An Intervention!!!
And I am still in denial.It was a very gentle intervention, whispered into my ear, that sent me to “Coders Anonymous”.
My real first instinct was that I actually had it under control and could stop coding anytime I wanted.
In addiction nomenclature, they call that “denial.”
I resolved to follow their advice. But no, that didn’t happen. Over the next few days, I kept coding on the website. For example, I made this new Artist Prompt Generator . I came up with that idea after someone suggested we do a challenge where we drew a Cyborg Artist, a mash-up of two different character types.
You can always find excuses for keeping an addictive habit going. I won’t list them here, but your brain can always come up with them.
“Hi, I am Ayal Pinkus, and I am a code-a-holic.”
When does an addiction start to become unhealthy? I want to draw, but I code instead. Is that good or bad? Isn’t coding also “being creative”?
I will probably use this newsletter in the coming period to work through things, not in a therapeutic way, not to worry, but taking a step back, describing what is on the website, and how it fits together, perhaps coming up with a plan to simplify things, to unify the whole under one idea.
To describe what is there, and why, and how it all fits together.
Less coding, and more thinking and drawing.
The ideas that unify the whole website come from why I made these tools in the first place. Because I made them for myself.
First, I wanted to learn to draw from observation. I noticed that the energy when coding is very different from the ideal energy when drawing. I noticed I had to slow down more. And so that has been a continuous battle to make me slow down.
That is theme one: slow down.
Later, I wanted to learn to draw from imagination. I am not completely there yet, but I have come a long way.
That is theme two: draw from imagination.
Then there are the tools that aim to minimize distractions. We live in a noisy world with lots of addictive technologies pulling at us, begging for our attention.
So that is theme three: removing distractions.
I also want it all to be “scalable”, meaning that I don't have to do materially more work when more people start using the website. It should not take me extra time, whether one thousand or one million people use the website. This is so because I don't want to be a teacher. I want to be a student. I learn more that way.
So that is theme four: scalability.
Almost all the resources stem from those four themes.
Slow Down
The dexterity warm-up exercises are about improving my line quality, but they are also about slowing me down, getting me into the mindset for drawing.
The The Art Critique Guilds critique server is there to slow down and really study art, really look, really see, and write down five things I notice. This makes me a better artist because it forces me to put into words what I think about things. I learn from that. It slows me down and trains me to better observe, so I can draw from memory or imagination later.
Draw From Imagination
The 3D models are there for me to practice drawing simplified things from different angles, so I can do it from imagination, and later draw more complex things from imagination.
The memory-drawing exercise is there to help me improve at drawing from imagination, to fill my visual database, to train my brain to access it more easily, and to become better at sensing where lines need to go. And by taking just one reference image, and picking it apart, drawing it repeatedly as it slowly reveals its secrets, I also slow down. It makes me better at self-critiquing.
Remove Distractions
The Morning Sketches APP aims to remove distractions: you open it, see something on the screen, and you can start drawing.
The ArtPodPlay tool creates new playlists daily. You press play, listen to a great podcast episode, and start drawing. No need to fuss about with finding something to draw, or to listen to while drawing.
Scalability
To facilitate scalability, the philosophy is to have the work done mostly “on your side.”
For example, the website consists almost solely of static files. All calculations and rendering for the 3D models occur in your browser. Whether one thousand or one million people use it, the beauty is that you all bring your own hardware to perform the necessary calculations.
It doesn't matter how many people subscribe to the newsletter; I don't have to do extra work for it.
Where I define memory-drawing as self-critique training, that makes critiques scalable: you become your own critiquer! Whether a thousand or a million people are doing that, it doesn't cost me personally more work.
The same holds for the critique server: you have to earn three critique credits to post an image for critique, which means the number of critiques scales automatically with the number of images posted and the number of people participating, without me having to do additional work. (The critique server is currently in beta, and the server-side database isn't quite scalable yet, but I want to tackle that when it starts to get used more.)
There is also the AR Drawing Tutor , which lets you project a reference image transparently over your drawing through your mobile phone camera so that you can see where your drawing is off without needing a teacher. Again, the elegance of it is that you bring your own hardware. A million people can do this without additional server load or claim on my time. You just download a static page from the server, and then all the magic happens inside your own phone.
I made these tools on the server because I needed them myself once, and many, not all, but many of the tools on the website work well together and fit these four themes: slow down, learn to draw from imagination, remove distractions, and scalability.
To me, the whole website feels like one unified thing because I have this mental model of it where each tool fits into the bigger picture.
Because there is a bigger picture!
But I haven’t communicated it to you!
I will work on that in the coming period. That will make the website easier to use. I won’t overhaul the website in a big way, but I should give it more structure so it is easier to find your way around.
And I will try to slow down coding!
Yours sincerely,
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