Happy July 4th

Our Founding Fathers said it best. Let’s keep it unanimous. Happy July 4th.

“That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government.”

The Second Continental Congress created The Committee of Five on June 11, 1776. They were tasked with writing the Declaration. Thomas Jefferson wrote the initial draft himself. The Committee of Five made revisions and additions. Their committee included Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, Roger Sherman, and Robert R. Livingston.

What’s in Your Toolbox?

Our collective toolboxes share a history. Timeless tools outlasting millennia by artists, designers, and polymaths alike. The need for these tools is rather paramount more than ever in any point in history. Digital media is just that, it’s digital and not grounded in the real world. I see mirrored texture maps on models in blockbuster movies, and let’s not get into the crumbling nature of audio engineering running rampant as budgets shrink as does what’s considered acceptable. The bean counters run the show now right into the ground with no gestures of making amends.

The bar hasn’t just lowered, it’s nearly nonexistent. In some cases it’s become a limbo-inspired chokehold to the ground. The sameness of repetition in a computer needs far more deliberate strokes, tweaks, and further thinking in order to produce something truly memorable and grounded in reality. Film was magical, and it was also forgiveable. The world of 4K, even 12K clearly exposes the missing, generic details that were added like a cheap coat of paint on a rusty vintage racer. It may be able to still go fast, but it’s lost its spirit and passion for the race track and country road.

Endless imagination fueled by intuition. That’s where the magic happens. Our most intense ideas sometimes spark in the middle of the night. Electrical impulses igniting our gray matter in a myriad of chromatic aberrations and expanding and retracting attenuations. I haven’t bought a Design Marker, Prismacolor, or tube of Windsor Newton watercolor for 40 years. Technology comes and goes, but the analog tools that I grew up with are still active in my creative arsenal. I have two toolboxes filled to the brim, yet most of the time I choose a pen and a scrap of paper.

Sometimes on a hot summer day even our tools are kissed by the sun. I took a moment out from painting to capture the beauty of this moment. A glimpse of time taken to appreciate the caustics, refractions, and especially the intentional design from the thickness of the bottle to the illuminated, radiant label.

Our tools assist us in illuminating our creations just as monks illuminated medieval manuscripts. Their own beauty on full display each time they’re sun-kissed as my bottle of “Dr. Ph. Martin’s 30C Pumpkin” awaits its ascension in providing richness to my next sheet of Arches cold-pressed 300-pound goodness. The caustics, glints, and glimmers of the bottle itself deserve their own credit. Not only the shape and thickness of the bottle, but also the design of the label allowing sunlight to illuminate through the lettering I find just lovely.

Further inspection of the bottle reveals additional intentional details worth noting. Notice the three graphic icons on the side. “Technical Pen, Brush, and Airbrush.” It’s crystal clear in such a classic, vintage manner. One bottle, multiple uses, and those were just three suggested use cases. We know the possibilities are endless. An Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat of sorts. Even colors not found in the visible spectrum on full display. Magenta streams of consciousness unabashed and fully aware of their limitless abilities of creation.

I’ve been using this particular watercolor since I was just a teenager 40 years ago. It’s still just as potent in purpose and saturation further supporting my creative expressions both commercially and personally. Every tool aids me in telling stories sometimes reimagining old ones from a new perspective. Some, like this bottle of radiant watercolor, still showing up in full vibrancy never fading into mediocrity that occurs in the daily digital realm. A reality. A history. Artistic ambition never replaced by the flavor of the week digital incarnation.

While embracing our childlike curiosities through artistic expression we understand we have no need to bow down to any sense of public opinion. Divinely appointed, we artists know full well our passion in pursuing truth over popularized false substance. We wield weapons of mass instruction awakening the minds of the many who choose the natural world to one augmented and empty. We breathe soulful expressions of clarity into existence far removed from blind prompts sporting the lowest common denominator.

Don’t settle for what someone else lacking in vision considers good enough. We know in our gut and our heart center that the joy we bring to the world is what makes dreams possible. Natural expressions that not only reflect and redefine reality but generate endless variations of our dreams freshly kindled around a collective campfire. We share our stories through patterns, riddles, puzzles, and prose. Looking back I feel as though my passion for art and design chose me rather than the other way around.

“Ode,” published in 1874 in Music and Moonlight

We are the music makers,
And we are the dreamers of dreams,
Wandering by lone sea-breakers,
And sitting by desolate streams;—
World-losers and world-forsakers,
On whom the pale moon gleams:
Yet we are the movers and shakers
Of the world for ever, it seems.

— Arthur William Edgar O’Shaughnessy

A Mirrored String of Activated Intuition

In 2022 a monumental tome was printed in the rolling hills of Italy. Leonardo. The Complete Paintings and Drawings weighing in, once bound, revealed a mirrored string in notable Leonardo da Vinci fashion. 299.2 ounces. That number also holds another string. 9+2 & 9+2 reveals eleven-eleven, 11:11. That numerical duality refers to activated intuition, a heightened view of reality. Leonardo wielded it painting the very fabric of the universe through every intentional stroke of genius. While da Vinci did not finish many of his paintings, his notebooks are beyond measure. He was not only a master inventor, he understood the invisible connections that tie everything together. “Learn to see. Realize everything connects to everything else,” he once mused.

If you’re an artist, designer, curious child or lifelong tinkerer you know full well the significance of what that means in a spiritually cosmic sense. If not, do yourself a favor and check out Kaitlyn Kaerhart. She is a master of numerology, and a resource for understanding how numbers hold weight in our lives if we are willing to learn to see them. I’ve been fascinated with numbers, puzzles, riddles, and word jumbles since I was very young. I come from a long line of polymaths on both sides of my family. Biology professors, master gardeners, farmers, inventors, fine artists, crochet quilters, Scrabble wizards, Spades champions, chess masters, and code breakers. I grew up surrounded by mind benders met with mental maladies, true forces to be reckoned with.

I recently added this nearly twenty pound Leonardo da Vinci tome to my library. Paying nearly half price at $111 for this gently used Taschen XXL book I’m thrilled to have his works presented in such large scale format. I’ve never been much of a reader due to difficulty in keeping focus on the words since childhood. But pictures and experiences I have better than 20/20 vision holding them deeply within my mind able to recall them in full fashion at any moment. I hold picture books like this one as one of my most treasured possessions giving me the opportunity to pore over every intimate detail.

Leonardo. The Complete Paintings and Drawings. Hardcover, 11.4x15.6in., 18.06 lb, 712pages. ISBN 978-3-8365-8597-2. Edition: English.

“I love those who can smile in trouble, who can gather strength from distress, and grow brave by reflection.”
— Leonardo da Vinci

Ice Cold / Rust Never Sleeps

We never know what wisdom lies along our path. I came across this nearly hidden gem during an afternoon hike in Arches National Park. The irony of the heavily corroded, burnt orange sign itself, “Ice Cold,” and the hastily scribbled “rust never sleeps” from a random passerby quietly speaks a narrative nearly lost to time and decay.

Flat Mode macSOS

Updated post discussing the necessity for native and third party theming in macOS Tahoe, aka 26. “Liquid Glass,” while appearing as an exciting new visual overhaul, is not for everyone nor every app. Similar to “Apple Intelligence” we need the option to turn it off. I’d even settle for a slider to disable the refraction effect. It’s rather distracting during normal use. The more “Liquid Glass” demos I watch, the more I see the need for a Flat mode that’s the visual opposite of “Liquid Glass.”

We’ve experienced this conundrum before regarding glossy vs matte displays. I’ve always preferred a matte screen finish as far back as my 17-inch MacBook Pro. Reflective displays wreak havoc on our eyes. This eye strain is not a personal opinion, it’s a fact. Yet we as consumers are drawn to shiny things. That is the only reason why displays are usually glossy. Now imagine Liquid Glass on a reflective display. Doubling down on distractions might work in a demo, but not daily use.

Back in 2014 I released my theme “Post Pro 1.2” via Interacto’s Flavours theming app that enabled a true “dark mode” 4 years before Apple finally showed up with their official, native Dark Mode in macOS Mojave. The latest version of Dark Mode in macOS makes me smile as it’s quite similar to “Post Pro 1.2.” The screen grab below is from Sonoma, but it has not changed that I know of in macOS Sequoia.

Even back as far as System 9 we were all obsessed with theming our Macs. “BBX Mercury” was one the hottest themes by legendary designer Max Rudberg. System 9 also had a decent built-in theme engine with custom highlights, desktop pictures, and even sounds. We also customized the icons through downloading collections from IconFactory. If we could skin it, we did in order to personalize our macOS user experience.

While working for NBA TV Design at Turner Broadcasting in 2013 I started playing around with Flavours by Interacto. It was the most feature-rich theming engine I’d ever seen. I could customize nearly everything in the operating system. My goal was to design a theme geared to post production professionals who preferred a darker GUI as many came from a Discreet Flint/Flame/Inferno world, like myself, and knew how helpful it was to work within a GUI that isn’t bright white like Adobe After Effects, Commotion Pro, and even the early commercial version of Digital Domain’s Nuke.

For a brief period I was on the Nuke beta team to provide feedback. Most of my suggestions revolved around the GUI which was bright white with floating palettes. Take a look at any compositing setup these days. Everyone has gone dark, preferably charcoal. While on the Adobe After Effects beta team for quite some time I remember when we got them to add the first version of darkening the GUI with direct slide ability for the user to adjust for personal taste. That first incarnation’s darkest tones weren’t even half as dark as the AE GUI is today.

It’s been eleven years since I first released my free Flavours “Post Pro 1.2 theme.” It was bundled along with hundreds of other user themes in their final release of Flavours 2.0. Unfortunately Flavours only went as far as Mac OS X Mavericks. Moving past Mavericks Apple tightened up the core system files causing theming to be impossible. So, we waited, and waited, and eventually in 2018 Apple released Mojave with a true Dark Mode. Better late than never, I guess.

Celebrating the OG Ex-Disney Animator Rebel Don Bluth 🗡️ 🔥 🐉

PSA: when I posted this I was unaware of the overnight attacks. I want to be clear that me talking about any sort of war was not tied to any predictive or political stance I may have. My heart is with everyone now, regardless of their beliefs, cultures, pantheons, and anything else some choose to wield to divide us. We cannot be divided by any means. We are all in this together whether we want to admit that or not. As I’ve said before, self-serving dictators divide and conquer, and beloved leaders unite and unify.

This video follows the historical battle between the House of Mouse and Don Bluth, an ex-Disney animator who struck out on his own in 1979 after working for Disney since 1955. What a way to celebrate his 42nd birthday! He decided to go with his gut instincts and pave a path all his own. Bluth’s animation style was visceral, and he did not embrace Disney’s known methods in cutting corners in order to cut production costs. Bluth later went on to offer the first profit-sharing venture to his 160 animators who brought The Secret of NIMH to life.

Bluth is known as a true OG animation rebel, and in that vein he brought his spirit to his films and video games alike. His company, Don Bluth Entertainment, formerly Don Bluth Productions, was well-known and received accolades for his studio’s contributions to animated films. During the 1980s they battled it out with Disney with their cherished films The Secret of NIMH, An American Tail, The Land Before Time, All Dogs Go to Heaven, Thumbelina, Anastasia, and Titan A.E. Bluth’s video games Dragon’s Lair and Space Ace rocked my world.

One of my fondest memories was in 1983 once I had mastered Dragon’s Lair. For just 50 cents I’d embark on a 30-minute adventure surrounded by twenty onlookers cheering me on at every move. Once I became a Dad my daughter and I played Dragon’s Lair on my iPhone 5S. That was my most celebrated playing the game watching the excitement build in her eyes as we chased down the game’s baddies and eventually arrived in the dragon’s lair, grabbing the magic sword, slaying Singe, and rescuing Princess Daphne.

Bounce Back

We are never too old, too late, and the clock is not ticking. Consider bouncing back as your second coming unless, like me, you’re on your third or thirteenth. Happy Friday 🔴 Thank you Michelle for giving me this book after my manic episode in the summer of 2017.

Up Yours!

Hey OpenAI and all of the other mindless clones, “in the words of my generation: up yours!”

Who’s Your Alter Ego?

I’ve been called by many names throughout my life. The bus bullies called me “Hulk.” Not only did I look just like Lou Ferrigno from the Hulk TV show, I also scowled a lot. I didn’t know it, but I was nearsighted. I’d squint all the time to sharpen my focus, and I looked “always angry.” Later I was tagged “Bubba” and “Hawkeye” in Savannah during my years at SCAD. My high school and college girlfriend dubbed me “Pookie,” and yes she and her roommates would throw twelve keg parties in their back yard, and every weekend I’d travel to Charleston and when I opened the back gate I’d be welcomed by the party crowd screaming “hey Pookie!” along with a beer funnel with my name on it.

When I left The Weather Channel for the final time they gave me a Superman poster covered in metallic ink of appreciation and affection. It hangs in my studio today always reminding me where my career not only started, but also that we’d built a solid, fourteen-year collaboration years later filled with more team awards and fond memories. My two favorite memories during my time at TWC were sneaking into Industrial Light and Magic’s original Kerner location, and enjoying steak dinners at Clint Eastwood’s Mission Ranch in Carmel overlooking a picturesque prairie complete with herds of sheep.

When my daughter was nine she started calling me “Batman.” That one stuck, and I’ve stepped into quite a crusading life always looking out for the little guys, and crushing the oppressors. Yes, I do have quite the collection of bat toys. In the summer of 2017 I designed my own Batman logo in about half an hour. As a graphic designer I always wanted to design one that was built out of hidden typography spelling out the letters B-A-T-M-A-N. Here it is below. See if you can figure it out. I included the answer key graphic below it.

The Keystone

I’ve always held a sense of knowing. As I grow older my psychic vibrations exponentially expand in accordance with quantum entanglement between myself and the people in my life that are the closest to my heart center. Two in particular who know who they are that I won’t mention here in order to protect their identities. Some of my earlier inner knowings occurred around my artwork, specifically art that I created while I was attending the Dialectical Behavioral Therapy track at Skyland Trail in Atlanta, Georgia from June 2009–February 2010.

During process art therapy I tended to embrace what some call as auto-writing or auto-drawing. Basically I let my mind run free and remove my mind from the equation as I allow my hands to sketch freely without making judgments and corrections as I reveal the image on the paper. Think of it as closing your eyes while in creation mode. Removing one’s sight elevates our other senses. One day while enjoying Susie’s art therapy class I drew what I titled “The Keystone.” I drew what you see below from a Doctor Seuss book I had not only never read, I had never heard of or seen before.

My rendition was uncanny as Susie noted in this book that was gifted to me by my Skyland family upon graduation. Some say that the staff saw my drawing and then gifted me this book seeing the tie-in. While others like myself and Susie knew that it was not planned nor any sort of coincidence. If you know me by now I don’t believe in them. Everything is connected. Leonardo da Vinci taught us that. All we need to do is train ourselves to learn to truly see beyond the confined borders of our terrestrial existence. This energy is all around us. It permeates everything.

“Dear David, here you are making the leap to the Keystone you drew in your last process art piece. You GO, MAN! God bless you always. Love, Susie”

— Susie, Skyland Trail Process Art Therapist in Atlanta, Georgia, 2009–2010

The Lucky Ones

If you recognize and celebrate any of the hidden gems in these photos then you’re among good company. I began collecting Topps Star Wars trading cards when I was six. I collected them all including Empire and Jedi. The fifth orange set included behind the scenes moments that I cherished more than the movie moments in the other four colored sets. This piqued my interest for filmmaking when I was just beginning to draw Stormtroopers with Mom in the basement. In 1981 Dad gifted me my Raiders of the Lost Ark: The Illustrated Screenplay. Beyond the incredible storyboards and script it included ILM’s visual effects plates near the end of the book. I pored over every last detail. Raiders is still my favorite film of all time with Star Wars in a close second and Rogue One in third. When George Lucas and Steven Spielberg get together we know something incredible will soon hit theaters taking us back to that first moment when we were inducted into the cinemas lovers’ hall of fame.

Each day when I wake up I give thanks to my childhood curiosity that has never left me. My spirit is alive and well. Anything is possible for one who believes. When two roads diverged in a wood I took neither path. Instead I took to the skies. Some call me Superman, others Neo, and my daughter claims I’m Batman. One thing I do know is that I’ve been floating through the house ever since I was three. I’m a true believer that we get to choose our own adventures in life. Fantasy and reality share the same space. Life gives is the choice to not only be the hero, but to determine our hero’s level, class, charisma, dexterity, hit points, and backstory. I’m no professor of archaeology or any sort of expert on the occult, but as you’ve now seen I am “how does one say it…obtainer of rare antiquities.” I’ve been a collector all my life. Little did I know that if I never opened my toys and kept them in mint condition I could have easily retired by now. Retired, now that’s a word that my inner child with ever whisper.

A PEEK INTO MY COLLECTION OF ARTIFACTS COVERING FIFTY YEARS OF CURIOSITY AND LOVE FOR FILMMAKING, STORYTELLING, AND ARTISTRY.

“Professor of Archeology, expert on the occult, and how does one say it...obtainer of rare antiquities.”

Major Eaton addressing Indiana Jones in the lecture hall, Raiders of the Lost Ark, 1981. Directed by Steven Spielberg. Screenplay by Lawrence Kasdan. Story by George Lucas and Philip Kaufman. Produced by Frank Marshall.

Try Everything, Reach the End, and Then Start Again

Robert Frost once shared “two roads diverged in a wood, and I — I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference.” While some chose, as he did, to take the road less traveled, I chose a different path. My gut reminded me that Doc Brown once quipped “Roads? Where we’re going we don’t need roads.” There was no need for me to ground myself, quite literally. Casey Kasem used to end his DJ broadcasts with: “keep your feet on the ground, and keep reaching for the stars.” I loved Casey, but I have to disagree, at least for me.

While Frost chose the other road, I didn’t choose a road at all. Call me a Rebel. Heck, call me Neo. I traversed neither path and took to the skies. Shakira’s “Try Everything” heroine’s tune from Zootopia sums up my daily routine. I don’t wait for fate anymore. I blaze my own trails, and nowadays I hire myself. I don’t work for anyone else anymore. This was both a mental and spiritual decision. According to the experts I either have manic depressive disorder or just a really wild imagination. I’d say both are accurate.

My life, my dreams, and on my own terms. I am not boasting nor am I being selfish. It took me half a century to unravel all the masks I’d crafted that were protecting me from unknown forces in the dark. I got so lost along the way I felt like Max in Vecna’s Mindscape Lair. I needed to remember my hero song of protection. The first thing I had to do was go back to my childhood and ask myself who was I, what did I love? What were my hobbies, and who were my heroes? Movies. Stories. Art. Drawing. Painting. Lucas. Spielberg. Dad. I was a collector — “an obtainer of rare antiquities.”

“You can fail at what you don’t want, so you might as well take a chance on doing what you love.”

― Jim Carrey, the comedian, actor, and one of the wisest sages on the planet

Once I remembered what got me excited to meet each day with vigor and excitement there was no stopping me. I don’t wait anymore for the world to come to me. I did that for decades as one connection naturally met another. Word of mouth marketing served me well as far back as my early teenage years. Based solely on skill and reputation in my mind I was the “king of the world!” However, that was only the tip of my iceberg. Taking nearly fifty years to understand my life doesn’t need permission nor do I need it to show up for me in order to find my way.

I was highly fortunate to never have to really go job hunting as even in my darkest hours an offer letter would come in for my consideration at just the right moment for a position I never applied to from a company I hadn’t pursued. The most rewarding conclusion I came to was that I didn’t need to wait around anymore for someone else to give me a job. I didn’t need someone else’s praise in order to find my way. I had the will within me to try, to trust, and to rely on my own ambitions. By following my intuition rather than the latest artificial invention I recharged my super powers.

Some people look my way giving a smirk thinking to themselves that everything I am doing must be based on heavy helpings of crazy. They taunt why does David have so many self-employed company pages on LinkedIn? My answer is simple: I’m a traditional polymath and I rarely use tools in the most standard, predictive fashion. While each entry isn’t really a company, they are all part of my daily routine as a creative. Leonardo da Vinci and I have a lot in common. I’m just an apprentice to his genius, but the connection is there.

Like so many other artists and high performers I have manic depression as I mentioned above. The best metaphor I can think of to describe this condition is I’m Superman, but I have a large chunk of kryptonite I carry in a sack on my back. When I’m exposed to its green glow I lose all of my powers. The redneck at the diner could easily take me out with one punch. However, I now hold the key to walking through hell fire without being burned. I now carry a shield crafted by the ancients, a glowing blue sword of Elvish design, and a lamp I found in The Great Underground Empire.

Call me anything you like as it’s none of my business what others think of me. When I was six the bullies on the bus called me Hulk. I scowled a lot and appeared always angry. The fact was that I always squinted because I needed glasses. My teammates called me Superman, and now my daughter calls me Batman. The Dark Knight had a toy for everything. So do I. While I was in dire financial straits I sold my original Star Wars action figures from 1977–1983. That one hurt, but it had to be done. Since then I’ve rebuilt my collection, and one day I will gift them all to my kid.

“I keep on making those new mistakes. I keep making them every day. Those new mistakes.”

That’s where wisdom floods our gray matter. We realize in that moment that if we don’t mind, it doesn’t matter. We must fall down many times before we ever fly out of the nest. It’s a cyclic, winning formula that took me five decades to finally master. Now I cannot unsee what I’ve seen. I’m now much wiser for the wear, but only in this moment. That’s all we really have is this breath. Sometimes holding our breath for a few moments during meditation helps to open our third eye. While some folks live lives of closed off ignorance, my gray matter sparks my third eye wide. Be well.