November Web Special

I'm working some reduced hours at the shop recently, so I have a portion of my income that I need to make up for. To get started, I'm offering a special price on web design for a few weeks. I've come up with a package I think is pretty well packed, and a lot of features for less than $200 for anyone looking to start a new website. Pass it along!

Old School - October 2014

An update on my progress toward my degree -

A few years ago, I started attending the Art Institute of Pittsburgh Online to get a bachelor's degree in Web Design and Interactive Media. I'm doing it part time, one class at a time, so it's slow going, but I've been at it steady for a long time now. I'm finally in my 4th year classes, and I think I have about a year left to go. I can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel and am really looking forward to hanging that diploma on my office wall.

I've really been moved toward the eLearning part of the program. In my past career, I had done a good bit of software training, teaching clients how to use Adobe Photoshop and After Effects in the sign business, so this seems like a natural fit for me. I picked up Adobe Captivate, and have been digging into that, and am very impressed by what it can do. The capabilities in Instructional Design are just tremendous compared to a decade ago. This would have saved my employer a fortune on travel and overtime expenses. It also allows someone to learn at their own pace, rather than forcing them to do a multiple-day marathon, which pushes them far beyond their saturation point. To be able to take a break, and come back for a little more the next day is really nice.

I've also done a good bit of Javascript and Jquery work. I've had a lot of fun working with that, and been very impressed by what I can do so easily with a few well-placed widgets. My coding skills have leapt forward by a long shot.

A few months ago, I had a portfolio class, and built an entire new site for myself. I've redone it several times since then, and will probably keep redoing it every few months. It contains links to a lot of my recent Instructional and Web design pieces, as well as a lot of my graphic art.

My current class, Advanced Communications, is very helpful. It mainly deals with how to speak and write in a professional environment, for interviews, reviews, etc.

So, that's where I am in the effort to improve my education. See you at the top!

Mid-life Crisis

I've been thinking a lot about my artistic career lately, and what I'm going to focus on next.

The comic book thing has never really taken off for me.  I'm good at it, but after all these years, I'm not getting any offers to draw or ink anything, and my own projects haven't been able to get past the first few pages in the last decade.  I learned a lot from all my work in comics, but I've come to the realization that I'm never going to be more than a hobbyist in the field, and maybe I should devote my efforts to trying to become better at something I have a better chance at succeeding in.  I'm sure a lot of my art will continue to be influenced by comics, though.  It's a part of who I am.

I've gone back to school, and am working on a BA in web design and interactive media.  I've been building web pages for more than 13 years, and the progress this art form has made since I started has been staggering. There are a lot of new tricks that I need to learn, and I've been working on the list.

So, I'm primarily going to be focusing my attention on becoming a better web designer.  I'll be posting a lot more notes and blogs coming up as I re-design my own site and put the things I've learned into practice.

Back to School - Week 1

I've finished up my first week of school at Art Institute of Pittsburgh Online, and got everything turned in.  So far, it's been pretty easy, but next week I start my first project.  It's a basic Computer Literacy class to start out with, but the format for research, discussion, and interaction with other students is pretty cool.  Books are mostly in digital format, so I save some money there, and I've gotten the Adobe CS5 Suite and Microsoft Office 2010 as part of my class materials.

CS5 has some real advances over my previous version of Photoshop, CS3.  I was surprised by hiw much they've added.  And for productivity, Office 2010 is pretty amazing.  I've been using Google Docs for a while now, and didn't think I needed Office, but seeing the tools in Outlook and OneNote have me thinking in new ways.  Very powerful stuff!

Week one went down smoothly, and didn't stress me out at all in addition to working full time.  So far, I'm enjoying it and feeling like I'm doing something worthwhile, so I'm feeling very good about it.

Old School

I'm finally starting something I've been thinking about doing for a long, long time.  Beginning in January, I'm going back to school to get a degree.  I should have done this years ago, but I always had reasons not to do it - I'm too old, I can't afford it, I don't have the time, etc.  I broke through all that last month, and I'm enrolled and have all my classes lined up.  It's an online version of the school, so I can do it evenings and weekends around my full-time job.  Everything else is just the same as the traditional college program.

I'm going for a Bachelor's Degree in Interactive Media from the Art Institute of Pittsburg, which is a fancy way of describing web design.  I've dabbled in the web for as long as there's been a web.  I've done some neat things with Dreamweaver and Flash.  I think I'm a bit beyond a beginner, but there's a lot I don't know how to do yet.

I still want to do comic books, but I think the future of the genre is going to be on the web, and that's where I want to develop my specialty.  Learning to work with databases, and be able to offer content to customers is something I think is worth doing.  I have a pretty specific agenda, and I see no drawback in getting an education in this field beyond the cost.

Heading back to school at this age is a bit intimidating.  I'm starting the program at age 46, so I'll probably be over 50 by the time I finish.  I could easily have another thirty years of my career ahead of me, so it's better late than never.  This kind of field didn't even exist the last time I went to school, back in the 80s.  Computers were around, but not used for art, so the stuff I learned before - stat cameras, lazy lucys, zip-a-tone, rubylith, typesetting, etc - all that's long since out of date.

I'm excited about learning some new things and getting into doing some of the class projects.  I'll keep you posted on my progress and what the experience is like!

Random Thoughts for June

Applied to be warlock columnist on wow.com 
Even if I don't get the job, I have a few sample pieces written now and I came up with ten topics to expand on in the future, so those will show up on here most likely. I'm not a raider, and I can't hang with the folks in Icecrown Citadel going toe-to-toe with the Lich King, but I do have three level 80 warlocks, who have done about everything else. If nothing more, it made me think about writing for a more general audience, and had me paying better attention to my word count. Writing is something I want to get better at in the coming year, so this was good practice. I'm thinking I won't get the gig, but I put my hat in, so we'll see what they say. It would be a lot of fun.

Getting ready for camping trip
The wife and I are taking the kids on a camping trip up in North Florida next month. We'll be right on the beach, so it should be pretty relaxing. I'm looking forward to spending quality time with Trish, maybe planning out our future some. I want to do some writing, maybe some sketching - just spend some time getting my creative vibe back. We haven't had a good vacation in years, and with all that's gone on lately, we deserve one. We'll have family, good food, our dogs, some music and the beach. And perhaps some rum.

Slowly evolving my new website
I have the framework built for my new website, skulfrak.com. There are seven pages of the new Shanghai comic rendered that I can letter and get up there pretty soon. The project is an exercise in re-establishing my identity online for this phase of my life. I haven't done a whole lot of artwork in the past decade that I'm particularly proud of, so it's time to get back to my mainstream comic roots and do the kinds of things that I love with art.

Listening to Francis Chan's "Crazy Love"
I've been listening to his sermon's on iTunes for a while now, and my pastor recommended a book he wrote. I found the audio version, and it's really good. He has an amazing video called "just stop and think" on the companion site for the book - www.crazylovebook.com - and it's life changing. He really breaks down Christianity into terms even an idiot like me can understand.

Trying to be a more thoughtful person
I've come to realize lately that I'm not the most caring or warm person there is. I don't why. I'm making an effort to be a more thoughtful and caring human being, so it's going to be a work in progress.

Don't want oil on my beach

If predictions are accurate, once BP's disaster gets into Florida's loop current, we'll have their mess on our beach, just a block from our house. I refust to refer to this ecological disaster as a spill. A spill is what happens when I set my beer down in the grass while sitting outside and the dog knocks it over. I've been going to the beach a lot since we moved back over to the peninsula, and I hate the thought of it covered in some mega-corporation's petroleum. The images of Florida surrounded by that sludge are sickening.

Do want iPhone 4
I've been making due with the first generation 4 gig model for a few years now, and there are some amazing new features in the model coming out next week. Being able to conduct my in-game auctions from the phone are blowing my mind. I love the remote access to the computers on my network, and some of the music apps are incredible. I would also like an iPad if one fell in my lap, but let's not get carried away. The resolution on the new phone is more than double what the old one was. And video calls? Whoa. I love gadgets.

More progress on the new site

I've gotten the layout and structure in place on the new www.skulfrak.com, and it's coming along nicely.  I think once I stopped trying to force a theme on it, and just let it develop naturally, it started to come into focus.  It's nothing intricate, but it's clean, functional, and starting to look kinda cool.  I have high hopes for the new direction I've been going in and can't wait to see where it leads me.

Getting to work on the Website

I've been trying to pull together a cohesive theme for my new website - www.skulfrak.com - and it just wasn't getting there, so I decided to just work on the framework and get some material plugged in for now.  It's nothing fancy so far, with just a few thumbnails, but there will be a lot more soon.  I've told myself this is a project I'm not going to stress over, so I work on it for now when the mood strikes me.  I've also been focusing more on the comics I'm going to be publishing there, so the site has been a secondary concern for the past month.

I have six pages done of the new Shanghai comic so far, and I'm very happy with it.  I'm not ready to show it yet, but I'm excited to see where I can take it.

Concepts for the new site

I've had some visuals floating around for a while now that I've wanted to use, but not the correct venue.  I've really been digging the Steampunk look for a while now, and I can see doing a website in that style, and now I finally have my chance.  Here's a good explanation I heard for the concept = Mad Scientist Inventor (invention [steam x airship or metal man / baroque stylings] x [pseudo] Victorian setting) + progressive or reactionary politics x adventure plot = STEAMPUNK.

My new domain is in place (www.skulfrak.com) and there are some placeholder notes there already, but I'm going to sink my teeth into the new visuals pretty soon and hopefully make something visually exciting.  This is going to be my online portfolio for my comic and fantasy art, and I hope to do some all-ages desktops and comics for a premium area there.  Printing on paper is so expensive, and I have a good handle on the digital press now, so we'll all get to find out together if I can make it work or not.

The cool thing is that you'll get to follow along here.  I'm going to document my progress and post works as they are being done, and the thought processes that go into them (if any).  This blog is a part of that site now.

Thanks for watching!

A new Sandbox

Alright, it's time for me to stop naval-gazing and get back to being creative.

For ten years, I've run Brick House Digital, and in the last year, my wife and I have converted that to our animation and design business.  It's not been terribly active, but we try and maintain a professional air to it now, and my comics and fantasy art don't really fit there anymore.  It's been kind of frustrating for me to not have an outlet on the web to experiment and goof around with flash and html design.

I have a brand new sandbox to play in now. www.skulfrak.com  This is a site where I can create and get as goofy as I want without disturbing the business side of things.  I'm planning on linking this blog to it, adding some digital comics, some desktop wallpaper, and a few other things.  It will most likely be in a constant state of flux, as I love to change things.

Really looking forward to digging into this and making something cool!