Aug 3, 2008

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Achieving Your Childhood Dreams

On my wall i have a note that reads “I lived as I dreamed.”

That little saying/message originated from the movie Neverwas, and every time I look at that note, It reminds me that some things we worry about are just not that important (some certainly are but not all), it also reminds me to keep my childhood dreams alive.

Related to the above I recently came across a talk from Carnegie Mellon professor and alumnus Randy Pausch (RIP), which once again puts things into perspective. I hope you enjoy his talk.

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Jul 20, 2008

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Battlestar Galactica Viper

In addition to sketching and learning techniques to improve what I do, I have also started to follow a tutorial to create a 3D model of one of my favorite spaceships, a Battlestar Galactica Viper.

Below is my work in progress.

There is still a bit more to do, but at least it is starting to take shape.

If you have not had a chance to watch this show I recommend it. We started by renting the series via Netflix and eventually moved to watch it online, we also purchased a couple episodes via amazon.com Unbox service.

One of these days we will add the DVD sets to our collection.

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Jul 18, 2008

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Don’t give up!

Yesterday I was at the store shopping for a chocolate bar (the local market must have about 40 different choices, seriously lol), and overheard a conversation between two employees. They were talking about art appreciation, and the initiation of an artist.

One of the individuals said that people can be attracted to a piece of art, have great taste for art but when they start to produce art, what they produce and what they like and appreciate is so different, and that sometimes it takes years to achieve the level where what the person appreciates and draws and/or produces is at the same level, he also said that people at some point give up the process and quit due to frustration, instead of continuing to try.

I thought I would post this here just in case you the reader happen to be in this situation, which I am guessing happens to all of us at various different times.

On a related note, I found a copy of this book at a local used book store “The New Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain” book by Betty Edwards, along with her workbook. Hmm, it turns out you can get a new book at Amazon.com for about the same price as what I paid for the used book (in the United States).

We already had an older release of the book (not the workbook) so my wife and I are both eager to see what else we can learn from the newer revisions. I can tell you this however, I did an exercise a couple of years ago from this book, in my case I had the opportunity to draw Woody from Toy Story by looking at a drawing that was upside down, I did pretty good actually… pretty close to the original.

If you get a chance check them out, either at your local store or by clicking on the images above.

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Jul 14, 2008

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Wall redecoration

I have been looking for some time for new posters to add to my room walls, and move some of the existing posters / art around.

A few weeks ago I managed to get a Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea movie poster.

Also just a few days ago I managed to secure another addition to the collection (it arrived today), I think I got lucky on this one… an original movie poster of Howl’s Moving Castle, the challenge is now going to be to find a frame large enough to hold it, these posters are very large.


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Jul 10, 2008

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Totoro Forest Project

What is the Totoro Forest Project?

It is an international fundraising exhibition/auction event to support the non-profit Totoro no Furusato Foundation (Home of Totoro) established by Hayao Miyazaki.

What is exactly the Totoro no Furusato Foundation?

Well, it is a non-profit foundation as mentioned above created with the purpose to preserve the beautiful natural habitat of Sayama Hills which is located about 24 miles from the Tokyo Japan metropolitan area. Sayama Hills is the location that inspired Hayao Miyazaki to write/create “Tonari no Totoro (My Neighbor Totoro)” in 1988. If you have not seen this movie, you must see it.

The Auction / Exhibition

Over 200 top international artists that work in different mediums have donated work specially created for this event.

The benefit auction will be held at Pixar Animation Studios on September 6th, 2008, a book will be available at this event as well that contains all the work that was donated. There will also be a special exhibition of selected artwork from the auction at the Cartoon Art Museum in San Francisco, California from September 20th to December 7th 2008.

I already spotted a couple of pieces that would be nice to have in my room, who knows maybe I will get to own a piece of artwork, or maybe I wont be so lucky and will have to just donate some money to the cause.

Please share this info with everyone you know, and if you live locally maybe we will run into each other at one of these events.

More information found at: Totoro Forest Project and Enrico Casarosa’s blog announcement.

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