Artist's Blog Stardate 09222016

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"Trying to define yourself is like trying to bite your own teeth." - Alan Watts

Hayao Miyazaki has always been a creative inspiration and a hero of mine. Although most people in the west have no idea who he is, they will at least know some of this work. Studio Ghibli is an institution, an idea that will never fade or die, even though the company has closed.

Today I watch this video, 'The essence of humanity' and would recommend it to anyone interested in storytelling, animation or exploring the human condition.




I love books, I don't have much time these days for novels but usually get a chance to catch up with audiobooks whilst cycling or at my desk. I have always made it a matter of fact to buy a few art books every few months. I've been quite particular as a few years ago these were expensive but thankfully they've declined in price over the years whilst the quality remained high. I started posting a few blogs about my books but I'm not much of a reviewer and there are far better individuals out there. Two of which I'm going to talk about today. Vong Yonghow and Teoh Yi Chie, better known as Parker. If you're thinking of buying an art book, search their blogs first. They have great videos and pictures of both cover and content, with an honest review. If it's not worth owning, they'll tell you and you can make up your mind with the visuals. Yeah, I know everyone likes different things, but if the paper and print quality are low, and overpriced for the content, it's worth knowing no matter how much you want to love it.

Vong Yonghow is a Singaporean CG artist based in Vancouver, Canada. He's worked on a bunch of great films and you can check out his demo reel here. Great reel, right, not you've watched that, you really you should check out his artbook review blog here.

I've been following Parker for years and year now. He must have a house full of books by now. He started reviewing books as a blog hobby and then gained followers as he reviewed a few trending Pixar books. I've been hooked ever since. A lot of his videos are posted on Amazon reviews. He has always been a deciding factor if I merely want or need a book. Check out his artbook review blog here.



It's been a busy week in and out of work. I've been mostly involved with the marketing department this week as we are trying to put together a new corporate identity and website. We had a pretty good site but it's becoming dated as our work takes a new direct, we switched to a template but felt it lacked the quality and sent the wrong message. We are a competitive global Art Studio with a really cheap looking website. Not a good idea.

I spent the day putting together a layout mockup and then the rest of the week building it. Hopefully, it will be finished next week and then go live a few days after.

You can check out the mockup below:







  





I've been doing too much talking and not enough action. Again. This time my idea for an immersive comic has already been done. It's sort of what I was thinking and would look great on a tablet but I'm hoping to create full 360 degree panels. This is a wonderful example to illustrate how great this concept would be.Will have to push hard to do final script revisions...
















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