WEBLOG:
I’m still hard at work on the course material for the workshop I’ll be teaching at cgsociety.org. I keep cramming in more and more valuable knowledge and skills that I want to teach, and at this point I’m afraid if I add any more the students will not be able to absorb it all. But since I’m not just teaching one specific discipline but a wide range of knowledge and techniques that tackles just about every aspect of visual art, it’s hard not to try to fill the course to the brim. I mentioned before that I’m approaching the course as if I could travel back in time and spend eight weeks with my much younger self, trying to teach him everything I was dying to know back then, and also very important things I wasn’t even aware of but discovered later as I matured as an artist. Another way to look at it would be if I only have eight weeks left to live, and I must impart the most important knowledge and skills I have learned as an artist to date to the next generation, what would I fill those eight weeks with? I’m actually not sure if many people would even be interested in such a course, as many novice artists don’t know what it is they should be concentrating on, and they waste their time on things that have the least amount of effect on their growth as artists–such as trying to jump and fly when they haven’t even learned how to crawl, and then they wonder why they keep running in circles in frustration without seeing any significant improvement in their work.
Knowing how to learn and work smart as opposed to just working hard will get someone to the desired destination that much faster, and part of my workshop will cover how to get ahead faster and how to learn and improve in the most efficient manner. The entire course will cover everything from how to come up with ideas that has substance, the elements of composition, narrative approaches, color theory, lighting/values, body language/expressions, design and shapes, stylization and idealization, good learning and working habits, line quality, brushwork, surface polish, efficient workflow, powerful and intuitive editing techniques, troubleshooting an unsatisfactory image, how to survive and excel as a professional artist, and what to reach for as an artist in the grand scheme of your life’s journey…etc.
So, yeah, as you can, it’s a gigantic workshop covering the most important things I’ve ever learned as an artist to date, crammed into a very intense eight weeks.
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On the music front, I’ve been planning a collaboration with Ugo (www.ugoaudio.com), and I’m pretty excited about it, as we share some similar influences and the collaboration is really based on our mutual admiration and respect for each other as human beings and as creative talents. While we are similar in many ways, we are also quite different in other ways, and I think that makes a good combination in a collaboration. After a lot of discussion, we finally kicked off on the writing of our first song, and I can’t wait to see where it goes. For those of you who have never tried any of Ugo’s wonderful virtual instruments and effects, you really ought to take a look because they are some of the best out there. He’s got both free and commercial products, and the commercial stuff is very reasonably priced.
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I’ve been playing Dead Space and Mass Effect on the Xbox 360 during my breaks from working on the course material. I’m a real sucker for space horror stories, and so far I’m really enjoying Dead Space. It’s completely derivative in its story, premise, and gameplay mechanics, but it is very well executed and a very highly quality game. It does have a few original ideas that I really like, such as the lack of a GUI, with the health meter actually on the character, the ammo count on the weapon, and the inventory/map as a projected display about three feet in front of you, which moves with you as you walk around. Sure, the combination of eerie sound effects/music, horrifying creatures jumping out at you suddenly, and flickering lights that tends to black out a lot are established methods of scaring the crap out of people in both films and video games, but you know what, it works and it will go on working because our senses respond to them, just like how our mouths will water when we smell something delicious. Although in the past we’ve seen creators try to do something different by creating a horror atmosphere during well-lit scenes, and while it does work, I firmly believe that the same scenes lit to be dark will be that much scarier.
Mass Effect feels a lot like Knights of the Old Republic (one of my all-time favorite games), but the inventory and the combat doesn’t seem as intuitive or fun as KotOR. I know that the PC version has improved the inventory system a lot but since the buggy PC version is what broke the camel’s back and made me buy an Xbox 360, it’s a moot point. One thing that seems to be missing from Mass Effect is the more personal conversations between you and members of your group. I remember in KotOR, you can have in-depth and personal conversations with all members of your group and they feel more like fully developed personalities–thus you emotionally connect with them more. Mass Effect also seem to be missing a sense of humor. I think even a serious premise can use some humor if you where to sprinkle it without taking away from the overall seriousness of the premise. KotOR was brilliant in that department. I laughed so hard during some parts of that game, and none of the humor detracted from the seriousness of the premise at all.
I’ve also been enjoying Mafia Wars, an addictive little free game on Facebook. I’m not a social butterfly so I only have a few people in my mafia, but I enjoy buying properties and doing the jobs, and I’m curious to see how far I can get without having a large mafia.
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Elena got food poisoning and was bed-ridden for a couple of days. She passed her sick time with Season Four of Lost and Season one of Dexter–both I already watched and loved. She’s one of those people who are fearless when it comes to handling unsavory things like insects, dirty bills of money, door handles in public places, and so on. I on the other hand, treat those things like the bacteria-infested nests they are, and I disinfect with a small bottle of hand-sanitizer after touching those nasty things. I don’t overdo it when I’m home, as I know too much disinfecting will lower your body’s ability to deal with bacterias, but in public places, you just don’t know how disgusting strangers can be. I always urge her to be more vigilant about touching bacteria infested things and she never took it to heart. This time, after determining she did not ingest any foul food that could’ve caused the food poisoning as we ate the exact same things before her symptoms broke out, I told her it must be because she went about her usual ways while she was out, and whatever bacteria she got on her hands made their way into her. She’s usually very good about washing her hands before eating or when she gets home, but while she’s out she would touch things and then later rub her nose or something–hell, she’d touch my face after just handing some really disgusting looking paper bills–you know, those that look like they’ve been stepped on, dragged through the mud, and still moist to the touch– and I’d ward her off like a vampire demon until she’s disinfected her hands.
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Quickie movie reviews:
Gong Tau – For those of you unfamiliar with the term, “gong tau” is the Chinese pronunciation for oriental black magic popular in South East Asian countries like Malaysia, Thailand…etc. It’s basically the eastern equivalent of voodoo, and it’s pretty nasty stuff. I’ve always been fascinated by gong tau as I read a book about it as a kid and it always stayed with me. The film is a “third level” film, which in Hong kong film ratings is equivalent to I guess NC17 rating in the States. It features some really gory scenes such as a head being pulled out of the body with all the organs still attached. For horror fans, it’s a lot of fun–especially if you like black magic premises. The plot is a little reaching, but overall enjoyable.
Body of Lies – I’ll watch anything directed by Ridley Scott, since he’s one of the handful of directors whose career I follow (others include Ang Lee, Steven Soderbergh, Wong Kar-Wai, James Cameron, Michael Mann, David Lynch, David Fincher, Darren Aronofsky, Oliver Stone, Martin Scorsese, Steven Spielberg, Sam Mendes, Quentin Tarantino, Danny Boyle, and directors no longer with us like Krzysztof Kieslowski, Stanley Kubrick, and Akira Kurosawa). Body of Lies is a good espionage film, and I for one am glad to see Russell Crowe taking on roles that are unlike the type of characters he usually plays. I can’t say the same for DiCaprio though since no matter what role he plays, he always feel like the same character to me–that very intense guy who has a soft and vulnerable side. I want to see DiCaprio take on roles that will make me do a double take, but I’m not holding my breath. As for the story in the film, I’ll just say that any kind of human suffering brought upon by religion or politics makes my blood boil, because they could all be avoided if human beings aren’t so damn pig-headed, selfish, and cruel. As if surviving on this planet isn’t enough to deal with, we have to invent more bullshit to have wars about? How stupid can we be? For a self-proclaimed species of higher intelligence, we don’t actually have all that much wisdom, do we?
