No better time than now!

Today I begin this blog.

It's funny, I have talked about this for weeks and yet stumble when it actually comes to putting fingers to keyboard and starting the process. The main impetus has been from numerous friends, mentors and a variety of other blogs all saying that nothing happens until I make it happen. Twee, obvious, sure...but nonetheless true.

So I would like to firstly like to thank a few people for spurring me into action

Seth Godin - for reigniting my passion for the digital art industry and community by helping me remember what an amazingly cool world I work and live in.

My wife Lucy - who is a living example of persistence, creativity, consistency and adaptation, as well as wonderful support for my own reinvention and development. She has spent 3 years developing her artwork, her website and her business to places we did not even dream of when she started. I am so proud of her!

Marsha Wajer - A brilliant teacher, mentor and friend, who's work continues to grow and evolve and it's only a matter of time before she makes the cut for our books!

Derek Osborne - hyper energetic student at Animation Mentor with a massive future ahead of him. Another example of someone who believes in consistent effort and genuine motivations to be a force of nature in the animation world. The studio that gets him when he graduates will be rewarded a thousand-fold ...

Ric Holland from Wacom - this is someone with amazing vision of what can be in the digital world right now, so much so that he invented a new job for himself and made it come to life!

Tim Downing - One of the best web designers I have ever met, not to mention a great friend. He inspires me to think outside the box as well as having the remarkable ability to ask questions so that we get to the heart of whatever matter we are discussing...

There are more amazing people in this list, and I shall deal with them as I progress through my entries...

I have been in the digital art industry with Ballistic Publishing and The CGSociety for almost 3 years now, and have met a host of truly awe inspiring people, be they artists, teachers, students, bookstore owners and staff, my work collegues, and a raft of independent industry bloggers and another raft of non CG industry people who inspire me to greatness. The purpose of this blog is simply to talk about them, share their wisdom and enthusiasm, sometimes relate it to my own development.

It is an exciting time to be here, despite the doom the financial world has created and the media feels compelled to exacerbate, and this industry continues to grow and evolve and excite people, and I am a part of this positivity. It makes it very easy to wake up each morning and create something new or tend something I set in motion years ago starting to blossom.

Anyway, bear with me as I develop and grow this beast. I believe that digital art is on the cusp of formal recognition as an legitimate art form, much like graffiti was years ago (for want of a better definition), I definitely want to be a part of this new world order!

Cheers

Alan