29 August 2014

Balance



I have been very frustrated not having the time and privacy to draw lately... like all summer.  The past week I've had some time to finally get started on the 16 or so images I have ready to go (in my mind anyway). I did try to draw a couple things more piecemeal, 5 minutes at time here and there and they were HORRIBLE. I've just finished this so I might hate it later, but for the moment I feel like I got something back I had been missing and can add this to my series of acrobat illustrations. Still not happy with how I've been doing hair.. but overall I think it works.

26 August 2014

Introvert, "L'enfer, c'est les autres"

I have a very satisfying inner life. 
When told I am extremely introverted, the very idea seems to go right past most people. Simply put, I just don't get much from and actually lose something when I have to interact  with others. My ability to tolerate social situations is by most standards very, very short. While observing people can be interesting, I rarely have any desire join them. I get pleasure from solitary activities like drawing, reading, cycling to name a few. I get nothing but stress from group activities.  

I do have friends but I don't require any sort of social interaction even if they are sometimes enjoyable. I have been alone and isolated for weeks at time and never once did I miss the company of other people. By myself, I get a lot done, am never bored and my mental state is never better. I don't get lonely, I can’t even imagine myself feeling that way. I don't want solitude, I require it to function properly. Too long without and I have trouble eating, sleeping, working...even thinking.

There are huge advantages to being this way. I am self motivated, independent and can focus on my work and fun intensely for long periods of time. I don't need personal contact or hand holding to get through the day or a project. To process intense situations, like grief for example, the best way to support me is to leave me alone. I need personal reflection much more than discussion. 

If a more extroverted person is isolated from social situations for one reason or another, pretty much everyone knows its damaging, even dangerous to their heath physically and mentally. However, when I am forced into social situations, despite the having the same dangers, I am told it will be "good for me".

It won't be. 

Creative work is perfectly suited for my temperament. In fact, having other people around is deadly for many creative fields where focus, introspection and being able to experiment without people looking over your shoulder is key to being productive. The problem isn't being introverted, it is persuading people to let someone like me, with different strengths to take advantage of them instead of putting me into unproductive (to say the least) situations. 


This has been coming up a lot lately and no matter what I say, I get the same attitude that if I was just around more people ( like I haven't spent my entire life around them) I would magically go contrary to my entire life’s experience and see how "enjoyable" it is or because people find my company enjoyable then I automatically must feel the same way when I make it clear the opposite is the case. Just because I need to be left alone doesn’t mean I want to be an asshole about it. 

22 August 2014

Sketchbook Pro update - a huge disappointment



It's sad, I really loved using Sketchbook Pro to draw with as it's pen brushes look like the real thing, something photoshop has yet to pull off. The stripped down interface also helps. It wasn't without it short comings, most drawing have to be finished up in photoshop, but it was getting closer and closer to a one stop drawing program for my needs.

The new version was inching even closer as they released news of the new features, but this was all thrown in the trash when it suddenly arrived for sale on the Mac app store.

Yes, the features were there as promised but Autodesk dashed all hopes of me (and many others) buying it  when they decided to let their marketing department take over the company in same way Adobe has and made the software subscription only. Yes, they offer a non subscription version outside the app store, for more than I ever paid for a full version before, and yes, they do offer an upgrade price, which is about what I paid for a full version before but that is not available to app store buyers. To top it off, their online chat help is a robot whose answer to ever question is to tell you where to buy the new version online.

"You just lost a customer, sorry"
"The upgrade is available to those with serial numbers online"

REALLY?

The thing is, this pay us protection money every month or your software will "have a little accident and not work anymore" scam has not been working out all that well for Adobe or Microsoft so I don't know why anyone else would adopt it. They might as well be screaming "please pirate our software" at the top of their lungs at people who would never normally even think of doing such a thing.

So I'll be sticking tot he old version, finishing in my CS version of photoshop and looking around for the alternatives who are ever so quickly nipping at the heal of these money hogs for eventual replacements.

06 August 2014

Whale animation test


I might have a contract using Cinema 4d version 15 so I had to get access to it quickly and learn it as my current version was 11. I will write something up as I get more into it but I did manage to put together a short test.

You can also see the difference After Effects can make in this before and after still.