Whats in the bag? (Tools of the Trade)

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.

=)