Happy Halloween Treats

Here are my Treats:

Presidential Pumpkins Stencils are hot. (Read More and get stencil)

Free Halloween E-Cards From Art Paw. ( Click Here)


Check out The Skull a Day Blog.

Catrina from Kraken Mosaics

She also has a great Mosaic Skull


Visit Flickr for tons of great Halloween pets.

Was Don Quixote serious?

I've been prompted this morning to wake up early and have my breakfast at a local bakery (Panera Bread). It's already the end of the week and I'm seized by that terrible feeling I could have gotten more accomplished. So I launch my morning in a final attempt to squeeze the juice to the last drop. At 9:30 a.m.--when I'm usually sitting at my computer and checking email in my boxer shorts--I'm at the library ready to work.

Last night I watched a clip on YouTube with my girlfriend. I'd seen this clip the night before but because it made me think I wanted to see it again. In this short video, Alan Watts, a British philosopher and student of comparative religion, asks the question, "Is it serious?"

By "it" he means the drama of human existence. And this is a question that has lurked in the back of my mind for some years now. I've wondered about the illusory nature of reality; I studied Buddhism for awhile. I've questioned my deepest struggles and asked whether they were basic or essential, or simply an involuntary creation of my emotions and my ego.

Ask my girlfriend, I am not an especially serious person, and I can even be downright nonsensical at times. I am however very goal-oriented and I take great pleasure in getting things accomplished. In addition, I'm a writer and it seems that writers have to prove themselves before anyone takes them "seriously". Which means, by extension, I have to take myself seriously.

Mr. Watts points out the distinction between work and play. Work tends to follow a linear path; we are working toward a certain end point, even if that end point is the beginning of more, perhaps different, work. In contrast, when we play we have no destination in mind, and the object of play is play itself.

Where does my rigid mentality toward life come from? Was I taught this attitude of seriousness? At times even my play feels effortful and self-conscious. In the last chapter, Autumn Unfolds, I talked about how nature unfolds rather than works to become the different seasons. The leaves fall without effort, not a moment too early, not a moment too late.

I've lost touch with my internal clock. It may be in sync with the seasons but I'm not in sync with it. The clock that I bow down to is the external one on my dashboard. I need to keep an eye on the hour so that everything gets done in a day.

Should there be a point to everything? Should there be a destination?

I've forgotten about the journey. The journey has completely slipped my mind.

Let me tell you a story. In my junior year of college, I dropped out of school. I was on drugs and my parents wanted to send me to rehab so I went to a fancy rehab center in Tuscon, Arizona. After twenty eight days in rehab, they said I wasn't done yet so I went to live in a half-way house in California.

While I was supposed to be getting clean, I was fantasizing about a journey. I wanted to run away from the halfway house and travel around the South West. It depressed me that I was stuck in a house full of ex-junkies and that my day was strictly regimented, drug classes in the morning, work in the afternoon, AA meetings at night. It angered me that I had to sweep the floor, cut the lawn, pull the weeds, and clean the toilets. There seemed to be no end to these menial jobs. My life had become all work and no play.

One afternoon I bought a bottle of whiskey and drank it in the parking lot behind the liquor store. They tested us for alcohol every week, and so I got caught. They asked me to leave the halfway house. Finally, I had the perfect excuse to go on my journey. Like Don Quixote, I set off to an unknown land. Instead of a skinny horse I took a battered Greyhound bus; instead of chasing windmills I went to Las Vegas.

During this erratic wandering, I didn't have a goal in mind. Without a destination or even a purpose for leading an existence other than to have adventures, I immersed myself in a sort of dreamworld. The people I met would enter into my Novel of Life and become instant characters.

I traveled from Las Vegas back to Tuscon and then I hitchhiked through Arizona, where I was picked up by strangers on the highway, and on some nights I slept in the desert. Looking back it seems there was more "play" during this time of my life than any other. My undisciplined mind exulted in breaking the rules of a serious life and "playing" with the limits of reality. Doctors and psychologists had a hard time talking to me because I turned everything into a performance. I also suffered from delusions of grandeur.

Today, almost ten years later, I find myself confronted with the opposite extreme. Too much work and not enough play. I am living the regime of the halfway house without the halfway house itself. My adolescent self understood something that not even my adult self can grasp. If somebody had played the Alan Watt's clip for me, I would have recognized the philosophy as my own. Back then, it was my job to undermine seriousness. I mocked authority figures who seemed to represent a culture of goal-oriented freaks.

While it's true I've become one of those goal-oriented freaks, I do understand that play is not simply a wild rampage. Play is more nuanced than I once thought in my adolescence. The drama of existence may not be serious, but on the other hand, it is also no joke. Therein lies the paradox.

Tenjin Hidetaka art works of Macross Valkyries

Amazing book featuring Japanese artist Tenjin Hidetaka. That is seriously some of the best aircraft art I've ever seen. Happy Halloween!























Tenjin Hidetaka conceptships weekly header #33 October 31st - November 7th, 2008

Keywords: japanese concept transforming vehicle valkyrie designs from by Tenjin Hidetaka art works of Macross Valkyries illustrated book american adaptation by carl macek robotech the macross saga harmony gold

Vector Masks Collection

A pack of 11 free ancient culture masks illustrations in vector format by vrocker. Inside you will also find an illustration of two Rapa Nui Statues...

The pack is fully customizable with Adobe Illustrator. Scroll down for a detailed preview 

Note: To use, decompress the *.rar file with WinRar or StuffIt (Mac Os). Download RAR

Vector Ink Splatters

A set of vector 20 splatter shapes for Adobe Illustrator from Flamart. You can use them for creating a grungy atmosphere in your digital artwork, quickly draw ink drops or design a background texture...

The pack contains an EPS file format version so you can use this resource with other vector editors. Download

Concept ships by Bruno Werneck

Bruno's website.





Keywords: concept artist from rio de janeiro working at midway games bruno werneck concept spaceship art designs filmpaint.com

Vote

VOTE! VOTE! VOTE!

Find your early voting location: http://www.voteforchange.com/

Still on the fence? Not sure which pack you want to run with?
Read about Obama's Economic Policy on his site
Read about McCain's Economic Policy on his site

Compare the two plans by clicking here ( Yes, an Obama slant)

I can not imagine anyone still being undecided, but if you are an undecided, take an hour out of your day and go to each candidate's site. Try to weed through their self promotion "political speak" and see who offers more solutions that you agree with or trust. Do not rely on goofy e-mail forwards that your friends or relatives send you. They are often packed with half truths, scare tactics and misinformation.

If you have already voted ... do what you can to get the vote out!

Understanding CMYK print production

"With an understanding of how CMYK printing techniques can be combined, Rodney Dive explains how to overcome some common design problems and increase final output quality.

When you send a document to an output bureau or the printers, it goes through a number of processes during the transformation from its digital form into printed matter." Full article

Article: Computer Arts; Image: genctel.com

Vote Early!

We voted last Saturday. We got up early and went over to our voting center before we even walked the dogs. There was no line and no waiting. Find your early voting location at Voteforchange.com.

Concept ship designs from Motorsports 2025

Design challenge hosted by Design Los Angeles.



















Keywords: concept design challenge from design los angeles as part of the la auto show exhibit automobile design concept ships from audi honda vw volkswagen toyota mercedes-benz mitsubishi motors mazda gm bmw

Halloween Pumpkin tutorial for Adobe Illustrator

OK, let's bring some Halloween mood in the blog. Learn how to draw a vector Halloween pumpkin with Adobe Illustrator, so you can create an avatar, icon, etc... and scare people around. Whatever.
Full tutorial and source files.

Anthony Colard concept ships

Anthony's Car design news portfolio.





Keywords: preparing a master in transportation and space design for 2009 concept designer anthony colard concept ship art car design news .com portfolio french student designer in transportation design

Chihuahuas Ginger & Pepper

Still trying to stay on top of orders. If you are waiting on a proof, please hang tight. If you are waiting on an update hang even tighter. Project revisions are currently adding a few weeks to a project's expected delivery date. I have around 20 projects in-house right now that are needing my attention, and all of them are very important.

When Illustration Meets Type

"The artists and designers producing fascinating work at the creative frontier where illustration meets typography.
When it comes to conveying ideas, concepts and even descriptions of the world around us, words are extremely limiting. Meanings just cannot be definitively tied to them. That’s where design has a part to play: ensuring words carry their intended meaning into the minds of the waiting public...


According to one school of thought, the larger and bolder a message is written, the more likely it is to be heard. That might be true in laboratory conditions, but we’re surrounded by so much legible information that, unable to assimilate it all, we shut it out. Getting the message across now requires more work and more imagination. It calls for wit, for flair. It calls for illustrated type." Read full article.
Article: Computer Arts Magazine Illustration: zombie-keeper

Concept ship sketches by Mikko Kinnunen

Mikko's website.











Keywords: bioware edmonton entertainment visual concept artist Mikko Kinnunen concept vehicle spaceship art concept ships artbymikko.com

Gradients in Adobe Illustrator CS4

Adobe Illustrator CS4 adds some functionality to gradients. Watch the video for examples of opacity control and the new gradient annotator.

from Go Media on Vimeo.

Crown symbols for Adobe Illustrator

A set of 8 vector crown symbols for Adobe Illustrator from darkdesign1209. Download
Note: To use, load the PDF with Illustrator and open the symbols palette (Window>Symbols).

Miss Vector Universe by Anthony Aguinaldo

A beauty contest based on a set of stunning vector girl illustrations by Anthony Aguinaldo. Below you can have a look at some of the contestants (Miss Brazil, Miss UK and Miss Jamaica). To see the full set of illustrations use this link.

3 Boston Terriers art

Sunday afternoon and I just finished up these little Boston Terriers. I am trying very hard to touch 3 client projects per day, even on the weekends. If I can keep up this pace I will go into November very strong and may even clear my plate for a few days so I can work on administrative stuff.

What Do You Think This Is ?

By Reallyfreshriceball

Spot Colors

"Screened in combination, the four inks of process printing – cyan, magenta, yellow and black – can create the illusion of a wide range of colors. But CMYK cannot reproduce large parts of the visible spectrum, such as very bright colors. After all, these four inks can only reflect light, not emit it."
Full Tutorial & Files Computer Arts Magazine 2008

Friday Dog Art

I did not have time this week to do a dog artist interview so instead I will post some of the projects I have been working on this week. I am really getting busy with holiday commissions. I am planning on working pretty hard this weekend.

"Henry"

"Mogul"

"Vijay"

"Sadie"

"Amaya"

There are only 22 days left to order a custom pet portrait this month for holiday gift giving.