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Hey guys!

I just wanted to check in. I hope all of you US citizens had a great fourth that involved beer, BBQ, and explosives. A good combination, if you ask me.

In other news, I went to the second annual Austin, Texas devMeet. Check it out! #Texasdevmeet for more information. It was awesome, and it involved a lot of the coolest people to ever exist: Texans. And an imported yankee, but we'll forgive her.

The most important news, however, is my new car stereo system. I know that if you've talked to me in the last two weeks that you've probably heard me rattling on about my sweet new system, but today it reached an epic level that made me warm inside my heart and numb inside my ears. Before I get to that though, here's a fancy order list:

2004 Mustang
Sony 52x4w Deck
4 Polk Audio 6x8''
1 Kicker 600w Amp
1 Custom subwoofer box
2 10'' Kicker subwoofers

The moral of this story is that this is a really loud system. When my dad heard it, he complained that I needed to turn the vibration feature off. I take it he meant the amazing bass.

So today I pulled into Best Buy to pick up some nerd stuff and I managed to set off a car alarm just by driving by. I have never laughed so hard. That's my story!

So, how are you guys and gals?

VECTOR GALLERY _{(I copied this from $Ikue because he's a genius!)}
Vector Art is a technique, meaning art created in a vector-based program. Vector art is the use of primitives such as Points, Lines and Curves. The vector programs keeps track of the relationship between these primitives. This allows the images created, to be scaled and rescaled without loosing quality or becoming pixelated. This is in opposition to "raster (or bitmap) graphics" which is an image represented by a collection of pixels. These pixels if scaled above 100%, will degrade and loose quality.

Popular vector programs are: Illustrator, Freehand, Corel Draw, and Flash. Almost everything created with these programs is considered a vector piece. I say "almost" because there are exceptions to every rule. If your vector piece combines raster and vector images then I'm sorry to tell you but it is no longer a vector piece (and subsequently does not belong in the vector gallery). Example: If you finish your vector piece and realize after exporting it to a more web friendly version, you think it is lacking something. So you take it into photoshop and apply a simple texture to the surface of the piece just to give it a little something extra. This is no longer a vector piece, and should be posted to the "Digital art > Mixed media", gallery. Like wise if you take this raster texture image into illustrator and just apply a layer style (multiply, screen etc.) this is still not a vector piece. The common factor in these two equations is the raster texture. Since this texture cannot be scaled above 100% this makes the vector technically useless beyond that raster images original size. That being said don't think you are unable to add texturing to a vector piece. Most of these programs come equipped with detailed pattern swatches, textured brushes, and even the ability to "Live trace" which does as its name implies, traces a raster image and turns it into a vector graphic.

Just to reiterate my point and to ensure there is no confusion here is a list of generally considered Raster Bases programs: Photoshop, Painter, MS Paint, , and a great free alternative Gimp. Basically everything created with these programs is considered a Raster image. I say use a clause simply because a few of these programs are capable of creating images with points, lines, and curves just as a vector program would. Photoshop for instance can create vector based images, however these are typically considered "Vexels" because of the fact that Vexel artists typically incorporate brush strokes into their images (for hair, etc.). Speaking of brushes. Just because you have downloaded and installed a brush set for photoshop or any other of the aforementioned raster programs that have the word "vector" in the title, does not deem your image a vector piece. These brushes come in different sizes and no matter how high a resolution they may come in, they still cannot be scaled above their 100% mark without loosing quality.

To put it simply "Vector is not a "style" like Anime, but a "medium" like charcoal. Asking what vector-art looks like is like asking what an oil painting looks like. It could look like Rembrandt, Picasso, or a fifth grader's fingerpainting."


HELPFUL VECTOR LINKS
What Are Vectors? (In-depth)
How Do You Make Vectors?
Vector Do's and Dont's


DAILY DEVIATIONS
As part of my role here, feel free to send me or $Ikue Daily Deviation suggestions. Please note the following however:
Suggest Vector Work Only Please
No DD's were given within the last 3 months to the same artist
Remember Quality over Quantity
Including a reason for selection and a thumbnail is helpful

Also, if you just want to discuss vectors or talk about events, organizations, and groups related to vectors, feel free to send me a note or drop a line here!


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