ART FOR HURUMA: A Barton Damer & Promise Tangeman collab

Art for Huruma is a collaboration between Barton Damer and Promise (Tangeman) Wurzell. During the month of July, the two artists will pass the artwork back and forth to come up with one artistic collaboration of the minds. Barton will begin the artwork and post the first phase on Monday, July 6th. Within a couple days, Promise will update the artwork with her touches and post the results on her blog. The cycle continues back and forth until each artist has developed the artwork 3 times each with a final meeting of the minds to complete it. Follow the progress of the Art For Huruma project throughout July by checking back at either Alreadybeenchewed.net or Promisetangemanblog.com.

Tees and poster prints of the final artwork will be printed to raise money for The Huruma Children’s Home. HERE is a link with complete details about the cause and what the money will be going towards.

Please help spread the word about this project: Art for Huruma. The artists are really excited about the opportunity to change the world with their God-given talents! As individuals, you can follow the artwork progression throughout the month of July and then consider purchasing a tee or poster print to help raise funds and awareness. If your church would like to get involved, we’d love to see multiple churches ordering 100+ tees for their congregations. COLLIDE Magazine has jumped on board early and is helping to support this great cause. Please contact bartondamer@mac.com if you have additional ideas to spread the word about the Art for Huruma Project. Thanks!

Things to remember:

July 6th – Kicks off the 1st phase of the artwork and will be posted at www.alreadybeenchewed.net. After that point, the artwork will be updated and reposted on each artist’s blog every few days.

At the end of July, the artwork will be completed and made available for pre-orders of tees and poster prints.

The money raised from the shirts and poster prints goes to the The Huruma Children’s Home. More info to come.

THE MOST INTERESTING MAN IN THE WORLD

I first noticed these commercials when he used to say “I don’t normally drink beer. But when I do, I drink Dos Equis.” I thought it was genius marketing!  I’m not a fan of rip off videos in church but always thought it would be hilarious to play a video on Easter or Christmas for visitors that says “I don’t normally go to church. But when I do, I go to (insert your church  name here).” ha!!

I’ve been skateboarding forever (since the first Back To The Future). This version of the MOST INTERESTING MAN IN THE WORLD is pretty amazing! (sorry Rollerbladers)

IPHONE 3Gs Video Test Results

The new video feature for the iPhone 3Gs is truly amazing. It films at 640×480 (Standard Definition TV size). You can automatically crop the footage within the software and trim the excess file size from unwanted megabytes! (I can see a timeline feature where you can edit multiple clips right on your iPhone – like iMovie – coming very soon) I’ve been a little let down about the ability to TWEET the video footage. I’ve done a few tests.

I downloaded Twittelator Pro ($4.99). It works great. I like the features quite a bit. As of now, it appears Y-Frog is the default and possibly only hosting services for videos that are being tweeted. The quality once uploaded to Y-frog was terrible and the audio was out of sync. (Not sure if that was a one time fluke or what. I didn’t want to continue tweeting tests to my “followers”)

My friend Philzilla told me about the new Youtube feature that will tweet for you anytime you upload a new video. I checked that out tonight and got mixed results. Peep:

THINK OUTSIDE THE MONITOR

My friend, David Womack, sent me this link. It’s such a good video giving insight into the work of Shepard Fairey. I love it! It’s funny, when I was at f5 Conference, I heard a lot from the artists about getting away from the computer and doing things by hand. At the time, it was a bummer because I wanted to hear more about 3d programs and plug ins. As time progresses, I’m beginning to feel the impact of that message. Not sure how or when I’ll make time to develop this, but have been thinking outside the monitor lately.

RETURN TO VECTOR ARTWORK

I’m excited to see the final printed Vertigo tee. I’ve done a lot of full color (3d) artwork for tees lately and this was a nice return to good ol’ fashion Vector art. I forgot how nice and clean the final prints turn out! Here are some pics of the new tee:

DETERMINATION + FOCUS = GROWTH

I got a little nostalgic after watching an uneventful NBA finals recently. I forgot just how good Jordan was and how much Kobe wishes he could play like him. Doh!!!! JK.

Jordan was focused and determined. If people tried to box him into being a “dunker,” he focused on his jump shot. When he was labeled as only being an offensive threat, he was determined to improve his defense (and won defensive player of the year). My point is this, focus on different aspects of “art,” whether it’s traditional techniques, web, print, video, apparel, etc. Don’t be boxed into thinking you can only do one or the other.

It would be extremely rare for us to follow after Jordan’s footsteps and be able to master all aspects of our craft. More often than not, Dennis Rodman would be a better comparison. If you’ve tried it all and found your sweet spot (rebounding in Rodman’s case), run with it. For most of us, it’s hard to find that one thing we excel in. Focus in on the different mediums of art over time. Learn vector art for a season, take time to learn more about photoshop at some point in your career, maybe it’s time to revisit traditional techniques and brush up on those skills. Often, it’s time to try something new. In the end, you’ll find that your knowledge of web, print, media, etc… has only caused you to grow and have additional outlets to express your creativity.

I snapped an iPhone shot of this pencil piece I drew over 12 years ago!!!! It is a portrait of my dad that is hanging in his office. I don’t touch traditional drawing techniques anymore. I might need to refocus for a while and get that back.

FEATURED IN THE TOP 1O PLUS TUTS

Skellie is the Manager for the various Tuts sites (PSDtuts.com, AEtuts.com, and VECTORtuts.com). She featured one of my tutorials on creating RETRO ROCK 3D TEXT as one of the “Top 10 Plus Tuts of All Time.” Here’s an amazing quote from her write up!!! “Barton Damer is a master of the retro-futuristic style that is currently making huge waves in the design community.” I’m honored to be included in her write up.

ECHO AND GURUS NEXT MONTH

GURUS and the Echo Conference are coming up next month! I’m taking vacation time this week to hang out with my wife and kids. It’s nice to get a break. I’m going to begin preparing for my sessions for both conferences and thought I’d gather links to the various tutorials I’ve written. If you’ve not seen them, check out these tutorials below. I hope to see you at Gurus or Echo.

BLING EFFECT
All that glitters ain’t gold!!! Turn pretty much anything into gold with this Midas touch!

INTRICATE PATTERNS IN ILLUSTRATOR
Create intricate patterns in Illustrator using a pattern brush.

AUTUMN LEAVES
Create an illustration using some very basic techniques in C4d and Photoshop. Only available with a subscription to www.cineversity.com.

INK BLEEDING EFFECTS
This tutorial recreates an effect similar to the one used in an older Gnarls Barkely music video.

3D TEXT WITHOUT A 3D PROGRAM
Create 3d text using Photoshop and Illustrator. Part of the PSDtuts.com Plus program.

Great filming. Great Story telling.

Reliance & Siren testimonies from BWALL on Vimeo.

As you may or may not know, I got my start in video editing/motion graphics when I blew out my knee while skateboarding. I began filming the skaters at my skate church in order to stay connected. READ MORE about my story HERE. 

Check out this video above. I’m posting it for several reasons:
#1-The filming is excellent
#2-The story telling is compelling
#3-I don’t personally know the filmer but hope it will inspire you. He’s young and he’s really good!

I just got done watching this video with my 8 year old son. We go to the skate park together every weekend and it’s a blessing to come across guys like this who are willing to tell their stories!!!

NEW TEES INSPIRED BY VINTAGE NBA

I created this design based off of some vintage NBA tee shirts that inspired me. No doubt, the colors, size of the artwork and the Zebra print add a modern flare – perfect for the Sneaker Freaks that would love to get their hands on THESE. The tee is designed to print with 4 spot colors so that we can swap out the shirt color to get 4 variations at no additional charge. Here are some samples of the same artwork and colorway on 4 different color tees.

GOMEDIA GUEST AUTHOR TODAY

I love being able to contribute to other online art communities. Today, Jeff Finley posted an article that I modified from the original ABC post for Gomediazine readers. I’ve written several tutorials for them in the past but this is the first content article.CHECK IT out if you get a chance and leave your thoughts.

DBA INTERMEDIA ROCKS A NEW BLOG FORMAT FOR ABC!!!!

David B. Anthony! A long time friend of mine takes care of AlreadyBeenChewed.net like no one else possibly could! I met Dave Anthony about 7 years ago through the skate church I used to run in VA. He was working for a printer at the time and wanted to get my business. His excellent customer service and great pricing won me over and I’ve been doing business with him ever since. He launched out on his own almost 2 years ago and formed DBA INTERMEDIA. His company offers full service in-house web development, graphic design, and other marketing needs. He has expanded into 2 locations: Washington D.C. and L.A.

Recently, I worked with DBA to develop the STORY website. Definitely hit him up if you are looking for a great blog or innovative website ideas! Tell him I sent you.

For those viewing this via RSS, CLICK over the site and check out the new look.

CREATE A GREEN SCREEN FOR UNDER $3 IN 3 STEPS OR LESS

I’m shooting a stop motion video over the course of the next month in my lil’ home office. I need the video to be shot on a green screen which sounds fancy but it’s not really. I went to Target and bought 4 sheets of green poster board for $.64 each! I then taped them together and created my own sloping back drop that I can shoot the pics on and then key out the green back drop in After Effects. Here’s the quick 1.2.3. steps I used. 

THE ECHOBOT DOES OVER KILL

I’ve been working here and there on animating the Echobot for some keynote speaker intro videos to be used at the Echo Conference. The Echobot flies in and sets up a stage in 20 seconds or less. Wouldn’t that be nice if such a thing existed for Sunday set up and tear down!? Anyway, I’m drawing from all sorts of past production ideas and am real excited that the Echobot even uses VJ projections for his set up!  Should be pretty cool. Here are some stills.

VERTIGO DECK IS FINALLY PRINTED

It’s always a fun day when a new deck graphic I did arrives at the skate shop! Here are some detail shots of the board: