Happy Spring, my good people. I’m glad to have found you once again speeding through the cosmos. Like driving a convertible with its top down in a blizzard on the highway, we have successfully navigated our little racecar planet around the dark side of the sun and are now skidding around the corner back into the light. Now, I’m not sure about you, but I, for one, am ready to burn rubber and floor it back into the warmth of the rising sun.
Every day, I find myself eagerly waiting for the rise of that golden lion in the east to defeat the tyranny and oppression of the frosty regime of frozen tyranny.
As many of you know, Cosmic-books is committed to sharing our love of the arts and entertainment with you each month, and we pursue this goal with feverish delight. But from time to time, we also slip in the odd political rant.
This editorial preposition is based entirely upon the belief that without the freedoms we so greatly enjoy in our modern world, the ability for creative artistic expression will be stifled if not completely eliminated. Now, many of you may argue that even in times of hardship, such as evil dictatorships and censorship imposed on unfortunate populations, the world of the arts can sometimes thrive.
Yes, I’ll admit this is true; sometimes art can even be inspired and act as a form of rebellion to those dark forces that try to oppress it. A modern version of this could be seen as the meme or even political vandalism, like the famous artist Banksy. However, upon closer examination of some darker times in human history, most artistic creativity that transpired during those eras was either moulded and sanctioned by the state or trampled upon. This also included, of course, the artist, not just their art.
Just ask Banksy, too fat and old to be relevant now that his secret identity has been revealed. What does this say about the nature of tyranny?
So that said, this is why Cosmic-books is always willing to stand firm against those who wish to impose their will over the creative freedoms we presently enjoy in the West. This is why I will always speak out for those who would be trampled upon by misguided policy makers and bullies who believe that they are somehow above others, for whatever reason. We are all merely passengers in the convertible, while some are complaining that the top is down and they are cold, I’m turning up the heat, sticking my head out the window and howling like a dog.
This month was a particular challenge in finding something to produce. As you know, every month I push myself to create something, not just for the love of creating, but to keep the juices flowing.
In the world of Blender, key strokes and muscle memory are easily forgotten. I do this for the love of creation. I do. However, I have to push myself because I’m fracking busy with work and family matters, and unfortunately, art seems to take a back seat to everything else. And to top it off, this month we have found ourselves in the middle of another war, which has stolen a lot of my creative energy.
I wish this weren’t the case, but it is what it is… I digress.
This month was a crazy one, yet the sun is getting brighter and warmer every day; there is indeed hope in the world, if not for the simple things to keep us going and creating.
I was initially inspired to take another crack at Blender’s grease pencil this month, and I started animating a quick walk cycle from the new season of Primal. I figured that would make for a good March presentation, but I still find some of Grease pencil’s functions very convoluted. Perhaps they will improve it with the latest version of Blender, 5.1, released this past week. Specifically, why do the fill and line functions change with every new pencil you use, and change within three different drop-downs every time you open a new tool?
Anyway, it’s very frustrating and time-consuming. So I gave it up for now, I will revisit it later on.
I ended up settling for recreating a new image I saw for the upcoming Lucasfilm movie, The Mandalorian and Grogu. Nothing like a good hard surface model to sink my teeth into, couldn’t get any more straightforward, right? Well, let me tell you the process took eons. Probably put 16-24 hours into the model alone. Still screw AI! I think this month’s artwork turned out pretty well. It would be nice to get a like on social media, so if you see it, please hit that little button; it helps my fragile ego.
Now I hope the movie version of The Mandalorian does well, but from what I’ve seen so far, I think they should have kept it as a TV show. I don’t know, it might be amazing. I’ll review the film once I see it. I am, however, more excited about the upcoming Starfighter movie they are working on, which might be worth the price of admission.
If there is something I do know, in the universe of Star Wars, you don’t see many artists enjoying their freedom of expression supplied by the Galactic Empire, now do we. There’s simply no one selling their paintings at some kiosk on the side of the road on Tatooine or street performers and buskers filling the hallways of the Death Star… and why is that? Tyranny and government overreach, that’s why! Bloody space bullies!!!