Fantasizing over Fantasies

My concept was Invincibility, while this in itself is a narrowed down version of a fantasy concept, I've come to a stalemate with it.  All of my art and sketches seem fantasy based beyond just the invincibility aspect.  I feel as though I should pursue pieces in that direction because that is what I am most motivated and inspired by.  I would define fantasy as:  Something not achievable at the current date.  An example would be drawing a world with hover cars;  Those don't exist and won't with the tech we have now, however it could most certainly be a reality in the distant future.  I believe I could also do work on invincibility because though it isn't achievable now, it could be in the future.  As to how that could happen will be left to the imagination and transferred to paper.   I also feel more inclined to doing fantasy work because there is a whole universe I could create pieces for, and I believe having many pieces that tie together some how is much butter than a lot of pieces that have no real connection.  I could for instance take a transformer and put it in the future disguised as a space ship.  The ability to tie in many different ideas that link to each other has always been something interesting to me because as the pieces develop, the ideas evolve and change with it.

Dreams

Not too long ago my friend Shane told me of a dream he had where he saw this guy and girl sitting on buildings opposite of each other on the street. The guy was reaching out for the girl across from him while her building was collapsing with her on it.  I've had this image stuck in my head for a long time.  I've wanted to draw it but I couldn't understand how it would at all relate to my concept.  But maybe my concept isn't invincibility.  Maybe my concept is life and the imminent end of it.  Maybe it's the true power of the human spirit.  I'm not sure, but I believe that I need to explore what else inspires me, what motivates me to draw and do art again.  I've lost my spirit for it lately it seems.  

Well anyways.  I want to draw Shane's dream because it relates to me.  It's become personal to me.

It should consist of dulled colors, motion objects, emotion, and perspective.  Possibly over the guys shoulder facing the falling girl.  I'm thinking the setting in the day time, but foggy.  Maybe in paris with fog engulfing them and the eifel tower in the background just a dark shadow.

Considerations

After watching the walking dead tonight, and the show ending with a very crappy way to go, I had this idea to play off my invincibility concept.

The picture would be of a zombie crawling with no limbs but a arm pulling it forward and its spine dragging limply behind it.  This concept is something I would like to do in coordination with my novel I am submitting to the NaNoWrMo team this year at our regional novel competition.  This would be a accurate way of producing a story board that supports my story and re enforced the over all theme of the story than just leaving the entire story to the readers mind.  It would be a progression of pieces incorporating my theme and accompanied by my story.  I'll start drawing designs up tonight focusing on angle and perspective when it suits.

if you all have any sources of which would be useful for this type of project, such as similar projects of others, tips, ideas, or how to's please share!

Hit and Miss

I want to apologize in advance before I begin for the late post.  I was going to do it yesterday before work, but my internet stopped working about 3 hours before I went in, and I wasn't able to get off till midnight last night, at which point it slipped my mind until now.

As of late I've found myself doing more and more fantasy work, and not only that but viewing more and more fantasy work as well.  As I was browsing on deviant art one day, I stumbled across this piece produced by *perzo, however I can not display the image due to the fact that deviant art protects its users galleries.  Here is a link to the piece.
What really attracted me to the piece was the ferocity with which the colors were placed in the grim piece.  The trails give hints of quick and sudden movement making it all the more threatening, while the figures themselves represent a force to be formidable.  The darkest points on the picture, strangely enough, are the character and the wolf.  The piece entitled "warpath" leads to explain the environment.  The skulls beneath thier feet in a musty blue stain color and the trees bare barked in fog leave trace to emotions of deep fear and anxiety which are also contrasted by the vibrant red within the piece.  All in all the piece is very well structured and POV well thought, this piece is one of my newest favorites

Source: http://www.deviantart.com/#/d3g9khu

Rejuvenating Old Ideas in a New Way

For years artists of all kinds from filmmakers. to photographers have been trying different ways to bring the past into the present, without (and excuse my attitude) making it dull.  You see it in all the comics turned films and films updating their older ancestors.  One such example would be Tron.  The  first edition would release in 1980 and become an instant hit and cult classic for years to follow.  However like every thing else in this world, it lost its new cinema shine, like any other art it met its "shelf life" limit.  As time went on, those who knew about Tron and how revolutionary it was would still ramble occasionally on  about it while the majority of the population and up and rising teenagers would by now have either forgotten about it or didn't know of it.

 

       [Left - Tron 1982]                                                            [Right - Tron: Legacy 2010]

Then in 2010, nearly three decades later a american movie producer sought to inspire the new generation with the same kind of electrifying feeling he had experienced in the 1980s.  As a result, Tron: Legacy was born.  Although the original concept was there, this director took the story of Tron and made it to appeal to the current generation.  Like any other artist, this one saw a chance to make something truly remarkable from a old idea and made it new again.

This idea has been around for years, and a lot of current day use this technique to create unique and irreplaceable pieces.  Many use traditional techniques to achieve the effect of the old style, like photographers using Polaroid or Holga camers, while others use Photoshop to create the same style as their antique counterparts.

In time will our generation be so outdated that years from now that people have to do what we do to consider something antiqued? Or have we reached a point of succession where everything physically possible for art has been achieved thus far, besides the finer aspects?  Time will only tell, but no matter what we will all think of the past and present and we will still always try to hold onto it.  For better or worse the past is here to stay in the arts.

Sources: 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tron:_Legacy

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tron#Origins

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Distressing

Digital Illustration

This is a technique I would like to learn. The first two are Adobe Photoshop edited, and the second two were made from scratch using Adobe Illustrator.  Again, I could not locate the names of these pieces, and they are property of their respective owners.

I have two goals I would like to accomplish:

1- Achieve at least an amateur level status on photo editing, placement, and knowledge of every major tool necessary to produce an acceptable photo edit capable of competition entry. Preferred program: Adobe Photoshop

2- To achieve near mastery of illustration and graphic design and a full knowledge and mastery of the basic and most necessary tools which are required to produce a full digital piece. Preferred program: Adobe Illustrator

Artists Style

A certain artists, under the alias HaveConquest on Deviant Art, has a style of which appeals massively to me.

Here are a few pieces of his work so you can see his style.  (Pardon me for the piece names, I couldn't find them.)

What I like most about his work is that it looks extremely detailed and beautiful, yet when you closely observe it, it looks very low detailed and as if it were whipped up in a half second.  This makes me envious and inspired to be able to do the same things as HaveConquest.  I truly am inspired by his work because his pieces are all very imaginative and minimalist which are two of my favorite characteristics.  His works are real world based but have an alternative perspective.

One day I would like to achieve the ability to produce such artworks as he does.  All of his pieces are digital and well animated in his animations.  He is a very devotional artist due to his portfolio on DA, he has practices and tests that go over thousands of different figures in which he produces one by one in a matter of time.  

The implications of the color in the clean but vibrant neutral colors is striking to me visually.  I hope within time we will learn to produce artwork like this digitally.

Architectural Drafter

Overview:  Prepare detailed designs and plans for buildings and structures according to the architects specifications.

Start Expenses: None

Wages: On Avg.  $21/hr $45,600/Annual

Education: Bachelors degree in engineering; Civil Drafting/Civil Engineering

Portfolio:  Contents should include previous, if any, work experience in this career field, or previous acceptance applications for internships.  

To perform in this career field, the worker must have a knowledgable background with computer systems when graphing equations and interpreting data on a computer screen and a wide understand of the necessary skills required outside of computer systems. (Simply understand the math and you'll be fine)

Sources:

http://www.onetonline.org/link/summary/17-3011.01

Concept

My concentration is invincibility, ideal invincibility not corrupt invincibility.   And I had just thought of this piece I wanted to make out of charcoal of a guy walking on a wall in a hallway and his arms spread wide.  How could this fit into my concentration so I can produce this piece and still revolve around my central idea of invincibility?

Graphic Designer? No sir.

I would NOT be interested in a career in graphic design because of these three major reasons:
1- The salary starting and ending at the highest points would not be enough to support my lifestyle I wish to lead.
2- Constantly putting in hours of work at a computer for nearly 3/4 of your day and week makes it hard to have a life other than work.
3-The art field itself is a very competitive industry and you have to have high talents to land a good job and a lot of people are twice as likely to try to be a graphic designer because of the fact that it's one of the highest paying art jobs and most readily needed.

Simply put, the work put in to be a graphic designer would not be worth the rewards.

Sources: http://www1.salary.com/Graphic-Design-Specialist-salary.html