Here’s a cool collection of 40 photoshop lighting effects that I had bookmarked for a few months intending to post at some point. While I’ve been quite eager to use one or two of these techniques at some point in time, I haven’t really found any commercial uses for them….yet.  But they’re really easy ways to elicit some “Ooohs” and “Aaahs” from random viewers. (via Vandelay Design)

Kingston is back home again. Aside from the big gash across the top of his head and the weak hand that he has to work on….he looks as if he no worse off for wear. It’s a pretty surreal feeling for me….having seen him just 26 days ago lying on a giant adult sized ICU bed with IVs on every limb and a breathing tube stuffed down his throat. When we went out for a bite to eat last night, we looked very much like a normal family again, and I had almost a weird urge to tell folks that it was almost a miracle we were even there at all. I can almost relate to soldiers who come back from a harrowing experience during a war and how they must feel so bizarre coming back home and just seeing everyone go about business as usual?

In any case, he’s home, he’s happy…..and we’ll deal with whatever comes next.

I stumbled across yet another list of inspirational work….this one comprised of video game artwork. I just know SOME of my students are into gaming like I am maybe?

Most of them are really good. From what I can tell, with the exception of a couple of them, it looks to me like none of these are done with CGI…. so they’re most likely great examples of Photoshop and Illustration work. Or possibly some mixed-media?

While you’re there, check out the collection of Print Ads too (via PresidiaCreative)

I think the biggest thing I’ll take away from that writing is that you must work with, or hire, people that are better than you at their jobs. I still have that dream in my head where I want this business to be….now if only I can tackle the rest of my life this systematically, it’d be great!

He’s actually doing amazingly well for a boy who literally had to be resuscitated on the surgery table to where he is today. All his tubes has been pulled out (well, he ended up pulling out his own tube the other day) with the exception of just one last IV in one arm that he hardly notices.

He IS walking, laughing, crying….and yes, still watching his favorite movie “Cars” for what might be his 70th time since this incident. The DVD player his uncle loaned him is on its last breath gasping for air each time we try to play the video…it’s starting to crap out.

He’s getting more and more stable with his walking again. Meanwhile that one right arm is slowly coming back, although the PT folks liken it to what happens to a stroke patient. All the mechanics are still there, but he “forgets” about that hand until you remind him about it. A couple days ago we witnessed him grab a ball with that hand and toss it overhead. As simple as that may sound, it’s a significant step in the right direction as the PT folks see that as a demonstration of an autonomous, non-thinking action taking place.

We’re HOPING just one more week in the hospital before we can bring him home. The last thing he has to prove to the doctors is that he can eat enough calories to stabilize or gain wait…the calories being an important part of his healing process. So we’re loading him up with all the stuff we’d never normally give him – mash potatoes & gravy, french fries, roast beef, yogurt, jello. I think I’m one step away from loading him up with 24 oz of Pepsi every day just to get his weight up. 

Anyway, all you folks out there who could do nothing more than send him your love and prayers?  It’s working…

This sketch work/scribble caught my attention the other day. At first glance it truly looks like just a bunch of random doodling (which is cool enough it its own right) but once you see the process, there was an amazing amount of detail, time, and attention put into this thing. And all done with Photoshop none-the-less. (OwaikeO via Abduzeedo)

Now in the midst of chaos going on in my life right now, I’m ever more in need of inspiration…not just for work, but just the spark to want to get up each morning to deal with the new day’s challenges. I know, that sounds bleak right?  Well, I do what I can to keep going I guess….I have to!

Anyway, I revisited an old post I made a couple years back and stumbled across this creative little festival trailer made by this group Strukt. Extra little trivia I liked was that it was all shot using a Canon 7D.

Here’s a collection of some great design rules that should be considered when doing web-design. But a few of these are good rules for any artwork in general. A few of these we’re even going to cover in class… (via 3.7 Designs)

To the students of Art 112 (if any of you are reading this) thanks for coming to class today and I hope to see many of your faces again next week Tuesday.

On that note, I bookmarked a great link the other week from a designer named Frank Chimero. This was his advice to budding graphic design students. I liked many of his thoughts:

Look people in the eyes when you are talking or listening to them. The best teachers are the ones who treat their classrooms like a workplace, and the worst ones are the ones who treat their classroom like a classroom as we’ve come to expect it. Eat breakfast. Realize that you are learning a trade, so craft matters more than most say. Realize that design is also a liberal art. Quiet is always an option, even if everyone is yelling. Libraries are a good place. The books are free there, and it smells great.

Check out the rest of his post here.

Kingston’s doing very well from a neurological standpoint. He’s walking on his own, albeit very weak and wobbly still. He’s eating and talking. He’s doing age-appropriate tasks. His weak right arm is showing little signs of improvement each day.

He’s got a fever that’s coming from a mystery source to doctors right now, which is preventing him from coming home still. All we can do is stay by his side and trust in the docs to try figure out the issue. From a parent’s perspective, anytime they draw blood, stick another tube down his nose, submit him to xrays, and generally cause him new discomfort feels a bit like adding salt to the wound, but what can you do?

This ordeal has definitely made my hair turn blue.