I thought I would drop by and say hi since I have now posted a huge link to this page on my website. I feel I should at least update one of the two, and this one is easier thanks to DA's lovely web interface.

I had this urge to crack someones head open a while ago and since haven't really had the will to finish it off. So I thought I would chuck it over to you guys and see if anyone can make something really disgusting come out of him!

*EDIT* Go check out Depthcore's new packs, even if there is only one piece from me

Oh and I just wrote a quick little tutorial, enjoy: Click

Small update: Poo, my pc is on the blink again, using Photoshop is a bit tricky right now.

It's true, I have been lazing about for the last month or two (graphically speaking, I'm still working my arse off otherwise, desptie this being the so called 'holiday season') and have produced next to nothing. My computer breaking recently hasn't helped this, and doing anything in Photoshop at the moment is more about peseverance than creativity.

Luckily it seems most of the DC fellows have been just as lazy and the next pack probably won't be meeting its deadline by a long way. This will hopfeully give me time to get some of the ideas swilling around in my head onto digital canvas. By this I mean make something completely different because I never manage to get ideas beyond my skull, they always turn into something different on the way. Personally I blame my hands... or maybe my elbows.

Take care and keep visiting my site for the updates I might or might not be making soon, aha got you wondering now!

Although I prepared that lovely frog image last Wednesday (when DC was supposed to release ) I am taking 1 deep breath and writing this straight. Spelling and punctuation may not be perfect so I apologise now.

Well I'm sure most of you have noticed that the new Depthcore pack (or whatever we're calling it now) has been released. It is by a long way the largest so far and is the first to have about as many photos as artworks (yeah photos are art too, but you know what I mean). I'll talk a bit more about Depthcore as an entity in a bit, but first what this pack was to me. I found the topic brought up rather uninspiring architectural images to mind at first, but soon realised that habitat could be much more than that. I decided to go back to basics for a bit and try some Photoshop abstracts, without the bells and whistles that crowded my submissions for Verve. The result was some fairly nice artworks, but more importantly a couple of powerful new techniques have been added to my repertoire. I've always been rather a technician, in terms of being fascinated with the various ways of manipulating imagery in Photoshop, and I think it would benefit everyone if we all shared our methods a bit more. I will write some tutorials on my own particular methods at some point, hopefully soon when I have more free time than at the moment. Maybe a few more people will bring their secrets into the open (yeah not those type please) , and by sharing we can push things even further, even faster.

Why I am so interested in 2D over 3D? Well I thought I should talk about this as I seem to see a lot of comments these days suggesting that perhaps 2D work is just a fad, and a step backwards from 3D. Well it sounds reasonable enough... I mean 3D compared to 2D? You have an extra dimension to play with surely... Well no not really. However fancy your 3D program is and immensely detailed your scene, at the end of the day you'll still reach for the render button, and end up with a flat picture. The only 3D involved in 3D programs is the method by which they store a scene's information. The multitude of '3D' abstracts that populate the art galleries are no more 3 dimensional than anything done in a raster, vector or fractal program; and yet the very name '3D' somehow seems to give them a superiority over the '2D' programs, one which I don't think exists. You have a 3D scene, you press the render button and end up with a 2D snapshot of the scene... sound familiar? Sounds a lot like what a camera does to me, and yet I never see photography submitted as 3D art, and it's much more common to see photos used in '2D' pieces then '3D'.

The fact is that 3D programs (when it comes to abstract) are often used as little more than plugin filters, massively advanced versions of Render > Clouds. A method to get yourself a bit of randomness as the basis for an image. The thing is that they are fantastically good at doing this though, the innate realism they have thanks to proper lighting, reflection, transparency etc. give them an air of professionalism that no 2D filters can touch. However I think I have realised over the years that there is more range available in '2D' artwork than in '3D' because of the ability to have realism, or to throw it out of the window. I love pictures that trick the eye through perspective or distorted forms, edges that the eye can't follow, shapes that seem to lack proper geometry etc. However nearly all pictures I see like this are '2D' based, because '3D' programs automatically impose proper lighting and geometry and perspective and vanishing points etc. etc. they lack the ability to not do this (easily anyway). Also the sheer range of 2D programs makes producing varied imagery massively easier. Although there are many top end 3D programs, they often overlap hugely in their functions, and as far as abstract go they barely differ in the shapes they produce. Photoshop is more different from Illustrator that is more different from Apophysis than say 3D studio max is from Maya. I guess this is because the real aim of the 3D programs is to simulate reality, whereas the 2D programs have very different aims.

This all sounds like I'm having a go at 3D programs, which I'm not really. It's more that I'm trying to pimp 2D programs, and get other people to see them as more than ways to finish off their renders. It may sound silly to say that I think the problem is that 3D programs are too easy, because I know they are incredibly complex, but at the low level this is true. Give a beginner a couple of days with Photoshop, and then a couple of days with Cinema 4D and I'm sure they could produce a far more impressive abstract shape in C4D. I don't think 2D is a phase or a step backward, in fact I think that 3D programs have had a surge in popularity, and now things will level out to a more even balance. Neither '2D' or '3D' is the future, they are just the 2 component pieces.

Now I said I would say something about Depthcore, because I have been thinking recently and I have noticed arguments and comments about the new direction the group has been taking. Firstly the arguments... some between DC members, some not. I don't like getting involved but all I can say is that I am disappointed, and more often than not, all the people arguing come off looking like prats. It honestly took me back to my days as an online gamer, like DC is a clan and you have the 'players' and the fans squabbling amongst themselves. I couldn't be bothered with it back then and I certainly wouldn't bother now. A lot of people need to grow up and start acting even close to their age. Wow this is a long ramble, if you are reading this and intend to reply, mention the word fickle 3 times and I'll know you have read this. On the plus side, at least there's a bit of passion. If people are willing to argue over it something must be going right, I keep thinking of all those other art groups [no names, no names... oh wait I can't remember any] who just trundle along depositing a grey formless pack every now and then. They copy each other, themselves, us, past masters or whoever and never really going anywhere outside of the boundaries they set themselves with their first releases. I do see a few new ones which have potential and ambition though, a great thing to see and I wish those ones a lot of luck. The ones happy to copy? They can die in peace as far as I care (the group, not the people).

Now for the art side of DC. This pack, as I said, contains a lot of photography. I have never really been interested in photos at all, stock photos for creating digital art are great but photos on their own? Nah... well I found that a few submissions to this pack really changed my mind (for now ). That is a pretty surprising (and good) thing, to suddenly see such... beauty in a medium I have paid little attention to before. So that's one thing I am happy with [Just to show you what I like, here are 3 of my favourite photos from Habitat: [link] [link] [link] so hard to choose though]. As for the art side of things, it may sounds a bit odd after what I have been saying but I would like to see more 3D work. Now push those core explosions from your mind, I'm not talking about those. We have a lot of 3D talent in DC, but a fair number of them are spending their time in 2D (while the 2D artists are spening their time in.... 2D as well, huh...) . Obviously this is their choice, but I almost fancy making 3D stuff myself now just to redress the balance. I would love to see some original 3D, it's been quite a while and I know if anyone can do it, these guys can.

Personally I feel that perhaps things are expanding a bit too fast... packs are growing in size at an exponential rate, and as you do that you start to lose a bit of quality control, and theme control. On top of that you present such a huge offering to the public at once, that I think only a dedicated few will bother to pick their way through the whole pack. I would like to see some tighter controls, not in refusing art, but suggesting that we take our time over pictures a bit more, and pick those that we feel fit in with the rest. Cohesion is no bad thing, but I feel that the energy we had in Verve has been diluted a little here... of course I may be alone in those feelings.          
I plan to make a few suggestions in DC (when the site's working properly again ) but there's no secret to what I think would help so I'll say a bit here. I often feel that my work falls into two very obvious categories, proper and scribble, finished and rushed, deviation and scrap.. whatever you want to call them. I know one submission to the latest pack (Diseased heart of the city) was little more than a mad doodle, and yet it takes equal standings next to something I worked hard over (e.g. Chrysalis). Anyone else think a 2-category system would be a bad thing? Somewhere we can place our carefully crafted pictures, and another for our wild experiments. Which section it went into would be decided by the submitter, of course, but then if I want to submit 10 of my late night scribbles I don't want to feel guilty that they will be taking the attention away from someone's 30 hour masterpiece, just by sheer volume. Hmmm I guess I should have saved this stuff for DC.

Enough rambling now... no really, if you fancy reading my new tutorial on speeding up Photoshop you can find it here. I think I'll make a scrap section on my site soon to replace the now defunct 'work' section, for exactly the reasons I mentioned just above.

So in conclusion, eggs bad, chickens good, me for president, much love to my fickle fans and may sunshine everlasting warm your dry, goose pimpled skin Calloo Callay!

I thought today I would sit down and write something in my journal other than the usual 'there's a new Depthcore pack out, go look' type entry. First of all I must thank all those who have been visiting my page, leaving comments, giving :+favs:, sending me notes etc. It honestly
makes it all so much more worthwhile when I have your kind words/constructive criticisms to read after having finished a piece. I know in the past I have tried to reply to everybody but at the moment I am finding myself fairly busy and prefer to spend my free time making new graphics
rather than replying to comments on old ones. Which brings me on to...

...me being busy. I also realise that for months now I have basically only been submitting stuff that you could see on Depthcore anyway. I am not a fast worker, and only really being able to work on weekends at the moment means I feel fairly pressured to get stuff ready for the next DC pack let alone for here as well. Coupled with the fact that my computer is made out of lego and I often spend 5 minutes just waiting for photoshop to save an image or run a simple filter means my output is limited.

In addition to all that I am (sort of) trying to get to grips with Illustrator at the moment. I only recently realised the power of this program and the extra freedom it would give me. However the fact that it is even more processor intensive than photoshop and it has a confusing interface (for a ps user anyway) are making it an extremely tricky program to get to grips with.

For the last few months I have been striving for the new and interesting... I hate repeating myself, and although I don't mind doing a short series of similarly themed pictures I would hate to get stuck in a stylistic rut. Sometimes I feel it makes it more difficult to gain fans, as people who enjoyed one set of my work may be confused or repelled by what I carry on to do. It would take a lot more than this to stop me trying to do stuff that is truly original. I am not sure I am there yet, and oddly feel that my most original stuff lies in my past (Peculiar, Hazy, Anomaly). I also feel rather depressed by the number of people who are content to continue with existing styles in
abstract/illustration rather than innovate. The number of people who shout Depthcore down for trying to evolve rather than sticking with the 3D trendwhore style that defined the early packs. There are numerous art groups who all seem to be trying to fill the gap that DC left in this
respect, they all seem to be stuck repeating themselves endlessly, trying to please the eye rather than the brain. I can't explain it really, it just seems some people produce work by starting off in a 3D program, export to Photoshop and add 'brushing' before slapping on the same old techy 2D and giving it a silly pseudo-scientific name. I know it's a good step in learning how to use graphics programs, but some of the artists who do this are actually very technically skilled... they just either lack imagination or the will to try something new. They should probably remember than some innovator did originally try something new, and came up with the style that they are endlessly repeating. Maybe if one of them did the same we would have something new to stare at?

On a positive note, I see the future of abstract as much brighter than it was a few years ago. I also see, or would like to see, a return of 3D abstract but in a completely different form. 3D programs have a vast amount of power, and yet most abstract users seem to be content with
just producing randomised objects and turning them into art through Photoshop post-processing. To me this is like using Photoshop and just running the clouds filter again and again until you see a pretty picture. One day I think people will take the time to properly model, texture, light and arrange shapes in 3D programs and produce some stunning abstracts. I have seen pieces that are getting there, the promo artwork for Maya 6 being a good example, but because of the work involved it is still very rare. This is something I also see in my future, I know it will take me years to learn a 3D program properly but the reward will be practical removal of the limits of what I can and can not do in graphics.

At the moment I am content with 2D, I am already trying to arrange some collaborations with artists outside of the usual abstract circles. I see no limits as to what shapes or media can be used, and I think more movement within the different art groups (3d, 2d, traditional, photo,
etc) could produce something which none of us have seen before.

Oops, seems this just turned into a stream of conciousness type entry. I just typed this straight off so apologies for the lack of structure and any parts that might not make sense. I think I will be able to afford a new computer before the end of this year. I don't like producing graphics being a frustrating process, but at the moment that's what it is. A slave to my RAM I am. Hopefully my new computer will allow me to be more adventurous... unless having a shitty pc actually helps me hmmm. I'll have to think about that one :}

*Bah some weird formatting issues going on here... ah well.

Oh and a few extras I've had lying around on my HD for a while:

How VERVE was put together

A timeline of my website being put together

A shot of the layers used in my site about 40% of the way through

Wow.... new artists, new ideas, over 120 pieces for you to goggle at, yeah it's that time again.

I think pack 14 *Verve* from Depthcore is the best yet, maybe a bit less eye candy and a bit more ideas driven than before. Personally, 4 of those pieces are mine and I will be releasing them here over the next few days or weeks. I hope you enjoy the artwork and appreciate the fact that people are trying something new, and perhaps outside of their traditional style (and ability) area. Verve is definately a pack looking to the future, and I believe there will be more great things to come.

@[Õ_o]@

I smell something coming.

Could it be a new depthcore pack?

soon enough is when.

If you hadn't already noticed, the latest Depthcore pack Infinity has just been released, including a few pieces by me :}  I'll release them all here in the next few days anyway, but go check out the pack because it contains some of the most interesting art I've seen in ages. [link]

I am fairly busy at the moment otherwise but still have a couple of projects on the go, expect to see the results of these over the next few weeks >

        Everything I am making at the moment is for the upcoming Depthcore pack (I don't really produce enough stuff to release here at the same time) so in the near future I will be able to release all of them. Until then it might stay a little quiet around here , but new and different stuff is on the way, obviously not just from me :} In the meantime I will place anything here which is not suitable for the pack's theme, and you lot should go check out those in my friends list, which includes some new DC members @_@

I have finally got around to buying a prints account and have made a few of my pieces available :} Not sure if there's any real demand for them but I guess it's nice for people to have the option. See you soon

           I have been fairly busy for a while now and will continue to be for another couple of weeks, so I probably won't have anything new for a while :{ I should thank +ekud again not just for his general pimpingness, but also for giving my last piece Spawn a DD. Cheers to those who commented on it/faved it, I love you all in a mostly platonic, slightly heterosexual, partly homoerotic way.

I think I will subscribe later today, time I gave something back to DA, so I hope anyone who drops by my page will check out my friends list. There are many people more worthy of your attention than me on there :} Also I will add a couple of small updates to my website, new tutorials and such so keep checking there for info.

Last but not least I should thank ~MarkShannon for pimping me in his journal, nice working with you

I sort of feel like doing a collab some time... always wanted to try one of those

*EDIT*  Check out my website for the new version 1.2.

Right how do I insert people's avatars into this thing... anyway I need to say a huge thanks to [link], you'll have to imagine his avatar here, it's kind of pink and a bit gay
Anyway it's down to him that I came home to a load of people having added me their friends list for no apparent reason. You can read something about that in his journal, or my reply to his more like. Thanks to the people who have added me to their lists, hope I can release something worthy or your attention in the future. I quite like this adding on to my journal rather than writing whole new posts... wonder how long I can make it. Oh oh oh I'm sure I had something else to say, can't remember now... but should go and see Fake's work, think it's ekaf.devart.blahblah. Some of his work is so sexy I print it out and masturbate with it. Is there a button I could press which makes me watch everyone whos watching me? If there was I would.

*OH YEAH* -  If you fancy a good laugh I recommend this thread: [link]

There's a fair amount of amusing ignorance on the thread, but a certain 'angstandloathing' really wins the award of prize dildo. Blind patriotism at its ugly worst.

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Since I last posted I have joined the Depthcore art group, I think it is solely down to my DD that I was asked so thanks again :} You can read more about my thoughts on joining on my site. Anyway as it turns out I joined just days before they were due to release a new pack. It was suggested that I could submit a couple of my older pieces but I really wanted to make something just for this release as a sort of joining piece. I only had a couple of days and wasn't planning on doing another abstract for a while, but I rushed something out and it just made it in :}

Anyway the important thing is [link] ! Amazing artists, great guys, go check it out, you'll love it. I am lucky to be among their number. @[O_o]@



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From last week some time or something:

Wow seems a piece I thought was just a fun experiment manged to get a DD, which is fantastic simply because 10 times as many people have looked at it today as probably would in a month without a DD. So I should firstly thank Niteangel for noticing the piece, and randomcasualty for featuring it! Also, I have been around and thanked all the people who commented, but I extend my thanks equally, if not more so, to those who added it to their favourites or me to their friends list. I know my Winamp skin Shinyamp also got a DD, but that was during the time when I was rushing about setting my site up and didn't notice so much... as well as the fact that it didn't actually receive very much attention. This time it's really cheered me up, and inspired me to go and produce something new. However I am probably going to disappoint a few people by making something quite different to Hazy. I don't really like to do lots of the same type of art in a short time so I will be trying something else, I think there are a few people out there who watch me for my unpredictability though

On another note I should thank all the people who have been commenting on Shinybinary's Horror. I submitted that over 2 months ago now, and it has got almost a steady stream of comments. It has never been noticed enough to make it anywhere near the front pages, but it's got a comment every couple of days for the last 2 months or so. I hope people keep noticing it anyway, I'm still proud of that one. Anyway I hope to have something interesting in the future, though I am rather busy at the moment so don't hold your breath. In fact now I think about it I only made Hazy because I was feeling a bit down one evening... odd how the gory pics come out of good moods and the flowery pics out of bad ones.

Since I last posted I have joined the Depthcore art group, I think it is solely down to my DD that I was asked so thanks again :} You can read more about my thoughts on joining on my site. Anyway as it turns out I joined just days before they were due to release a new pack. It was suggested that I could submit a couple of my older pieces but I really wanted to make something just for this release as a sort of joining piece. I only had a couple of days and wasn't planning on doing another abstract for a while, but I rushed something out and it just made it in :}

Anyway the important thing is [link] ! Amazing artists, great guys, go check it out, you'll love it. I am lucky to be among their number. @[O_o]@



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From last week some time or something:

Wow seems a piece I thought was just a fun experiment manged to get a DD, which is fantastic simply because 10 times as many people have looked at it today as probably would in a month without a DD. So I should firstly thank Niteangel for noticing the piece, and randomcasualty for featuring it! Also, I have been around and thanked all the people who commented, but I extend my thanks equally, if not more so, to those who added it to their favourites or me to their friends list. I know my Winamp skin Shinyamp also got a DD, but that was during the time when I was rushing about setting my site up and didn't notice so much... as well as the fact that it didn't actually receive very much attention. This time it's really cheered me up, and inspired me to go and produce something new. However I am probably going to disappoint a few people by making something quite different to Hazy. I don't really like to do lots of the same type of art in a short time so I will be trying something else, I think there are a few people out there who watch me for my unpredictability though  

On another note I should thank all the people who have been commenting on Shinybinary's Horror. I submitted that over 2 months ago now, and it has got almost a steady stream of comments. It has never been noticed enough to make it anywhere near the front pages, but it's got a comment every couple of days for the last 2 months or so. I hope people keep noticing it anyway, I'm still proud of that one. Anyway I hope to have something interesting in the future, though I am rather busy at the moment so don't hold your breath. In fact now I think about it I only made Hazy because I was feeling a bit down one evening... odd how the gory pics come out of good moods and the flowery pics out of bad ones.