It's Monday! That means time for another post! Yay!
So, I have no idea what to write about. Today I basically watched anime and drew chibi's all day, which is something I usual don't draw so I felt I was practicing something new. I also watched Fruits Basket since I haven't had time to finish that anime.
I went to the Teen Choice Awards on Sunday, August 16, and that's something I usually don't get to do, so it was exciting. My friend and I saw celebrities such as Sabrina Carpenter, 5 Seconds of Summer, Ellen, John Stamos, and everyone else you saw on television if you watched it. One day I'll be up there! For which award I don't know, but I see myself up there in the future. Our seats where practically backstage so we had a good view of celebrity heads, and a really good view of the crew setting up equipment for the up coming performances. I liked watching the work being put in to make the visual on television seem so "perfect" in a way. Television/video creators are such artists at forming what they want the audience to view. You have a small stage and camera that are moving around the actual smaller than expected room, yet everyone at home gets a different idea of what the show looks like.
On another note, I got to briefly see USC's School of Cinematic Arts which was really cool because I love entertainment and want to work in film (or maybe game design....as long as I'm doing art for entertainment).
I'm still trying to finish a character project I've been working on Photoshop, however, because of its "painterly" style it is taking forever-and-a-half. But on my next free day I should really concentrate on it since that drawing is almost done. As a challenge I started creating that same character on Illustrator and realized the vector techniques produce the character sooooo much faster, although the style is completely different. Hopefully in the upcoming weeks I can write a blog about Photoshop and Illustrator.
Sorry if this Monday's blog is slightly scattered, I just wasn't sure what to write about. I blame too much anime (and my extremely long nap). Till next time!
Monday, August 24, 2015
Tuesday, August 18, 2015
Multiple Identity Crisis
So, I have a friend named Jess.
Who likes Jess, but she knows that Jess is different than Jessica.
Jessica shows up on more professional occasions, but for other occasions she likes the "Amazing and Powerful Empress Jessica Ha-Queen-de" because - well...........just because.
Overall, she just wants to find herself and all her other selves and be able to manage the whole flock of herselves......or herself.
WHAT IS MY NAME?!
Basically, I am dealing with figuring out how I want to brand myself, and what is the best way to go about it (also, sorry I'm late with my post).
I started CreativeLifeJMJ as a place to be myself and share more of my illustrations and design work, while I left my name "Jessica Jacuinde" as my fine art side. I wanted to keep these sides split so if I ever came across someone in the entertainment industry I could point them to my CreativeLifeJMJ accounts, and if I was trying to apply for an art exhibit I can have my full name for that. However, since the entertainment industry is professional too, I've come to realize that I want to use my full name for that too. I am also trying to decide if I want to leave CreativeLifeJMJ as a place just for my illustrations and designs, or if I want to do what I originally intended to do and just have an outlet for whatever I wanted to post. The more I think about it, the more I want to just have one place where my audience can see all my work and not have it split, because when I'm applying to a job I want all my skills and variety of styles to be present.
There's a lot to think about and figure out still, but right now trying to deal with splitting myself into two people (designer vs. fine artist) or staying whole is one of the issues I am facing. Like everything else in life, this is "to be continued."
Who likes Jess, but she knows that Jess is different than Jessica.
Jessica shows up on more professional occasions, but for other occasions she likes the "Amazing and Powerful Empress Jessica Ha-Queen-de" because - well...........just because.
Overall, she just wants to find herself and all her other selves and be able to manage the whole flock of herselves......or herself.
WHAT IS MY NAME?!
Basically, I am dealing with figuring out how I want to brand myself, and what is the best way to go about it (also, sorry I'm late with my post).
I started CreativeLifeJMJ as a place to be myself and share more of my illustrations and design work, while I left my name "Jessica Jacuinde" as my fine art side. I wanted to keep these sides split so if I ever came across someone in the entertainment industry I could point them to my CreativeLifeJMJ accounts, and if I was trying to apply for an art exhibit I can have my full name for that. However, since the entertainment industry is professional too, I've come to realize that I want to use my full name for that too. I am also trying to decide if I want to leave CreativeLifeJMJ as a place just for my illustrations and designs, or if I want to do what I originally intended to do and just have an outlet for whatever I wanted to post. The more I think about it, the more I want to just have one place where my audience can see all my work and not have it split, because when I'm applying to a job I want all my skills and variety of styles to be present.
There's a lot to think about and figure out still, but right now trying to deal with splitting myself into two people (designer vs. fine artist) or staying whole is one of the issues I am facing. Like everything else in life, this is "to be continued."
Monday, August 10, 2015
Week After the "Creating a Schedule" Blog
I'm here to report that I didn't follow my schedule.
Well, for the most part I did.
But not exactly.
For some reason at the end of last week I did not feel I followed my schedule because I did not get to some items on my list, however, after going back over my schedule, I actually did do some of what is on my list. That's okay I did not follow it exactly. This was only the first week, and often it is hard to completely succeed the first time doing something. So, time to reflect. Let's look at two separate lists, "Reason Why I Didn't Follow My Schedule" and "What Can I Do to Improve My Schedule".
Reasons Why I Didn't Exactly Follow My Schedule:
What Can I Do to Improve My Schedule:
I say "improve" my schedule instead of "how can I follow it" because I realize that this is something that I set for myself. The boss of this schedule is me, so I need to work with myself to find the best solution. Does myself understand? Yes, self I understand.
Before this becomes a blog about my discussions with myself, here is what I plan to do different:
If anyone has advice as to how they manage and follow their own schedule please comment below. Thank you! Be creative!
Well, for the most part I did.
But not exactly.
For some reason at the end of last week I did not feel I followed my schedule because I did not get to some items on my list, however, after going back over my schedule, I actually did do some of what is on my list. That's okay I did not follow it exactly. This was only the first week, and often it is hard to completely succeed the first time doing something. So, time to reflect. Let's look at two separate lists, "Reason Why I Didn't Follow My Schedule" and "What Can I Do to Improve My Schedule".
Reasons Why I Didn't Exactly Follow My Schedule:
- Waking up at 7am: Waking up at an earlier time than I've been usually waking up is slightly difficult, especially when I wake up that early knowing I don't really have to wake up at that time. (and I'm a night owl) Self discipline is necessary to work on when working from home and for yourself. I notice that when I have a deadline or job for someone else, I can easily discipline myself to get it done. Yet, when I am working for myself I can feel a little sluggish. Insert slug image I worked on today:
- I had way too many expectations: Recognizing that one may not get everything done that they wanted to get done is important to understanding what is real. I thought I could commit enough time to multiple projects in one day, but since I wanted to do my best on the project I was working on, other projects needed to be put on hold. It seems better to focus on one thing at a time to make sure that one project is extremely good than to work on many projects and have a bunch of semi good ones.
What Can I Do to Improve My Schedule:
I say "improve" my schedule instead of "how can I follow it" because I realize that this is something that I set for myself. The boss of this schedule is me, so I need to work with myself to find the best solution. Does myself understand? Yes, self I understand.
Before this becomes a blog about my discussions with myself, here is what I plan to do different:
- Allow myself enough time for individual projects.
- Wake up at 7am or at least close enough to that time (8am for starters)
- Make time to respond to emails and look up new opportunities every morning (at least give 30 - 45 minutes for this)
- Write in my planner every night to remember my plans for the upcoming day
If anyone has advice as to how they manage and follow their own schedule please comment below. Thank you! Be creative!
Thursday, August 6, 2015
ART 326: Character Designing and Creating Sprite Sheets
This past year at California State University, San Bernardino, I took an Interactive Multimedia Design class where we, the artists, worked with the gaming class, the programmers. When I took the class it was the first time the university offered it, and I really enjoyed the experience. It was very much like a work environment were we worked in teams and discussed plans for our game.
As artists, we divided ourselves and distributed the jobs. Each of us worked on a few character designs, while I also had the job of creating sprite sheets. Since our goal for the quarter was to have a really simplistic demo done, I did not have to create all of the characters but only the characters that were necessary for that section. I usually do "painterly" styled digital work, so this was a new challenge for me. On top of that I had never used Adobe Illustrator before, and I knew I needed to create vector graphics because we were not entirely sure about the size we needed the characters yet.
To start off, I created a few character designs. When creating a design for a character it's a good idea to draw them in different styles. This way you get an idea with what you (or your team) feels goes best with the tone of the game (or any other product). Also when determining what style to go with, remember that more detailed work usually takes more time to render, and rasterized images are harder to expand.
Here are some sketches I did with colored pencil:
After discussing with my group, we decided to go with one style for the sprites and a more detailed one for the sprites that pop-up to talk. While I was still sketching ideas of the character design, I taught myself Adobe Illustrator by fiddling around with the tools and lots of YouTube videos (Youtube, one of my best friends). Here is the sprite sheet I ended up creating.
Even though we never continued adding to the game after the class, I really enjoyed the work environment and very hands on experience getting to communicate with other students from a different field. I definitely would recommend taking a class like this (or this same class). Also, don't be afraid to experiment and use a program you've never used before.
Monday, August 3, 2015
Creating a Schedule
So I have my goal (I've decided to play checkers ((refer to previous blog))), which is finding myself as an artist. Now I need to form a game plan.
Keeping a consistent, yet flexible, schedule is a great way to motivate yourself and stay on track. I always have so many ideas and want to do so much, but when I do not set an actually plan sometimes nothing (or little bits of everything) gets done. If you are serious about obtaining your goal, get a planner or even a sheet of paper, and write down your schedule. Being able to physically see your schedule written down as opposed to holding it in your head will help you remember what to do and in what particular order.
I have my own little mint planner (loving that color so much right now) that I try to write everything down, so not only do I know what I want to do, but I have a record of what I have previously done so I remember my days better. For my path of discovering myself, and growing up, I have decided I will try to follow this general schedule, until I form an even more solid one:
Keeping a consistent, yet flexible, schedule is a great way to motivate yourself and stay on track. I always have so many ideas and want to do so much, but when I do not set an actually plan sometimes nothing (or little bits of everything) gets done. If you are serious about obtaining your goal, get a planner or even a sheet of paper, and write down your schedule. Being able to physically see your schedule written down as opposed to holding it in your head will help you remember what to do and in what particular order.
I have my own little mint planner (loving that color so much right now) that I try to write everything down, so not only do I know what I want to do, but I have a record of what I have previously done so I remember my days better. For my path of discovering myself, and growing up, I have decided I will try to follow this general schedule, until I form an even more solid one:
Sunday
open for finding opportunities or working on my own projects
Monday - Thursday
wake up at 7am
morning routine
(write blog on Monday and Thursday)
work 4-6 hrs.
break
work on designs
Friday
wake up at 7am
morning routine
work 2-4 hrs.
break
personal project
Saturday
work
open rest of the day
This is my schedule I have set for myself for now. Let's see if I can keep it or when I can improve it. Remember, if you are trying to discipline yourself more and get the most out of your day, setting a schedule can be beneficial. Also, life happens, and everyday will not be according to plan, so try to work around it and get ahead of projects if you know something is coming up. You can always switch times and activities around until you figure out what works best. It's your schedule.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)