Scheduling and Time Management.

I'm finding out real fast that I need a lot of help in this area.  When I was working it didn't seem to be a problem.  I knew what needed to be done, when it need to be done and who i needed to do it.  I was the boss, I needed to be on top of things.  Every day started the same way, go in early, define the days shop floor needs, make the schedule and get everyone to work.  The rest of the day consisted of administrative work (paper work, there's always paper work) staff meetings and planning.  Everything was scheduled, everything fell into place.  Not so much now.

I refer to my approach to hobbies as the "Colorado River School" because I acted in much the same way the Colorado River does.  I would rush in, chew up as much info as I could and then just sort of drift and meander here and there, from this to that, all depending on what I wanted to do that day.  This always seemed to  result in me digging a big hole for myself and everything just got all backed up.  See the relationship?  I can see that's not going to work for me now.

So I decided to come up with a "tentative" schedule.  Something that I can more or less follow without feeling like I'm going to work all over again ( I am retired, ya know), yet where I'm able to accomplish what I need to do.  So here it is.

Monday - Speed painting and concept sketching.
Tuesday - Refine Matte work.
Wednesday - Training (videos, on-line research)
Thursday - Free - catch up, mix things up.
Friday - Free - catch up, mix things up.
Saturday - Sunday - Computer work, blog. website development and general clean up the office days.

Of course, between all that there's everyday life stuff to do.  I don't watch much TV at all, but there's always shopping, going to the doctor, talking to the family... things like that.  I can afford to do this because my main income doesn't depend on my art (thank God for that).  When that day comes, I'll make adjustments but I want to ease into it now because I'm finding I'm not getting the results that I want.

Looking at the schedule, you might ask, "hey, what's up with Thursday and Friday".  Well, right now, those are the days that one of the most important people in my life comes to visit... my little grandson Daniel.  So, things have to fit in where they can and they have to be things that don't require a high level of concentration.  Sorry, but nothing comes between me and this little guy.

Ok, so today is Monday... I need to stop blogging and get to painting.

It's a Video and Practice day.

I added a new image to the gallery. It's a "Day to Night" scene called Night Falls.  It's based on a earlier primitive piece of mine, one of my first attempts at matte painting . Check it out.  See what a little practice will do for you?

Yep, practice, practice, practice... that's the advice I hear all the time... so that's what I did this weekend.  I spent Friday and a good part of Saturday re-watching some matte painting tutorial videos.

Without a doubt, whenever the question "Hey, what training DVD's should I buy" comes up in the matte painting forums, Dylan Cole, Dusso and Stoski are sure to get a lot of mention.  Make no mistake, their DVD's are top notch and informative but one guy you hardly ever hear mentioned is Christian Lorenz Scheurer.   Most of my time this weekend was spent watching his video's.   On his first DVD, "An introduction to Digital Painting", he covers the different types of perspective, ways to create new shapes, color match and turn them into elements on a plate.  One major difference in his video's is that most of the work is done in real time.  I like that.  I can see what layer he's on, what tools he's using and what settings he's using.  He does explain all these things but for an old guy like me, the visual reference is a great bonus.  He takes the time to explain the basics and the videos are full of little bits and pieces of info that will help you achieve that look of realism in your work.  For example,  I now know why the sky is blue.  Sorry, but if you wanna know, you're just gonna have to get his DVD's.

Check out this video interview he did for CG Channel where he talks about his art.

Oh, and BTW, here's a look at the early primitive piece i mentioned.  Check out the gallery for a better look at the new one.

OK, ok, here's why the sky is blue... Air contains a blue colored gas called hydrogen. The further you look into the distance, the more hydrogen
molecules stack up behind each other and the bluer it looks.   So, next time you hear "Daddy, why is the sky blue?" you'll know the answer but buy his DVD's anyway.  There's a lot more good stuff in them.