Posted on 18.12.2024
As stated in the previous blog entry, the cloud background, which is currently the background image for the landing page, about page and the blog - I plan to make a unique image for each page, don't worry - is my first proper digital artwork. There were prior ones, yes, but this is the first picture that I have sunk multiple days or effort into. It was very fun to paint! Of course, as I am a novice, I had a reference to guide me. You can view the reference image here.
When I first found this picture while browsing google images for inspiration, I immediately knew that I wanted to try and recreate it. The colorful gradients, the lively clouds, the asymmetry guiding your gaze leftwards towards the implied sun; I could complement this picture for at least minutes... which makes it all the more tragic that it is most likely AI generated.
Why do I believe this? Well, try as I might, I cannot find an original creator. When I reverse image search the picture, the only sites that come up are stock image sites with multiple suspiciously similar looking cloud images. Also, on one of these sites, the image description included "made by .", indicating to me that they also don't know who made it. Probably because nobody did.
What a shame! Not only have I been fooled, but I also can't credit anyone!
Oh well, it's not all bad. No matter where the reference image came from, I can still take pride in what I made. I put in time, I put in effort and I had fun doing it. Having said that, after finishing the painting and looking at it through a critical lens, I can definitely tell that I could have done certain parts differently or could have approached it in a different way altogether. But, hey, being able to see your mistakes and learn from them is a sign of growth!
Also, I am pretty sure I should come up with a more practical way of displaying the blog entries. Now it's not too bad, but what if I one day have 100 blog posts? Just having them all in a row seems like a pain to navigate. I'll probably think of a solution once I take the plunge and learn Javascript. Also also, on the about page, you will see that I have made a Bluesky account to use as a messaging interface. So if you want to send me a message, do it there! I don't plan on posting over there though - or using it for anything other than messaging in general - but maybe future Bem thinks otherwise.
Posted on 7.12.2024
Finally, I can speak! I have been looking forward to being able to write on here for over three weeks now! I created this site on the 14th of last month, but only wanted to start writing once I made some graphics to have it look appealing. However, this took a while. I decided that I want all the pictures used to decorate the site to be of my own creation. Furthermore, I want to make them digitally, which is why I recently (like, in October, I think) bought myself a drawing tablet. I don't want to say that I bought it specifically for this purpose, but I won't deny it either. The colorful cloud background of the landing page was my first real artwork made with the tablet (and one of my first, ever), so it took quite some time to finish. Also, university work got in the way of me drawing more than I would have liked.
Thankfully, creating the buttons for the about page, blog page, etc. only took an afternoon, meaning a few days ago I could finally start actually working on the site. Oh, how I missed HTML! The last time I made a website was back in school. I forgot almost everything, but the relearning process has been a blast so far!
I'll soon talk more about what my plans for this site are in the about-section as well as introduce myself properly. But, in short, I want to use this site as a creative outlet. I want to learn how to draw and share my process! I might start learning Blender as well! I want to write! Be it short stories, anecdotes or about anything else that interests me! I want to make friends! I want to see all of the wonderful sites you people have made, are making and will make in the future and compliment these beautiful works of self expression!
I can't wait to explore the web like I always thought it would be like when I was little: Getting lost in a lush forest of endless creativity!