Category: Tutorials

To play an amazing solo is the goal of every lead guitarist. They can be fast or slow, clean or overdriven – and good ones are always inspiring. Which guitar solo inspires you most?

Each weekend we open our mic to readers and lurkers alike to come out of the woodwork and tell us your thoughts and opinion, your experiences and mistakes, what you love and what you hate. We want to hear from you, and here’s your chance.

Tell us about your favorite guitar solo:

• Who is the guitarist?
• Which guitar is he playing (if you know)?
• Which song and album?
• What inspires you about the solo?
• Did you see it live? Tell us about the experience.

If you can share a YouTube link, all the better!

From bad jokes to sultry devil girls, Cartoon Character Designer George Coghill knows how to inject some fun into life. He set aside some time to talk with us about everything from the importance of knowing how to run a business to what it’s like to see his characters come to life.

Continue reading “Profile: Getting into Character with Cartoonist George Coghill”

Shyama Golden has no cubicle-mates to bounce ideas off of and no supervisor to guide her if she gets stuck. But the 27-year-old self-employed designer, who works out of a loft in downtown Austin, has found a way to collaborate.

While working on a project, Golden posts photographs of each step of the process —original sketches, tracings made on Photoshop, color palettes — into her Flickr account then solicits feedback from friends and clients.

"Looking at the process is like living vicariously though someone else’s creative act," she says, explaining why she posts her projects. "You get to share in their excitement, discovery, hard work, and the whole journey that makes final results more meaningful."

Some might find it unnerving to share a work in progress but Golden finds it invigorating. "I get a lot of energy from people’s reactions," she says. "I’ll mention it on Twitter once I’ve reached a milestone on a project, and get some wonderful feedback from people that way, even if it’s at 4 a.m. when my friends in Austin are fast asleep. That’s because it’s a global conversation that’s always engaged, and I’m grateful to have such a diverse group of people to share my work and experiences with."

Ponies and Posters

Golden has been drawing ever since she could hold a crayon. During the early years, she pestered her father, a scientist, to draw ponies for her until she developed the hand-eye coordination to master that genre. Later, she moved on to fashion illustrations and portraits of friends. "People and animals are still my favorite subjects," she says.

At age 12, she learned HTML from a book called "The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Creating an HTML Web Page" by Paul McFedries. " "Perhaps I didn’t think I was smart enough for books from the Dummies series yet," she jokes, adding: "I designed and built a pretty terrible website using Notepad and Corel PHOTO-PAINT. I used a rose as the main navigation and hacked together some Javascript for the rollovers.

During those formative years, she also took up oil painting, memorized defunct 1960s architecture books and took photos of neighborhood cats with her dad’s SLR camera.

Golden eventually earned a BFA in Design Communication from Texas Tech University where one of her teachers was Dirk Fowler, internationally known for his letterpress posters advertising live music shows.

Her education, she says, was a purist old school design approach. "We tried to learn from design that has stood the test of time, and the program was heavy on studio art," she says, adding: "People who graduated from Texas Tech hold some of the top design positions in the country at Wired, Pentagram, and the like, so I believe our teachers were doing something right."

On Her Own

After graduation, Golden landed a job designing watch packaging for Seiko Instruments. "Most of the products were for Disney and had strict style guides,’’ she says. "But I eventually worked my way up to more creative projects until I was doing some pretty neat original stuff."

A year later, she moved on to Texas Monthly magazine. There she did everything from creating illustrations to redesigning the publication’s website. "It was the perfect extension of my learning from school, it definitely influenced me as well, and familiarized me with the work of some of the best illustrators in the world."

After several years at Texas Monthly, Golden went solo and hasn’t looked back. Her clients — which range from Mattel Inc. to the Downtown Austin Neighborhood Association — find her either through referrals or from stumbling across her website.

When it comes to interface design, Golden first uses Photoshop to create the look she wants, then hires one of two friends to do the heavy coding before she steps in to tweak the final code and design in the browser. When Golden was starting out she wrote all of the code herself, but many of the sites she works on require complex coding because they utilize custom built Content Management Systems. "So I hire a back end programming genius such as my friend Tim Chavez, who can build anything I dream up."

She adds: "I used to develop everything myself years ago, but I found that having someone else create the foundation of the site frees up time for me to focus on design."

I like the whole culture of publishing, I’m weird in that I don’t really want to read books on the Kindle or iPad just yet. I still love ink on paper, tactile pages, and if art or design is the subject, I will flip through them a hundred times obsessively.

A Penchant for Print

Though she’s completely comfortable in the digital world, Golden holds a special place in her heart for print work. To that end, she does a fair amount of magazine work, designing icons and larger illustrations for publications such as Texas Monthly, Cincinnati magazine and Los Angeles magazine.

"I like the whole culture of publishing," she says. "I’m weird in that I don’t really want to read books on the Kindle or iPad just yet. I still love ink on paper, tactile pages, and if art or design is the subject, I will flip through them a hundred times obsessively."

She adds: "There is something very satisfying about your work becoming a physical object in the world, and not just something virtual — though interactive things are fun in their own right."

Her traditional tastes also include oil painting, through which she has created urban-hip compositions like Gotham Kitty, a moody, quirky painting of a cartoon cat wearing an eye-patch and cape atop a high-rise with a wrecking ball swinging toward it.

"Oil painting takes a lot of energy for me, emotionally and physically since I work best in marathon like stretches," Golden says. "I don’t do it nearly enough because of all the client work I’ve taken on. "

To remedy that, Golden plans to take a month off this summer to focus on painting. "It’s an experiment, " she says. "I’ll blog about it and see where it takes me. A month is a short time, but I think it could be eye opening."

City Muse

Inspiration for Golden’s work comes in a variety of ways. A dream gave her the idea for the poster "Home Sweet Brachiosaurus," a tongue-in-cheek look at a 1950s family living obliviously inside the stomach of dinosaur. Golden sketched the image as she remembered it, then traced it in Photoshop, using a Wacom tablet, then digitally inked it at a high resolution so she could later screen print it.

"Each layer was a different solid color, and limited to eight colors to be manageable," she says. "I took years of screen printing in school and I’m a big fan of the process."

Living in Austin also stimulates Golden’s creativity. Her sketches of the city’s sleek loft apartments and ever-changing skyline have become part of ad campaigns such as one for the city’s Downtown Living tour. She has also done limited color sketches of raucous scenes from Austin’s famed South by Southwest conferences and festivals.

Though she grew up in Houston, along with New Zealand and Sri Lanka, Golden is happy to have found a home in Austin. "I wound up in Austin for my first job out of school, " she says. "It’s a city with a quirky vibe that I really gain inspiration from. A future project in my queue is a series of portraits that capture some of that character."

She especially loves living downtown. "I lucked out with my place, it’s both my studio and my home. The original building was built over 70 years ago and has some unusual architectural elements that I love. It is downtown and there’s an energy that comes from being here."

Leisure Time

Outside of working, Golden likes to experiment with cooking. Her specialty is something she calls Sri Lankan "fusion" cooking, which combines her favorite things from the Sri Lankan cooking her mother taught her growing up, with other world cuisines.

She also likes to run on trails near Austin’s Lady Bird Lake. "It’s a great way to get away from the computer and just appreciate the beauty of this city," she says, adding: "I’m not an athlete by any stretch, especially when it comes to team sports, but running on the trail allows me that delusion, which is nice."

Finally, she enjoys Austin’s music scene, especially during South by Southwest: "That’s when the city is buzzing with energy," she says, "and you can see shows in tiny venues that you normally wouldn’t get a chance to, because they are still up and coming or it’s a surprise guest."

Overall, though, Golden says she is happiest when she’s doodling on a sketch pad or creating things on her laptop. A visit to her website makes that perfectly clear. From elegant pencil and paper sketches to technical interface design, it seems like she indeed has a golden touch.

More Works From Shyama Golden

Find Shyama on the Web

• Shyama’s Website

What if Lassie came to work with you? She’d fetch coffee, protect you from baddies, and of course, let you know when little Timmy is trapped down in corporate accounts payable. But jokes aside, are pets helpful in office environments?

It’s very clear that pets reduce stress and improve health. Many research studies show that pets lower blood pressure and lessen anxiety. So it’s natural that pets have made their way into some offices. Just last month was Take Your Dog to Work Day, and one design agency, Second Story, even lists two dogs as staff members.

Stress Reduction vs. Productivity

If pets can reduce our anxiety, can they help us be less stressed and more productive at work? Or are pets at work simply going to be another distraction? Continuing with my Lassie thought experiment, I pondered the pros and cons over a coffee I had to fetch myself. Here’s what I came up with:

Pros of pets in the office

• The obvious stress relief and health benefits
• Reduced doggy daycare and other pet-sitting costs
• Bonding among co-workers who like pets
• Potential customer appeal especially in front-office situations

Cons of pets in the office

• Trouble for co-workers with allergies
• Interruptions for walks and doggie bathroom breaks
• Damage caused by chewing and “accidents” around the office
• Distractions and other interruptions caused by barking or just wanting attention
• Employee friction and stress for those who dislike animals

Can Dogs and Cats Work Together?

Then it comes down to which pets? Some people like dogs. Some like cats. But what about squirrels? Will they all get along? And where do you draw the line?

Consider what pets do while you’re at work. Lassie might be well-behaved but pets with behavior problems who bark and attack other animals, or even people, are obviously a problem. There’s always that dog who eats all the cupcakes in the kitchen or growls on conference calls. And don’t even talk to me about cats who refuse to work on a PC or file their expense accounts on time!

Clearly I’m overanalyzing. Perhaps an approval process could be put in place to ensure that only well-behaved pets make it into the office. And in some environments, like small businesses, managing an office pet or two may not really be that difficult.

Are pets in the office a good or bad thing? Would you bring your pet to work? Would you want pets in the next cube?

Today we’re taking a look at the once ubiquitous light meter, and how it can still help you in today’s world of cameras attempting to do it all for you. We’ll walk through what a light meter is, and suggest a few potential uses for your photography!

What Is a Light Meter?

A light meter simply measures the amount of light in a scene. This is a very handy value to know in photography, as we can then set the exposure time perfectly. When using a film camera, a light meter becomes far more important due to expensive film and processing costs.

Light meters come in two kinds, reflective and incident. In-camera light meters are almost always reflective, as they reflect light from the whole scene. Handheld reflected light-meters also require a photographer to stand next to the camera to record the whole scene.

Handheld incident meters, on the other hand, require a photographer to go as close to the subject as possible in order to get a reading.

Mike turner has written an incredible in-depth tutorial on the subject, which I would happily recommend anyone for further reading for a complete explanation.

Do You Really Need One?

There is a lot of debate between professional photographers, but in my opinion the answer is yes. They offer considerably more detail than the in-built meter inside your Digital SLR, and can often improve your pictures in certain scenarios.

An example of a good use of a incident meter would be when taking a photo of a model. Using a light meter, you can record the light on their face, clothes and shoes. You then simply add the figures given together and then divide to get an average – this should suggest a very accurate exposure value.

If you are still using a film camera without an in-camera light meter, then this product is a must – it removes all the guess work involved.

Disadvantages of Light Meters

Although I think everyone should have a light meter if within their budget, they are another piece of equipment to become familiar with, carry round, and set up every time you want to take a photo. After the first few shots it can become tiring.

Modern day SLR cameras are amazingly accurate at metering, and problems generally only occur when you are either in extremely sunny or dark areas. It is during these times the light meter can come in most useful.

With any modern day digital cameras – even from under $100 – you can take a photo in seconds and instantly see the result. If anything needs changing, you can adjust settings or add a flash. It’s a lazy approach to photography, but it’s perfectly fine for many people.

How Much Do They Cost?

The average price for a brand new light meter ranges from around $150-$300. These often include both a reflected light and incident meter built-in.

I will admit that it’s quite an expensive gadget to have in your camera bag, but if you are not happy with your camera’s in built meter – or also wish to shoot on film regularly – it makes sense to purchase.

If you are amateur photographer and cannot afford the kit, why not ask family members as often the older generation might have one stored away along with all their old film gear.

If you own an iPhone or iPod touch, an app for measuring exposure has been released and it costs the small price of $3. You can check it out here. I have no idea how good it is, but might it might be fun to try out!

Further Reading

The subject is massive, and I have only skimmed the surface in this short article. Here are some links for further reading into the subject.

• Mike Turner’s guide to light meters
• Guide to using a hand-held light meter
• Accurate Exposure with Your Meter

Thanks for reading, and feel free to share your thoughts in the comments. Do you use and own a light meter? If so, why/why not? We’d love to hear your opinion!