When in Rome... Sketch postcards from vacation - part two

In addition to Budapest, I also had the chance to travel to Rome. 

I haven't been back to Rome since I was 21 years old, which was...a long time ago. I had forgotten a lot more about the experience than I thought possible, but the feeling I had upon seeing the city was the same.

Rome is just mindbogglingly stupendous. For an artist, this is really it; the beginning of Western art, Berninis and Michelangelos are just scattered throughout the city, like "hey, no big deal, priceless work of art/pigeon rest".  

I wrote a bit more about the general experience here. 

I don't recall managing to make much time for sketching back then either, which is a real shame, because almost every corner in Rome is eminently sketch-able. But there is really so much to do and see, so tough decisions must be made. In the end, I relied a lot more on my camera than sketchbook.

But I did manage to squeeze out a few drawings, mostly while my feet were recovering from all the walking.

Sketch postcards from vacation - part one

When I was younger, I did quite a bit of travelling on my own and rather liked it. You get into a completely different headspace that way, and no one ever has to wait for you patiently to finish a drawing.

I haven't travelled alone for awhile now, and I quite like that too. But it does mean that I sketch less than I used to. I suspect having a celphone has something to do with that as well. Now, instead of doing a quick doodle to pass time, I answer email, read Facebook, or surf the internet. It's a real shame.

I did manage to do this one quick sketch in Budapest, Hungary on a recent trip. Budapest is beautiful, and a real treat for anyone who loves old world architecture mixed with some beautiful and unusual patterns and tile-work that has more than a touch of Ottoman influence. 

This was on a hill on the Buda side of town called Fisherman's Bastion. The entire area was only developed around the late 1800's, but it was made to look a bit more medieval for deliberate atmosphere. Regardless, it's just lovely, and overlooks the Danube and you can sit along a covered patio and get yourself a drink. It's supposed to be expensive because of tourist prices, but since a drink in SF or LA can run you a good $12, with a view of a wall and other drunk patrons, the drink here is a postive bargain at around $10.

 

HODOR!

I've been reading and watching Game of Thrones, just like every one else.

And I just love how in the book, that's all Hodor says as well. Sometimes he says it sadly, sometimes fearfully. it's the all purpose word.

Like "smurfy" for Smurfs.

Some thoughts on conferences...

Last year, Comic con and Siggraph happened on successive weekends in Southern California.

ComicCon hit the mainstream consciousness several years ago and now every television show, movie, or comic book aggressively markets itself there, hoping to generate early buzz. Although the argument can still be made that it caters to a subset of the population, the reality is that the content it promotes sits at the cool kids' table now.

While Comic con continues to grow in mainstream popularity, Siggraph will probably never get the same kind of buzz maintain its smaller status because 1) it's a professional conference with a prohibitively high pass price and 2) instead of celebrities charmingly speaking about their roles in the latest action space adventure, Siggraph has awkward PhDs talking in monotone about algorithms.

However, these conferences are complimentary. Comic con is about content. Siggraph is about the technology needed to create that content. Without the technology, the big action movies showing off at Comic con would be like an aviary of featherless peacocks.

But the reverse is also true. All the shiny tech in the world, does not compensate for compelling content.

Here's an anecdote.

We hear about movies that were only made when the technology caught up to the directors' visions, finally enabling certain directors to tell the fantastical stories they've been wanting to tell without compromise.

Two movies that are often cited as examples of this situation are Stanely Kubrick's "AI" and James Cameron's "Avatar". Although the visuals for both were stunning, neither of these films are considered among their creators' best or most influential works. "Avatar" was hugely successful, but it has not impacted the cultural landscape in the same way as Cameron's earlier works; "Terminator" or "Titanic". In fact, Kubrick enthusiasts like to leave "AI" out of his oeuvre, because they find it so inconstant compared to his other films.

It begs the question whether improved technology has actually made content creators lazier because they could dazzle the audience with polished pyrotechnics instead of well crafted stories. Are we are now trapped in the movie version of uninspired advertising campaigns? Instead of iconic campaigns like "Think Different" or "Just do it", we have an endless round of pretty women and puppies lounging around on screen.

Because no matter how sophisticated these algorithms get, they are not a replacement for compelling content. (I'm sure someone is working on this though). Realistic water simulations allow artists to create flood imagery never before seen, and every year there are always papers on how to generate good fluid effects on macro and micro levels. It's very impressive technologically, but just isn't inherently entertaining. Without emotional context, the audience may as well be looking at bath water. Even Roland Emmerich, whose movies seem comprised entirely of particle effects and physics simulations, feels compelled to craft a storyline (albeit tenuous) to justify all the digital destruction.

In recent years, audiences have become spoiled by good VFX everywhere, and now they only notice it when it's bad. While we expect science fiction and fantasy shows to have CG, it is a little more shocking to realize how much it has taken over traditional set building for both television and film.

Ironically, even while much of the industry is driven in a direction where tangible sets and characters become more and more scarce, a majority of the research shown at Siggraph revolves around replicating the human touch.

This was so obvious during the Tech Paper Fast Forward (a rapid preview of current research that will be presented) that I whispered to my friend: "They all want to be us!"

I don't doubt that the algorithms will eventually be good enough that the input from the user will become smaller and smaller to create more and more interesting results. Consider smaller programs such as Instagram (or it's many competitors). None of these programs can do what Photoshop can do, but they don't need to. Ninety-nine percent of the population is able to express itself creatively just fine with pre packaged filters, palettes, and icons.

But we will always want the human touch, and it's not because it's objectively better: it's because we're biased.

Yay human centered bigotry!

An old favorite...

 

When I was a teen, I must have spent several years obsessed with Anne Shirley from the  "Anne of Green Gables" series. The internet has been hugely gratifying in demonstrating to me how I wasn't alone in this, then or now. 

It's been years since I've read the books, so I'm overdue for a re-read. She's such a fun, cheerful character; romantic and optimistic. Anne Shirley (later Blythe - it's not a spoiler if the books are over a hundred years old) had a love of books, fantastical stories with "scope for the imagination", whimsy and pretty clothes. She was a loyal, empathetic friend and despised bullies.  

I was rather sorry to discover that her author's life was considerably more dismal, an unhappy marriage and struggles with depression.

That's the downside of the internet; you can find out about these things.

Thanksgiving

When I was a kid, there was always a Thanksgiving pageant where the class dressed up as "Pilgrims and Indians".

The Pilgrim costumes were made out of construction paper and the Indian costumes were made out of old, brown, paper bags.*

I never, ever, got to be a Pilgrim.

I'm assuming the kids now dress up as "Pilgrims and Native Americans" but  Googling "brown paper bag Native American costume" shows that the fine craft of paper bag tailoring continues to be practiced today!

Growing up, we always had a kitchen drawer devoted to used bags, ready for all kinds of couture needs. However, I wonder if now paper bags are in shorter supply because many people use reusable bags?

Happy thanksgiving everyone!

*Even in our imagined past, we shafted the Indians (”We"re taking your land and giving you smallpox! Enjoy!")