The basic argument is that because we digest on-line information (usually) in smaller discrete pieces and are generally overwhelmed by the sheer amount of information we need to filter, our brains are slowly rewiring themselves to accommodate and thus we are loosing our ability to concentrate for extended periods of time. We are becoming so use to bouncing around from web site to web site and dealing with many different distractions simultaneously that it requires concerted effort to calm our mind and focus on a particular topic at length.
]]>I have long believed that my greatest quality as a person is my imagination. In fact I believe it is one of the most powerful abilities that we, as humans, have at our disposal in this world.
This may seem easy for me to say, given that imagination is at the heart of what I do. Design, illustration and storytelling all require copious amounts of creative thinking. But as I look beyond my industry I can easily argue that imagination is a source of inspiration and innovation in most fields. More and more we are seeing the inclusion of imaginative and creative processes being absorbed by other domains as a means of developing new products, processes and strategies. Terms like "design thinking" and "creative culture" have become very commonplace in a wide array of industries, and while you might argue with the terms being chosen, the underlying ideas are the same.
This is not new. Going back to the early days of this country, indeed the early days of civilization as a whole, we can see evidence of imagination at work. The examples are too many to list comprehensively, but images of the Pyramids of Egypt, Stonehenge, the Great Wall of China and the light bulb are the first to my mind. And to say that imagination had no part in the creation of these artifacts is to misunderstand a fundamental part of how we think and solve problems.
Growing up, most of my time was spent in imaginary worlds. I was always creating new stories and taking part in new adventures. This took many forms, everything from playing with my He-Man toys in the sandbox and trying to reclaim Castle Grayskull for the forces of good (usually from the evil G.I. Joe characters for some reason) to writing a campaign for me and my friends to play through using tabletop RPGs.
In addition to the creative skills that I developed, and much to the disbelief of my friends and family, I have long attributed many of my cognitive and social skills to those early days as a child exploring the boundaries of reality. I have always felt it was such an important part of what made me who I am, and allowed me to develop the capacity for critical thinking and complex social interaction.
Historically, these activities were dismissed as "play" or escapism and branded superfluous. Fortunately, more and more research is coming out that supports the use of imagination as a positive part of early childhood development. A recent article in the Wall Street Journal discussed the importance of the imagination not only in play, but in developing a fundamental grasp on reality.
"For years, imagination was thought of as a way for children to escape from reality, and once they reached a certain age, it was believed they would push fantasy aside and deal with the real world. But, increasingly, child-development experts are recognizing the importance of imagination and the role it plays in understanding reality. Imagination is necessary for learning about people and events we don't directly experience, such as history or events on the other side of the world. For young kids, it allows them to ponder the future, such as what they want to do when they grow up."
Imagination has long been shackled to "play", the childhood activity that is frowned upon or redefined once we reach adulthood. But I think we are missing the larger picture when we limit our understanding and acceptance of imaginative and creative activities to this definition. Imagination allows us as human beings to develop the cognitive and social skills necessary for daily life by providing a mental framework to better understand reality. This framework lets us explore what is real and what is not in a way that lets us adapt, cope and ideally excel in whatever path we choose to take in this world.
This is the true power of the imagination, and one that I wholeheartedly embrace. And as I head into the holidays filled with traditions based around imaginary tales and characters of all kinds I am reminded of just how powerful the imagination can be.
]]>I have a bunch of new illustration work either out, or coming out soon. Thought I would do a quick roundup.
A month or so back I did six illustrations for the Warlord CCG on their Sands of Oblivion expansion. I believe the set is at the printers and a number of preview cards can be seen on their site (including one of mine: Master Kelkrys).
Following that I did a series of black and white illustrations for Dungeonmastering.com on their Get Published! project. They are putting together a bunch of community contributed writing and stats to go along with my illustrations and creating a book out of it. Very cool.
Finally, I am continuing to work with the guys over at Unified Theory Games on their Vortex setting. I have done a number of black and white illustrations for them, and am finishing up one more this weekend. They are in beta testing on Vortex, which from what I hear is going very well.
I will post some of the above pieces to my gallery as soon as I am able. I hope to spend some of my time around the holidays working on a few pieces for me, and for getting reading for the convention season in 2010.
]]>I came across an interesting article from Warner Berger on the AIGA site about his observations of designers and the qualities that he witnessed. One of the most interesting insights had to do with how designers tend to question everything:
"It’s a gift designers have that I’m not sure they fully appreciate: the ability to recognize that the present reality is a temporary and changeable condition. (To the rest of us, reality looks like reality, something to be accepted with a shrug.) I think all of this is captured nicely in the joke some designers tell about themselves. How many designers does it take to change a light bulb? Answer: Does it have to be a light bulb?"
This struck me as a fascinating way to describe one of the inherent traits of just about every designer I have ever met: The ability to come up with something out of nothing.
We understand reality as malleable and ever-changing, as something that can be manipulated to help find a solution to a problem. By asking questions (usually about anything and everything) we are able to break away from the confines of present reality and explore other possible solutions that might not otherwise have been considered.
I believe in an iterative and experimental approach to design (really to all creative pursuits), as a means of finding the best solutions to a given problem. Questioning everything is a natural part of such a process, and I rely heavily on academic research as a means of explaining why such an approach works -- certainly cognitive research provides a lot of support for such a methodology.
But in the end, I think Berger's observation is a much more eloquent way of explaining how we, as creatives, visualize the imaginary.
]]>I been having some problems lately with my site, and decided it was time to make a break with my current host. I have moved to Squarespace, and thus far have been quite happy with performance.
There was a two day period where my site and e-mail were down. I apologize for any inconvenience.
My new site is up, but there will be more changes coming. I hope to have some time over the holidays to make a few tweaks and post some of the new work that I have completed over the last few months.
]]>I was out at the first annualTEDxColumbus Tuesday night, a local event that parallels the national organization. It was a night of inspiration, focusing on how people here in Columbus are using Technology, Entertainment and Design to be a part of the global conversation around some of our most pressing needs.
A number of high-profile speakers from around the area were there:
Ann Pendleton-Jullian talked about using game play as a means of exploring the tacit skills that can be developed to solve a given problem. She used architecture as a platform to explore this idea, and used games to explore ecosystems of thought and interaction and apply that thinking to cross-disciplinary activities.
John Mueller talked about his book Atomic Obsession. He wonders about our obsession with nuclear weapons, and argues thay are useless and a waste of talent and money. One of his key points was that more people have died trying to stop people from getting nuclear weapons than have died because of nuclear weapons being used.
Norah Zuniga Shaw talked about Synchronous Objects, a project at OSU that used design and visualization to explore the relationships of dance. She focused on the idea of counterpoint as a means of describing the hidden relationships inherent in many activities.
John Glenn talked about his trips to space, about his work in the senate, and about his concerns for the future. He talked a lot about how the policies we are putting in place today will affect future generations.
Reade Harpham, a design manager at Battelle showed us how he is using prototypes as a physical representation of a “what if” question. He talked about the One Lab global design initiative, which is a non-profit organization for the development of prototypes.
Chrystie Hill, from OCLC, talked about how the global distribution of information is changing library science and how more and more libraries should be about community building, as much as they should be about books.
And finally, Art Epstein from OSU talked about plastics and their current and future and role in many of the daily activities we take for granted.
There were also three TED Talks shown:
All in all it was a good night, and a very interesting start to what I hope is an annual event.
]]>I’ve been thinking a lot lately about my style as an illustrator, about the characteristics that define me and my work. Over the past few years I have made the switch from traditional to digital mediums, and such a change has brought with it questions about what makes me…me.
The reason I switched mediums has nothing to do with wanting a more digital style, and everything to do with wanting a more practical one. It is important to me that my work feels like something I would create regardless of the method or medium employed to create it.
I have spent a good bit of time looking at my process and methodology as a way of helping me translate my work from oils to the screen. And while the complete quantification of my style as an artist is not what I aspire to, I do think it is important to understand the characteristics of my work that should be brought across so that my identity as an artist is maintained.
(There is also the obvious philosophical question of could the medium affect my work to such a degree that it no longer looks like my work? That is, is it even possible for me to loose my identity just because I switched to digital? Interesting, but I’ll save that discussion for another post.)
Here’s what I have so far.
I think my work tends towards the darker end of the spectrum, though it is not completely in the shadows. Esoteric is a word that I keep coming back to, as is stoic. I don’t do fun, I don’t do happy. Not that I haven’t tried, it just doesn’t work for me. Even when I try to do cute it ends up looking a bit distorted.
I tend to work with a limited color palette, choosing analogous or complementary schemes for most of my work. I think color is hard to use well (and easy to misuse), so I tend to feel a greater sense of control with a more limited selection in front of me.
Strong negative space tends to work itself into my illustration, especially some of my earlier work. I tend to have a strong central image and an abstract background, which forces the negative space to come forward. I like working with silhouettes, and building structure around pre-defined shapes.
I think I play with varying levels of detail. The abstract backgrounds (above) are part of this but even within foreground elements there are areas of high detail and areas of limited definition.
My work is largely story driven. I find that the vast majority of the illustration I do is based around characters or elements of a story. I prefer to work this way, and believe that it produces better results.
And finally, there are a few specific shapes that I use consistently, in the fabrics and draperies of my characters, and I really enjoy building weapons and armor (especially gigantic swords).
I am trying to work more with composition, trying to stay away from sterile lines and cameras, and with removing the “digital” feeling from my most recent work and trying to bring back some of the more painterly shapes I had naturally with oils.
It’s a start, though I don’t know that this fully describes who I am as an illustrator. It’s definitely a work in progress.
]]>Took the weekend off to get some rest and spend time with the family (who has not seen me much lately). For three whole days I was surrounded by trees. No bars on the phone. It was awesome.
I’m back to work now. Finishing up some Warlord cards, and then on to Vortex and Dungeon Mastering work. I’ll post concepts as I am able.
On the design side of things, I am finally done traveling for a bit. Starting down the road of re-designing our intranet at AEP, and working on some iPhone apps.
If I get a few spare seconds, I’d really like to be playing CthulhuTech, FIFA 10, or Demon’s Soul.
]]>As I said in a prior post, its heads down right now. Currently working on concept art for Vortex, a new piece for Origins for their on site book for next year based around an ancient Egyptian empire, and will be starting work soon on some B&W illustrations for the guys over at dungeon mastering.
I’ll also be speaking about design at a Tech Columbus roundtable next week.
Very exciting, but very sleepy. I’ll try to post some concept work for the Origins piece as it becomes coherent.
]]>Just got back from GENCON Indy. I tried to write while I was there, but was so sleep deprived that it never happened. So here is a recap of events.
We arrived in Indy on Wednesday night, just in time to set up for the show and check into our hotels. We got some food, checked out the convention center (it was welcomingly familiar) and got a last few things ready for the opening of the convention.
Thursday-Sunday was pretty much the same sequence of events. It went something like this. Got up around 8 AM, got to the show around 9:30 AM and was ready when it opened at 10 AM. Spent the day talking to the hundreds of people that passed by, sold some stuff, walked around the hall and spoke with as many artists and art directors as I could find.
Once the show ended (around 6 PM) I met up with my people and we grabbed a quick bite before we started gaming around 7 PM. This lasted until about midnight, though Saturday night we were up until about 4 AM wrestling with some Beholders.
All in all, it was a great time. The response to my newest work was quite positive. In fact, I believe that it will be quite a busy year for me. I have a number of new projects coming up:
I will be putting together a new piece for the 2010 Origins Game Fair here in Columbus. The piece will be in the Onsite Program, and will be developed around the theme of “Magnus Imperium.”
I am also pleased to announce that I will be partnering with Unified Theory Games on their new Miniatures gaming system called Vortex. The core rule book is scheduled to be out about this time next year and it will be filled with my work. Jim Fallin and Scott Spear run the company and were fantastic to hang out with at the con. They have a great game, and I am very much looking forward to working with them. Stay tuned for concept work and updates coming later this year.
Finally, I am pleased to say that it looks like I will be doing some work for Catalyst Game Labs on their Shadowrun and Eclipse Phase lines. I am extremely excited about this (I have been playing Shadowrun off and on for the better part of a decade and Eclipse Phase looks amazing). I can’t wait to get started.
I spoke with a number of other art directors as well, so hopefully there will be even more working coming in the future. Right now its head down and back to work. I’ll post updates and previews as I get them done.
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