Techy Artsy:Guide to Technical & Creative Success

Twenty Three SQUIDOO - New Movie Magic Tutorials!

2008-01-11T09:23:00.000-08:00

Hey everyone! I've created a few new tutorials on lovely Squidoo.com, a great site offering free webspace to make what they call"lenses." Topics range from Technical, Artistic, Musician and everything in between! Anyway, here are the lenses I've created so far:

From Tech to Art to In Between: Transitioning from Technical to Creative Success!

How to Make your own blue screen at home for movie and special effects

How to Apply Photoshop to a Blue Screen Image

I hope you enjoy them. I'll continue to post whenever I create a newer lense as well, along with any possible updates. If anyone wants to get into the Squidoo groove, Click this join Squidoo link. Here, I'll make a larger "semi-advertisement" below for those that need a larger font ;) :

Satisfy your creative muse - join Squidoo today!

New Techy Artsy Site Launched!

2008-01-11T09:11:00.000-08:00

Sorry about the delay in posting to this blog, I've been super busy trying to get other things in order on the web. I've posted a few more tutorials on Squidoo, plus the official Techy Artsy site has finally completed between my work hours and family life. I hope some of you can visit these pages and find them worthwhile!

Now that these sites are launched, my portfolio update is next, but before that I wanted to post some more helpful tips and links to this blog. But let me get the official announcement out the way first:

TechyArtsy.com is now Launched!!

Techy Artsy is a community based site that merges creative and technical expertise. People from all technical and artistic backgrounds are encouraged to come visit, and share their know how and creations at this site. What I hope is that this will grow into a creative haven that all of us creative dreamers can rest our ideas and mindsets! Please visit Techy Artsy today!

-SB

Art & Tech combined: YOU CAN HAVE THE BEST OF BOTH WORLDS!

2007-10-18T07:42:00.000-07:00

You may not know this, but there are many opportunities in which you can express your artistic side by merging both your artistic AND technological side! Many artists express their work through using software suites designed to create artwork, like Photoshop and Autodesk Maya, for example. Many companies nowadays put out various 3D animation titles, and use software to touch up artistic creations. In fact, using these type of applications to output work is now a creative industry standard! But on the other hand, in order to fully use these applications to their maximum benefit, traditional animation and 2D techniques are still strongly encouraged to have or develop. Many classes I take in Multimedia still force us students to concentrate first hand on sketching on a piece of paper, or creating storyboards with index cards and not a PowerPoint presentation. This may bug a few of you, but the foundation developed by hand will make things a lot easier as you make your creations using a PC interface. Besides, you may find it fun!

Here are a few links that will help get you started on exploring:

Great tutorial sites

Digital Tutors - FREE Online Training on different multimedia applications, (i.e. Maya, Photoshop, Flash and more)!

CSS Zen Garden - A demonstration of what can be accomplished visually through CSS-based design. Great community of BEAUTIFUL CSS designed pages! Learn while you explore!

Phong - Great Photoshop and flash tutorials! This site is SUPER FUN, have a blast!

Digital Art Community links

HighEnd3d - Free tutorials and 3d models. Great community of creative fanatics!

Deviant Art - Online Digital Graphics Community. Great resources for learning basic drawing and advanced techniques as well!

Introduction from a "Techy Artsy" person

2007-10-16T22:28:00.000-07:00

Yes, that is my now favorite lingo, "Techy Artsy." I Googled it, Yahoo'd it, heck I even Squidoo'd it, and found it to be nowhere officially labeled. So I went ahead and claimed the domain, so now it's all mine (heh heh). But feel free to recommend this term, blog and the official website (which may still be under construction, be warned) to all of your friends :)

But enough of my e-gloating, let's get back down to business. I know you're waiting patiently for an intro, so here it is:

Why "Techy Artsy"?

Well personally, after awhile, I couldn't find another name to label this "trait" I've been endowed with since I touched my first computer: The good ol' largely pixelated Apple in my 4th grade classroom. Once I saw the rainbow Apple logo glisten on the side of the gray tower, I was hooked, to say the least. You would think that the multiple colors on the infamous logo would conjure up artistic thought, but well, my mind went the other way around. And so began the journey and struggle to find a balance between the realms of technology and art. Ready to join me?

Who the heck are you, anyway?

Who, me? Well, I'm your average mid twenties female, trying to find the right "career fit." On the technical side of things, I am coming from a software engineering perspective. I've went to school, received the formal education, but along the way I've learned that my calling was not only for the technical side of things, but also the way of the artist. I've should have seen it coming, what with all the elective courses in art I've taken over the grade school and college years, but only for fun, right? Well, after a while of soul searching one tends to realize that your passion can turn into your profession. It might take a lot of elbow grease, but it can happen. Whether or not it happens is up to YOU.

Who is this site for?

I've created this site for YOU, the technical person who, through exploration and training, have found their calling in the world of art, or who have curiosity about delving into the art realm. You can be from a number of different technical backgrounds: A programmer, an engineer, IT, and many other titles under the technical category. But if you're an artist, techie veteran or an in-betweener then please, feel free to chime in, we definitely need you here too! The more diversity the better.
Overall, I want to create A COMMUNITY IN WHICH WE CAN ALL GROW TOGETHER. Some place where people can go to and say, "yes, that's EXACTLY where I am! It's great to finally find some support in my struggle for artistic freedom! Now, back to this SQL algorithm that I've gotta get done before the big pilot tomorrow...curse these darn 'no data found' messages!"

What do you plan to do with this blog?

What I want to do with this blog is post different tips, links and information that I've found throughout the years. I've gathered up quite a bit of information. My bookmarks folder now consists of approximately 1000+ favorites in hundreds of folders on Maya, Photoshop, HTML/CSS, Javascript, Flash, Dreamweaver, After Effects, and the list goes on. But don't worry, I won't bombard you all with tons of links that'll just make the blog look clunky and junky. If I find a tutorial that seems unique and very helpful, I'll post it. A good book to help with the transition? I'll post these too. Any wise thoughts from my big head? You'l have to hear them, sorry folks. And if anyone has any recommendations, then I'll look into that as well and possibly post some!

Well, are you an Techy Artsy expert?

Heavens no! Not yet, anyway. I'm still learning, like most of you still are. But I find that this journey in the balancing of these two worlds conjures up a lot of thought, and like some of you, I strive to find others that are taking the same journey as I am. So, in an effort to bring most of us together I've created this network of different online posts: this blog, a Squidoo listing, and an official site (might be under construction).

Why should I keep coming back?

Trust me, you'll want to come back. This blog has great potential, and after a while, the community and visitors will grow, and we'll be an unstoppable force of information! Besides, you can look at my blog as an online set of bookmarks for your techy artsy interests! And aren't you tired of trying to find a place where you can finally fit in, oh ye of both left and right brain thinking? Well, look no more, this is it!

Y'all come back now, y'hear?

Well, I'll see you all again very soon! I'm calling it a night. I have artistic dreams to slumber to, but an algorithmic workday tomorrow. G'night!

-Shy3d