What's an IMP?

IMP (I Make Pretty) is more or a less blog. This is where Justin will post various news & announcements, thoughts and whatever else he wants.

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• Launched
• Sprites away!
• Wii Fit
• Refresh
• 2weeker
• Artist Spotlight: Jason R. Talley
• Passion
• BRAWL
• 2weeker Screen Shot
• 2weeker Logo

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Refresh

So I've been kinda busy with work and 2weeker and kind of ignored this place. 2weeker 2.0 is almost finished (Total makeover!) and I've gotten redesigns on the brain. I recently launched a refresh of BWISH Studios which I urge you to check out. Once 2weeker is finished (It should be done tonight and ready for launch) I can proceed with work on The Rain Thief and the preview seen in the above image above. I got the idea for the refresh while working on 2weeker and decided to mock it up quickly as a little break.

Ok, back to 2weeker...

Labels: 2weeker, bwish, justinbevans.com

2weeker

And now 2weeker is live! Check it out! Let me know of any bugs or issues you come across.

And don't miss my previous post which contains equally important... stuff.

Labels: 2weeker

Passion

The transition from tablet to mouse feels... unnatural. But whatever, at least I'm drawing! I've been working on a drawing for my friend Jon that I've promised him... 2 years ago? I am awesome. This will be my first official completed... anything by using a tablet. The learning curve wasn't as bad as expected. After using it for a good day or so I'm able to move around without hesitation which is neat.

I had always been put off by tablets, mostly because of the disconnect from the actual work. I always thought that the experience with paper/canvas/whatever was essential, interesting and helpful to any work. I still think that way you can't ignore the power of erasing with degrading your surface, and the history window. Oh my God, the history window. I love you.

I've mentioned this before but I always feel like I lose the passion for drawing and art in general when I'm not doing it. I always have a hard time getting over that initial bump to start working on something, but once I do I can't stop. Passion is the most important thing anyone can have for, well, anything. Without passion for what you do what's the point of doing it? What's the point of looking at something that had no passion going into it? There is none.

Passion is something I need to work on. I know it's there, but it's just hard to bring out for some reason. I feel like something holds me back. Maybe it's the pressure to create something great? Maybe it's the intimidation of letting myself down? Maybe it's the fear and frustration of having the inability to create what I imagine?

Working on this drawing for Jon was fairly emotional. This was the first drawing I've worked on extensively in... a long time, and I'm using a tablet really for the first time too. There were learning curves everywhere. I eventually fell into a frustrated funk last night and went to bed. I ended up waking up this morning and starting the drawing over. Again, I ended up frustrated. I ended up taking a step back and thinking about what I was trying to do.

Art should be fun, not a chore. I let go of hesitation and fear and just started drawing again. I got excited. I was happy. I was actually making something that was turning out, dare I say, well thus far?

I'm on an emotional art high (What the hell does that mean...?) but unfortunately I have to stop and take a shower and eat some breakfast and get out and do some stuff today. I'm looking forward to working on it later tonight.

Once again I am excited about art... AND actually following through with making it!

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2weeker status: 35%

Labels: 2weeker, art

2weeker Screen Shot

Here's the more or less final mock up of the 2weeker site, which includes the updated logo based on feedback from Mike. Besides a few textual changes and perhaps some color "2weeking", what do we think? Yay? Fail? Whatever? Heartburn?

Labels: 2weeker

2weeker Logo

This is my first mock up of the 2weeker logo. I really like the colors of it. It's very modern/Web 2.0. Blue is a very calming color and green helps represents change, growth, money... all that good stuff.

What do you think?

Labels: 2weeker

2weeking 4 Life

Mike and I have been discussing a project that would allow for his 2 week projects (A term we coined as 2weeking) to be accessibly and shareable by a group of people rather than have it limited to Mike's blog. We're currently in the process of working out the details of how the site will work and look.

So what is 2weeking? 2weeking is a two week project an individual takes on to do something to better their life or simply try something different. A few examples include read every day for 2 weeks, cut out all processed/"fake" sugar for 2 weeks, draw for 30 minutes a day for 2 weeks, etc. The purpose of these is to show there is more to life than waking up, going to work, eating dinner, watching TV and going to bed like too many of us do nowadays. It allows for a scheduled shake up of ones routine and provide a little something extra to ones life. You don't have to stop doing these things for 2 weeks, you can keep doing things if you take a liking to it.

Mike has been doing these 2weeks for a while and I've been anxious to try them out. Although this weekend I've had a different idea about these 2weeks and decided as great an idea as they are I don't think I'll be participating actually in the project (Besides helping constructing and maintaining it... don't worry Mike!). I've decided to do something else and try doing things that will not be restricted to 2 weeks.

Today I started my new attempts to better myself. Basically, I've gotta stop being lazy. I tend to put things off too much and I want to stop that. I want to have the energy to do things immediately. The biggest immediate impact I see happening are the dishes. I don't do the dishes as often as I should. I'll make sure the sink is empty every night.

But that's just the beginning. I did a lot of things today that I had been putting off. I filed away all my emails sitting in my inbox into their respective folders. I made some much needed SEO and general site improvements to both BWISH and this site. I organized my "To organize" folder of photos that I've put off for nearly a year.

Like I said this is just the beginning. Lack of laziness will lead to better things (Like making more art! Which will lead to a more aggressive Rain Thief schedule and release. I also started a work out program today that will have me on a 4-5 day a week schedule. A better body leads to better energy which leads to less laziness which leads to a better mind.

Hurray for better Justin!

Labels: 2weeker