Feb 02- Updates on the works

Hello friends. 

I thought I'd carve out some time from my crazy schedule to finally get this delayed update going. First of all, I do apologize for the inactivity. I've been spending the last week doing a few things. 

The first is optimizing the website for mobile use. That's right.. now you should be able to access it with ease from your mobile device. But hey, I am a little rusty with the code and layout so please let me know if you find any errors. http://www.sashameerchund.com

The second is that I've been trying to plan my schedule a little more efficiently. This will now include, but not limited to..

- Commissions will now be open at: https://www.facebook.com/TheArtofSachthestampede. 
Please contact for pricing

- Making time for friends again (yes, I'm relieved to announce they haven't abandoned me yet!)

- Collaborating on some exciting new projects. We've got a fairy tale iteration in the pipeline at the moment (Think the Jack and the Beanstalk movie- production quality).. working with my good friend Alaire Bowen (who has some awesome drawings by the way. Check out her work). https://www.facebook.com/Abinition

- I've managed to get the ball rolling with some private art classes. Check for more info: http://sach4christ.wix.com/your-art-tuition

- And finally, I am recruiting! So, if anyone out there is/knows someone who is good at drawing and painting, scriptwriting, cinematography and directing and would like to be part of a project, hit me up.

Stay tuned for some new work coming this week. Peace

The big realization

Hello friends.

So I've been trying really hard in the past few months to do two things. The first, is to create a more professional body of work. The second is to get employed in a bigger art/production studio and transition out of my full teaching/part time artist role. Needless to say, that while I have not achieved either in completion, I have learnt a very valuable lesson. What is it? I'm so glad you asked.

Since 2004, I realize that I all the necessary skills to start a professional career as a practicing artist. I was 16 at the time. The reason for this is because I had a unique opportunity to attend an institute called the CFAD every Saturday between 2003 and 2004. The CFAD is a tertiary institute and I was still in high school. I had my mum to thank for getting me in there. The programme lasted 3 years, and I had only attended for 2 since in 2005 I was in my last year of highschool. Regardless of this, I had practiced both drawing and digital design to the point of producing work that was decent enough for publication. I don't say that because I want to sound impressive. I say that almost out of regret, because in retrospect, I didn't realize it at the time. Comparing the work I do now, and the work I did back then, I'd say the skill level isn't far off. Sure I understand better techniques and practices now, but its been 10 years since then! That's 10 years within which I could have established a name for myself as a practicing artist or industry professional. In 2005 I started doing some commission work in my free time. I never took it very seriously though. Why? I think it's because of the influence. My parents, dad especially, pushed me toward studying further. Now that I look at it, he didn't believe in my art. He would have liked me to become a doctor or planner or something. My mum on the other hand tried motivating me towards the art. She seemed to always appreciate it more than me. So I looking back now, I think I gave into both sides. I decided to get a "proper tertiary education"just like my father said, but I chose to get into an art related course because it was "something I liked". Unfortunately, I didn't think about it carefully.

You see, here in South Africa- Durban specifically, we have few institutes that specialize. Probably the biggest university in Durban, is UKZN. Then we've got DUT and some other, smaller technical schools. My dad pushed me toward UKZN because... well, it was university. I hadn't researched enough to figure out what they specialized in, and honestly, I thought it was the best I could get. So of course, I gave in. I chose something Fine Art related, and something media related. I believed that by the time I got out of school, I would have enough knowledge and experience to "walk into" any job I wanted, just like my father said. Boy was I wrong. After my recent experience of applying to dozens of studios, I realize 2 things matter:
1. Experience
2. A solid portfolio.
There are probably a handful of companies that actually require a tertiary education. But most of them don't care. Guess what though. My premise was that the more education I had, the better chance I had of becoming an industry professional. Of getting hired. So.. get this.. I ended up studying for 6 years after highschool. Coupled with the 2 years at the CFAD, that's 8 years in total. For the last 3 years, the best job I could get was being a teacher. A TEACHER! While trying to freelance inbetween my teacher schedule. Why didn't UKZN or Wits help me? Well, simply put the programmes offered by these "prestigious" South African schools are very general. As an art and media student, all I ever did were introductory practical courses in drawing, or painting or animation. I'd say a large percentage of those programmes focused on teaching students how to think critically. How to research. How to become a so called "academic". So I'd say, after a good 6-8 years of studying in tertiary institutes in South Africa, the best thing I learnt for all those thousands of Rands was to write a good essay or question some view of the world.

In retrospect, how my practical skills for art developed? I'll happily admit that a large part is self taught. While I want to create some happy ending to this tale, I don't think that there is one. But alas, there is good news. The good news I think is that while I am 26 years old now, I did FINALLY realize it. I did realize that by 30, I will be an established artist- it's my goal. I realized that while I am a teacher, that's just my day job so I can eat. I realized that every single hour that is not spent doing teacher work, can be devoted towards my goal. My hope is also that this may help anyone out there realize the same. That we as creative people need to really think long and hard about it is we want in this life, and to choose our path very very carefully.

Till next time friends, take care. 

Professional Porfolio

So it has been a long time since I have updated this blog. Most of the attention has been devoted to managing my deviantart, facebook and linkedin profiles- Social Network explosion! Anyways, I am excite to share some sample work I've been developing over the years. Comments welcome

Thinking like an artist

Sach's Blog-- August 18th, 2010

Just saying the date that way scares me sometimes. "This is how.. you remind me.. of how TIME REALLY FLIES!" For a long time now, I've been hiding a big secret. Some define art as expression... while others define it as entertainment or hobbies. I'm sure there are many ways in which a person can define art, but adopting a certain definition brings with it a number of varying characteristics that govern the type of material you produce and get to call art. People see this differently. For me, learning about those differences was FRUSTRATING! So much so, that for a long time now, calling myself an artist was something offensive. Rather, I considered myself a producer.. one who simply produces work. Work that many people like- commercially successful you could say.. and that I could hide behind. I look at it this way, if I could do something pretty technically sound, throw in a little style.. and specifically follow a mainstream way of doing things, I'd fit right in. In no time, people would start taking notice.

You know what.. they did. But at a price. You lose yourself to it. To commercialism. To conformity. The thing I've been learning recently--- art is about individualism! Whether you use it to address or express.. about yourself or through yourself... it is individualistic. The way YOU see things. Sometimes we have the rare privilege of meeting people who alert our attention to this crucial fact. That we don't make art.. our art makes us. It is a piece from within.. one we intend to share with the world. Learning these principals, I now have a new form of appreciation you could say. One which earnestly wants to break the mold. And I say... FUCK YEAH! So here's to EXPRESSING myself as a newborn ARTIST!

This was an expressionistic digital painting of my girlfriend's best friend, Olsa Papandili- a Jazz singer and Violinist from Albania.

And my lovely girlfriend, Desara Tytymce.

Digital Art and Photo Manipulation

Ok so its been while with the likes of facebook and Deviant Art taking over my online social life. I thought I'd take the time to submit some of my digital art pieces though. Some have been done for clients while others taken on as requests from friends and peers. Let me know what you guys think.

Thanks

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This is a VFX tweak I did for one of my model friends- Cosplay of Android 18 from DBZ

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A poster a created for an inter-campus play called Elephant (UKZN 08)

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Some of the many designs I did for UKZN's Nux- Inter Campus newspaper.

Finally they're here.. FINISHED!! (...well, not quite)

Well now I suppose another apology is what I should start with, alongside the fact that I'm the worst blogger out there.. who rarely ever updates. But hopefully this new post will redeem me from that. So here's the deal: I'm the kind of artist that now likes to tell stories. I've figured out that I really enjoy making and learning about movies, alongside living on the inspiration gained from the comic book world (even though I hardly ever own any/collect them). Just to clear the dramatic irony at the outset! SO, this semester I have been working on illustrating my story- Invent Greatness. The lo-down, is about this boy called Benjiman Greatness, who is an orphan living with his uncle. Now although Ben is very ordinary, often bullied at school and very very lonely, he possesses a unique ability for inventing things. This is something that makes his uncle and him relate to one another, although we usually never see or hear of the two speaking and sharing good times. There is one point within this specific part of Ben's life (around 17 years of age) when they share a moment together- Here Ben is probably experiencing his darkest hour. Very unfortunately, he ends up liking this girl/ friend of his called Olivia Jones, or O.J. for short. They also have a mutual friend- who is O.J's best bud, Sarah. Unfortunately O.J. is approached by another guy.. much older than Ben whom she falls for, in his presence. This happens at the beach when they all go out together, and is in addition to the vandalism that takes place to Ben's very special backpack that was left on the sand while they were having a good time. Ben is then walking home later that evening and sees a poster that reminds him of his inventions, but throws it away, and returns to his mundane ordinary world as he feels rejected and bitter. His uncle sees him and responds accordingly, which spurs him on a little. Similar to the way Donald Trump does to the contestants in the apprentace. You see some humanity in him, although he is such a hard man. This causes Ben to return to his inventions, and never really confess his feelings to O.J. I figured that would be interesting for a short student film I would have produced and directed for Mnet this year. But Instead I did get to make a comic out of it. It's still a work in progress, so the more time I get, the more I'll be working on this book. So far I have 7 pencilled and 5 coloured pages that may illustrate what I've been saying. Enjoy.

WHERE do you see yourself?

This is a short video I made. It involves a girl by the name of Kimalani Khelwe, who is about to attend an interview, but has to sit in the waiting room. Her interviewer, Mr. Gatsby has a great interest in her by looking at her work and particularly her picture. However, he is preoccupied with another interviewee whom he is trying to get rid of.