by May-Jun | Fri-Mar-2016 | Art, Blog, How To, meditation
I believe in the right brain, left brain philosophy that specific attributes are used by a dominant section of the brain. Left is considered more logical, analysis driven and factual while the right is more creative, intuitive and feelings based. What is meditation through abstract painting? My personal creative process in painting is a meditative process that moves from the left-brain, analysis driven aspects of myself to the right brain, creative, feelings based side. The way I do this is through pure focus on colour blending and the feeling it gives me in that moment. I get lost in the colours by mixing and layering them with the over arching goal to create a vivid, saturated, beautiful colour combinations that moves me to my core. Can anyone do this? Yes absolutely. Like anything there are different ways of approaching meditative painting. It’s based on ones experience with colour combining, painting and meditation. Here are some exercises and things you can do to get started. Go to an art gallery. Look at different types of paintings and ask yourself how does it make you feel? You will learn what you like and don’t like based on this. You can also try different types of art (scenery to abstract) to see what you are most attracted to. Learn about colour combination in painting. Pay attention to what colours you like together and the feeling it gives you. When you thoughts are cluttered, what gets you into the present moment? A cup of tea? Breathing? Bring that into your painting meditation process. Create a space that’s ready for you to create and...
by May-Jun | Wed-Mar-2016 | Blog, How To, Music
I’ve been writing songs since I could write. That being said, I’ve learned a lot of different ways to song write. I sometimes create a guitar piece and than sing, or sometimes I have the vocal melody first and then add the guitar. It’s different every time. The thing I love most is how it touches people and when I tell a story it can bring so much meaning to someone. Here are my top 6 songwriting-tips. Practice every day Collaborate with other people Focus on themes that are meaningful to you or a concept/story that you like When writing, edit it down so it’s consistent with the melody and syllable pattern. For example how many syllables are in a line? When you have a melody is it consistent with the syllable pattern? Doe sections of the song rhyme? When you sing you can actually emphasize different words and enunciate things to the melody so that it can have more than one meaning. This is super fun to do in song writing and a bit more complicated. I recommend doing that once you have practiced getting lyrics and your story telling concise Look at the songs that move you that are your favourite. Break down the songs, so you can see the patterns and try to emulate those patterns. Here are my lyrics for song Seasons: Verse: You shared your secrets, underneath the oak tree whispered names of old lovers, times forgotten, forgiven Pre-Chorus: Shadows overcast, sadness that does not last, Time will pass, Time will pass, Seasons will fade into years, and you will forget about all your tears Time will pass, Time will pass Chorus:...
by May-Jun | Mon-Mar-2016 | Blog, How To, Music, music video
This post is for people that are doing their music video on their own. In my recent music video shoot for the Diplo Revolution cover, there were few mistakes that I did when making the music video. Here is what I learned. You need to plan the shots and make sure that everyone involved in the shoot has a say or at least is on board. For this video shoot I did it on the fly with not as much planning as I usually do. That being said, the shoot was rushed and I didn’t make time to tell those ideas to everyone involved. There were a few ideas that I had that I ended up doing myself. I was happy in the end. Weather can affect what you can do if the shots are outside. The previous video shoot we did was outside but since the weather was getting much colder, we couldn’t do the cello shots outside that I was hoping. It was really cold and we weren’t dressed appropriately because of the outfits we had. Bring snacks. When you are hungry you can’t always focus, bring snacks to keep the energy up. When you shoot video if you are not into the shot, it can show. You need to be 100% present and into it, it shows. Make more time to do the shots. We needed at least 2-3 more hours, but we were able to get all the shots within the time frame allotted. It was a rushed shoot, but I was able to do some self-video shots the next day to add to what we had. Make sure...
by May-Jun | Fri-Mar-2016 | Blog, How To
Creativity is a phenomenon whereby something new and somehow valuable is formed. The created item may be intangible (such as an idea, a scientific theory, a musical composition or a joke) or a physical object (such as an invention, a literary work or a painting). -Wikipedia I think that there is a general thought that creativity has to be something “artsy”, when in reality it’s problem solving, doing something differently, and creating something new. Without creativity in the world, our life would be bland. Imagine there would be no new songs on the radio, we would all dress the same (for ever), and our scientific and technological progression would stagnate. It would be like as if the world had stopped. Here are my top 3 reasons why I personally think creativity is important Changes the way you think/ and your perspective (For us to grow, we need to learn new ways of thinking and doing things and this is enhanced when we are creative) Feels good (doesn’t solving a problem feel good? How about making something on your own like a new food recipe?) It makes our world a better place (inventions, new health break throughs etc..) Top 3 ways to be more creative Try something new each day Keep a note pad (or memo list on your phone) for when you have any new idea Surround yourself with inspiring people you feel are creative (as much as you can) ...
by May-Jun | Wed-Mar-2016 | Blog, How To
You’ve decided to shoot your own music video. You have no budget, no expertise and all you have is trusty YOUTUBE tutorials, a hope and an amazing song you want to get out there. So how do you make an amazing music video to reflect your song? Well, there is a lot to consider, but here are my top 5 things. Equipment: What will you be shooting with? You will have to make sure that the format the video camera/phone etc.. resolution is a good enough quality for youtube, or where ever you want to share it. Also keep in mind that if you have a small hand held camera that does video, you may get more hand shake, and will need to work with a tri-pod. If you have an iphone, the sizing may not translate into the specs you want for Youtube. If you rent, make sure that it creates a file format that your editing software can read (most do). Software: I don’t recommend buying expensive industry software until you have tried out editing and you know it’s something you want to invest in. You can easily get free editing software for PC and for Mac I believe it comes with iMovie. Editing: Make sure when you shoot you have enough footage to work with to add into your edit. Only 3 minutes of video can be a lot more time spent than you thought. If you want a visually interesting video you will need to plan out a lot of different shots and splice them into the song. For editing the rule of thumb is...
by May-Jun | Mon-Feb-2016 | Blog, Uncategorized
Dreams don’t always make sense. But here is a reason to write them down when you have a dream and remember it. They do help us sort out things though. When you have a dream, you can ask your self what does something mean to you or what do you think it represents. It’s a source of inspiration to use to express yourself through anything.. a painting, poem, a song, a photo etc.. You can see if there is a pattern of dreams or themes and understand yourself better. I created this self portrait in honour of a dream I had. THE DREAM: It’s Chinese New Year, I’m on a roof top watching fireworks, the shingles look like Chinese Rooftops you’d see in an old palace mansion (Kinda like Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon film) I’m with someone (who passed away, RIP) and the person is telling me a story. The person tells me about sharks in the arctic. I’m totally astonished because I thought they only lived in warm water, apparently they are in the arctic. Then the person reaches above into the sky (as the fireworks are still going on) and we get teleported into the stars. We get to float around and be with the constellations. Everything is very vivid. The colours are bright in this dream and I’m floating around in space. I don’t know what it could mean, in reality, but I created this photo to express the feeling of the dream when I was in the galaxy in my dream. Credits: Music was recorded by Sound Engineer Kevin Komaranski Photo taken with: Mark II Canon, 35mm Sigma 1.2...
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