And art exists that one may recover the sensation of life; it exists to make one feel things, to make the stone stony. The purpose of art is to impart the sensation of things as they are perceived and not as they are known. -Victor Shklovsky

The Third & The Seventh - CG Art

Posted: Tuesday, March 16, 2010 | Posted by Unknown | 0 comments

Its been months. I pose a question: what have you been creating lately? And if whatever you have been doing has nothing to do with creation, what have you been destroying? If its neither, then maybe you haven't been living as much, maybe you have been dreaming. Whatever the case, its always a welcome experience to be savoring the fruits of other creative's labor. Such is this video shared by a good friend of mine, Mark Vicente, best known as Mungkey over the net, a talented multi-media artist mostly working with photography, film and 3D modeling and animation.


Please watch in full view.

The Third & The Seventh from Alex Roman on Vimeo.


The Third & The Seventh by Alex Roman is a full CG-animated short film. To experience it would be like participating in a visualization exercise, an activity attributed to both zen and meditation. The film takes nothing from you except your noise and hurry. It encourages a quiet appreciation, an unlikely experience when accustomed to CG sensory-overload. It highlights symmetry and spaces between objects, making use of several architecture and design perspectives while balancing it with the organic, rhythmic patterns present in our natural environment, including elements like air, water, rock. One cannot help but walk away with a fresh appreciation for texture, depth, and colour. If it has a bit of nostalgia for photography, its definitely not the depressing kind.

Big thanks to Mark for sharing this link. Also check out his first video project using his Canon EOS7D slr camera. An impressive first project that can only mean big surprises for the future.

Urban Tranquility by Mungkey

Whats in the bag? (Tools of the Trade)

Posted: Sunday, September 13, 2009 | Posted by Unknown | 3 comments



Who says you need super cameras, high-end equipment or paintbrushes with bristles made out of unicorn hair to create quality art and media? Everything created that was magnificent began as an idea, thought or feeling. It began much like how a tree begins as a seed, sitting there in that soil of potential (WOAH). Media or the medium your using (Pilot or Uni pen?) always comes in 2nd, even 3rd or 4th place. So what if you have HDD 3CCD cameras with super zoom lenses fit for wildlife photography in the city?

Expensive equipment don't create movies like Star Trek without the George Lucas telling the story. Wait... He didn't write that? 

Anyway, remember the Twilight Zone series? Rod Serling, the brilliant host and genius behind the series, managed to tell his stories and push the limited possibilities of film back in the 60s where everything was black and white and mannequins coming to life seemed like a CG thing to do. And hes not the first to push the boundaries of whats possible. I've seen many people do great things with so much less, and some have even managed to create with none! I'm not talking about Jesus or Buddha, but hey we can talk about them too, I mean, don't you think they did a pretty good job walking around with no money and cheap footwear, inspiring millions even up to now? Howbout we take a stand back and think about what it is exactly - what is it behind inspired work whether its a really good book, a religious movement, an excellent speech, or a Mona Lisa that sparks that light, that inner awakening that drives us to move, to fly, to explore, to laugh and even cry?

Its LOVE!! I tell ya. (No, its not Divine Intervention or the spawn of the gods of Olympus) Trust that I believe this with all my heart. *wink* And in my own experience of work, freelancing as an illustrator, designer and animator prior to teaching at My Masterpiece, I saw the difference between my inspired/loved work and my un-inspired work. My inspired work seemed almost to have a life of its own, it extended beyond its function and lived through other people who got inspired and created other inspired work - like a contagious virus! My uninspired work, on the other hand, performed its function yet it stopped there. Yes I got paid but I got tired doing the work as well.

Art and creativity is not the mere act of DOING. It is an experienced inner movement that takes you from one state to the next. It can be expressed through the smallest gesture or a grand orchesta, the important thing is that you are there and you are the conductor.

I know I was supposed to write about "tools of the trade". Well, I hope I went beyond that and perhaps, towards the heart of it.

=)

Process Drawing with Kara

Posted: Thursday, September 10, 2009 | Posted by Unknown | 4 comments



Last saturday we had another excellent Kara Art Class. This time we did process drawing, the subject being the self, US, and allowing anything to be expressed on paper. We used charcoal sticks to sketch on craft paper.

Here are the sketches from the session:


Ligaya Domingo



Laurie Maravilla



Linny Lareza



Cobbie Karagdag



Karla Co



Bianca Silva



Nica Hechanova



Fran Mortel



Katrina Tan