Seventh Sanctum Blog

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Archive for December, 2009

Appreciating the artist

Posted by Steven Savage on December 4, 2009

Originally posted here at Fan-To-Pro.

Let's talk artists.  No, not in the negative. 
In fact, I actually think artists get too little respect and too much
B.S. from people.  So, that's the subject.

Artists could use more respect.


If there's a geeky profession I see dissed too often it's artists. 
They're impractacal, or they're posers, or they're not doing "real"
jobs, or they're unoriginal – and of course they're just stupid because
they are in a job that won't make them rich.

You get the idea.  Artists can use more respect.

Go into a bookstore.  See all those book covers?  Artists made them.

Like comics and manga – artists.

Video games?  Artists design characters, textures, models, and more.

Like animation – well, duh, that's a given.

Think
how much of your environment has been jazzed up by artists, from
paintings to sculpture, to just clever use of good carpet and the right
furniture.

Artists do a lot.  If anything I think we take them for granted since their work is everywhere.  We get used to it.

There
are also very successful artists.  We just don't always know their
names unless they have some prominent work.  We don't think about the
person who decorated the hotel lobby, we don't read the credits for
texture design in our video games, we don't think more than five
seconds about the book cover that drew our attention.  They're working
away and we forget about them – but they're there working hard and
paying the bills and being successful.

So you know what?  If
you're an artist or know one, the next time someone disses an artist or
doesn't appreciate them, set them straight.

- Steve

Posted in Analysis | Leave a Comment »

Thoughts on creative people, geeks, and so forth dividing their lives up

Posted by Steven Savage on December 3, 2009

I've been sharing more of my Fan To Pro posts here as I realized that a lot of you reading this, well, fit that – people with career ambitions based on hobbies and interests.

One thing I've noticed more and more is how people divide their lives up – and then feel they have no time to live their dreams. I've seen people divide life into "work" and "non-work" or some other divisions, and those are the ways they define their lives.

More on this is here

-Steve

Posted in Advice | Leave a Comment »

Latest Contest Entries

Posted by Steven Savage on December 2, 2009

And here we go – a few more entries!

As For new generators, still not sure what’s next. I’m thinking of something simple after the last complex one – I was thinking a fashion generator to make things like “Gothic Cowboy” and “Cyberpunk Businessman”.


- Steve

Posted in Contests, General | Leave a Comment »

Fandom and Time Management

Posted by Steven Savage on December 1, 2009

This was originally posted at Fan To Pro, but as you Sanctum Users fit this profile pretty well, I wanted to reprint it.

Anyone who remotely knows me knows that I tend
to organized, which is saying that the last Transformers film contains
a few explosions.  I'm actually pretty proud of my organizational
abilities, they've helped me on the job and to keep my own life in
order (especially good in these tough economic times).  My very job,
Project Manager, is based on me being good at planning.

Fandom is a good reason for this.  My hobbies are a big part of how I developed these skills.

If
you get involved in fannish activities, like any activity, you have to
get organized.  At worst you need to follow the plans of others -
collaborate on the writing, show up for the game, etc.  You may even
take on larger projects and events, planning cons, writing fanfic
epics, etc.

If you have successful fannish activities, you ARE organized.


For me, it started when I got introduced to role-playing games
(that required a lot of pre-planning) and shared universe writing
(which took the same, as well as long-term evaluation and printing
organization).  The internet let me engage in even more projects and
efforts, as did conventions.  When I look back on it, a lot of the time
I ended up being The Guy With The Idea (who usually had to pull it
off).  

Yes, I'm naturally organized (to an extent), but fandom brought it out and helped me find out how to leverage it.

Think you're disorganized?  Take a look at your fandom efforts and think again.

For
fun, sit down and list your major fannish activities.  Next to each,
list what you do to get those things done.  You may be surprised.

- Steven Savage

Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment »