new non-work work, inspiring discoveries, & controversial topics

OK! So I've been meaning to talk a little about something I've been dying to try which is hugely in part of my 3D role model... Ian Hubert.

I mentioned him a little in the NYU panel talk and was super excited to see that others knew of this legend as well! He's known for these really short tutorials for Blender that he calls Lazy Tutorials. The guy is an enigma and really the most charismatic nerd I've ever seen. He has no idea I exist but that's kinda how I prefer it when it comes to me and my idols *__*

ANYWAY I wrote this long rant a few months back in deep depressive cryonic state where I was unable to make anything because of creative... idea block. It was unnecessarily long winded and I ultimately decided to paraphrase it here:

I felt bottle-necked as an artist because I felt like my ideas weren't good. Everyone has insecurities and mine is I lean more into processes/logistics than I do concepts. When it comes to social media art peers, I feel everyone is an idea person - a creative director. I feel intense anxiety imagining myself as a creative director and discovering Ian Hubert opened my eyes to a title I had never considered! I searched up his name and his IMDB said "Technical Director" and it dawned on me that you don't need to be a moodboard genius or a conceptual savant to be an artist, there are other types! Since I've discovered this role, I feel less anxious about being called an artist (goodbye imposter syndrome) and feel more confident about the artistry in getting from A to B which everything I'm about :)

Ok so this has everything to do with what I'm showing here because I decided to use Ian's famous techniques to try and create something as fast as possible. Ofc, my usual tendency for nitpicking things that no one will ever see got in the way... but this is the result! It's a re-visit of a pretty... awful thing I made back in 2016 when I only knew how to make cubes in C4D and I stuck my art on the sides of it *facepalm* really ugly lmao but this is like a fictional space (largely inspired by tekkonkinkreet) that is a personification of yours truly. 

The idea is in 2 parts: 

1. I wanted to figure out how to do this new thing I learned. Ian Hubert kinda flips 3D on its head for me when I found his page about 2 months ago. I know I know... I'm hella late.... but there's no shame in becoming a fan no matter how late!!!! He basically takes image textures and models around them instead of modeling first and then creating textures after. This video explains it pretty well. 

2. As I began making a floating environment, I thought my art would look cool it. It then dawned on me that man, portfolios are really limiting! Sure, you can see a person's best pieces but beyond that, you can't see their desk or their favorite movies or their toys or bookshelf etc. That's what studio visits are for... but the rest of us digital artists just have a website! so then I kept adding to it with my favorite shapes, colors, art, and things i've made in 3D. :) Some of the photos I used for the walls.... I stole from the world of flickr I'm sorry haha I found a photographer who travels the world and borrowed a few doors and windows :P (I did check for licensing, they're all free to the public as far as I could tell) Also bought a few assets off cgtrader (the computer, buddha, and plants~) to fill the scene too! Never reinvent the wheel. My goal was to create a space not play god and make everything from scratch

The final bit I wanted to gloss over was... the shameful NFT conversation. TBH I also wrote a lengthy rant about this subject (what is with 2021 and the rants....) but I ultimately decided I wouldn't do one. 

PSYCH I got peer pressured lol nah but really I decided to participate in a friend group show with no intention of actually selling this thing. I know about the big controversies but there are also plenty of hot takes from either side that make me want to die altogether. I will also paraphrase my 2021 2-3 month journey in the world of NFTS:

January: realized that this might be cool, started to get peer pressured by virtually everyone because I make 3D/digital art to "DO IT, GO GET LAMBO"

February: research every day, get lost in the "gold rush", lose sleep lose appetite, more peer pressure. 

March: witness friends/peers get bullied off the internet for participating, see people's art get stolen and pressured to mint their own art to make money for themselves, attempt an NFT, mental health seriously declines

April: gave up on NFTs, regained sleep energy appetite and friends start talking to me again because my eyes are no longer glued to a phone, rejoined society... 1 really good friend asks me to be in an art show

So as you can see, NFTs didn't really do anything for me except introduce me to a world of stress and fomo. As soon as I set it down, my life regained color because I realized I'm not a wildly greedy entrepreneur I just make things and enjoy making them. I decided an NFT from me would probably only happen under 1 of 2 conditions: 1. They're less noisy and controversial and problematic or 2. Someone else completely handles the work of minting, producing, promoting, and selling the NFT. Right now, it's a bit less noisy and the curator is handling this art show so I've decided to do it. I also greatly respect the curator as both friend and peer soooo I'm significantly less anxious about the whole situation. At the end of the day, my eagerness to make something cool with my friends greatly outweighs my anxieties towards upsetting strangers on the internet :) that was just a full disclosure bc I had been meaning to explain my take on NFTs and their extreme detriment to my mental health but here I am, making one (albeit completely administered thru a friend)

OKAY that is all I'm editing this 8 hour long video where I make a 2D animation.... it's not cute but its in the works. I also wanna o do a little scene breakdown of this too! But I might just do a new recording of making something new...!