Hello Newgrounds,
It has been 6 years since I came through, life is interesting. I spent a good part of last Sunday immersing myself in all the creative work I could find from this awesome community and I have been completely inspired! It has also been 10 years since I created a profile on this site to upload my work and I see my past self used this as a blog so I felt I should update it for anyone who has been following it.
So, what have I been doing since 2015?
In my last post, I talked briefly about committing to designing one game a month, long story short that never came to be. I also stopped producing podcasts for RabblePress because it was hard to line up schedules. instead, I fully dove into my videography passion during the later part of 2016. From then until March 2020 (when the pandemic started) I was producing a music video every week! It was the most creative I have ever been, and I learned so much! I hit up a local rapper who goes by the name Doc hEAT (Heavenly Educated And Trained) and offered to shoot music videos for him since he was apart of this Instagram challenge called #murderthebeat where a beat is put out every week and rappers from the Cypher Circuit community post videos of them rapping to them. I saw he was only posting selfie videos so I came in and offered to create video for him and that eventually lead to other endeavours. In that time I learned so much about the creative process and had some form of accountability, which I feel is something I would have been exposed to if I enrolled in some form of film school. I was also putting in 40 hours a week of brutal physical labour at my full-time job. I don't know how I found the energy to do it but I did and now I can humble brag that I made that happen. I have also been shooting music videos for other artists and doing other things in that space. Here is a link to a playlist I will continue to update with my video work.
I want to post some of my video art here but unfortunately, Newgrounds doesn't allow creative work like that, I will look more into it because the stuff I want to post involves a lot of effects but I don't make the rules, I can only follow them.
Since I went hard into the videography scene at the end of 2016 the niche is now grown in popularity. Being apart of NewGrounds again is a way for me to get inspired so I can separate myself creatively from other videographers in that space. I have already collaborated with some artists on here to create some cool stuff that I can't upload but will on on my Instagram which is: @salyourpal.
Game Feel
I am also dabbling with the idea of getting back into video game design. I am currently reading a great book on the topic called "Game Feel" and have consumed hours of lectures on YouTube, it is still one of my passions. I found some messages in my inbox from people who have played some of my games and were looking forward to future projects. Part of me wants feels I owe them that! It is just so time-consuming and like I stated I have a full-time job and a lot of other things that are taking my time and are taking priority, but I know I will get back into it because it is a passion.
I really would like to create a small 3D platformer in HTML5 and post it here, I remember working on a game in Blender as a side project when I was doing an internship in 2012 called "Orange Castle". I have been researching how I can create something small to enter into that space. I am messaging people who have posted 3D work on NewGrounds and if anyone reading can help me with that in any way please send me what you know. Unity seems like the best bet right now since it is free, I just need to find time to learn it.
Blender school
I recently took advantage of a sale on Udemy and purchased hours and hours of Blender education content, so I would love to know that program inside and out to create visuals for video and various other things. I am also learning drawing (traditional & digital) and have been diving into various drawing apps on my phone which is a Samsung Galaxy Note 9. I have been drawing up assets and trying to maximize the creative output I can get from that device. Man, I am putting energy into so many different things, no wonder I can't focus on one thing and complete it haha.
Writing
I am also writing a lot more, I spent time in lockdown last year learning how to type more efficiently. I am currently at 65 WPM and kind of stuck at that speed, but I just have to put more time in. Right now I am attempting to type out the entire Bible.
I have a medium account to which I plan on posting more, a link will be on my profile. I also have various books and lectures I have purchased on the topic of writing but again the issue here is the time! I don't have the time to learn everything! Look, I refuse to ingest drugs or substances to help me with all this, things will happen as they do. I know people are going to say something stupid like that so I just wanted to state it now.
Mental Health
Finally most of all I am learning more about myself every day. I have identified (especially when reading my older journals and posts on here) that I tend to talk more about things I want to do and not put energy into putting time into completing them. I realized that talking about an idea is so easy and makes me feel super pumped but I sometimes get so pumped that I don't start getting my hands dirty and making it happen. I also had a weird obsession with self-help a few years ago and was trying hard to "be happy" and now I realize that trying to "be happy" actually makes you unhappy. Happiness is the byproduct of what you do in life.
Once (or if) this pandemic ends I am deciding to go back to school but right now I am focused on making sure my family is safe and I am safe through all this. I also refuse to pay full tuition for online learning when there is so much you can learn online right now. I have a lot more I would like to write about like Unfinished or projects that I was passionate about but never got around to completing. I am going to spend more time on this website because it is such a cool place to be!
I hope people read this but if now I will keep this as a "creative journal" or some kind. Hope everyone is safe and sane!