Values over color time?

I got it into my head today that I might start painting values in monochrome and then handling the color on separate layers. This seems to be quite prevalent in the industry now and leads to some nice organic output. But you can certainly kiss the painterly look goodbye. So I went ahead and did a little value study slash geek porn. I'm now thinking of refining the creature sketch and placing it into a more interesting backdrop.

Indecision

Publish Post

I'm currently working with an indecisive client who not only wants to change the design he originally chose, but he has now opted for three different company names wherein the design has had to be redone accordingly. I sometimes wish to be taken out back and shot for the value I assign to my own work. Moral of the blogette is, learn when to say F**k off.

Chick Lit

I once heard a political cartoonist say that you should make the effort to draw every day, even if it's just a simple doodle. Well, we can't have doodles sullying our good name. Here's a nice and simple salute to PF that shows not a hint of hesitation in its execution (swoon, bitch).

Clients that get away

Every now and then - or rather more than I'd like to admit - I find myself having to do some spec work to snare a client. I've played into the hands of the viral tendency of competing for larger prizes than would be available for regular work. I've devoted a preposterous amount of my valuable time doing speculative work on sites like crowdspring, logotournament and 99designs, only to have the prize snatched away at the last second (not to say that these gigs have been without benefit - to become a no-spec advocate, you're either a professional seeing your revenue decline, or someone who's dabbled in the den of iniquity)

This here preview sheet was also done to entice the omniscient client to award me the project. As is so often the case he brazenly ignored it and the whole thing fell through. **Weep**

Anxiety or Imminent Threat?

I've been very short on money recently due to some haphazard financial maneuvering. So I scoured the bottom of the cookie jar to find a few bonus pennies that were still on my credit card. The final pay date was a few days overdue, though, so I wasn't even sure if I could make payment on the few staple groceries I was purchasing at the supermarket. The beads of sweat always like to make an appearance during times like these.

When Reality Becomes Self-Saturating

HOW A WEB DESIGN GOES STRAIGHT TO HELL

I've posted this here and there, but can't help but go back to it for some comic relief. There's scarcely any exaggeration here. I might recount a few horror stories of my own some time.

STOP! Banner Time

The blog header is finally complete. I wanted a unique and fun concept that had people asking questions. Questions such as "what's with the starfleet guy?", and "why are they lounging around in that bit of rolling paper?".

I find that I am finally much more inclined to take risks and employ the full tweaking capabilities at my disposal. I used to be quite averse to this. It felt like I was cheating or depleting my innate ability to deliver. As if even undoing was the realm of satan. Fuck that! It's a new world, and pinkies and large penises are on their way out.

The design was going to be in full glorious color, but as I wanted the focus to be on the pet alien and the officer, I decided to knock the color out and only hint at the presence of my inquiring face in the background. It seems to have worked well here.

Just a side note: the crown on the rolling paper refers to my favorite brand. They're available in Turkey for a fraction of the price of better known brands. But here's the rub. They lack the gum that allows you to roll a ciggy and keep it shut. So the trick is to wet one end and tear little bits off before you lick and close up. I've met someone who was able to explain the physics of this process. He'd had one too many that night.

Animating a Rock

Well, this is some animation work I can handle with ease. Yet another iphone app will see the light of day in sleeker and zanier fashion. Of course I've been tweening mostly and exporting to image files, which leads to a great deal more frames than might be necessary and make the game more memory intensive. We'll just have to see what the client thinks.

Keeping to the subject of animation, I have in recent years tested the waters of this difficult yet rewarding narrative method. It does not pay dividends in the short term. Patience is of the essence.