My previous post “You know you’re a Graphic Designer when…”, my most popular post in fact, really does show my true nature. I am guilty of all of that and more. I don’t mind the tediousness of leading and kerning. I don’t mind staring at the blank pages for hours on end. I don’t even mind dealing with crazy clients. In the end, if what I produce is good, or at least meet my base expectation, I am happy.

When I was little, I didn’t want to art to be my career path, but somehow through the winding roads of life, here I am; my pencil is what put food on my table.

It’s not that bad. I don’t think. Life is funny like that but things could be worse. With the economy the way it is, I really hope that it won’t be worse. I’m hoping that things will pick up and I can find work as easily as I once did. Oh well, for now, I will make these design for these “clients”.

(For the record, Tekpwn.com is a real company and I am their designer.) If you need good Tech Support, do call. We can provide tech support to and from anywhere in the world. No we do not have an outsource company in India. It’s all here in the good ol’ US of A.

Anyway, the focus of the short is about this girl who’s running away from her reality and finding herself in a completely different reality than her own. After a few misadventures, she learns that she can’t run away from her problems. The only way get rid of them is to face them head on.

Well, it’s not an original concept but this short is more of an animation showpiece than a deep and meaningful portrayal of a story. Hopefully things will turn out well. To the left  is a concept for the main heroine. I’ve been trying to come up with the concept for her character for a month now. It finally materialized into something. Cheers!

Hopefully, hopefully, when the summer begins to fade, I will have the time I need…..

I could say more, but i just want to put that experience behind me…..

My passion for the arts may not show in the amount of comic books and art posters or paintings on my wall. It is not even in the hours I put in to perfect my craft, and I do slave away trying to reach that impossibility. My passion for the art is in my pure appreciation of the art. True art appreciation isn’t around anymore. I believe that’s because true art is rare. I don’t think people really understand or know what true art is. To appreciate art is to understand what art is.

Art isn’t taught or is rarely taught in schools nowadays. Therefore, most grow up not knowing or understanding what art really is. Today’s imbalance society values the scientific and logical more than the artistic and aesthetic.

Most scoff at art today because they do not understand artists and what they see in modern art. Some knows nothing about art but pretend they do because, I suppose, it’s signal of the high society. These people would spend a few grand on a couple pieces of drawings to hang around the house. They would speak about the colors and the lines of the piece spewing meaningless jargon. Art connoisseurs are what they call themselves – art enthusiasts or art collectors.

Art is so much more than perfect lines. Art is more than pretty colors.

Those who hold art degrees are the worst culprit. They go around criticizing little insignificant details of a piece of art. These people are the worst of all because they are what the laymen see.

Passion is what make art, well, art. If you can see it within the piece, it is art. If you can see the hours of dedication within each stroke of paint, the heart of the artist within the placement of each blob of colors, or the yearning of perfection beyond the piece of art, then that, my friend, is a piece of art

The sad truth is that most don’t see it. They won’t see what I so much want them to be able to see, what I so much want to share with the world.

There are those that argues with me about what is art and what is not. Whatever anyone else tells you, this is what art, at the core, truly is.

Art is more than a few blotches of paint on canvas or a bunch of squiggly lines on a piece of paper. True artists are more than just a great doodler. Your ability to draw or paint does not merit you an artist. Artists are merit by their passion and ability to express themselves through lines and colors or whatever else mean they so choose.

A building is an architect’s masterpiece. A dress is a designer’s work of art. Anything and anyone can be considered an artist if they put heart and soul into what they create through passion and hours of labor. An artist do not work for fame or money. An artist work to satisfy that thirst for creativity and that impossible goal of perfection. They work to be better; they work because they can’t stand to do anything else; they work because it is their life, their soul.

Michaelangelo sculpted until he the day he died. He couldn’t stop even with rheumatoid arthritis. Vincent Van Gough cut off his ears to make a statement, an artistic statement – contrary to what most people believe. Frank Lloyd Wright fought the world with his artistic ideals even though he was alienated by most of his peers during the beginning of his career because he couldn’t do anything else except what he was inspired to do.

There are true artists out there, too, dedicated, talented, and unheard of. They earn their place among the above mentioned masters.

Great art isn’t measured by perfect lines or pretty colors. It’s the passion and message within the piece itself.

About the same that I got my fish, I also got a little baby turtle. He was one of the oddest pet. When I got Turtley (not much imagination in names, I know), I didn’t have turtle food. Therefore, I fed him little lettuce leaves, the baby ones from the center.  By the time I got around to buy Turtley turtle food, he refused to eat it. He also refused to eat any other veggie or lettuce, except the tiny ones from the center. My turtle died.