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Hey guys,

As you may have noticed, I've been sort of MIA recently with finals ending and work starting. I have about a week's worth of vector miscats to go through, so please be patient until I can get enough time to go through them all. I've been sorting through the vector gallery progressively, and I'm currently in February 2007. I still have a long way to go!

I'm planning on spending my entire Sunday sorting through the gallery, as well as making another Vector Today article for your viewing pleasure. I want to get some pretty sweet interviews, so I've been holding out until they come through. I have a lot of cool work to feature, and a lot to say about vector gallery trends.

I'm even planning on finishing some vector art that is over a year in the making (though only because I've been so busy). It's a little sad that I never have time for art, but I think my place on deviantART is contributing to the community with what I do instead of the art I make. Ironic of course, as this is deviantART, but the community deserves it and I have a lot of fun talking to you all.

I've really appreciated the feedback I've got about vector regulations, where they are too strict, where they need work, and I've been trying to incorporate that into how I administrate the vector gallery. Previously, I would leave any piece that was vector in the vector gallery, but recently I've been trying to move things like maps, logos, and t-shirt designs to designs and interfaces. Even though they are vector, it's better for site organization to keep these themes together, even if the mediums are different.

That said, I still try to be lenient towards these designs. For example, I separate t-shirt art from could be on a shirt to designed specifically for a shirt. Of course, there's always some overlap, but I think it's been a real 360 for the gallery.

The outcome of all this is that I spend more and more time trying to get the vector gallery looking great, which is awesome news for the community (well, some of you get a little upset here and there!). I don't have a lot of free time now that I'm working 80+ hour weeks, so if I don't get to keeping the gallery updated until the weekends, I hope you understand. It definitely will get done, though!


And, on a side note, I purchased an eeePC last week. Check it out and tell me this isn't awesome: [link]

I've loaded Windows XP on it (it came with some horrible distribution of Linux), and upgraded it to 2GB of RAM, as well as purchased a 16GB SDHC card for storage. Although I intended it for classroom use, I'm already streaming movies and music to it. Awesome!

Hope you guys are having a good summer!

PS: I love $fourteenthstar. Yeah, it's official!

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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