Blog - VReam Art

Art Study – Eye 1

8 October 2022October 8, 2022

Did I mention that as I’ve been lost in virtual photography in SecondLife that my desire for realistic looking “photographs” has lead me to spending lots..I mean LOTS of time in Photoshop trying to fix things like wardrobe failures and less than optimal hair? I’m sure I have but in case the effort I was putting in wasn’t obvious, perhaps the fact that I’ve decided to jump back into drawing and painting will illustrate make it undeniable.

As a youngster I used to draw a lot. For the most part, what I drew could be classified as technical or engineering type drawings. Houses, cars, landscape….I think that’s about it. My mother and grandmother often said I should grow up to be an architect. Of course, my grandmother also thought I would be president one day. Yeah, that didn’t happen – thankfully! Maybe had I ever mastered the human figure I could have been president too. Since being president is no longer a concern, the human form is back on the table now.

A few months ago I bought all I thought I might need to start sketching in pencil and have spent some quiet moments drawing images that I saw in magazines. I’ve also signed up for a few online classes in drawing and digital art though I have to admit I’ve not finished a single one yet. I’m still on eyes which seems to be the first thing they teach. I have sketched a few eyes now but was never quite happy with them. I wanted something that looked more realistic.

I know…that they don’t look realistic is on me but I figured that if I tried to draw and paint in photoshop from an actual photograph of a real human eye it might be easier. I pulled an eye that caught my favor from google images and set out to do just that.

I know it is a long way from perfect but for my first attempt, I think that it isn’t “too bad”. It’s good enough that I can stop and move on to something new, anyway.

And so, here it is. The lower half of the image is the photograph that I used as a model. The top half would be what is left over – my attempt to re-create it in Photoshop 🙂 I know there are many short comings and that I have much to improve on but I am mostly happy and think it’s time to move on.

Since eyes are favorites – especially for me – and there are many different shapes of human eyes, I intend to do one for each of the common shapes going forward…and then I’ll take on bigger things after that.

The Future is Bright

15 May 2022May 15, 2022

Despite our differences,
Experience and expectations are the foundation of our friendship.
You yearn to be wild and free
I am content to be me.

Following alternate branches,
We’ve taken different turns and found new friends but when it comes down to it
The things that excite and drive you
secretly appeal to me too.

=========

It seems like ages ago since Christi and I first toyed with the idea of working together as a team and calling ourselves VReam Art. Honestly, neither of us really knew where the effort would go but it sounded like fun and a great way to grow our skills together.

And so it was for over a year. Somewhere along the way things slipped away. The whole writing while creating images to illustrate the story experience left me doubting myself and wanting to start over. While I struggled for direction, Christi opted to not wait around and got involved in her own things. I can’t blame her.

When Noel came back into my life a year ago and brought her infectious desire to create videos, I too went into a different direction. It was when Christi and I were discussing her own videos that I suggested the three of us collaborate more. Christi and Noel had already done some ‘mermaid’ images together in addition to borrowing her body in Noel’s “Elephant In The Room” image.

All three of us have several projects going on at the same time but Christi was excited about doing more with me. Since my Flickr page had become more of a personal page we opted to jointly contribute to a Deviant Art page that I had created at about the same time but never did much with it. That the page was there and Flickr’s recent changes made Deviant Art the seemingly obvious choice.

Stop by and say ‘hi’!

VReam Art at Deviant Art

Perseverance

12 January 2022January 12, 2022

“Spring passes and one remembers one’s innocence.
Summer passes and one remembers one’s exuberance.
Autumn passes and one remembers one’s reverence.
Winter passes and one remembers one’s perseverance.”

― Yoko Ono

Once again winter is upon the north hemisphere. Despite an unusually warm end of the year holiday season, 2022 has come in with a vengeance for many. Just as some begin to recognize that global warming is not a myth, the quick turn around in January filled the need for some to say it was just a fluke and it’s just as cold as ever. Memories are short. Perseverance often serves only when it’s convenient, or when it’s necessary. I won’t even mention the perseverance of political lies… This image was in Le Monde Perdu of Second Life. The group of sims that are Luane’s world are always beautiful and inspiring. This winter phase of Le Monde Perdu did not disappoint. The aurora borealis and falling snow were added in photoshop and the light was twisted just a bit to keep some detail on the mountain but the sim is a joy without these touches.

Welcome 2022

4 January 2022January 4, 2022

Each passing year amazes me. The accomplishments, the failures and the surprises. Even more shocking is how quickly they pass. It seems that only months ago we were saying Happy New Year to 2021 and now here we are once again.

Honestly, I did not accomplish all I had hoped to last year. The low number of posts here bares witness to that fact. Sure, there were everyday obligations not related to my creative aspirations that interfered but I would be fooling myself to believe that my biggest obstacle wasn’t my own tendency to get excited about so many new things. I am not so naive to try convince myself or anyone else for that matter, that my wide array of interests will disappear for 2022. I will say that I believe I have at least identified my interests and the tools needed to further explore them..barring any more surprises.

This last year did see a blossoming collaboration between Noel and myself. Please consider visiting her site “Returning to Oneself“. Though she will deny it, I believe she is more focused than I am even as she grasps all of the possibilities that are available to us. I truly believe that this partnership will bring renewed focus on my part. Making commitments does have a way of bringing focus. Additionally, working so close with someone as talented, observant and enthusiastic as she is a great motivator.

I am more excited about the coming year than I have been for several years now and look forward to sharing that.

Character Development

21 November 2021November 21, 2021

Please don’t think I am writing from any position of real experience since I’m still poking around with the idea of writing my first novel. The fact is that like most anybody starting down this road, I’ve never had anything beyond editorial letters published. However, the little experience I do have tells me there is nothing more important than properly developing a character.

Solid and deep characters present tons of material to write about and perhaps more importantly, provide background and context to assist in deciding how a character will react when the story takes a turn you didn’t expect. The story heading off into uncharted waters was something that caught me by surprise when I first set out to write a novel nearly 2 years ago. That was when I realized the importance of taking the time to do an extensive character development despite initially thinking the work sheets I’ve seen were just fun exercises.

Currently, I am working to a development sheet that has grown over time from both my own experience and from that of others.

If you would like a copy of this form, you may download it here: Comprehensive Character Attribute Form

Sticks in the Fire

10 November 2021November 17, 2021

Sticks in the fire. I suppose one might think of marshmallows and fun evenings when they hear those words. Then some of us might feel the weight of being overwhelmed when those words are muttered. I’ll raise my hand to be included in the latter group.

Creativity has a way of consuming us. I suspect that is why it is so easy to get lost in it and sometimes lose track of the reality around us. Over the last few months I have struggled had many moments in which I stopped and asked myself what exactly it was I was trying to accomplish. At the same time I was struggling with the long list of things I am ‘trying’ to do while accomplishing very little, the primary drive of my computer held up the white flag and walked out on me. A week later, I am still finding things that i need to re-install and settings to adjust.

What, you might ask is trying to overwhelm me? Not only are new RL work pressures and making little progress in non-creative efforts adding to my love playing with images captured in SL, but the joint effort with Trina has both opened new doors and brought new challenges. I now have a use for OBS Studio and Davinci Resolve and need to create poses and animations using Blender and the Avastar addon. It is all so necessary for what I want and enjoy doing but there is also a decent learning curve with each of them.

On top of all of this I am also feeling a desire to start writing again. Not too long ago, well, actually about 4 months ago now, a tune I heard generated images for a story that was begging to be told. I anguished over this because I didn’t feel I yet had the skills to do a video story yet, nor the time to invest. I feared it would just wither away. Recently, while watching and listening to a youtube video about storytelling and film making, (another time sink while doing chores around the house), something was said that brought me back to this story begging to be told.

While re-examining the characters in the story I realized that I had already started a story that included one and bringing this new character into that same story could be a perfect marriage. These thoughts were new inspiration to begin writing again – to go back and edit the story I had started. This was a push to start writing something every day. A week has passed with nothing more than half of a character sheet completed on this new character.

This week I am making an effort to identify the best times for me to work on different things, to determine which creative juices flow at which times of the day and give them a chance. Being a morning person, I’ve always felt that writing early in the morning is ideal for me…and here we are.

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