sounds like a lot of love to me :)


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Toxic Games - Q.U.B.E.


Q.U.B.E. was the final year Computer Games Design project of a few guys in the year above me in uni. Facebook's A Year Ago Today feature is telling me that a year ago today, Dan Da Rocha was "off to Gamescom in Germany in the morning to promote QUBE! :D"

Clearly, it's been promoted pretty damn well because they have been all over the place now, attending conferences and being interviewed for the game, which is to be released in the next year! Very exciting. Check out the Q.U.B.E. game website here, and the blogspot here.

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Well there you go, five nice varied examples of loving your art, whatever it is, and working hard at it! Because sometimes this stuff doesn't just happen - you MAKE it happen ;)

Leave me a comment below if you enjoyed reading this post, found it useful, inspirational, or if there is anything you wanted to say or see me respond to next week!

Monday 8 August 2011

Sometimes it's like this stuff just happens...

Have you ever looked back at something you're particularly proud of doing and thought to yourself, "Did I really just do that?" I do it every time I make a pretty picture, every time I get a compliment on something I've made, every time I find a piece of artwork I did a long time ago... It really is like it comes out of no where.

During my final year of Uni, the title of the blog I set up to follow the work I did ("I'll make it pretty, you do the rest.") became kind of ironic. While I was there working on my final major project, trying to work out how to javascript some magic 3D/2D view switching into action in Unity3D, there Tim was focusing on the textures and the lighting and the baking. He was the one trying to make it look pretty, while I was the one trying to handle the rest.

It wasn't until I had finished spending all my energy on my dissertation and hand in for the final major project was over that I realised I hadn't drawn any sweet art in a long time. I actually began to forget what I was capable of. When I moved out of uni accommodation to live in a flat with some friends a month ago, I found a cardboard tube of old life drawings that I had done in blue biro on big paper back in my first year. I couldn't believe it. There was even a drawing of Ollie Elliott, freehand and in pencil, and you could easily tell who it was if you knew him. I barely even knew him back then.

I don't know which surprises me more; the fact that I can draw from observation, or the fact that I could forget something like that.

Thursday 4 August 2011

JustClick Psychometric Test

After automatically registering with JustClick when registering for something for Graduation day, I checked out the psychometric test on there. I was actually kind of surprised at what it came up with out of my input. Here's what it said:

DESCRIPTIVE WORDS
Dependable, compliant, deliberate, careful, amiable, systematic, persistent, precise, good listener, accurate, kind, perfectionist, logical, hesitant, reserved, mild, reflective, suspicious, self-conscious, accommodating, non-demanding, probing and serious.


GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS
- A perfectionist who strives to avoid error.
- Dislikes unrealistic deadlines and being pressurised to release work before she is satisfied it is correct.
- Works in a thorough and systematic manner in order to reach the perfect solution.
- Prepared to follow systems, rules and procedures.
- Needs time to adjust to change.
- Wants to tie up the loose ends and see an assignment through to conclusion.
- Logical even in adverse situations.
- Non-aggressive; dislikes trouble, conflict and hassle.


Motivators
Charlotte Gyseman is motivated by a happy home life, constant appreciation and security of situation. Maintaining the status quo is also important, as are reassurances and standard operating procedures. She dislikes sudden or abrupt changes and should be given sincere appreciation for a job well done.


Should Charlotte Gyseman have a boss, then ideally that person will be democratic in approach and recognise the need for security within the working environment. The requirements of the job should be clearly defined, understood and preferably given in writing.


Values Charlotte Gyseman brings to the Organisation
Charlotte Gyseman will be recognised and valued for her natural ability to perform consistently and predictably. This will be particularly noticeable when working in specialist or administrative roles and where she is called upon to maintain exacting standards of performance, both personally and for those with whom she works closely. What will also be apparent will be her special ability to stabilise excitable people, demonstrate loyalty and develop unique skills.

Not sure what percentage of the time this would be an accurate description of me, but it feels fairly accurate...

Monday 1 August 2011

Woops

I gotta stop saying that I'm going to keep doing something forever, because apparently I tend not to...

For the entire of July I may have taken around five photos of me for the whole month. Woops indeed. What I did manage to do, however, was keep a fairly accurate sleep diary throughout that time. Apparently, leaving Uni accommodation and moving to Cardiff did wonders to my sleeping patterns!

I'm not actually there right now, I'm back in my home Shire at my family's house. I need to get some plans made and in action for some income. I've got a little saved up to live off, but my cashflow is far too negative at the moment. I could probably quite easily go out and get a job, but my heart is set on getting some passive income on the go, which does mean that my Artfire shop has been suffering a little neglect. Instead I've been painting and drawing a few things, with the intention of turning them into posters or prints for sale online.

If you ever went on Kaneva, you might recognise one of my symbols...

I actually forgot that I was capable of drawing, until I found the life-drawings I did back in my first year of uni. How does someone like me just forget something like that?!

New Project: Chav City

A short while ago I asked my housemates to give me a game brief to work on. Here are some of the current details:

Chav City [working title] is a turn-based strategy game inspired by the Harry Brown film and a turn-based strategy game that I unfortunately don't remember the name of right now [should have written it down...].
There are three teams to choose from; the Chavs, the OAPs, and the Police, and there are three kinds of unit; Melee, Ranged, and Heavy.
Each team has a base [Council Estates, Retirement Home and Police Station], and the aim of the game is to take over an opponents base.


I'm pretty sure it would be easier to just make it as a board game, but the point of the project for me is just to see what it takes to make one of these kinds of games digitally.

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I've learned a tiny bit of Blender by watching the videos here: http://www.blendercookie.com/getting-started-with-blender/ It feels a bit odd learning something from the start again, but it will be good once I know how to use Blender as well as Maya.

I've also just discovered that there is a new version of Unity3D or something, it's been that long since I opened the program last. Not sure yet what has changed, so I will have to find out in a bit.