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Hello everyone,

    My name is DeM0nFiRe. I will be creating art for the Google Open Participation Contest. Naturally, I want one of those snifty shirts, but I also want to make something that people will actually enjoy looking at. For tis reason, I am going to try to show you guys the steps I take as I take them so you guys can tell me what you think of them. Now, every with every piece I do the steps I take will vary, and I may need to repeat some steps, but the general progression is similar to a degree:

>Brainstorming - This is where I try to imagine what I want the look and feel of the piece to be. (This step is a bit hard to share with you guys since I can't really tell you a picture)

>Preliminary Pencil Sketches - This is where I do the very rough shapes to get down the layout on paper. This is also where I make the first attempts to get the proportions on everything right. The lines in this step will be very light, and they'll be very ugly. ^^

>Detailed Penciling - This is where I start to add in the details to the picture. Although, I try not to do too much shading yet because the final layout may change still.

>Computer Touch-up(Optional) - If I plan on making it neater and sharper in the computer, this is where I would do that. I would also do some coloring of it now if it was to be colored.

>Pencil Finalizing(Optional) - If I decided not to use a computer to finish it, now is when I would try to sharpen lines and erase and clean old marks. Now is when I would do any shading I was going to do. Chances are, if I'm finalizing in pencil, I do not plamn to color it. My experience with any hand coloring tools tells me to just avoid them all together.


Ok, so I hope to get to know alot of you guys through this. Beofre I start this art, I have a few questions:

Am I actually allowed to show it before I submit it?

What is the definition of art in this case? I would like to include some poetry in this if I'm allowed.

Thanks for your time, everyone ^^

Claimed: Dec 5 Due: Jan 7

Google Task

[me=AmyStephen]Changed subject slightly for sorting all threads to match against Google resource  [/me]

Yay!!!  The other artistic one was taken!

I did the other artistic one, "write a song celebrating Joomla!", so I am excited to see what you come up with!

One of the moderators and your mentor should introduce themselves to you soon.

Good luck! 

DeM0nFiRe  -

Welcome to Joomla! and thank you for joining the GHOP contest! We recommend all GHOP Contestants Please Read: Task Process Start to Finish for important updates on the contest.

I very much enjoy these creative pieces. I am trying to connect with someone who I believe will be very good with this task. Your patience is very much appreciated. If we have not responded within a day, please say something. I do not believe it will be long.

You will most certainly be allowed (and encouraged) to include poetry. Even hearing it suggested makes me anxious to see your result!

Thank you and good luck,
Amy

Alright, cool! In that case, I'm thinking I'll put a nice little quatrain on it.

Status Update: I've started the preliminary pencil sketches, When i get home, I'll try to scan what I have so far in to show you guys. Obviously, it's nothing special yet but I may as well show you what I have so far anyway.


EDIT: Well, I didn't get a chance to scan it on Dec. 6, and then the morning of the 7th I erased a bunch so there's not much to show anymore, sorry!

Just wanted to let you know it's been more than a day since the last response, thanks! ^_^

DeM0nFiRe -

What can we do for you?

Amy

Oh, sorry. I thought you wanted me to tell you if it had been more than a day before anyone responded at all.

However, since you're hear I may as well ask this: Is there any specific way that you were thinking of "All Together, As a Whole" meaning? That is kind of general, which is fine I can work with it. However if there's something specific you're looking for it may not get in.

Yes, I did ask you to do that, didn't I. Thanks! I contacted someone right after I posted. I know they were busy, but hopefully they will find time to join us. Meanwhile, continue sharing your ideas and get the response of the community.

We are not expecting anything, in particular. This is a creative task and one where the artist has license to bring to life the feelings and impressions they are moved to produce.

In other words, let's see what you got! 
Amy

Ha ha, I just read that last post I made, and now I look five. Darned hononyms. So anywho, thanks alot, I can't wait til I have something worth showing ^-^

Hello  DeM0nFiRe,

Looking forward to seeing what you come up with.  With your creative juices flowing, this will be very exciting!

If you have any questions, let us know.

Warmly,
Marty

DeM0nFiRe,

Marty will help guide you through your task, along with other community members. When you have questions, ask, or when you have something to share, please do.

Thank you Marty - your contributions are very much appreciated!
Amy

Hello Marty, how are you? I'll let you know when I've got a question!

I am excellent thank you,
Hope you are the same! 

Alright, so hopefully when I get home I'll have a chance to scan it in, but I've completed the preliminary pencil sketch, and I've started adding in a little bit of detail. On the preliminary sketch I've also included the rhyme scheme and syllable layout.

Ok, here is the preliminary pencil sketch for this piece. Like I said before, this is only for the general layout of the piece, so it's very ugly right now ^-^.



I also included the title there (Which will look much prettier in teh final version ) and, like I said, the general scheme of the Quatrain that will go down in the corner there.

Hi DeM0nFiRe,
I like your sketch.

Feel free to be open and share your thoughts and ideas as you go through this project. 
I have completed quite a few artworks for people myself, and in the early stages because the detail is not there it can be hard for others to see what you are thinking as a large part of your creation is still yet to be expressed. 

It can help to explain as you go.

Well done so far and looking forward to hearing more from you.

Marty

Alright then.
Well, what I'm trying to go for here is a seemingly mis-matched group of people all standing together. I decided to for a look kind of like an anime movie poster, because as strange as they are, they always give a sense of the characters working through something together.

Right now what I am working on is the more detailed sketch. I've decided to go a ifferent route than I usually take, and I'm going to do the details on this one with pixels. If I had more time, I could the entire thing in pixels, but a month is definitely not enough time to do that ^^

Sounds great,
I was wondering how someone might depict what it would mean if the diverse Joomla! community works "All together, as a whole".
Now its starting to take shape!
Looking forward to seeing more.

Warmly,
Marty

^-^

Now, the quickest way I could finish this would be to do a few quick enhancements of the lines then color and shade. Sometimes it ends up turning out good, so I'll try it the quicker way first and see what you think.

Ok, so I've decided to go a different route. My previous shot was, I think, too obscure for its purposes. This one, I hope, is a little simpler and a little more direct. I've also decided to go with a more cartoon-y style for this one to try to aim for more simplicity. Let me know what you guys think of it.

I really love it!
One remark: the blue/yellow 'United we stand' isn't that clear. I think it's the best to choose just one colour, or two colours with kind of fading effect. Perhaps it's nice to use Joomla-colours (the colours of the official logo)?

I agree. it is looking great, and the blue and yellow is a bit hard to read. 
i think a single colour or two colours faded could have more impact.
the work and creativity is great!

)

Alrighty then, there's a couple of different ways I want to try the letters then. In about 20 minutes or so I should have something new to show...

Ok, This is what I have now. Does this one look any better?

The things in the foreground look pixelated.  Will this be fixed? 

The square edges also probably need to be rounded off on the Joomla! logo parts in the text. (esp in the S)

Yeah, I still have like 2 weeks before the deadline, so I will fix the pixelation etc. But first I want to know what I should fix before that.

OK, honestly, I am not feeling this. 

To me, "All Together, As a Whole" suggests a positive joining together of minds, efforts, working towards a positive result. Consider the Joomla! community - we come from countries all over the world, across all of the oceans, there is such broad diversity. Joomla! is used and useful for an equally diverse set of purposes, and yet, we are "All Together, As a Whole" working towards common goals.

"United We Stand" goes with "divided we fall" and aside from the fact that it is not a theme Joomla! has ever embraced, it suggests we are united against something. The image suggests that to me, as well.

We are not battling anyone. We are not against other open source projects, in fact, we support those efforts, as well.

So, when I think "All Together, As a Whole" I think of hands held - a circle - unity - positive energy - the word synergy - shared benefit - community working - not against someone - not to win - but to help one another meet individual goals with the support of and contributions from others.

Now the U you are showing with the various colors - is a J. Take a look at the logo, again. That is actual four J's linked together as a whole. It took me awhile to see that, but, that's really what it is.

This is art - it's your interpretation - there is no right or wrong - these are just my opinions - take it for what it's worth!

Amy

Aaand that would be why I didn't bother fixing the Pixelation yet ^-^.

I really almost did something with holding hands but I didn't think that was actually what you wanted.

As for my image, the central idea embodied by the dark king was not supposed to be another project, but rather it symbolizes any obstacles that could be met. The idea was that a community as a whole works out alot better when everyone holds each other in the same regard as everyone else, even when there may be certain weaknesses (Hence the light pieces all being pawns). The "United We Stand" was supposed to make you think "Divided we fall", however you were also supposed to notice that it wasn't there. It was supposed to get you thinking about what other completions of the phrase "United We Stand" could be, such as "The Test of Time" or something to that effect. The absence of the last half of the phrase was meant to get the looker to complete the phrase themselves with what they feel is appropriate.

That being said, if you're still not happy with it I can make something else.

If it helps you, my original interpretation of this was that the dark king was some other competitor, and they were some all powerful force over the group of Joomla! users (the white pawns).  The "United we Stand" first made me think the Joomla! team members (pawns) were fighting some major battle against the dark king.  I still don't know what those streaks are (they look like lightning bolts).  It also looks static and frozen, not like the pawns are supposed to be moving. 



Die Drupal, die!!!  (kidding, we still love inferior CMSs here)

Please - just consider my comments for what you believe they are worth and go with your own artistic views.



But, you see what we are battling here! (Just kidding, of course, Max, I know you are teasing.)

Honestly, though, that's the type of thinking that we really do want to avoid. If Drupal does well, it's good for all open source projects. Joomla!'s successes are good for Drupal. Same with WordPress and Linux and Open Office. The GPL really helps us all because we can exchange one another's work and extend it's value to the world. That's good for all of us.

I think open source communities are so very different than most models we have seen before, it's a difficult concept to understand. All together, as a whole is all about cooperation, collaboration, sharing benefit because it doesn't cost any more to offer another copy of Joomla! to someone else, why wouldn't we?

Amy