Inspiration & Competition

Inspiration comes from so many sources – experiences, nature, people, events, etc.

Lately, I’ve been looking at a lot of inspiring websites and businesses. I connect with a kindred energy when I sense and feel it. You can discover a lot about yourself, your true goals and passions when you pay attention to what you are drawn to. Patterns can be acknowledged and analyzed and further clarity becomes a result.

I was talking my fiance Andrew about inspiration and also about competition yesterday. What does it mean for someone to be competitive when they aspire to reach a goal or better define themselves?

I don’t necessarily see competition as bad or even destructive, but I do think there are some delusions involved in how some people view competition in themselves. For example, I remember talking with a friend and he mentioned that he hates when others are competitive and that this world would be better off without that kind of drive or focus. I asked him if he saw himself as competitive and he said, “No, I am not really competitive, although I do try to top myself and that’s different.” I told him that was competition, but just directed in a different sense and I also mentioned that he’d be surprised to discover how that inner sense of urgency is often fueled by external factors. It’s impossible to be absolutely free of that as a human being or a life form period. On a very basic level, it’s what defines some function of life and also what makes us able to survive through better adaptations.

I explained how competition with others, in the realm of individualism rather than collective consciousness and being, is not really about “others”…it IS essentially about oneself; the preservation, survival and betterment of oneself through a mode of vicarious direction which reveals values and self-truths. A competitive target could be anyone and anything…it’s just a mirror. So again, it is essentially about self. Some people are more or less external in this mode, but that’s just a different mode of how competition functions. I also think that targets of competition can’t really take or be given any personal credit given what I just mentioned…because they are mirrors. If it’s not that particular situation or person, then it will be another…given that whatever is valued is present.

I thought about this because as I was looking around at sites and profiles of people that I admire, I felt inspiration but I also felt a twinge of wanting to compete. I analyzed that and saw that it came back to the vicarious mode. There are desires inside that create standards and I wish to reach and eventually surpass those standards because it all plays a part of how I desire to define my life. I feel that definition comes from who I think I am as a person and what I think my life purpose is and should be.

If one can look at this process of analysis, one can find out if components in this “formula” create a good result or link up. Look at what makes you respond, compete, feel inspired and so forth. Look at the inner pull involved in these expressions/feelings and see if a set of standards can be realized. Once those standards are realized, think further about life purpose and self-definition and decide whether or not this all really reflects who you think you are or who you think you should be. You might have to do some “retracking” and restructuring and what comes to be realized might not even be pleasant or make sense. This sounds very exact and sequential although the process is more quantum in nature. I think it’s an important process to put oneself through. Discovery and epiphanies will come about for sure and it won’t necessarily be instant…but it will be progress nonetheless.

On a more show n’ tell note, here are few sources of innovation that I feel a connection to and am inspired by:

Illustrators/Designers Vicki Wong and Michael Murphy of Meomi
Illustrator Simone Legno of Tokidoki
Jewelry/Fashion Designer Tarina Tarantino
Illustrator(s) behind Indeepop

There are many more to list, but I’ll keep the list brief…for now.

I’ve been able to read about the history of artistic development and ambition of some of these artists and again I find them so inspiring. I’ve been working on Pink Laughter Kingdom more actively in the last month, particularly with character development. Character development is central to creating a world identity. The Pink Laughter Kingdom concept has been in my head for so long and it’s time to really push it to the next level.

In an effort to further articulate many of my visions in this realm, I will be going into an intense mode of self-education and development. I decided to check back with Gnomon School of Visual Effects for 5 week and 10 week class sessions as I work at home. The classes are 500 dollars each so that’s not too bad for 5-10 week sessions. I’d like to develop my skills in gesture, character and figure drawing, by taking some of these classes during the weekend if possible in the middle of the week, because I have a lot of ideas for character development that involve stronger skills in this area of illustration. Additionally, I think Santa Monica College has some interesting weekend classes to look into.

As I mentioned before, I’d like to develop more skills in the area of web development as well. Nothing intense or big as I am not aspiring to be a full-fledged programmer of course. I just seek development that will further help me to be self-reliant in my design projects and as an artist with greater technical skills. I am trying to lessen that chasm I spoke about in a previous entry…between artistic vision and realization.

Cool site (I so love designer toys!)…it is in Japanese, but there are many figures to look at in the products section, once going further into the site.

Good Smile Company

On Making Things Happen

Are you a go-getter or do you wait for things to happen to you?

I’ve been a bit of both at different times in my life. Over time I see myself functioning more in the former category. I can be very type A and perform with an explosive and enduring amount of energy when I put my mind and heart into something, but then I can be bad at procrastinating in other moments and find it difficult to get started in executing an objective…for a number of reasons. Some of these reasons are ones that I’ve talked about in previous journal entries.

I truly do not believe in waiting for things to happen. Sometimes, one does get lucky and certain opportunities just fall into place, but even with that being a factor, some preparation must be present. If luck does occur, it would suck big time to NOT be ready to take on a given opportunity because you waited around and didn’t invest in any planning. It would pretty much be a case of “being caught off guard”.

I was talking to my fiance Andrew last night about ideas and concepts…as well as being in the habit of being overwhelmed by the desire to carry out many ideas and passions. This is common among a lot of creative types, so it’s something many can understand and relate to. He also he expressed his experience with this and talked about the long-standing desire of turning his novel into a graphic novel series at some point. We were looking at a lot of sites online for inspiration and this is what originally led to this discussion tangent.

I am seeing that many illustrators are taking their ideas and expressing them three dimensionally. I’ve always been fascinated with this process and wish to do this myself. I mentioned this to Andrew, and he expressed his desire for taking the characters of his novel into the three dimensional realm, drawing-wise, to create detailed characterization. Afterwards, I asked him if he ever had the desire to work with 3D Studio Max. He said that he briefly used Lightwave in the past, but that was about as much as he experienced with using 3D graphics software. He emphasized that writing is his main focus and he is overwhelmed with how much he’d ideally like to do overall. This is understandable, as he is swamped with work in his master’s program, will soon be gearing up for his internship in Montreal and spends any spare time working on the book drafts for the rest of his novel series for Eden’s Heel (and of course talking to me).

I told him that working in 3D Studio Max does not mean he has to focus on becoming a 3D modeler or animator. It would mean that he’d find his skills expanding in a way that might be surprising to him because I’ve seen this happen with myself in various circumstances. Regardless of where an artist is at, all artists have visions and when the gap between an artist’s vision(s) and the artist’s abilities is great, it creates more frustration and disenchantment. One of the most satisfying things to do, as an artist, is to be able establish visionary goals by decreasing that chasm…but I believe that in order to do this, we must sometimes seek to find and acknowledge connections in unfamiliar ways.

For example, I remember taking a 2D Design class several years ago as an art/art history major and the first projects in that class were several exercises working with pen and ink. Many of the assignments dealt with stripping down full-color photographs and images into basic shapes composed of values (black and white). All areas of light were displayed initially as white gouache (paint) and all areas of shadow were displayed as areas of black gouache and eventually we started creating a scale between those two values through shades of gray from a 10 step gradation scale. We worked so extensively with these exercises, that I can remember one day looking at my instructor during lecture and suddenly, I saw him completely composed in black and white values…almost to the point of being down right disturbing. My perception switched into a different area and I saw him as a foundation of basic elements.

We see chiaroscuro (shadow and light) everyday, but the average person takes these details in their environment for granted. Shadow and light are seen, but as elements they aren’t truly acknowledged by what I call the third eye. Artists with great execution have third eyes that are sharper and more refined. The third eye for everyone is composed of many different segments; often segments that remain undeveloped and as untapped potential. I started to see not only my instructor in values but everything around me. That segment of my third eye had come into further development since I had transitioned into a different visualization process through a series of pen and ink works and conditions.

The average person, in varying degrees, is relatively good at pattern recognition, which leads to clearer and sharper identification and associative cognition, and if a common object is asked to be described, most people can describe it in words and/or draw a very basic sketch of it on a piece of paper. Moreover, they can point it out if they see it in a lineup among other objects.

How well they can draw and describe the object is affected by the strength of their third eye. Some people visualize details of something naturally better than others and will be able to translate this in a number of ways whether it is with sketchbook, words or some other channel and that is often described as talent. However, even people with that advantage need further third eye sharpening. It takes practice, time and creative thinking. I liken this to being able to add up numbers in the mind’s eye. When we try to do this, we struggle more or less than others to keep the numbers present within a mental viewpoint. The numbers seem to want to disappear or move around and mess up the process of calculation while we imagine. People who are good (or get to be good) with mathematical calculations can keep a stronger focus of numbers, and their relations with one another, in the mind longer so that it is as functional to get a result as it would be in utilizing paper which provides static reference.

Another striking incidence of visualization shift took place when I started using 3D Studio Max. I became completely fascinated with the program and after class was over, I stayed up many nights experimenting with the program and doing various online tutorials until 5-7am in the morning. I wanted to learn as much as I could because it was a completely new process and there was so much potential to express my creative ideas in a different way than before. I noticed that, again, I started to see everyday objects in a completely different way. I began seeing everything in basic shapes or shape complexes the way I did when I worked in 3D Studio Max. I paid attention to texture and lighting the way I did when working in the program and I eventually noticed that when I went back to creating illustrations in Illustrator and Photoshop, I developed a stronger eye for creating depth through texture, lighting and shape. My technique became better just through using 3ds Max. I didn’t have this expectation when I first started using the program but the epiphany was a delicious encounter.

A lot of people would see working in this program and developing better skills, in other facets of illustration, as unrelated…but as a person who loves symbolism, analogy and seeing and making connections, I feel this is no different in gaining the benefits of taking, for example, an acting class and using that to further strengthen the ability to express yourself in other ways, unrelated to a career and pursuit in acting. Taking acting classes is a great tool for a lot of people who are shy, want to be speakers/lecturers, wish to sing and desire a better understanding of themselves and others kinesthetically, especially since this comprises a large segment of communication and relative interpretation. Again, the skills sets developed in this manner aren’t advantageous to just actors. There are a multitude of priceless skill development connections here waiting to be unsheathed and seized.

So, as mentioned before, decreasing the chasm between vision and ability can be achieved by seeking, finding and building connections between seemingly unrelated functions and areas.

When Andrew mentioned that he had no time for developing his drawing skills in the realm of character design by utilizing 3D Studio Max, and that it was unrelated to what he wanted to do with his focus in writing, I then disagreed due to the aforementioned thoughts. He might not have time to truly devote himself to character design right now in this manner, but he might find dabbling in a program such as that to be surprisingly beneficial. It might be the missing link in developing stronger skills spatially for the establishment of projects related to sequential art (comics). This isn’t the only way he can develop stronger character design skills. He could find other unconventional ways to do this, but it’s one of many ideas that could offer some results and progress. It’s good to experiment to see what can develop.

Build a ship, grab a pair of binoculars, pack necessities in preparation of your journey…and set out to explore…