SpinRants » Artsy Rants

Some of 2010′s Most Interesting Images

Spinny — Fri, 31 Dec 2010 00:35:39 +0000

These might not necessarily have been taken in 2010, but that’s when I encountered this sort of photography for the first time and these are among the best ones I’ve seen all year. What better way to ring out the old year and celebrate the coming of the new?

Enjoy!

This Just In: Prince is Clueless

Spinny — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 15:08:47 +0000

I recently read an interview, a rare one granted to Peter Willis by That Artist Currently Still Known as Prince that’s tied to the pending release of his new album, “20TEN.” Now, granted, as a musical artist this guy might very well be one of the greatest creative minds of our generation. On the other hand, I believe there’s evidence to indicate he’s also a self-absorbed, heavily-insulated little so-and-so.

Here’s what he said:

Unlike most other rock stars, [Prince] has banned YouTube and iTunes from using any of his music and has even closed down his own official website.

He says: “The internet’s completely over. I don’t see why I should give my new music to iTunes or anyone else. They won’t pay me an advance for it and then they get angry when they can’t get it.

“The internet’s like MTV. At one time MTV was hip and suddenly it became outdated. Anyway, all these computers and digital gadgets are no good.

“They just fill your head with numbers and that can’t be good for you.”

Um, dude: I think it likely the Internet will still be around in some form long after no one remembers you or your goofy name/symbol. Further, pretty much every device and/or instrument you’ve used to make your art was conceived, designed and built by people whose heads are filled with numbers.

WTF?

Lights! Camera! Action!

Spinny — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 00:29:48 +0000

So, in the process of learning to do broadcast-quality intros and flying logos and such, I ran through a tutorial on creating intros for things like feature films. After the initial steps were done I went back and spent a lot of time punching things up a bit and modifying to my taste. I’m rather pleased with the final result and, when that happens, I generally decide to share.

Enjoy!

Happy Anniversary, Gare!

Spinny — Sat, 12 Jun 2010 23:39:06 +0000

It’s a special day for a good friend of mine! In honor of the occasion I leveraged some animation techniques I’ve been learning recently and whipped him up a nice little animated card…

Getting artistic on your ass

Spinny — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 15:09:28 +0000

So, one of my favorite time-wasters (especially when golf is out of season) is making “digital art.” I work in 3D and 2D, and use a boat load of different applications to get the effects I want. You might have seen my gallery of past work linked on the left, there, but I really haven’t updated that pile in ages. (Editor’s note: the site has since had a complete make-over and the left hand nav buttons are history. Read further for a current link.)

I have been doing new stuff, however; it’s just over on a page of its own because frankly I’m kind of tired of my existing web site design. The site doesn’t really have any place for showing off Flash animations, for example, and the gallery slideshow format is getting old. I don’t know what I want the new design to look like, and I’m not going to revamp things until I have a plan in place, so for now my new work gets a quickie page. Curious where it is? I thought you’d never ask. Here:

Spinny’s recent artwork

Be advised that for a couple of pieces your browser needs to be able to support Flash animations. How cool is that?

I’ve got some fun new stuff in the works that’ll get posted when ready. At the moment I’m on hold due to my aged graphics computer being on death’s door. It overheats a lot now, and that makes it run slowly when it runs at all–but even when it was in good form its tech is over six years old. Yeah, I know, does it even have a color screen? Heh. Some of the software I’m using now just slays it. Time was, a dual hyperthreading CPU and 128MB of video memory was hot…now it’s so not.

The good news is I have a new rig on the way, arriving this Thursday. Alienware M17x laptop, baby, with quad cores and maxed-out RAM. No more 36-hour render times for a nice cloudscape! I shall have The Ultimate Power! (insert evil laugh here)

Okay, so that’s about all the news outta Spinland for now. Later!